To Love and to Kill by M. William Phelps Page A

tell Josh was looking to hook up. “Um, you don’t know?” the friend asked.
    â€œKnow what?”
    Josh’s friend laughed.
    â€œWhat’s so funny?” Josh wondered. He felt like a fool who had not been let in on the joke.
    â€œShe went and got married, man. You didn’t hear? Emilia and Jamie Carr.”
    Josh knew Jamie. He couldn’t believe this. Never saw it coming.
    As he thought about it, Josh began to feel that Emilia getting married might actually be a blessing in disguise—maybe it was that sign he needed, telling him he was crazy for lusting after this woman when he had Heather and their kids. It was a good reason not to get back with Emilia and destroy any chance he had with Heather and their children for a life together. Josh could tell Heather that he was through with his year-plus “fling.” But now that Emilia was married, the way Josh saw it, their relationship, whatever it was, definitely had come to an end.
    Now Josh was thinking of a way to get back with Heather, who had moved back to Florida that fall of 2008 and had started working at the Petro again. But regardless of what Josh would later say, Heather had no intention of getting back with him. She was done. The history between them was too vast, too violent, too much had happened. It was time both moved on. Sure, they had kids, but Heather didn’t care this time around, she was telling friends. She needed to end things with this guy. It would never work. As many times as they had tried, it always turned out the same.
    Bad.
    As he left that friend after hearing about Emilia’s marriage, Josh ran into Emilia’s uncle, who was riding down the street on his bicycle.
    â€œHey, man, can you give me a lift home?” the uncle asked.
    Josh put the bike into his car and drove Emilia’s uncle over to Emilia’s mother’s house. As they pulled into the driveway, Josh saw Emilia’s truck and realized she was home.
    â€œI’m stopping here,” Josh said he told the uncle as he pulled over, parking up the road from the house. “I don’t want to see her.”
    As the uncle got out of the car, Josh claimed, “Emilia came out in some little booty shorts and so I got out and approached her.”
    â€œWhere’s your husband at, Emilia?” Josh said in a sarcastic manner. He couldn’t believe she went and got married. What the hell!
    â€œHow do you know?”
    â€œI found out.”
    Emilia seemed surprised. She didn’t tell Josh then, but the marriage was just about over, anyway. She and Jamie had been kidding themselves. They were planning to divorce.
    â€œAre you happy, Emilia?” Josh asked.
    â€œI was happy,” Emilia said, “until right now when I seen you. Now I’m confused.”
    â€œWhere’s your husband?” Josh asked again. Josh knew he was in jail. The uncle had told him.
    â€œAt work,” Emilia said.
    Josh laughed.
    â€œOkay, so he’s in jail.”
    According to Josh’s recollection, Emilia’s phone rang at that moment. It was Jamie Carr, who explained he had been let out of jail and needed a ride home.
    Emilia hung up and told Josh she had to go get Jamie. Turning and leaving, however, Emilia said, “Why don’t you drop by here tomorrow—come see me.”
    Josh knew it was trouble.
    â€œMaybe . . . ,” he said. “We’ll see.”
    Who was Josh Fulgham kidding? He drove away counting down the minutes.

CHAPTER 14
    THE MCSO FINALLY got a lead on Heather’s whereabouts. It was March 18, 2009. Two MCSO detectives took a ride to an Ocala Publix supermarket after receiving information that Heather’s debit card had been used there back on March 3, at 9:11 A.M. It was an exciting bit of evidence for the MCSO. The supermarket’s ATM machines were equipped with video surveillance, so detectives could sit down and watch the video from that transaction and find out