The First Wife (38 page)

“You won’t.”

“And why’s that?”

“You’ll have to explain how you came to have True Abbott’s wedding ring in your possession.”

He forced a laugh. “That was my mother’s ring.”

“Really?” Stephanie held it up and read the inscription. “‘My True Love.’”

“So?”

“I find it odd that your mother had the same inscription on her wedding band as True
Abbott.”

He couldn’t take his eyes off the ring. It caught the light as she held it up between
her forefinger and thumb. Winking at him.

Taunting him. Calling him a fool. A blind fool.

“What do you want from me?” he asked, the words coming out a croak.

“The truth.”

His right eye began to twitch. His head filled with an image.

True’s hand. Still and pale. Her fourth finger. The ring, winking at him.

Winking at him. In the light.

My True Love.

She’d called him, he remembered. Used the card he’d given her that very first day,
when he’d rescued her from the side of the road. Asked him to meet her. Logan was
out of town, gone to Jackson on business.

“Billy Ray, I need to talk to you.”

His heart soared. Finally, the moment he had waited for. She was reaching out, turning
to him. “When?” he asked, barely able to form the words. “Where?”

“The sooner the better. Someplace no one will see us.”

Something in her voice. Something desperate. “Do you know where Miller Road is?”

“Yes.”

“At the very end is an abandoned farm. The barn is right there. Meet me there in an
hour.”

Stephanie snapped her fingers. “The truth, Billy Ray. What’s so hard about that?”

He blinked, disoriented. “True was afraid of him, of Logan. Controlling her every
thought, her every move. She couldn’t breathe when he was around. Always tiptoeing.
Afraid something she said or did would set him off.”

“I know all your theories, Billy Ray. I’ve heard them a million times. And I know
this is True’s ring because she showed me the inscription. How’d you get it?”

“She gave it to me, before she left him.”

“I thought you said he killed her? All these years, isn’t that what you said?”

“He did.”

“After she gave you the ring and left?”

He met Stephanie’s eyes, but saw True’s blue ones instead. Bright with tears.

“Thank you for calling me, True. You did the right thing. You won’t regret it.”

“Billy Ray—”

“No, please. Let me talk.”

He reached for her hands, she slid them into her pockets. It hurt, felt like a slap
in the face, but he pushed the hurt aside. The same as he had every time his father
had struck as he stepped between him and his mother.

He hadn’t been able to protect his mother.

He would protect True, no matter the cost.

“I see what he is, True. I know. I’m the law, I can protect you.”

“No, you’re wrong. I’m here because—”

“I’m not wrong.” He shook his head. He had to convince her. He had to make her see.
“I have a gun. And a badge. My uncle is the chief of police. He won’t be able to touch
you—”

“You need help, Billy Ray.”

“No. I need you, True. I love you.”

“You don’t even know me.”

“I know you’re sweet and kind. You’re beautiful, inside and out. I’ll take care of
you—”

“I love him, Billy Ray. That’s not going to change, not ever.”

“We can go anywhere. We’ll leave Wholesome. Go where he won’t find us—”

“Look—” She dug into her purse. “I have money. Ten thousand dollars. You can have
it, Billy Ray.”

She held out the stack of bills. “See? You can have it.”

He frowned. Money. A lot of money. Her wedding ring winking at him. “I don’t understand—”

“It’s for you. To leave Wholesome, start a new life. To get the help you need—”

“You’re sweating, Billy Ray.”

His vision cleared. Stephanie. The ring in her hand. “She was so afraid of him, of
what he would do. That’s why she gave me the money. I didn’t want it. Only her.”

“What money?”

“The ten thousand.” He rubbed palms together. They were wet, sweating. The way they
had been that day. “She was too afraid to leave him. The same as my mother was too
afraid.”

She was staring at him, revulsion in her eyes. He wiped his brow. His upper lip. “Stop
looking at me like that.”

“You killed her.” She took a step backward. “Oh, my God, you did it.”

“No.” He shook his head. “He did. With his jealousy. His … rage.”

