Page 30 of Sins of a Husband

“It’s okay, Hank. You can let her in,” I say.

She runs over to Mrs. Tate and embraces her.

“Would it be possible for Mrs. Tate to stay with you for a few days? The house is officially a crime scene, and she can’t stay here.”

“I can stay at a hotel,” Mrs. Tate softly speaks.

“No, you’re not. I’m not leaving you alone. You’ll stay with Travis and me,” she tells her. “Come on. Let’s go pack a bag.” She helps her up and leads her up the stairs.

I am no closer to finding the son-of-a-bitch who’s committing these murders than I was after the first one. I ran my fingers over the smooth surface of the floor where Mr. Tate’s body was. My frustration was building—my desperation was growing. Not only did I have the captain up my ass, I also had the police chief and the Mayor up there. They wanted this person found and found now.

“Elijah, talk to the neighbors and see if they saw or heard anything last night.”

“On it.” He walks out of the house.

I’m standing in the foyer, staring at the floor, when Mrs. Tate and her friend walk down the stairs.

“I’m taking her back to my house now,” Samantha says.

“Okay. I’ll need your address to stop by later and ask Mrs. Tate more questions.”

She rattles off her address as I type it in my notes on my phone.

“One more thing before you go,” I say. “Do you know if anything was stolen?”

“I have no idea,” Mrs. Tate says.

I walk up the stairs and enter the primary bedroom. I stare at the king-size bed, which only one side was slept in last night. Other than that, the room is pristine. I walk over to the dresser and lift the lid to what I suspected was a jewelry box. Inside, I find all types of jewelry: diamond earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and other expensive gemstone jewelry.

“I talked to the neighbors. Nobody saw or heard anything last night,” Elijah says, walking into the room.

“It doesn’t look like anything was stolen,” I say. “Her jewelry box is filled with expensive jewelry.”

“Maybe the killer came up here after he killed the husband, saw her sleeping, got scared, and ranoff. Remember, with the other murders, the wives weren’t home. He probably thought Mr. Tate was home alone.”

“Maybe,” I say, looking out the bedroom window. “Something is off with this one, and I can’t put my finger on it.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

KAT

Samantha setmy bag on the bed in her guest room. I sat on the edge and gripped the gray comforter with little white flowers on it.

“Here.” Samantha walks into the room, hands me a glass of water, and drops a little white pill in my hand.

“What is this?”

“It’s a Xanax. You need it, so take it. It’ll help you relax a little bit. I called the firm and talked to the partners. They told me to tell you to take off as much time as you need, and they’ll reassign your cases until you return.”

“Thanks, Samantha.”

“Oh, sweetie.” She sits on the bed and wraps her arms around me. “I am so sorry this happened. I can’t even imagine what you’re going through.”

I can because I’ve already gone through it once before.

“If you don’t mind, I’m going to lie down,” I say.

“Of course.” She grabs my bag and sets it on the chair in the corner. “I’ll be right downstairs if you need anything.”

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