Chapter One #2
Rory went into the bedroom she had used until she moved in with Pete.
Being with him was the happiest time of her life.
She stood at the dresser her aunt had painted a turquoise just for her when Rory was fifteen.
A framed photo of Rory and her brand-new husband on their wedding day had been placed there.
Her heart swelled with emotion. How on earth had Austin gotten that photograph?
“When I picked up your stuff from the storage unit where Pete’s folks had put it,” Austin explained, “this was the only photo of the two of you they’d left.
I think maybe it was an oversight since all the rest were gone.
Anyway, I thought you might like having it framed and placed where you could see it. ”
She stared at her little brother then. His hair was not as dark as hers, his eyes a more common shade of blue.
Even his complexion was a more medium color, not so pale like hers.
And yet he’d always been like her twin in every other way.
Sticking to her like glue as a little kid.
Defending her adamantly as a teenager. And now, taking care of her when she had no one else.
She loved him to pieces.
She hugged him hard, then drew back so they could breathe. Emotion had crowded so tightly into her throat she couldn’t speak for a moment. “Thank you. I really appreciate everything.”
She picked up the frame and studied the photo.
Pete’s smile tugged at her senses. She missed him so much.
How had their seemingly perfect life gone so very wrong on their wedding night?
They had been so happy together. More bewildering, who would have wanted to hurt them?
Pete had been the nicest person anyone would ever hope to meet.
He had never harmed anyone. And yet he was dead… murdered.
She forced the haunting thoughts away and focused on the happy moments of their wedding.
The dress she had picked out had been the one of her dreams. A beautiful princess ball gown style.
Of course it was far too expensive—way, way out of her price range.
It didn’t seem reasonable to pay such a price for a dress she would only wear once.
But Lulu had insisted it wasn’t a problem.
A few weeks later, her aunt had called her to this little house to show off the dress.
It was the most beautiful thing Rory had ever seen.
But what made it truly perfect was that Lulu had made the dress exactly like the one Rory couldn’t afford.
She set the photo back on the dresser. Pushed a smile into place for her brother. “You are the very best brother any sister could ever want.”
Austin pointed to the phone lying next to the photo.
“It’s fully charged and ready to go.” He gestured to the closet on the other side of the little room.
“I hung up all your clothes—at least the ones they had put in boxes and left at the storage unit. If there were other things…” He shrugged.
“I brought everything here that was in that unit. If anything is missing, I can ask them—”
“No.” She got it. If there was anything else, Pete’s parents would have likely thrown it away or burned it. Besides, she wasn’t allowed to go near them or their home or the one she and Pete had shared. “I’m certain what you brought home is fine.”
“If you’re sure,” he allowed.
“I’m sure.”
Rory closed her eyes for a long moment and blocked the images and sounds that tried to invade her head.
She had worked hard to keep those memories at bay.
Once the trial was over, what was the point of attempting to remember the details of that awful night or allowing the good memories from before that to torture her?
Pete was gone. She had been charged with his murder and sentenced to decades in prison.
She was only standing here now because someone had made a mistake in the handling of evidence, and her lawyer had finally figured it out and managed to win a motion for retrial.
“Jamie’s call will be on Zoom,” Austin explained, dragging her back to the moment. “Let me walk you through the internet security stuff.”
She nodded, ready to get out of this room—away from the photo that reminded her of all she had lost. In the office he had created, he showed her the login information and prepared the laptop for receiving the incoming call.
“You’re ready,” he said. “So you know, I added new dead bolts to both doors just in case. You’ll find keys for those on that keychain I gave you. I charged the battery in Lulu’s car. Got the oil changed, tires checked and filled the gas tank, so you have wheels.”
“All of this is a tremendous help, Austin.” All of it was overwhelming. She struggled to hold back the tears.
He waved her off. “It was nothing.”
She knew that her brother was taking a couple of summer classes in addition to working full-time. This had to have been a big chunk out of his income, and she had no way to pay him back just now.
