Page 52 of Jenna's Threatened Sanctuary

Debbie’s skittish gaze darted around the room before landing on him. She dropped her chin and made her way toward the table, sinking into the chair.

“Hi, I’m Calvin. Thank you so much for agreeing to meet me like this.” He settled into the cushioned chair and curled a palm around his cup.

A small smile tugged at Debbie’s full lips. “I shouldn’t be here, but…” she lifted her hands then dropped them to her lap.

Calvin gestured to his paper cup. “Did you want to grab something to drink?”

“No. I’m okay.”

Questions spun in his mind. He took a sip of hot coffee, figuring out the best way to approach the conversation. “I’m sure responding to me wasn’t an easy decision.”

Debbie wrung her hands on the edge of the table. “I can’t stay long. If Milo knew I was here, he’d be very upset.”

The memory of Milo’s reaction to Jenna raised the hair on the back of his neck. “Does he get upset often?”

Debbie shrugged. “He’s a good man.”

Calvin took a deep breath, biting his tongue so as not to add his two cents on whether Milo Sholl was a good man. But his gut tingled, and he needed to know what led Debbie to take this step to talk to him. Something told him it had more to do with Debbie’s fear of her husband than anything else. “Has he ever hit you?”

Debbie bit into her bottom lip. “He has a temper, but he’d never hurt me. Or the kids. We have some cracks in our marriage, but we’re committed to getting to a better place.” The slight shake of her voice told him she wasn’t being completely honest.

Calvin tilted his head, studying Debbie’s timid expression. Did she know her husband cheated on her? “What kind of cracks?”

“Why would you ask that?” Something flashed in her eyes—fear? Sorrow? “I don’t even know you. I still don’t understand why it was so important that you talk to me.”

“Did your husband ever talk to you about Stella Ryan?”

Debbie furrowed her brow. “The woman who cleaned his office?”

“Yes.” He kept his expression passive, not wanting to alarm Debbie.

“He mentioned knowing her after we heard about her death. Other than that, he never said her name to me. Why would he? And why would you care? You said in your message you were looking for answers. What exactly are you trying to find?” She kept her voice low and darted her gaze around the crowded space, as if afraid of being seen.

“I’m looking for the person who murdered Stella.”

Debbie reared back her head as if she’d been slapped. “And you think it could be Milo?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m investigating all angles right now. One of those angles is the time she spent at work. She cleaned your husband’s law office most evenings this year. If he worked while she cleaned, they would have spent a lot of time together. Does your husband spend a lot of evenings in the office?”

“He claims to, but he wouldn’t spend time with ‘the help’.” Air quotes separated out the last words.

“Why do you think him working late is only a claim?”

“I know what he’s been doing with his free time.” Tears filled Debbie’s eyes, but she hiked her chin. “You think my husband is capable of murder because he’s a cheat?”

Calvin’s pulse spiked. “You know he’s cheating on you?”

Debbie snorted. “Of course I do. He’s not as smart as he thinks. Like I said, our marriage has some cracks. But Stella Ryan wasn’t the woman he was seeing behind my back.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Unless she came back from the dead and I caught her screwing my husband a few days ago, Milo isn’t seeing Stella.”

Calvin cringed. “I’m so sorry.” He didn’t want to mention it was possible Milo was seeing more than one woman outside of his marriage. Stella could have threatened to expose their affair, and if Milo was supporting Stella financially and stopped, maybe Stella resorted to blackmail to keep the monthly deposits in her account.

Debbie sighed and ran a shaking hand over her ponytail. “We talked. He says he’ll do whatever it takes to fix our problems. He won’t be running for office. We’re moving. Starting fresh where we can focus on each other and our children. He promises he won’t ever hurt me again.”

Dread dropped like a boulder in his gut. Purple-colored flesh peeked through smeared-on foundation. Milo might have promised not to cheat on his wife anymore, but would he hit her again? Calvin slid a card across the table and stared Debbie straight in the eyes. “If he hurts you again, call me. Any time. I’ll help. I promise.”

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