Victorious(47)

I bring him into the kitchen, offer him a chair and a cup of coffee, which he declines.

“Nice place you got here.”

“I like it.” When I sit next to Natalie, she takes hold of my hand under the table. And just that simply, I feel calmer, more prepared to keep my cool no matter what buttons Vickers decides to push. “This is my wife, Natalie.”

“Pleased to meet you.”

She smiles and nods but doesn’t return the sentiment. That’s my girl.

“And my attorney, Emmett Burke.”

“What can we do for you?” Emmett asks.

“Do I have your permission to record this conversation?”

Emmett nods. “Go ahead. We have nothing to hide.”

Vickers places a handheld recorder on the table and lists the parties present as well as the date and location. “As you know, we’re looking into the murder of David Rogers. Mrs. Godfrey, could you please tell me about your association with him?”

She looks at me for reassurance. I wish I could spare her from having to talk about things she’d rather forget.

“I met him during Oren Stone’s trial. He was acquainted with the detective who took me in after my parents… I was estranged from my family and…” She takes a deep breath. “David offered to help me establish a new identity.”

“Was that his idea or yours?”

“It was his suggestion, but I was very anxious to leave the past behind. He didn’t have to talk me into it.”

“How exactly did he go about establishing your new identity?”

“I’m not sure of the exact steps he took. I was seventeen and looking for a fresh start after two nightmarish years. When he produced a new birth certificate, passport, Social Security card, a credit card, bank accounts, I didn’t ask questions.”

“Do you know if he actually changed your name or if he created a new identity?”

“He created a new identity because I didn’t want some clerk in an office to be able to tie the two names to each other. That was very important to me.”

“How much did you pay him for these items?”

“Five thousand dollars.”

“And where did you get the money?”

“After Stone was charged with attacking me, some of his rivals and enemies came together to raise funds to support me during the trial. I used the money to pay for living expenses and tutors so I could finish high school from home. I paid for clothes and other expenses. I used part of it to pay David, and the rest went toward half of my college tuition.”

“How did you pay for the other half?”

I reach my limit with that question. “What does that have to do with anything?” It’s pure torture watching Natalie talk about this shit again. The experiences of her teenage years might always be part of her, but she shouldn’t be forced to constantly relive it. I can’t bear it.

“We’re looking into Mr. Rogers’s business dealings.”

“All of them or just the ones that involve my wife?”

“All of them.”

She squeezes my hand. “I paid for the rest of college with loans and by working two jobs.”

“A run of your credit shows that your loans were recently paid off in full. Can you explain how that transpired?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I paid off her loans.”

“I was asking Mrs. Godfrey.”

“What he said. How do you think I suddenly paid off thousands of dollars in loans when I recently lost my job?”

I bite my lip to hold back a smile.

“When was the last time you saw or spoke to Mr. Rogers?”

“More than six years. I never saw him again after he delivered the documents to the home where I was living.”

“Talk to him?”

“No. I had no need to. I hired him to do a job for me. He did it. I paid him. End of story. Until…”

“Until?”

“Until I appeared at the Golden Globes with Flynn, and David sold me out to the media.”

“And how do you know it was him?”

“He was the only one who knew me by both names.”

“You never told anyone else what your new name is? Not even the family you lived with?”

“No. I told no one. I’m still April to the family I lived with and the few other people who remained in my life after the attack.”

“In all the years after you changed your name, you never told anyone about your former name, your former life in Lincoln?”

“The point of changing my name was that I didn’t want anyone to know who I used to be. I never told anyone. I hadn’t even told Flynn the full story before it hit the news. He learned my birth name from reporters.”

“Where did you live while you were in college?”

Again she looks at me, as if to ask what the meaning of this is. I’m wondering the same thing.

“The first year, I lived in a dorm and then in an apartment the other three years.”

“Roommates?”

“A few. Here and there.”

“I assume you made some friends there, in classes, jobs, activities? Boyfriends?”

“What’re you getting at, Agent Vickers?” Emmett asks, saving me the trouble.