Festive in Death (In Death #39)(116)

“Thanks. I did speak with your doctor before I came. She’s very pleased with your progress, and expects you to make a full recovery, and hopes you can be released in just a few days.”

“It feels like a miracle.”

“I’m sure it does. I regret to inform you we have your husband in custody. He’s been charged with Trey Ziegler’s murder, with Catiana Dubois’s murder, and with the attack on you.”

“Oh God.”

“You have to be strong, Tash.” Martella gripped her sister’s hand as she turned to Eve. “Lance and I talked about this. We went over and over it because it just doesn’t seem possible. But it is. It’s the only possibility. He must have lost his mind.”

“He’s a difficult man. I understand your loyalty, Ms. Quigley—Natasha,” Eve said, and gently. “But it’s time for the truth.”

“He’s my husband. How do I accept all this? How do I accept my husband is a murderer?”

“It’s hard. It has to be really hard. But we’ve been able to put it all together. The events, the timelines, all of it.”

“JJ.” Natasha choked it out. “I tried to tell myself I was confused. It couldn’t have been . . . But why, why? Why would he hurt Catiana, why would he hurt me? Why would he kill Trey?

“Tella’s right. He lost his mind. I should have seen it, I should have gotten him help before it was too late.”

Martella slid onto the bed, drew her sister close. “Don’t blame yourself, Tash. Don’t.”

“I don’t understand it. I don’t understand any of it.”

“He knew about you and Ziegler,” Eve told her.

“Oh God. God, I knew he’d be angry if he found out, but . . .”

“He didn’t find out,” Eve corrected. “He arranged it.”

“What—”

“He paid Ziegler to sleep with you.”

“He . . .” The tears in Natasha’s eyes dried to hard embers. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying he paid Trey Ziegler to initiate an affair with you, which, with Ziegler’s help, he documented in order to retain a generous financial settlement when he filed for divorce.”

“Oh, Tash.” Tella leaned in to offer more comfort. Natasha pushed her aside.

“He’s lying. JJ must be lying.”

“We have Ziegler’s records, corroborating the transactions. It was just another job for him—really lucrative since both you and your husband were, essentially, paying him for the same service. Just another way to cash in. You didn’t mean anything to him other than another body, another mark.”

“That’s not true. That’s absolutely not true.”

The flash in her eyes told Eve what she needed to know.

“He used you. Ziegler used you, and he and your husband laughed about it behind your back.”

“No. Trey cared about me.”

“He cared about the money you gave him, the money he got from your husband. He double-dipped, and it ended up killing him.”

“We had a relationship. Do you understand me?”

“I’m not sure I do.”

“Tash, don’t upset yourself. The man was a bastard. He took advantage of you.”

“Of you,” Quigley tossed back at Martella. “Not of me. No one takes advantage of me.”

“It’s hard to take.” Eve patted Natasha’s leg. “Really hard for a smart, strong-willed woman to take when she’s been duped. Everything he said to you was a lie, and one your husband paid for—worse, paid for with your money. I know it’s rough. It was bad enough when you found out Ziegler was seeing that idiot Alla Coburn again, bad enough when he lied to you about her, about others.

“He made you feel special, excited,” Eve continued. “When you snuck out to see him that day—the day of your party—you just wanted to see him before he left for the seminar. But you saw he’d been with someone else. The cheap bra, the slutty shoes, right there, in your face.”

“What are you talking about?” Martella demanded. Eve ignored her.

“He brushed it off. He had a way, didn’t he? She didn’t mean anything to him. Just sex. Did he laugh at you when you told him you wouldn’t tolerate it? Did he sneer when you said you loved him, wanted him to only be with you? Was he laughing when you picked up the trophy and swung it at his head?”

“You can’t talk to her that way.” Martella tugged on Eve’s arm. “She’s hurt. She’s been victimized. Lance, make her stop.”

“Wait.” He stared at Eve, shifted his gaze slowly to Natasha’s face. “Just wait.”

“I don’t want to talk to you.” Natasha plucked at the sheets, blinked tears into her eyes. “You’re saying horrible things.”

“You stuck the knife into his heart because he’d stuck one into yours. It was all lies, Natasha. Yours, your husband’s, Ziegler’s. Everything you did: lies. You thought you’d gotten off clear, you told yourself you did what you had to do, and that was that. But the time it took? That tripped you up. You had to cancel your hair and face techs. I’ve checked with them, too.”

“I was busy preparing for the party.”