Chapter 5
"Mr. McLean, are you still there?"
AJ stared at the phone in shock.
"Mr. McLean?"
"Yes, I'm still here", said AJ softly.
"We're not saying he killed your wife. It's just that we thought you would like to have this information."
"I see."
"We'll call you later."
"Wait, I have to tell you one more thing." interrupted AJ.
"Is this about the case?"
"Well, not exactly."
"What is it then?"
"Crystal told me she thought she saw someone outside her window last night."
There was a pause, then Lt. Collins replied, "Are you sure?"
"Well, actually, when I looked out, I didn't see anyone. But I don't want to overlook it. Crystal's not a liar."
"Ok, we'll look into it.""
"Let me in!" AJ screamed as he banged on his best friend's door.
He heard somebody fiddling with the locks inside. Howie peeked out and saw him.
"AJ? What the heck are you doing? It's in the middle of the night."
"You have some explaining to do."
"Shush, AJ, don't be so loud, the neighbors might complain. Come in, sit down."
AJ entered the apartment, but refused to sit down. He faced Howie, "Tell me the truth, did you fool around with my wife?"
Howie was shocked and didn't know how to respond.
"Tell me!" ordered AJ.
"I don't know what you're...." Howie started to answer.
"Don't lie to me, Dorough, I know you got her pregnant!"
"What? How did you..."
"Just tell me the truth!" AJ shouted angrily.
"Ok, AJ, I had a one-night stand with Brooke, are you happy now?"
AJ didn't say anything.
"It didn't mean anything. We were both drunk that night, after the rehearsal dinner," Howie looked at AJ, who just stood there stiffly, "Say something please."
AJ paused, then replied, "You possibly couldn't have been with her the night before our wedding. She was with me. You probably got your dates wrong."
Howie shook his head, "I don't know, I was drunk out of my mind okay?
"And the paternity test?"
"Brooke just invited me to the hospital, hoping that we were wrong and you were really Crystal's father. But I was a match."
AJ couldn't believe what he was hearing, "How could you do this to me? You were my best friend!"
" I wanted to tell you sooner, but Brooke didn't want to. She wanted you to believe that Crystal was your baby. I'm really sorry"
"That doesn't mean anything to me now," AJ turned around and ran out of the door, slamming it behind him.
