Pretty Little Wife(78)
Her muscles grew heavy as reality hit and her body collapsed. The news shouldn’t have been a surprise. Once they found Karen’s body, some form of this was inevitable, but her mind sputtered and shock shook through her. She felt flu-like and achy, barely able to sit there as the truth spilled out.
“Both of those items were found in the cabin. Those weren’t the only items.” Ginny stopped to clear her throat. “The FBI is tracking the other pieces to see if they match up with any missing persons cases.”
More jewelry. Other women.
All those fishing and hunting trips when she welcomed the peace that came with having Aaron out of the house. He’d really been out there . . . doing what? Scouting women. Hurting them. Dragging them away to that cabin.
“I think I’m going to be sick.” Lila doubled over in her chair with her hand over her mouth.
“I have photos of the contents of the box and was hoping you could look—”
“Maybe not now.” Tobias slid closer to Lila, with his hand rubbing up and down her back.
She didn’t want to be touched or comforted. She pulled away, trapping her body against the armrest as she struggled to breathe.
“No, it’s okay.” She had to force every image from her mind. Tangled and mashed bodies. Aaron’s smirk. “Let me see the pictures.”
Ginny hesitated for a few seconds before opening the envelope and dropping photos on the table. Each one showed a piece of jewelry or a personal item Lila had never seen. Nothing looked expensive. Just ordinary items that belonged to women who never expected that day to be their last day.
She’d hated Aaron for so many weeks. As she paged through the photos, only one thought ran through her head: I didn’t kill him soon enough.
She separated out one and slid the others across the table to Ginny. “None of these.”
Ginny’s gaze hadn’t wavered since she’d delivered her devastating news. She pointed at the one photo Lila separated out. “Is that familiar?”
Lila picked it up to get a closer look. A bracelet. Nothing fancy. A simple silver bracelet with an “A” charm on it and some scrapings on the back. “It’s the letter. Aaron’s mother’s name was Anna.”
“What are you saying?” Tobias asked as he looked at her.
Something. Nothing, really. It had to be a coincidence . . . but the moment she thought that, old doubts pricked at her. “I’ve never seen the bracelet, and the name is common, but . . .”
Ginny continued to watch her. “She was killed by a hunter.”
“Yes. That’s the story.” Aaron and Jared told it. They’d profited from it by getting the trust.
Color returned to Ginny’s face. She looked more invested, more animated than when she’d first walked in. “You’re not sure the hunting story is true.”
“I don’t know what to believe. Aaron didn’t seem capable of . . .” She swept her arm over the table. “Well, any of this, when we got married.”
Was it that much of a reach to think he’d killed before they’d moved there? Back in North Carolina or when he was growing up?
“The FBI is bringing in ground-penetrating radar and other resources to survey the land around the cabin for additional bodies.” Ginny gathered the photos and put them back in the envelope.
One question hit Lila and wouldn’t retreat. “Did you figure out who owns the property?”
“Aaron.”
An off-pitch humming started in Lila’s ears. She inhaled a few times to make sure she wasn’t screaming out loud. “How is that possible?”
“It looks like he bought it under a corporate name years ago. Used trust money to do it.”
Tobias sat forward, right on the edge of the couch. “How did Jared not know that?”
“I intend to ask that question.” Ginny’s gaze switched from Tobias to Lila. “But I do wonder how you, as his wife, didn’t.”
“I had no idea. I have nothing to do with that trust.” That was the truth. The money wasn’t hers and never would be. Aaron had repeated that tidbit so many times during her marriage that she heard his mocking tone in her sleep.
“You have to admit that excuse sounds convenient.”
Ginny was a smart woman, but this part she’d gotten dead wrong. “Honestly? Nothing about being married to Aaron Payne was convenient.”
GINNY STAYED FOR another fifteen minutes. She walked through more questions and doubled back to some old favorites. Lila struggled to concentrate through all of it.
When Ginny finally left, Lila headed for the bathroom down the hall. She shut the door with a bang and turned on the faucet. For a few minutes, she stood there watching the water twirl toward the drain.
She bent over, intending to splash water on her face and revive her body before she broke down. She got as far as resting her elbows on the sink. Her head fell forward; the cold water trickled down the side of her hair and dripped onto her arm.
She felt nothing. Her mind protected her by going blissfully blank. She doubted she could conjure up a rational thought if she had to.
Aaron . . .
Her knees buckled, and her body slowly sank. Her butt hit the tile, and she turned around to lean her back against the cabinet. She could hear the running water but didn’t have the energy to turn it off.