“But she didn’t see it that way, did she?”

“Now, he’s free again. And Bailey’s in danger. Don’t you see?”

Sweat, dripping in his eyes. Soaking his shirt.

“What happened?” Stephanie asked. “She didn’t love you and wouldn’t leave him so you …
strangled her? Like Nicole Grace was strangled? And maybe the others, too. And you
kept her ring. As a souvenir.”

Nicole Grace? The others?
“What are you talking about?”

“True’s dead. You’ve known it all along because you killed her.”

“I didn’t kill her! She slipped and fell.”

“And what? Hit her head? C’mon, Billy Ray.”

“I was trying to make her see. Make her understand! It was an accident!”

“True, sweetheart—”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Baby, please—” He caught her by the shoulders. “I love you. We’ll use that money
to start our new life together.”

“Let me go!”

“Not until you say yes. Until you—”

“You’re hurting me!”

“Stop fighting me! Just listen—”

She broke away from him and ran toward her car. He caught up to her, grabbed her arm.
She spun around, swung at him, hitting him in the side of the neck.

Surprised, he released her. She lost her balance, fell forward. As if in slow motion
he saw her head hit the ground with a horrible crack.

Billy Ray realized he was crying. Blubbering like a baby. “I loved her. I’d never
hurt her. Never lay a hand on her!”

“But you did hurt her. You did lay a hand on her.”

“I didn’t want to. I didn’t know what to do! You have to understand! She was acting
crazy. Irrational. All I wanted to do is stop her, make her listen to me. To understand.”

“This ring is the proof. Just like the other trophies are. The ones you wanted the
sheriff’s detectives to find. It’s why you were so desperate to get a search warrant.”

Understand. She had to understand.

“It’s how you’ve always known the bodies were all buried at Abbott Farm. Because you
buried them there.”

He blinked again. The tears mixed with his sweat, stinging. He swiped at them.
What was she talking about? It was Abbott. It’d always been Abbott.

“This ring is proof of what you did, Billy Ray. You took it as a trophy, didn’t you?”

“A trophy?” He shook his head. “She wasn’t his anymore. So I took it and put mine
on her finger.”

She took a step backward. “You’re insane.”

“Give me the ring.”

“No.” She took another step back. “I’m going to the sheriff’s office with it. And
you’re going to jail. Where you belong.”

“I can’t let you do that, Stephanie.” He got to his feet, reaching for his sidearm.

It wasn’t there.

He’d removed his holster, he remembered. When he’d gotten home. Dropped it onto the
couch, then stopped, gaze on the loaded Glock, picturing himself slipping the gun
from its holster, pressing the barrel to his temple and pulling the trigger.

Stephanie had seen the gun, when she’d come in.

He saw it in her expression.

She turned and ran at the exact moment he lunged. He knocked the table sideways, the
whiskey flew, splashing like amber-colored tears on the floor and wall.

She reached the living room before he did. She had her hands on the gun, around the
grip. Pointed at him.

“Don’t make me do this, Billy Ray!”

He charged. The sound of the shot rang in his head. The blast reverberated through
his body.

He stopped. Brought a hand to his chest. “Give … me … the—” His knees gave. He grabbed
the chair for support. It went over, him with it. He stared up at the ceiling, feeling
the blood pulsing, gushing from the wound in his chest. His vision dimmed.

True smiled and beckoned him.

CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

Friday, April 25

1:50
A.M.

Stephanie sat across from the two sheriff’s detectives. True’s wedding band lay on
the table between them. She’d called 9-1-1 and calmly told the operator that she had
shot Wholesome Police Chief Billy Ray Williams in self-defense. He was alive and needed
medical attention, and requested Detectives Rumsfeld and Carlson by name.

The ambulance had come, as had the detectives. They had taken her into custody. And
now, here she sat.

She folded her hands in front of her, surprised with how steady they were.

“Start at the beginning, Ms. Rodriquez.”

“The beginning,” she repeated.

“How you came to be at Chief Williams’s home this evening.”

“Because of the ring. I confronted him about it.”

