Pretty Little Wife

by Darby Kane

  Jared stared into his black coffee. “This is unbelievable.”

  After only a few minutes, Jared had shown more emotion than Lila had in all of their meetings. Lila was exactly the topic Ginny wanted to discuss. “Let me ask you a few questions. I need to start with an obvious one we ask everyone. Where were you between four and seven in the morning on the day Aaron went missing?”

  “Four?”

  “Yes.” She wasn’t about to go into a detailed explanation of the video intel they’d found. Not yet.

  “At a conference in Rochester. It was about discount pricing for companies who improve properties.” He took a sip of coffee. “In other words, mortgage strategies for property flippers. I left two days before Aaron went missing and was there until about ten in the morning on that day. I came home as soon as Brent called me.”

  “I’ll need the hotel information and any names of people who can confirm you were there.” Ginny waited until Jared nodded to continue. “Did Lila get in touch with you that morning as well as Brent?”

  “She didn’t do this.”

  That was quick and adamant. His voice still rang off the walls when Ginny started poking around in his response. “What exactly?”

  “Anything to my brother.” Jared sat back, taking the cup with him. Holding it in a tight grip that suggested he needed it to keep from fidgeting or flailing. “Look, I know she’s different, but so is he. They’ve both had these horrible things happen to them. They’re . . . I don’t know, careful.”

  “Broken?”

  “Not really. They both function fine.” He took a long sip. “She had a successful legal career. Now she sets her own schedule and sells houses without trouble. I’ve been told people like her no-bullshit style as an agent.”

  Pete nodded. “I can see that.”

  “My brother has exactly the job he’s always wanted. He loves kids. Always talked about being a coach.” Jared smiled as he played with the handle on the mug. “I thought he’d go on and teach at the college level, but that wasn’t his thing. He wanted to mentor kids through the teen years. The tough years.”

  “Why did they move to New York from North Carolina?” That question stuck out in Ginny’s mind as an area to pursue. Pete had made some calls, but no one offered much.

  Jared shrugged. “Aaron wanted to coach but couldn’t there. He and the guy in charge of the athletic programs argued about it, so when a position came open here, near where we grew up and where I live, Aaron grabbed it.”

  Sounded reasonable. Ginny still wanted another opinion before she’d drop it, but for now that explanation worked. “You and your brother are close.”

  “We are. Some kids who are close together in age fight. Some are close. We’re lucky to be the latter.”

  He had a smooth style. Didn’t offer too much or too little. Smiled when it was appropriate to smile. Ginny tried to read deeper and hit a roadblock. But the way he described his brother and Lila made them sound pretty normal. He seemed to be alone in thinking that. Brent suggested, at least recently, they tolerated each other more than they loved each other.

  “Are you . . . What was the word you used to describe your brother and his wife? Different?”

  “Yes, and careful. I haven’t dated a woman for more than a month my entire life, so yeah, I’d say I have some issues. It’s hard not to.” His fingers tightened on the mug. The clench lasted for a second, then he relaxed again. Not fully relaxed, but his shoulders slumped and he blew out a long breath. “I should probably explain a bit about our upbringing.”

  She had the basics. The kind of stuff that’s included in an official file, which she knew from experience was never the full story. By the time he’d finished talking about his mother’s death and the accident that took his father, Ginny hadn’t learned one new piece of information. “Lila told me the same thing.”

  It was almost like listening to a tape. Mom shot by accident by hunters. Dad killed in an unsolved hit-and-run. A nearly word-for-word description that mirrored Lila’s telling of the same events.

  Where Jared was warm and smiling when talking about Aaron and Lila, his voice remained flat when walking through his parents’ deaths. Could be some sort of post-trauma issue. Since those deaths were long ago handled by other law enforcements officials, she didn’t bother digging too deep. They needed to stay focused on Aaron, the possible third catastrophe for this family.

  “Do you know about her parents?” Jared asked.

