Dirty Truths (24 page)

“A jury? If I convince them then there won’t be a jury.”

“Mr. Riley, let’s get one thing clear right now, so you don’t feel I’ve let you down in any way. It is likely this will go to court. They have enough evidence to make it happen no matter what you say right now.”

“I don’t have much choice, do I? Fine, I’ll answer their questions and I’ll tell the truth because the truth is this is bullshit. I didn’t kill anyone, I don’t have any drugs, and I definitely don’t own a weapon.”

“Good, I’ll let them know we’re ready to proceed.”

“Wait—why didn’t they just come to my house or my work? Why the fancy roadblock?”

Timothy cleared his throat. “Apparently your wife… er, your current one, thought you might resort to violence and they didn’t want to have a hostage situation.”

Daniel felt sick. Desiree fucked him too?

Timothy walked to the door and waved. The cops opened it and filed in.

Thus began the nightmare, at the hands of the one person he would never have imagined would have the balls to do it.

CHA
PTER 31

She stood on the edge of the cliff, watching the waves crash against the rocks below; caught on the wind white foam sprayed and misted her face. Kristina breathed in the scent of the ocean, tasted the salty air and smiled. The sky was a brilliant blue. In the distance a bird soared, turning in her direction. The gull neared and opened its beak, but it didn’t make the cawing sound she expected, instead a shrill ring erupted from its throat.

Frowning, Kristina stepped forward and lost her footing, the grassy edge of the cliff crumbled away. Suddenly she was weightless, freefalling to the rocks below, the shrill ringing of the gull echoing in her ears.

The blue sky vanished and Kristina smelled potpourri, like the stuff she used to clean the carpets. The gull still rang… she paused and listened before sitting up and gazing around her. She had been dreaming. The gull hadn’t been ringing. Her phone had, and still was.

She groaned and stood. Obviously, her drop had been off the couch where she’d fallen asleep last night and onto the floor. Rubbing her eyes she walked across the room to pick up the screaming phone, amazed Cadence hadn’t woke as well.

“Hello,” her voice sounded groggy even to her ears.

“Kris, you’re still in bed. I’m so sorry,” her mother sounded excited.

“It’s okay. What time is it?”

“Just a bit after eight, I thought Cadence would have had you up long before now.”

“She woke up for a while around midnight. She must have worn herself out.”

“Well, at least you had more than just a couple of hours of rest. You need it.”

“Yeah,” Kristina stretched as she waited for her mother to share whatever it was that had her so riled up. She didn’t often get worked up.

“I’ve got some bad news, and I didn’t want you to go out and hear it somewhere else.”

Kristina’s breath caught, her throat suddenly dried and she waited. Something happened to Wade. Please don’t let it be Wade.

“Amy had an accident last night.” Her mother paused and Kristina nearly cried in relief. “She didn’t make it, the car burned up and they couldn’t even identify her without dental records.”

“Oh no,” Kristina breathed. She hadn’t imagined Amy would ever die, just disappear. Although shocked, part of her rejoiced. Finally she could be with Wade, guilt free.

“I think after Wade got arrested those friends of his were on her. They aren’t a nice bunch, you know, and she must have been trying to run, disappear so they couldn’t get her.”

“Why would they want to hurt her?” Kristina hated lying to her mother, even this little pretense felt wrong.

“Your dad said they think she’s the one who sent Wade to jail, she went to the cops with some information or evidence. I mean, how else did she manage to stay out of jail too?”

Closing her eyes Kristina listened to her mother ramble on about the gossip. Her knees felt like rubber. She stumbled to the couch. Wade was okay, still in jail but okay. The one person who could have pointed the finger at both of them, ruining her story about Daniel, died in that car. How lucky was that? No, luck had nothing to do with it. A shiver shook her body and she paused, staring at the stained coffee table, her gaze traveling over the scars and coffee rings that littered the top. Kristina recalled the day she sat in the same spot—the box on the same table—and learned things about Wade she never imagined. Had Wade’s friends caused the crash? Of course they had.

