Pretty Little Wife

by Darby Kane

  Tobias swore under his breath. “Is it possible you’re selling yourself short?”

  “I know both of them.” He didn’t. Tobias sided with her out of years of loyalty. He knew she held back and didn’t fight her. He was her toughest critic and biggest cheerleader. “Neither would be bothered unless it was to get together and talk about how much I suck.”

  “Enough with that kind of talk.”

  She ignored his frown and the slap of his voice. “I’m serious. Something else is going on here.”

  “You have a theory. Tell me.”

  Not yet. She knew better. “It’s not that simple.”

  Something sinister played out around her, which meant Aaron stood behind it. His rotting core guided this. She could only guess he’d been following the podcast. He’d love that sort of attention from the recent-college-graduate-turned-podcaster. But a bigger benefit existed, and it had nothing to do with a podcast. Getting back at her through Ryan was exactly Aaron’s style. Forget about hitting her straight on. He’d try to disable her from behind.

  Tobias dropped his voice even lower. “I think we should tell Ginny about the videos.”

  “Why now?”

  “She has your boyfriend in for questioning. That likely means she’s working on a theory where the two men fought or, worse, that you and Ryan set this up and plotted to kill Aaron.”

  That’s what she would do in Ginny’s position. Focus in on the couple aspect and make one of them break. Lila could see Ginny thinking through the same steps and coming to the same conclusion. “That’s ridiculous. She’s too smart for that.”

  “Is it? You’ve heard the story a million times. You wanted out of your sad marriage and enlisted your murder expert boyfriend to help make it happen.”

  Her head started to pound again. “There is not one piece of evidence that points to that scenario.”

  “It’s what some will assume, and they’ll say it enough that it becomes fact in people’s minds. The shouts and cries for justice will steer the investigation right into you, not away.”

  Her chest heaved with the force of deep breaths. She ached to sneak inside that room and hear what was happening. “I get that public opinion—”

  “It’s not a maybe, Lila. It’s happening. We have to get in front of this.”

  “Destroy Aaron’s reputation.” That she could get behind.

  “Is that such a terrible thing? The asshole was sleeping with students.”

  “And disclosing that I knew puts the spotlight solidly on me. It provides motive, which is something Ginny currently does not have.” It might tip her hand too early. There were still things he didn’t know. Unraveling yet to come.

  “Ryan gives her motive.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “True or not won’t matter. We need to scatter Ginny’s focus. Make it so she’s running around and can’t settle on one theory. Let the public do the work on Aaron.”

  “Okay, but one problem.” A big one. “What if the public does the work on me instead?”

  The main door swung open behind them and Jared marched in. He stared at his cell but looked up right before he ran into her.

  “Did Ginny call you in?” Tobias asked.

  “Yeah.” Jared sat down next to her. “She said there’s a witness.”

  Lila wouldn’t describe Ryan that way. “They found Aaron’s phone. I need to explain—”

  Jared frowned. “The witness is a woman.”

  Chapter Forty-One

  JARED SAT NEXT TO LILA, HIS ATTENTION FOCUSED ON A SPOT on the wall across from them. The white paint puckered over the stucco, right on the edge of peeling off. “The guy with the phone is your boyfriend.”

  “Jared . . .” She wasn’t sure what to say. There was no easy way to explain that the small flicker of light Aaron once lit inside her had died. That she dreaded the banality of living with him and had grown to hate the grating sound of his voice. And that was the tolerable stuff, the day-to-day things she’d figured out how to live with even as her disdain blossomed.

  He blinked a few times before turning his head to look at her. His gaze toured her face. “Did Aaron know about him?”

  The tortured sound of his voice ripped through her. She’d never expected her relationship with Jared to take this turn.

  He didn’t wait for an answer. “Because it sounds like they had some sort of altercation.”

  She couldn’t let his mind travel too far down that road. “There’s no evidence of that.”

  “Aaron’s phone was at this guy’s house. How do you explain that?”

