Page 100 of Wife Number One

The men pretended to have a reason to be there, busying their hands by playing pool or reading magazines. But they were all terrible actors.

They were there for War, who sat across the table from the cops, his arms folded over his solid chest, his gaze narrowed on the two men and their female colleague. He glanced up when we entered and waved us over. “Rebel. Kara. The detectives here would like a word.”

Rebel twisted her neck to one side, cracking her neck. “This should be good,” she muttered, sliding down into the seat beside War and glaring at the trio across the table.

I knew there was no love lost between my sister and the police after what she’d been through with her mother’s murder. War’s expression made it clear he was about as interested in being at this little tea party as he was in waxing his legs. A mug of coffee sat in front of him, but he hadn’t touched it.

I took the seat next to Rebel.

A second later, Hawk slid into the seat on my other side.

I searched for Hayley Jade. “Where’s—”

“Kiki and Amber are playing Barbies with the two girls outside.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and eyeing the cops as distrustfully as War and Rebel were. “Figured they didn’t need to hear whatever rubbish these jerks have brought here.”

The female detective sighed. “We aren’t here to start anything.”

War raised an eyebrow. “Really? So I don’t need to go call my lawyer?”

The woman shook her head. “No, you really don’t. This isn’t an interview. If we had wanted to do that, we would have had Kara and Rebel brought into the station. Instead, we came here. Are we good?”

Hawk gave a rumble under his breath. He didn’t like that they were here.

But I was glad they’d come. Rebel had called the police station a few times, trying to get information about what was happening with Alice, but each time she’d been told it was too early for them to give out any information, and we just needed to wait until the detectives had made their initial round of inquiries.

It had been days without any news, and I was desperate for information.

“Did you arrest them?” I asked, too impatient to wait for whatever they were going to say.

The female cop cocked her head to one side quizzically. “Which ‘them’ are you referring to?”

Rebel kicked me beneath the table, a warning to be quiet, I assumed.

But I didn’t care. I need to know. “Josiah Turnbull.”

The woman stared down at her notes. “Leader of the Ethereal Eden group, right? Formerly known as Ridgemont Homestead. Where Alice lived?”

I nodded quickly.

The woman shook her head. “He has an alibi. As does every other member of the group.”

My mouth dropped open. “They’re lying. They came after us when we ran. I know they did. They wouldn’t just let us leave with no repercussions.”

One of the male cops raised an eyebrow. “They say you all left of your own free will. That nobody tried to stop you.”

“They’re full of shit,” Rebel argued. “She was terrified when she came to my place that night. They were sure they were being followed by Josiah and his posse.”

“Did they actually say you couldn’t leave, Kara?” the female detective asked. “Did you see any of them following you?”

I opened my mouth to answer but shut it abruptly, not sure that in five years, Josiah had ever actually said the words, “I forbid you to leave.” I racked my brain, but it was hard to remember. My days after Hayley Jade had been taken from me were so full of sadness and grief, beatings, and abuse, that it was all a blur.

Could I have left?

But I instantly knew the answer was no.

Even if he’d never come right out and said it, our marriage vows bound me to Josiah. He’d cut me off from my family, he’d made me weak and reliant on him. Even if he’d left the gates wide open, there was always an unspoken threat, that I was his, and he’d come for me if I ever tried to walk away.

That wasn’t all in my head, even if he’d never said the words out loud.

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