Pretty Little Wife(63)

“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.”