  Ginny wasn’t sure if she was being tested, so she played along. “Her father is in prison. Does she ever talk about him?”

  “Never. Would you? He sounds like a psychopath.”

  Probably not a surprise. Ginny couldn’t imagine having that man as a father or the destruction he’d unleashed on Lila’s life. But there was one more player. “And her mother?”

  Jared’s eyes narrowed. “She died.”

  “How?”

  This time he drained the cup before speaking. “The official story is she fell off the rooftop of her office building. People went up there to smoke, and she smoked. It was one of those misty, rainy days, and she fell.”

  Pete stopped taking notes. “What’s the unofficial story?”

  “She killed herself.” Jared let out a long breath. “Lila thinks she jumped. The pressure of having a pedophile for a husband was too much. The trial was all over the news. Someone tried to burn down their house. Lila couldn’t go to school because she was getting beaten up and threatened.”

  Pete whistled. “That’s pretty awful.”

  “Unimaginable, actually.”

  The words sounded defensive. Rough, as if he wanted to do battle for her. An interesting idea, since Lila struck Ginny as a pretty self-reliant and tough woman. The kind that didn’t need a savior. “You’re fond of your sister-in-law.”

  “Not sure what you’re saying there, but yes, in a sister kind of way only.”

  Very defensive. Ginny saw Pete freeze at the sound of Jared’s voice that time.

  “That’s what I meant,” Ginny said.

  “She’s perfect for Aaron.” Jared sat forward in his chair again with his elbows resting on the table. “She doesn’t demand much from him. Neither wanted children. She’s quieter, prefers being at home, but she’s friendly. Smart. I enjoy talking to her about things.”

  “She very attractive,” Pete said. “It’s one of the first things people say about her when you ask them.”

  “Sure, she’s pretty.” When no one jumped in, Jared added on to his explanation. “A lot of women are pretty. I think what people are reacting to is her affect. She’s confident. Very self-aware. Then there’s the fact she always looks perfect.”

  It sounded to Ginny like he was describing a mannequin, not a woman. “But you’ve seen her in sweatpants and workout gear, right?”

  “Honestly? Rarely.” A smile came and went. “She looks pretty amazing just sitting around the house, too.”

  Ginny wasn’t sure what to do with that tidbit of information. She stored it away, thinking Jared might have a bit of a crush. Harmless, but there.

  “You’ve spent a lot of time together.” Ginny held up her hand before he could launch into another denial. “With them as a couple, I mean.”

  Jared’s shoulders unbunched as he nodded. “Yes, and a lot of fishing and hiking time with Aaron.”

  “What about their relationship? Do they fight?” Pete asked.

  “They’re human.”

  Ginny tried to imagine how fair of a fight Lila would engage in. “Anything that concerned you? That you considered out of the norm for them?”

  “No.” He winced. “Well . . . It’s not a big thing, but they had a fight and Aaron ended up at my house for a few nights, but he went home and apologized. They were working it out.”

  Ginny thought about that interview with Brent. “When was this?”

  Jared picked at the mug handle again. “Six or seven weeks ago.”

  Ginny felt Pete glance in her directio
n before he took over. He’d watched her interview with Brent. He knew about the odd comments. “They still hadn’t made up?”

  “They did. He went back home, but things could still get tense.” Jared made a strangled sound. “I’m not married, but I assume it’s a normal marital thing.”

  This matched the timing Brent had mentioned, so Ginny wasn’t quite ready to let it go. “What was the fight about?”

  “I have no idea. Neither of them volunteered a lot of information. Again, they’re very private.”

  No . . . that sounded wrong. She had a sister. She would ask. Poke and wait it out, but she’d give her every chance to talk about it. “Did he normally run to your house when they fought?”

  “The way you’re saying it sounds like you’re attaching some sort of judgment, but no. This was the first time.” He hesitated for a few seconds. “I don’t think she kicked him out. It was more like he was giving her space.”