“You told us it belonged to True Abbott.”

“Yes. I knew because of the inscription. Did you read it?”

“‘My True Love.’”

“Yes.” She lowered her gaze to her folded hands, then returned it to Rumsfeld’s, then
Carlson’s. “He had it. So I knew he killed her.”

“True Abbott?”

“Yes.”

Rumsfeld looked at his notes, then back at her. “You say ‘he had it.’ How did you
know that?”

“I found it. In his bedroom.”

The two detectives exchanged glances. “You were romantically involved?”

“Once upon a time. I still had a key. I used it this afternoon, to get in.”

“Were you alone?”

“No. Bailey Abbott was with me.”

“To look for the ring?”

She shook her head again. “The box of trophies.”

The detective frowned slightly. “What kind of trophies, Ms. Rodriquez?”

“You know. A killer’s trophies.”

The energy in the room changed. She felt tension. The heightened electricity.

“Maybe you need to back up a little more. I’m confused.”

“I’m sorry.” She swallowed hard. “How is Billy Ray? Have you heard?”

“In surgery. You’re a very good shot, Ms. Rodriquez. He’s lucky to be alive.”

“I couldn’t let him get the ring. He wanted to keep me from telling you about it.
About what he did.”

“We expect Billy Ray to live, Ms. Rodriquez.”

“Good.” She nodded for emphasis. “He needs to pay for what he’s done. The women he
hurt.”

“Women? More than True?”

“All of them.”

“Let’s talk about the box of trophies you mentioned. What made you think he had such
a thing?”

“Bailey Abbott told me about it. The day of the accident, my uncle showed it to her.”

Again the exchanged glances. “She’s recovered her memory?”

“Yes. She asked my help getting into Billy Ray’s.”

“She thought the box was there?”

“No. She was certain Billy Ray had planted it, to frame Logan.”

“Why would she think that? Your uncle had the box. It seems to me that would make
him look guilty?”

“Because—” She stopped. “It was gone. She looked for it.”

“Anyone could have taken it. Logan, for starters.”

“I caught Billy Ray at my uncle’s. When I arrived he was putting something in his
trunk. He told me it was the crime scene tape. He said you’d asked him to take it
down. Or he offered.” She brought a hand to her head, bone-numbing fatigue crashing
down on her. “But you confirmed he lied about that.”

“What would you say if I told you August Perez killed your uncle?”

“August?” She frowned. “He couldn’t have.”

“Why do you say that, Ms. Rodriquez?”

“He didn’t hunt. He told me once. Told me he didn’t believe in it.” She shrugged.
“He wasn’t from around here.”

“Maybe it wasn’t an accident?”

“Why would he want my uncle dead?”

“I can only speculate at this point, but the rifle we found at his place was a ballistics
match with the weapon used to kill your uncle.”

That didn’t sound right. “August had a rifle?”

“He did. Perhaps Mr. Perez killed him to retrieve that box of trophies.”

“No.”

“What makes you so certain of that?”

She rubbed her temple, trying to remember. Something … something, just beyond her
reach. “I’m so tired. I can’t think.”

“I could have Carlson get you some coffee?”

“Yes, please. And water.”

Carlson exited the room and she folded her arms and rested her head on them.

“Would you like a mint?”

She lifted her head. Rumsfeld held out a Starlight peppermint.

“Thank you.” She took it. “Horses love these, did you know that?”

“No, I didn’t.”

She unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth. The peppermint stung her tongue and
cleared her head.

And she remembered the why. “The box couldn’t have been August’s.”

“Why not?”

“The initial necklace in it. An
N
. For ‘Nicole.’ Nicole Grace.”

She’d caught him by surprise. She saw him struggle to place the name. “The fifteen-year-old
girl from Wholesome,” she said, “who was strangled to death.”

He nodded. “Back in 2005.”

“Yes.”

“So why does that eliminate Mr. Perez?”

“Because he didn’t live here then. He moved to Louisiana in 2009.”

CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE

Friday, April 25

6:35
A.M.

“Hello, Williams.”