  Every mention of the cell chipped away at her confidence. Ryan might be an asshole, but a killer? An accomplice of some sort? Her mind bucked at the thought of either. “I don’t know, but—”

  “And now this woman. I don’t understand what’s going on.” Jared rested his elbows on his knees and dropped his head in his hands.

  The click of practical heels came right before the answer. Ginny hovered over them with Tobias close to her side. They’d been secluded, having a conversation about the newest surprise in the case and why it was released to the public before either of the people closest to Aaron.

  “We have a witness. Her name is Samantha Yorke.” Ginny stared at Jared then moved on to Lila. “One of your husband’s former students.”

  Jared’s head shot up. “Does she know where Aaron is or something about his phone and Ryan?”

  Ginny’s emotions stayed even. “We’re still talking with her.”

  “About what, though?”

  “Jared.” Lila winced, trying to find the right delivery. “On some level, you know. A teacher and his student. My guess is she’s saying she’s more than a student.”

  “Interesting how you jumped to that conclusion.” Ginny’s expression stayed flat. Lifeless. “Unfortunately, you’re also correct. She says they had a relationship.”

  “He was her coach?” Jared sounded more confused by the second.

  Ginny shook her head. “Not only that type of relationship. This was personal.”

  “No. No way.” Jared’s gaze flipped between the people around him, landing on no one in particular before focusing on Lila. “You can’t believe that garbage.”

  Lila let her silence speak for her.

  “This woman is lying. Maybe she’s scared or, worse, looking to put herself in the middle of the investigation. That’s a thing people do, right?” Jared’s reasoning raced and shifted. The desperation to convince someone—anyone—vibrated in his voice.

  “She has a video she sent him. It’s very suggestive.” Ginny’s expression stayed blank, as if she weren’t taking a position on all she’d heard. “She says Aaron pursued her, convinced her they were dating, and then dumped her after they had sex. She started college this fall, but this happened while she was in high school.”

  Jared’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

  “She’s quite clear this wasn’t a one-time thing. Apparently, there are other girls, some as young as fifteen,” Ginny said. “It sounds like this is what Aaron does. Picks a girl and makes her feel special.”

  Lila choked back the bile racing up her throat. This was what she’d wanted—the truth out so the healing could begin, if that were even possible. The secrecy Band-Aid had to be ripped off so the hero worship would stop, but that didn’t make the process any easier to watch.

  Jared’s focus shifted back to that spot on the wall. “I can’t believe this.”

  “We’re going to talk about that.” Ginny looked at Lila. “First, you come with me.” Ginny gave Jared a fleeting glance as they started to walk toward the room where all of the questioning had taken place so far. “I’ll talk with you next.”

  Lila hadn’t walked through the specifics of how to handle this topic with Tobias. Strategy mattered, but she didn’t have time to map it out.

  She slid into the seat across from Ginny and asked the question dancing in her head—the one she’d tried to answer but couldn�
�t find the evidence to ferret out. “How many girls?”

  “I don’t know yet. Samantha gave us some names to verify. We’re also checking in North Carolina, since he taught there as well.” Ginny rolled a pen between her palms. “She said the one she knows personally still worships Aaron, but she’s heard rumors about others.”

  Tobias left his position at the door and joined Lila on her side of the table. “There are many girls, but this is the first you’re hearing about this?”

  “Good question.” Ginny glanced at Lila. “Is it the first you’re hearing about this, Lila? And keep in mind you already played your hand out there with Jared. You didn’t show one second of surprise in finding out about your husband’s extracurricular activities.”

  “Call him Aaron. Hearing this news makes me want to forget he’s my husband.”

  Tobias made a strangled sound. “This isn’t—”

  “You didn’t answer the question,” Ginny said at the same time.

  “Yes.” The blurt worked here. They could run around in circles or Lila could push them forward. She chose the latter.

