Pretty Little Wife(79)

The buzzing started in her pocket. Her phone. More news or some reassurance from Christina. Either way, Lila ignored it. So few people knew her private cell number but she didn’t want to speak with any of them. Not right now.

She’d married a twisted man. Slept with him. Vowed to stay with him. She’d missed every sign and skipped every opportunity to stop him.

This was Amelia all over again. Some piece of her missed seeing the worst in men.

Unable to keep her eyes open, she tipped her head back and rested it against the cabinet. Desperate to drift off to sleep but unable to because of the self-loathing running ram pant through her, she just sat there. The cool tile numbed her, and the need to throw up passed, but she wasn’t sure how she’d get up without help. All of her reserves were used up and dried out.

Her phone buzzed again, reminding her of the unread text. She reached for her cell and opened her eyes just long enough to read the screen.

We need to talk.

She was wide-awake now.





Chapter Fifty-Three


GINNY STARED AT JARED ACROSS THE INTERROGATION ROOM table. He sat by himself, insisting he didn’t need a lawyer. He had motive—the trust. He might have money, but they were talking about millions more as Aaron’s heir. Ginny also suspected his feelings for Lila weren’t quite as brotherly as he pretended. His rush to defend her seemed ingrained.

As they sat there, Pete and Charles watched from the other side of the two-way mirror. That added a level of pressure that only made her more determined. Jared had always been rock solid, said and did the right thing. She wanted to test him now.

“Your brother slept with students. The evidence suggests he hunted and killed Karen Blue. We now know the DNA under her fingernails is his. There’s also evidence of other victims.” When he opened his mouth to say something, she talked right over him. “You really expect me to believe all of this is news to you?”

“He’s not . . .” Jared exhaled as he dropped his arms on the table and leaned on them.

“What, Jared?” He could deny, but the facts of Aaron’s culpability were difficult to challenge. Witnesses to the school victims. Personal testimony by one of those victims. DNA and a deed that tied him to Karen’s murder.

Jared slowly raised his head. “Other victims?”

“We found personal items and jewelry he likely took from other victims.” She slipped the envelope with the photos out from the bottom of her file but didn’t open it yet. She wanted his full attention. There weren’t any fingerprints on any of the items and someone killed Aaron, so she needed more.

He blew out a long breath. Looked like he was fighting to keep from falling over. “I can’t believe this.”

The shock playing on his face reminded her of Lila. She went pale at the sight of the photos. The more Ginny had talked about bracelets and victims, the more hunted Lila had looked.

“The two of you were very close. You went hunting and hiking on weekends.” The prime times for Aaron to stalk his victims. “You can see why it’s hard for me to believe you didn’t have at least a hint about what he was doing in his free time.”

“Never,” he shot back.

“He didn’t talk about the girls at school?”

“No.”

“A stray comment about going away for a few days.” It was a small opening, and she hoped he’d take it.

He slapped his palm against the table with a whack. “That’s not who he was.”

The raised voice amounted to more emotion than he’d shown since Aaron went missing. She dug in a little more. “It is, Jared. We have the evidence. He owned the cabin.”

He scoffed. “He’s being set up.”

“By who?”

“The person who killed him.”

That piece stumped her every time. She wished Karen had taken Aaron out, gotten her revenge before she died, but the tests suggested otherwise. Karen died first, days before Aaron. They were still waiting on Aaron’s cause of death.

“Tell me who, Jared. You’re the one who insisted most people liked him.” She pretended to flip through her notes. “Who would set him up?”

“That Ryan guy had his phone. He was sleeping with Lila. That sure as hell sounds like motive.” Jared moved his hands around in the air. “Wasn’t he some sort of killer expert?”

“He claims someone planted the phone at his house and he’s never seen it before.” His prints weren’t on it, and Aaron’s were. Ginny knew a criminal defense attorney would jump all over that evidentiary loophole.

“Of course.” Jared’s voice got louder. “Because he wouldn’t lie about framing someone.”

“There’s an easier solution.”

“Nothing about this is easy.”

He sounded so much like Lila. That fact hit Ginny again and again while he talked.

“Let’s say Aaron had an accomplice. Someone who helped him hunt and kill those women.” This option made sense to her, except that she couldn’t figure out a way to believe in Lila’s absolution in all of this, and she didn’t see Lila as a serial killer accomplice, so . . . “Maybe someone who got tired of Aaron’s antics and killed him. Someone who financially benefitted from his death.”

Jared dropped back in his seat. “You’re looking at me for this?”