  “Some guys need that.” Pete leaned in. Did a sort of man-to-man, just-us-talking thing with Jared. “Do you think your brother needed an escape and left for a while? A too-much-yelling-at-home sort of thing?”

  “We had plans to go fishing this weekend. He rented a boat. I can get you the information, but it’s the same one we’ve used before. Just the two of us. Why do that if he was going to run?” Jared smacked the side of his hand on the table as he made each point. “And he’s not the type. Not without talking about it or formally separating from Lila, which I can’t really see him doing anyway.”

  It sounded like they’d reached the end of his tolerance for talking about his brother’s marriage. Ginny didn’t see an opportunity for breaking through on that point, so she circled and tried a different tack. “Do you know anyone who would want to hurt your brother?”

  “He’s a teacher. It’s pretty safe stuff.”

  Pete snorted. “Have you been to a school lately?”

  “Good point.” Jared’s mood lightened a bit. “Some of his stories were wild, but none of them were about safety or threats. They were more like you’ll never believe what this kid said today stuff.”

  That matched what the other teachers said. “Other than Brent, does your brother have a lot of friends?”

  “Some. Mostly through school and coaching. I can give you a list.”

  “What about Lila?”

  Jared’s mood slammed closed again. He became almost guarded, as if he knew he needed to weigh each word to protect her. “She has some anxiety issues, so she sticks close to home except when she’s working.”

  “What about . . .” Ginny made a show of leaning over and looking at the file in front of Pete, even though there was nothing spur-of-the-moment in the question she was about to ask. “Ryan?”

  Jared’s expression went blank. “Who?”

  “Ryan Horita.”

  He looked at the table and the file. Even spun his mug around in between his palms once before answering. “Who’s that?”

  “Someone close to Lila.” She chose every word for a reason.

  Jared shook his head. “That’s not possible. I’ve never heard of him.”

  That’s exactly what Ginny wanted to hear.

  Chapter Twenty

  Welcome back. This is Nia Simms and Gone Missing, the true crime podcast that discusses cases—big and small—in your neighborhood and around the country. Even before we started focusing on Karen Blue, every week I hoped to come on here with the good news that she’s been found or, at least, that there has been a break in the case. She’s officially been missing nine weeks, and the news remains bleak. Karen’s ex, the one who allegedly shoved her into a wall and claims to have been out with friends the night Karen disappeared, still looks like the lead suspect . . .

  “Listening to that sort of thing is not going to lessen your anxiety.” Tobias made the assessment while sprawled on Lila’s sectional sofa, scanning through the emails on his phone.

  She slipped back into the family room with a bottle of water for her and a glass of red wine for him. She handed the crystal she almost never used to him. At home, away from prying eyes, she was the wine-in-a-mug type—no need for anything fancy—but Tobias strenuously disagreed.

  “The podcast works as background noise.”

  He stared at her over the rim of the glass. “It’s a true crime podcast. About death and murder.”

  “Nia, the person who runs this one, said Karen’s disappearance was fading from the news. Nia is semilocal and so is the missing woman, so now the where is she? talk is nonstop.” She shot her workaholic friend a smile. “Honestly, true crime podcasts are all the rage right now.”

  “Yeah, I know.” He took a sip of wine then set the glass down on the stack of magazines on the table in front of him. “We have podcasts in North Carolina, too.”

  They were casual and comfortable together. Nothing had changed on that score despite her move to New York. Their friendship had started back in law school. They’d launched their careers in different ways. Hers in a boutique criminal defense firm. His in the prosecutor’s office. It didn’t take long for their interests to merge again and the need to be their own bosses to take over.

  They’d been colleagues and friends, and now she would be the client. She didn’t like the change.

  He shifted his leg until his knee touched hers. “You okay?”

  “Haven’t you heard? My husband is missing.”

  “I’m going to ignore how flippant that sounded and ask you lawyer questions now.”

  She ignored the fine tremble in her fingers and focused on the opportunity to practice. “Fire away.”

  “Where were you when he disappeared?”