She blinked when her mother’s voice continued, “there wasn’t even a problem with the car. She was going too fast, must have looked away for a minute and slammed into the tree. They said she might have lived if it hadn’t caught fire.”

“How could they know that?”

“Someone told your dad they heard there was smoke in her lungs. She died from smoke inhalation, not the crash. Terrible.”

“Hey, I gotta go, Mom. Can I call you later?” Kristina could barely speak.

“Sure honey, Dad and I are going to Salach to do some shopping later. You’ll be okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine. It is really sad, but I wasn’t ever very close to Amy. I’m shaken up, I mean to know it happened here, in Laighton, but I’ll be okay.”

“No, I can’t believe it either. Hopefully it was all just an accident like the police said. You get some rest and we’ll talk later.”

Kristina set the phone down and put her face in her trembling hands. She should feel guilty or horrified; something other than excited. But she wasn’t. She was thrilled about the future, about Wade and about eliminating something standing in the way of all of that. Even if Wade had orchestrated Amy’s accident, she didn’t care. Amy got what she deserved. A woman should never plot against her husband, not when he is as kind and sweet as Wade. He could have gotten rid of her long ago but a sense of loyalty and his innate goodness wouldn’t let him do it. She’d drawn first blood by going to the cops. He drew last.

Cadence cried. Kristina pulled herself together, shaking away her unsettling thoughts. She had only one more obstacle. Daniel.

***

The ringing of the phone startled Kristina, loosening her fingers and causing her to drop the pan she’d been carrying to the sink. She growled, glaring at the greasy mess on the kitchen floor. Never in her life had the damn thing rung so often as it had since she left Daniel. That would have been fine, if the calls didn’t usually herald bad news.

Cadence played in the living room, seated in her bouncy chair while Barney sang his stupid love song. He sounded just a little maniacal, as though the purple beast knew he drove parents bonkers with his annoying and flamboyant personality.

She rushed to the living room. “Hello?”

“Kris? How are you?” Michael, Daniel’s brother. He sounded upset.

“Good, I’m good. You?”

Silence and then a shaky breath before Michael continued, “To be honest, I’ve been better. Have you seen the news?”

Kristina’s gaze went to the TV screen, the purple blob bounced across while a gaggle of kids followed behind him cheering. “No, I don’t watch much TV. Why?”

“Dan’s been arrested for murder and a bunch of other shit. It’s not looking good.”

She curled her lips in a smile and took deep breaths to calm herself. The bastard would finally pay and it was her hand that had hammered the first nails into his coffin. If she could, she’d be the one to make sure the damn thing stayed sealed for eternity.

“Are you still there?” Michael asked.

“What? Oh, yes I’m sorry. This is so shocking. What happened?”

“I don’t know. They won’t let me talk to him. He’s been crazy since they locked him up and now they’ve got him separated from the other inmates and he’s not allowed seeing anyone but his lawyer.”

“Oh.” She hadn’t imagined he’d react like this. Daniel usually turned on the charm in situations that involved his own ass. She never expected him to act like a maniac. How perfect was that?

“You knew he was with someone, right?” he asked.

“Yes, but I didn’t know her.” Lies, more lies.

“Did you know they were married a couple of weeks ago? She’s pregnant.”

Floored, Kristina sat on the edge of the coffee table and digested this information. She shouldn’t care, but couldn’t help the sickening pain that burned her chest. A couple of weeks ago, Daniel had visited her, raped her and accused her of all sorts of things. He even claimed to love her while he did it. He should have been on his honeymoon, with his new pregnant wife.

Kristina glanced at her reflection in the darkened window, her eyes were moist, her face pale. It felt like a betrayal, but she didn’t understand why. She hated him, that’s what she had to remember. He betrayed her and Desiree. Now she’d see he paid the ultimate price. “I knew they were engaged, but I haven’t seen him in a while.”

