Chapter 16 #2
She looked startled at the realization, and then she dropped down onto the couch and pulled her knees under her.
“We’re here to help you, Mrs. Callum,” Jack said. “But you’ve got to tell us the truth. I want you to know that a witness saw you go into Wade Rivers’s condo the night he was murdered.”
Silent tears welled in her eyes. “I knew someone would come. I’ve been waiting. I’ve been too afraid to leave the house.”
“Because of your husband?”
She looked away and didn’t answer.
“How did you meet Wade?” Jack asked.
She was still looking away when she spoke.
“I met him at a wine tasting,” she said.
“About two months ago. There’s a place in Newcastle—they do them on Friday evenings.
One of my friends came into town I’d gone to school with, and she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
I don’t really have friends I get to do things with anymore. And Brett was on shift.”
She exhaled.
“They put everyone at these community tables and Wade and his date were at ours, along with two other couples. He introduced himself to all of us. He was very personable and charming. Easy to talk to, and he kept the conversation going. And he was funny. It had been a long time since I laughed like that. He seemed interested in me, in what I do. He asked what clinic I worked at. I told him I was married.” She looked down at the gold band on her ring finger.
“When we left I thought that was the end of it. That we’d never see each other again.
But the next Monday at work someone delivered the most beautiful roses.
The card just said that he’d enjoyed the night talking to me more than any other he could remember.
I had to throw the roses away. I couldn’t let Brett know about them. ”
“What happened after that?”
“He came by the clinic at lunch one day and asked if I wanted to grab something to eat. Just casual. He’d told me he’d been looking at some property to open up another location for his studio, and since he was in town he thought it would be nice to see me.
It had been a long time since someone treated me with the respect he did and really seemed interested in how I was doing.
“So we had lunch,” she said. “And I dreamed of it being more, but I knew it was impossible. But still, it was my secret, even if I didn’t act on it.
But then he texted, and then we found time to talk on the phone for hours.
Always when Brett was at the station. That’s when we discovered that Brett worked at Wade’s condo.
I was terrified because I realized if Wade had ever invited me back to his place I would have gone.
And I would have run right into my husband. ”
She let out a shaky breath. “I tried to put a stop to it. It had only been a couple of weeks since we’d met, and I knew what Brett would do if he ever found out.
But then Wade was there at the clinic to pick me up after work one day in that sexy car of his, and he was wearing these sunglasses and leaning against the hood.
” The memory brought a small smile to her lips.
“It was just like a movie, and I thought to myself, I can pretend to be someone else for a little while. There’s no harm in that.
Wade already knew that Brett was on shift at the station. ”
“That was when things got more serious?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said. “It all happened so fast. I guess that’s a habit of mine, falling in love too fast. I’d only known Brett three months before we got married.
But Wade was different. There was this soul connection I’ve never had with anyone.
He romanced me. We drove into DC for the evening and had dinner at this fancy restaurant.
And then he took me to the Waldorf. He made it a beautiful night.
He’d thought of everything. Champagne and roses.
He even knew that I wouldn’t be comfortable staying the whole night.
Who pays for an expensive hotel just to spend a few hours with someone? It was like magic.”
“Did you trust him enough to tell him the truth about your marriage?” I asked.
“Not at first,” she said. “I’m so ashamed of it.
I don’t know how I got to this place. I’m educated.
I have a career. Brett and I met at my sister’s wedding.
He’d been friends with her husband, and things moved so fast my head spun with it.
And three months later we got married. Two weeks after our honeymoon he hit me for the first time. ”
She squared her shoulders and found the courage to look at me.
“It was a shock. I’d never been hurt like that.
Never been in a fight. One moment I was teasing him for leaving his clothes he wore on shift in a heap on the floor, and the next moment I was doubled over on the floor trying to catch my breath.
He never hit me in the face. He was always careful. ”
“Broken wrist? Concussion? Things like that?” I asked her.
Her eyes widened when she realized how much we knew. “Yeah, things like that. Wade figured it out pretty quickly. He studied my body like no one ever had. He paid attention to everything. And I finally broke down and confessed. It was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.