Page 18 of What the Wife Knew

“Someone broke into my house. Since I’m almost always here, I have to assume they intended to find me.” Saying the words out loud made them suck even more.

“You might be jumping to conclusions.”

“Annoying me is never the right answer, Elias.”

He closed the door and treated me to eye contact. “Will you be okay here by yourself?”

With Richmond dead I should be. “I have no idea. Yesterday I would have said yes. Today, no clue.”

“Do you have a friend you can call to come and stay with you?”

“No.” Literally, no. None. Friendships, genuine relationships of any kind, were the first casualties of the life choices I’d made.

“Maybe a hotel?”

That veered close to admitting defeat. No thank you.

“I’ll call and get the window fixed and be fine.” Definitely time to switch gears. “But while you’re here we should talk about Peter Cullen.”

A sudden silence buzzed around us. Elias’s mouth opened and closed before he spoke again. “This is the first time you’ve mentioned him. Do you think he’s involved in the break-in?”

No, and that was the only thing I was sure of at the moment. “Peter was at the café with me when this happened.”

“You met him for coffee?” Elias sounded stunned.

Interesting. “Did I say that?”

“Sort of.” He frowned. “How do you even know Peter Cullen?”

The man was so hard to read. I strained to hear or see any changes in his voice or demeanor. Elias had stiffened a bit across the shoulders but otherwise, nothing. That level of practiced non-reaction was impressive.

“You go first.” It was worth a try.

He shook his head. “Attorney-client privilege continues even after Richmond’s death.”

“But it can be waived.” See, I owned a computer and could search things, too.

“The law is a bit more nuanced than that. The executor of theestate can waive privilege in certain circumstances. In this case, still me.”

Blah, blah, blah. Always a legal loophole that favored his argument over mine. “Figures you’d find a way to avoid gossiping about what you know.”

“Is the Peter Cullen issue the reason you and Richmond got married so quickly? Is that the secret you held over him?”

So, Elias really didn’t know the reason behind my marriage blackmail. He was in for a jolt if he figured it out. “Maybe.”

Elias tried to hide it, but a smile crept out. “I’m not going to accidentally spill what I know.”

But now I knew there was something to spill.The Peter Cullen issue. One more secret Richmond hid. This time with Elias’s assistance. “We’ll see.”

Chapter Thirteen

Her

Present Day

Today sucked.

Detective Sessions promised to “have a word” with Wyatt about dropping in at the house, but that didn’t ease the haunting sensation of being outplayed. It was almost two in the morning. I’d spent hours after the police left cleaning up, getting the broken glass fixed, and checking every room and every closet for potential attackers. My shower consisted of standing in the far corner, staring at the glass door so no one could slip in behind me while the water circled the drain.

---