Pretty Little Wife(97)
“I’d have to be a psychopath.”
“Or very smart. A person with a law degree who knew how the pieces worked.” But that was only part of it. Stopping there made her sound calculating and most concerned with the money, and Ginny didn’t buy that. “A woman who was done with the sick men in her life and took them out before they could do more damage. And just happened to earn a big payday doing it.”
“Interesting hypothetical.” Lila’s smile grew wider. “I especially like the last part.”
“We both know it’s true.”
Lila played with the mug. Spun it around but didn’t pick it up again. “Have any evidence to prove it?”
“You know I don’t.”
Lila let out a long breath. “Well, if it makes you feel better, I have Tobias working with the student victims to pay out settlements and get them help. They’ll be taken care of once the estate settles.”
Of course she did. Ginny should have seen that coming. The blood money would bother Lila.
“He’s also reached out to the families of Karen, Julie, and Yara about setting up some sort of foundation in their honor.”
Ginny ran a quick calculation in her head. “That doesn’t sound like ten million dollars.”
“About half.” Lila glanced around the now near-empty family room area. “I don’t need big houses and fancy watches, but it will be nice not to worry about how to pay the bills.”
“Any chance you’re going to spend some of your remaining share of the wealth on getting help?”
Lila’s smile fell. “Like a gardener?”
“Ryan might be an ass, but that doesn’t mean his diagnosis of you was all wrong.” Ginny could see Lila’s body shut down. She hadn’t moved, but that shield she threw up whenever anyone dug into emotions or health went up and stayed there. “You don’t have to be a victim.”
“I’m a survivor.”
That’s how she would describe Lila, too. If anyone asked her about this case in the future, she would use that word. “True.”
Some of the tension left Lila’s shoulders. “That’s good enough for me.”
“Okay.” Ginny got off the stool and set her untouched coffee on the counter, closer to Lila. “Then we’re done here.”
“You’re leaving?”
“I came to say goodbye. To let you know that you won. The case as to who really killed Aaron will slowly fade then be closed, but I know the truth. We both do.” Ginny remembered one more detail. “And the information you provided about Jared admitting to setting up Brent? The computer analysts are double-checking to make sure that’s true, but you likely saved him from jail time for something he didn’t do.”
Lila studied Ginny for a few seconds. Let her gaze wander over her. “You should be sheriff, not Charles.”
“I’m not a desk job type.”
“You’re a leader. The only one in this case I ever worried about.”
“I’m assuming that’s as close as you’ll ever get to confessing to planning the Payne brothers’ deaths.”
“Hypothetically, yes.”
Then she’d take that. She’d make it be enough. “Goodbye, Lila. I hope wherever you go you find whatever it is you’re looking for.”
“Honestly? I’ve given up on finding anything worth keeping.”
“I hope that’s not true.” She started down the hall, mentally debating if she could tolerate this ending. If she could let that last string about Aaron’s murder sit there without pulling it. And she decided what she’d told Roland days ago was right—she could.
Lila being in prison wouldn’t make anyone safer, and they didn’t have the proof to put her there anyway. A form of justice had been served, just not the type Ginny spent her life fighting for. Vigilante justice just invited more and eventually the innocent would be hurt, but this was one case not a lifetime statement.
She would never grieve for Aaron or Jared Payne. Not one minute. She’d save that energy for their victims. For the survivors who had to figure out how to move on. For the next case.
“Ginny?”
“Yes?”
Lila hesitated for a few seconds before talking. “There’s a place called Fischer’s Farm in Pennsylvania. I think the Payne family killing started long ago, when Aaron and Jared were young, with their father and some very powerful men who looked the other way. Their mother might have been Jared’s first victim, but she wasn’t the family’s first.”
She didn’t think. She knew. Ginny could see it on her face. “Jared told you that?”
“He learned how to kill from an expert.”
More bodies. More death. Possibly more closure for families who deserved it. “You didn’t share this information with the FBI?”
“I’m telling you. Someone needs to be there for those women. I think you’re the right person.” Lila’s head fell to the side. “Consider this my penance.”
“I thought you were innocent.”
“I never said that.” Lila walked back into the kitchen. “But finish it.”
Chapter Sixty-Two
This is Nia Simms and Gone Missing, the true crime podcast that discusses cases—big and small—in your neighborhood and around the country. And, boy, do we have a lot to talk about today. Events have unfolded at lightning speed.