“Oh, well you guys weren’t meant for each other anyway, both of you are better off.”

“I know.”

“The cops questioned her and she told them he beat her. I just can’t believe it.”

Was he serious? Kristina had really liked Michael, missed seeing him since she’d divorced Daniel but this was the side of him that frustrated her. She’d told him several times about Daniel and how he ‘trained’ her to be the perfect wife, but Michael refused to believe his baby brother could do anything so horrible. Kristina gave up trying to convince him.

“The things she said,” Michael voice broke. “That he locked her in a room—kicked her and punched her—I’m just so shocked. Did he do that to you? Did he really hurt you like that?”

“Michael, I’ve told you this before. He hurt me daily, for infractions like turning on the vacuum when he was trying to hear the TV, and I was terrified. I should have left sooner but I was so scared.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. It’s just not like him, when we were kids he was such a goofy sweet guy. He never got mad.”

“Well he changed.” She wouldn’t get into this discussion and refused to imagine Daniel as a boy, with so much promise within him. Thinking like that is what made her stay for so long, she could see the boy in his eyes, and longed to make him emerge, to stifle the other one; the evil and hateful one.

“Dan says he’s innocent though, that’s what the news said. I managed to get his lawyer to fill me in a little, and he thinks it’s definitely a setup.”

Her heart pounded and blood roared in her ears. Shit, the lawyer could ruin it all. If she hoped to bury Daniel she had to convince his own brother of his guilt. If she couldn’t do that, how would she convince a jury?

“I didn’t want to tell you this because I value your friendship and I’d hate to lose that.” She paused, taking a breath. “But I might be the reason they arrested him. I don’t know, but I had to tell them. I’m sorry.”

“Tell them what? You’re not making any sense. If he’s done something then I need to know, I won’t hate you for telling me the truth, Kristina.”

She almost laughed. The truth was something that hadn’t left her lips in a while. “I found a box in the basement, one he left here after we separated. I told him to take it several times and he said to just leave it, he’d get it when he could. He forbade me to look inside, and one day I just got curious. I saw a knife and closed it. I didn’t look at anything else, so I can’t tell you what else was in there.”

“Shit,” Michael drew a ragged breath.

He’d bought it.

“I didn’t give it to them, though. I wouldn’t do that. He’s Cadence’s dad, I don’t want him in jail. Someone took it and I don’t know who or how or why, just that someone broke into my house and took it and they gave it to the police.”

“Someone broke into your house?”

“Yes, and I didn’t report it because Daniel had done it before to scare me, and that’s what I thought happened. I didn’t even look for the box until the police called me.”

Michael cursed and Kristina let silence fill the line.

The phone sounded muffled for a moment.
Is someone else listening to this conversation?
When the noise cleared, Kristina pushed ahead more determined than ever “they told me they’d arrest me for it and I’d lose Cadence. I didn’t want to tell them.”

“I believe you, and he should never have put you in such a position. He’s not a man. He’s a coward.”

Her heart soared.

Cadence cried from her chair. “Up!”

Kristina stood and walked to her daughter, bending to pick her up while Michael digested all she’d fed him. Cadence grabbed at the phone, her gaze intent on the power light on it. “No.” Kristina pulled back, so her clutching fingers couldn’t reach the phone.

“What?”

“Not you, Michael. Cadence keeps trying to take the phone.”

“She must be so big,” his voice broke again.

“She is. You should come by and see her some time.”

“I should, instead of being such a shitty uncle. You’re sure you don’t mind?”

“Not at all. I’d love to see you, and so would Cadence.”

“I will and you do what you have to do. Hear me?”

Kristina pressed her lips together before answering, he was a good man and she despised lying to him, but it had to be done. He couldn’t see what his brother was before. Daniel was a monster. This would save him some heartache later. It was just a matter of time before Daniel did kill someone and her lies might have saved that girl. “Yes, I hear you.”

“He’s a big boy, and he’s done some terrible things. He should pay the consequences.”

“Yes he should.”