Page 25 of Shadow of Death
“Oh, we are. I’m truly curious to see what Loretta Peterson has to say about her ex.”
Amy glanced at her watch. “Well, still fairly early. We’ll have light left if we don’t spend too long with her—”
“And then Brenda Hayes.”
“Right.”
“Amy, come on, you know this won’t be solved overnight; but every step we take will bring us closer.”
“And of course...”
“Of course?”
“He probably is dead.”
“Or in on it.”
“Well, next up is Loretta Peterson,” Amy said. She shook her head. “Barrington seems to think Don Blake is a good guy. Milly seems to think he’s a player.”
“And he could be both. It doesn’t sound like he was committed to anyone, and there is no law against being charming and dating a lot of women.”
He could see Amy was grinning.
“A charming player who could be part of a serial killer ring. Sounds great!”
“Well, it’s all speculative now.”
She shook her head. “I can’t help but think that getting out and seeing some of these places Carey has drawn may be helpful. I mean, if he is in on it and hiding out for the moment, we could find him. That is possible. Especially if we bring in rangers and police who know the area.”
“And we will do that. Right now... There’s the turn. And watch for the house number... There. It’s time to speak with Loretta Peterson.”
The home was an attractive suburban ranch-style dwelling with a well-manicured lawn and fresh paint. There was a semicircle drive with a navy SUV parked in front.
Hunter pulled behind and they got out of the car.
“What are you thinking?” Hunter asked Amy as she surveyed the place.
“I was hoping his kids aren’t here,” she said. “I know we’re supposed to be professional and speak what’s necessary, but finding out your dad died in a pit...”
“It’s never easy. Even exes have feelings,” Hunter said.
But before they even reached the door, it was flung open. A slim attractive woman—as neatly put together as her house and yard—stepped out onto the porch.
“If you want to know if I know anything about what my ex-husband was doing, I don’t,” she said flatly. “And if you want to know if I’m sorry he’s dead—I’m damned sorry I’m not! Oh, I didn’t kill him, I swear it. I just can’t be too sorry the cheating bastard is dead!”
5
The woman wasn’t a murderer, Amy thought as she sat at Loretta’s kitchen table a few minutes later. Hunter had indicated they should agree to coffee, and at this point of the day, coffee seemed like a good idea.
It was obvious the woman was truly bitter regarding her ex-husband. That she wasn’t really glad he was dead was also obvious. She was torn. He’d done horrible things to her; but he was her children’s father, and she hurt for their offspring.
“What was the problem, exactly?” Amy asked her gently.
Hands flat on the table, Loretta let out a long sigh, staring at nothing. “I guess I hate myself as much,” she murmured. “He was a cheater throughout our marriage, but I was too blind to see it—or I didn’t want to see it. But he stayed with me. Maybe for the kids, or maybe he was already working on long-range planning. You see, I’m an only child. My parents were extremely wealthy—and when they died, well, that made me a wealthy woman. He slipped up and left his cell phone on the bed just after answering a text, so there was no passcode necessary to see what he was doing. I didn’t start out trying to pry, but the first line wasI can’t wait to see you naked again. Soon, every night of our lives!And so, I looked at the rest of the texts and found out he’d been waiting—waiting like a vulture—for my parents to die so he could sink his hands into their money! It was everything I could do not to betray myself to him, but I got out of the house, ran to the bank, and tied up all the money in trust for my children. He didn’t know. He thought he was still sitting on a pile of money, and he filed for divorce. Oh, ironically even sending me a text to tell me what he was doing! I texted back he could never come back to the house. I had his things packed up and ready to go, found a lawyer, and countersued. Of course, he wanted to come back to the house—God knows what he had where. So I arranged for a friend to be here when he came. I haven’t seen or heard from him except through our attorneys in months now. Eight months to be exact. And I shouldn’t wish anyone was dead. I’m religious enough to think God might smite me for that—but he hurt me so, so badly. And I hate myself for being stupid, or so needy I tried to be blind, convincing myself we’d been together for years and years.”
She stopped talking, winced, and looked at Amy and then Hunter.
Amy set her hand on Loretta’s where it lay on the table. “Loretta, don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s a good quality to see the best in others. And none of us ever wants to believe someone is seeing someone else. We are human, and you are human.”