  “You knew what he was doing with his students?” If the news shocked Ginny, she hid it well. Her voice didn’t even lift.

  “Before? Of course not. I figured it out after.” Lila tiptoed through the facts and picked out the ones that fit her narrative. “I found videos in the house.”

  Ginny shook her head. “You forget that we searched the house.”

  “Your people missed them.” They didn’t know to look on her or in a safety deposit box she kept in another name.

  “More secrets, Lila? You understand that makes you complicit, right?”

  Lila leaned back and crossed one leg over the other, trying to trick her nerves into calming down by acting calm. “I don’t know where he is and had nothing to do with his students. We both know you know that.”

  “You keep saying you don’t know his whereabouts, but I notice you never say that you didn’t kill him.”

  Because she couldn’t. Lying wasn’t a problem for her. It didn’t call up morality issues. She could lie with impunity if the situation called for it. But people like Ginny would expect her to feel sorry for making that choice, to do a performative dance of guilt and shame, and Lila felt neither.

  “Shouldn’t your focus be on Ms. Yorke right now?” Tobias asked. “Does she know what happened to Aaron?”

  “She has guesses. She thinks he went too far with a student this time and a boyfriend or someone defending another one of his students killed him, but there’s no evidence.”

  The room fell silent at an unexpected knock. The door opened, and Pete stepped inside but didn’t come closer. He stood with his back against the door. He’d clearly been listening and wanted a closer look.

  “The videos. Where are they?” Ginny asked.

  “Here.” Lila lifted her bag and pulled out an electronic device about the size of an e-reader.

  Ginny looked at the screen as she searched for the “on” button. “They’re on a notepad you carry with you?”

  “Where was I supposed to put them?”

  “Attitude, really?” Pete asked.

  Tobias exhaled. “Tell them where you found the videos.”

  “The tablet was tucked into a small space between a beam and the ceiling in the family room.” Now she’d lied. Head-on and big. “I did a full search after your people did.”

  “And yet you didn’t report the existence of the videos or suggest we come back and look at the ceiling.” Pete stepped to the table and glanced at the device over Ginny’s shoulder.

  “I’m telling you now.”

  The device clacked against the table as Ginny put it down without watching the videos or looking at any of the content. “Your story isn’t very convincing.”

  “Lila.” Tobias’s voice rang out in the quiet room. “You can tell them the truth.”

  She thought back to all she’d told him and the bits of story she’d confided. This was the time to lay the groundwork and ensure the investigation would go deeper than one man. “There’s a reason for my hesitation. I was trying to figure out if this mess with his students was bigger than Aaron.”

  “How so?” Pete asked.

  “How did Brent not know?” There were other targets, and he might be clean, but something felt off about him to Lila. Call it a mutual mistrust club. “Teens talk. They brag. They get pissed off and want revenge. And, nothing? It doesn’t make sense the gossip didn’t get out.”

  “You think Brent and Aaron are in this together? Like it’s some sort of pedophile ring?”

  Tobias held up a hand to keep her from answering Pete’s follow-up question. “No one is using that phrase. We don’t know what’s going on. That’s the point.”

  “If that’s true, you should have told us and let us investigate.” Ginny moved the tablet to the side.

  The condescending tone rang in Lila’s ears. Ginny might be right, but the words, the delivery, hit Lila wrong. “Next time I find out my husband inappropriately touched his students I’ll know the proper reporting etiquette.”

  Ginny didn’t back down. “If most people found evidence pointing to a school-wide problem, they’d immediately report it. That would be the most logical choice.”

  “You’ve made it pretty clear I’m the lead suspect in Aaron’s disappearance.” The only one, as far as Lila could tell.

  “As a result, Lila worried you would see the videos and get the wrong idea,” Tobias added with his usual smooth delivery.

  Ginny kept her attention on Lila. “Which would be?”

  “That I was angry he was sleeping around and killed him.” Lila had to force the words out. Sleeping around sounded voluntary. The phrase absolved Aaron from blame, and she hated doing that.