  The real answer—planting video evidence in his car showing the sick bastard liked young girls—seemed wrong, so she evaded. “Where do you think I was in the morning?”

  “Asleep and without an alibi.” He let out a dramatic sigh. “Thanks for that.”

  “Anytime.”

  “Did you guys fight?”

  She fiddled with the top on the water bottle. “I think all couples fight.”

  “Do not tell an engaged man that.” He held out a hand. “Here, let me try.”

  He opened the top and handed the bottle back to her. He was smart enough not to call her weak. She was horrified that she couldn’t get her body to work with her. Waves of anxiety crashed over her, pressing her down, making her doubt every sentence and every thought. She wanted to get in the car and drive away. To mimic what some thought Aaron had done to get out of a loveless marriage.

  She’d heard the whispers. They would only grow louder and angrier. Those who knew about Aaron’s disappearance pointed. Once the news went out wider, her life would turn to shit. Every time she’d ever put her head down in the grocery store rather than say hello to someone would be brought up, twisted, and dissected.

  She needed to think of something happier, even if only for a second. “How’s Cade?”

  Tobias’s smile was so big, so genuine. “He’s great, despite his ridiculous family.”

  She loved hearing about the preparations for the wedding of infamous playboy Cade Linden and hot lawyer Tobias Maddow. She was pretty sure one email he’d sent had talked about having doves at the reception. Another said something about horses and hinted at a huge argument about guests being ferried to a private island by yacht.

  “That’s what you get for marrying into Southern money.” Like, stupid money. Tobias’s in-laws-to-be owned most of South Carolina, or so it seemed. “There are how many retired politicians, big law firm partners, and business owners in the family?”

  “I stopped counting.” Tobias picked up his glass again. “And you need to stop changing the subject.”

  He was the one person she couldn’t fool. He’d known about her feelings on marriage and love from the beginning. She’d been looking for a home and exchanged that with a marriage.

  She knew it. Tobias knew it. Hell, she thought Aaron knew it.

  “You’ve hung around Aar
on. He’s solid and stubborn. Dependable and frustrating.”

  Tobias barked out a laugh. “It’s like you’re describing an annoying puppy.”

  Sort of. Maybe a feral one.

  She twisted the bottle cap back and forth. “Not all of us get a grand love story.”

  “You could.”

  “I wanted simple and clean. A guy with his own paycheck who didn’t depend on mine.” The more she added, the lamer it sounded. “Company and comfort.”

  Tobias toasted the air. “Very romantic.” Some of Tobias’s amusement faded. “But really, I can’t see him leaving you without a word.”

  “Me either.” And he didn’t. Not on purpose, but the leaving was not her concern right now. She was far more invested in learning about his current location. She imagined him sitting somewhere, writing those damn notes as he plotted his revenge.

  “So, what does that mean? Where do you think he is?” Tobias asked.

  She didn’t know what to say. Make up something, maybe? Nia Simms’s voice saved her from having to do that.

  . . . but let me suggest another possibility. What if Karen wasn’t the first college student to go missing in the area? There’s Yara James. Her cousin contacted us and reminded us of this cold case. It hasn’t gotten as much attention as Karen’s case, but Yara is still missing. She was thinking about transferring and visited Cornell, and no one has seen her since. We know she was on campus and that she checked out of the hotel she was staying in. That disappearance happened two and a half years ago, and she hasn’t been seen or heard from in all that time.

  Yara’s cousin mentioned another missing woman. Julie Levin. She went hiking with her boyfriend in Treman State Park near Lucifer Falls and disappeared. That happened about a year ago. Her boyfriend has been arrested but he insists he’s innocent. What if he is and we don’t have one missing woman . . . we have three? Three women, all college-aged. All with long brown hair. All with a certain look and body type—athletic build, fit, pretty, and around five foot seven. Does that description fit a lot of women? Sure, but these women are all missing from the same general area. Is it possible one person is responsible for all three disappearances?