Free Framed: A Psychological Thriller (Boston's Crimes of Passion Book 2) by Colleen Connally

that what she wanted over the years—for the truth to be told? Why then did it suddenly scare her? What if she didn’t want to know the truth? How could she live if the hope inside her was destroyed; if the truth wasn’t what she wanted it to be? What if it was worse than it was now?
    She stared at the photo for a moment and then picked it up. No, above all else, she needed the truth.
    “What do you want to know?”
    * * * *
    “We can stop at any time.” Kincaid placed the digital tape recorder in front of Riley. “Tell me about Harrison Taylor.”
    “I grew up with him.” She had a faraway look in her eye. “His grandmother was our live-in housekeeper. Momma died when I was too young to remember. Meme was like a surrogate mother and in a twist of fate, Daddy became Harrison’s surrogate father.”
    “Why?”
    She sighed heavily. “Daddy was devastated when Momma died. For years after, he buried himself in his work. We lived in the same house, but from what Meme told me, he hardly saw me. He left early in the morning and came home late at night.
    “I grew up in the small community of Whipple. Northwest of Charleston, not far from the Wando River. It was Momma’s home. Daddy had our home built especially for Momma, a colonial-style house with two piazzas. Yellow, a lovely shade of pale yellow…large…too large, with enough extra room for both Meme and Harrison. They lived downstairs in the room by the kitchen, and then Daddy moved Harrison upstairs.”
    “When did that happen?”
    “My fifth birthday,” she said in her smooth, Southern drawl. “I was so excited. Nana had sent me this beautiful birthday dress. Somehow I got this idea that I was going to have a party. Meme tried to tell me. She baked me a cake, but I refused to blow out my candles until the guests arrived…I just knew Daddy had me a big surprise. He didn’t…he forgot…
    “I was so upset I ran away.” She paused, as if collecting her thoughts. It took every bit of control to keep her welling emotions from exploding. “I ran out the back door, through our backyard and into the marsh. I kept running. I got lost. It got dark and I was so scared…so…so scared.
    “I was wet, cold, and afraid an alligator was going to eat me. Then Harrison found me. There was a whole search team out there, but it was Harrison, who discovered where I was along with our family dog, Major. Harrison and Major stayed with me until they could locate us. He thought it best if we stayed put. I found out later it was because he came across an alligator while looking for me.
    “He didn’t leave my side.” A sudden smile emerged. “Daddy was so excited to have found me, he scooped me up in his arms and hugged me so tight. He turned to Harrison and asked him why…why had he snuck out to look for me?
    “Harrison said, ‘You don’t abandon family.’” She shivered on the remembrance. “Daddy changed after that. Of course, Meme lit into Daddy afterwards. Told him it was time to start living in the present. Then we became a family of sorts.”
    He wrote notes as he watched her. Over the years, he had become good at reading people. Riley Ashcroft didn’t think Harrison capable of what he been accused of… It was evident she still thought of Harrison as a hero. Heroes didn’t commit murder.
    Her voice injected the love she felt for the people she talked about: Daddy, Meme, Harrison, and Grandmother Carver. From the sound of it, Harrison seemed more like her brother. He lived in a room down the hall from her. They went to the same school. Her father even coached his Pop Warner football team.
    In all the time she talked of her youth, she hadn’t mentioned her Boston family. His pen tapped on the table as he looked at her. “What of your grandfather, Walter Ashcroft, Sr. and your uncles?”
    Her expression altered. “There was a time that Daddy was really close to his father and brothers, but that was before my Uncle Donald married Vivian. Things