  Pete’s eyebrow lifted. “You weren’t?”

  Ginny’s elbows slid across the table as she leaned in. “Pete’s right. These accusations hit close. They must stir up certain memories. Make you furious for being put in this position. Again.”

  “Hey.” Tobias tapped the tip of his pen against the table. “Let’s keep the focus on Aaron.”

  Ginny held Lila’s gaze with an unblinking stare. “But Lila’s father had a similar problem controlling himself around young girls. This is a pattern with the men in her life.”

  Faces blurred in her mind. An endless line of weak men. Some sick and some pathetic, and all whining about how they weren’t responsible for their putrid actions. “You don’t need to sugarcoat it. My father stalked and killed a child. What Aaron did . . . he . . .”

  “Your father raped and murdered your best friend,” Ginny shot back.

  She’d answered these questions decades ago, and here she was again.

  You had to know how he felt about Amelia. The way he looked at her. What exactly did he ask you to do to get her to come to your house that day?

  Tobias tapped the pen harder. “We’re off topic.”

  Ginny’s hand inched across the table. “Some people thought you were in on it back then. I’ve read the notes in the case file. There’s a theory that you helped lure Amelia for your dad. A sort of father-daughter kidnapping team.”

  New images swam in front of Lila. Her father rubbing Amelia’s back. His insistence on taking them to the pond to swim. The way he watched for hours from the front seat of his car.

  I need to know you can handle yourself in the water. I might even jump in and join you.

  Pain wound deep in her gut. Disappointment. Surprise. Sitting in her kitchen back then, trying to work through exactly what the adults were asking when they talked about “inappropriate touching.”

  Her father barely paid attention to her, but Amelia was special. Lila recognized it, too. Sunny and sweet. She wore a big smile and her blond hair in that perfect ponytail.

  “You have a child.” Lila cleared her throat, hoping to even out her voice. When Ginny frowned, Lila rushed to get to the point. “It’s not a secret. There was a spotlight on y
ou in the paper when you got promoted to this job.”

  “You’re investigating me?”

  She refused to be knocked off her path. A deep, aching part of her needed Ginny to understand. To hear her and get what it was like to be so alone that the cold inside never warmed. To walk around always one word away from bursting into a fine powder and getting carried off with the wind. “What would you do for your son?”

  Ginny shrugged. “Anything, but I don’t see—”

  “Right.” Just what Lila expected. “No hesitation.”

  Pete shrugged. “What does that prove?”

  This was between her and Ginny, so she ignored the male voice. “Your son knows that security. He knows his parents love him, because I’m assuming your husband would give the same answer.”

  “We’re definitely off topic now,” Tobias mumbled.

  Ginny lifted a hand as if to tell the men to shut up. Her gaze never left Lila’s face. “Make your point.”

  “Your son understands how you would advocate for him. That you love him and support him. He’s learning it by living it. You’ve shown him every day of his life, and he carries that security, whether he truly appreciates it yet or not. It’s so deeply rooted that he’ll have it forever. You will be there for him.” Lila gulped in air, forced her body to breathe around the pain stabbing inside. “You know what I learned from my parents?”

  Ginny’s expression telegraphed that she was listening—totally engaged—but gave nothing away about what was happening inside her. “Tell me.”

  “Unconditional love is bullshit. A trap that lures you in, makes you comfortable, then snaps, breaking you in half. Like hope, it blinds and destroys. Leaves you limping and unprepared for what’s coming right for you.” She had never known a moment where it played out differently. “People think my father is a hideous monster, but he’s really a narcissist, incapable of love. Evil, possibly, but too self-involved for anyone to be able to honestly assess him.”

  “And your mother?” Ginny’s voice sounded softer now, more coaxing.

  “She showed how much she loved me when she threw herself off a building instead of sticking around and fighting for me.” Lila fought to swallow back the anxiety welling up inside her. “She picked death over me.”