“I am going to pay you back,” she argued. “Eventually.”
“No way.” He shook his head emphatically. “You took care of me in a million ways growing up. This is the least I could do for you now.”
Rather than argue further with him, she said, “You should head back to Nashville.” She didn’t want him driving back at night. It was silly, but she was old-fashioned that way. Her aunt had drilled a lot of old-fashioned ideas into their heads.
“I thought I would stay with you for a few days,” he argued. “You shouldn’t be alone.”
Rory grabbed her brother and hugged him again. “I love you. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
He hugged her just as tightly. “We will fix this,” he promised. “We have the opportunity now.”
Rory drew back and smiled. “I know.”
She said this just for him, because the truth was, there was no fixing this. No matter that she had this unexpected opportunity. Still, she would take it and the time out of that prison. But she didn’t dare get her hopes up about staying out of that place.
“As much as I appreciate the offer, you need to go,” she said firmly. “This is my battle, my tragedy. I am so thankful for your support, but I do not want it to become your battle again. You’ve done more than enough. The rest is up to me. Do you understand?”
He held her gaze a moment, his shining with the emotions tugging at him. “I do, but I still want to be here for you.”
“You can be here for me,” she said, “without being here. Okay?”
He exhaled a big breath. “If you’re sure.”
“I am. Now get back to your life. You’re only a phone call away.”
He smiled and nodded. “All right.”
When he’d driven away, she closed and locked the door, the dead bolt as well.
She wandered back into the kitchen for the water she’d forgotten.
The chilled bottles of water in the fridge made her smile.
He really had thought of everything. Then she went to the desk in Austin’s old room and sat down to wait for the call from Jamie Colby.
She was home…even if only for a little while.
Even though she was expecting the sound, she jumped when the alert for the incoming call echoed in the room.
She squared her shoulders and accepted it. “Hello, this is Aurora Harris.”
The blue-eyed, blond-haired woman who had visited her in prison smiled. “Rory, it’s so good to see you at home.”
Rory swallowed to wet her dry throat. “Thank you. It’s good to be home.” She decided not to mention the awful message that had been waiting for her on the door.
“Chance Rader is en route to your location as we speak. He landed in Huntsville a few minutes ago. He should be there in the next hour and a half or so.”
Rory nodded. “I look forward to meeting him in person.” They had spoken by phone when Jamie visited her at the prison. He had been finishing up an assignment and couldn’t come that day.
“He is one of our very best investigators,” Jamie assured her again. “As I explained to you before, everyone here at the agency will do all possible to help as well. Our research department is at Rader’s disposal as are all our resources. You will have the very best working to find the facts.”
“I appreciate your help more than you can imagine.”
One big fact was that she could never in a dozen lifetimes have afforded to hire the Colby Agency—one of the top private investigation firms in the country…
maybe the world. But Austin attended college with Jamie’s younger brother, Luke.
They were friends, and when Austin had dared to share her story with his new friend, Luke had jumped into action.
Rory had urged Austin not to tell people she was his sister, and to avoid talk of her and the case at all costs.
He refused. Who could have imagined that her brother was telling the story to the one person in the world who might actually be able to help?
The Colby Agency had insisted on taking her case pro bono.
“We are grateful to have the opportunity to right such an egregious wrong,” Jamie went on.
“As I told you before, I have reviewed your case thoroughly, and the holes in the investigation are easily seen in my opinion. The investigative and legal work was not up to standard, and your rights were trampled repeatedly because of that. We will see that it’s done properly this time. ”
“Thank you.”
But that, for Rory, was the downside to all this.
No matter that the verdict had been overturned due to a single piece of evidence the DA’s office failed to present, much less share.
The nightmare was far from over. A new trial would happen, and the detective had been told to go back out and to do the job right this time if they wanted to go after Rory again.
And they did. Oh, how they did. The Harris family, her dead husband’s parents, were the wealthiest in the state—maybe in the whole Southeast. They were never going to stop until the person they believed had murdered their son was put away forever.