Chapter Eleven
Judson didn’t say goodbye to Rowena or thank her for talking to them.
He was still way past being riled that the woman had forced Addie to go through this to give them those scraps of info.
As far as he was concerned, those scraps had come at too high a price for Addie, and Rowena had put Addie through hell and back, all so she could see her.
Livvy and he followed Addie out of the room with Rowena calling out, “Addie. Just forgive me before it’s too late.”
Addie didn’t respond. She just kept walking and only paused for them to catch up when she made it to the front door.
Judson didn’t linger. It was obvious that Addie needed to get the heck out of there now, so he scanned the parking lot of any signs of a threat.
When he didn’t see one, he hurried Addie out of the building and got her into the cruiser.
“Give me a second,” she muttered while she gulped in some long, deep breaths. She was clearly trying to steady herself.
“Take all the time you need,” he assured her.
Judson didn’t touch her. Didn’t pull her into his arms to try to comfort her—something he truly wanted to do. But he figured there was nothing he could say or do right now that would make this easier. So, he just sat quietly and waited her out.
Addie didn’t cry, but she did mutter some ripe profanity under her breath. She also groaned and squeezed her eyes shut.
His phone sounded with a text, and he saw the message from Livvy pop up on the dash screen. On the drive back, I’ll put more pressure on Yvette’s lawyer to give a copy of her latest will.
Good. Judson sent her a thumbs-up emoji.
Seeing the will would confirm if Yvette had indeed written her daughter and husband, Trevor, out of it.
Of course, that didn’t prove squat. Even if Yvette had basically disowned Trevor and Jennifer, they might not have even known about it.
The will wouldn’t necessarily be motive for drugging Yvette and pushing her to become mentally unstable.
But Yvette might not be the unstable one.
Jennifer could be, and while he hated to believe anything Rowena had just told them, he had to at least consider that Jennifer had indeed blamed Yvette for the miscarriage and that everything that’d happened in the past twenty-four hours had been orchestrated to get back at Yvette.
He considered texting Eden and Rory to find out if they’d learned anything in their interviews with Yvette’s kids, but he dismissed that.
If there was anything relevant, it’d soon be coming in a report.
Something he’d need to do as well to fill Grace and the others in on the conversation with Rowena.
“You might think I should have just said I forgive her,” Addie said, her voice cutting through his thoughts.
“I don’t think that at all,” he was quick to say. “Today proved that she’s manipulative and self-centered. It was all about what she wanted, and she had no consideration for what a visit would put you through.”
He saw some of the tension fade from her shoulders and face. “Thank you for that.”
“Just stating the truth,” he assured her, and because the timing felt right, he went ahead and pulled her into his arms.
Addie made a sound, sort of a sigh mixed with a soft sob, and she dropped her head on his shoulder.
Judson tightened his grip around her, but he also kept watch.
Making sure they weren’t about to be attacked.
He was certain Livvy was doing the same thing.
Sitting here was a risk, but he wanted to give Addie these moments to try to settle from the emotional ordeal she’d been through.
“She is self-centered,” Addie muttered. “And narcissistic. She made my life a living hell long before I even knew she’d murdered my mother and kidnapped me. I had to be perfect. My hair, my clothes, my manners. Everything. I had to present the perfect child to her so-called friends.”
Over the years, Addie had mentioned bits and pieces of her life with Rowena. She’d been forced to perform in pageants, and Rowena had even put Addie on severe diets when she’d been only five years old.
“She was never violent with me,” Addie went on. “She never physically hurt me the way she did my mother.” The venom, and the hurt, spiked in those words. “But there was abuse.”
Yeah, there had been, and while Judson hadn’t wanted to pry into that part of Addie’s life, once he’d become a cop, he had taken a look at the case file and reports after Rowena’s arrest. Along with the diets and strict training routines for the pageants, Rowena had basically isolated Addie, not allowing her to make friends and even pulling her out of school so that Addie stayed right by her side.
Rowena’s generous inheritance from her late parents had allowed her to have that lifestyle.
And to basically keep Addie a prisoner.
Addie lifted her head and met his gaze. “Thank you,” she said.
Judson felt he should be the one doling out the thanks for allowing herself to be put through this, but he didn’t get the chance.
“Just please get me far away from her,” Addie insisted. “I need to get back to the ranch and see Lily and Rose.”
He needed that as well. Not just to put some distance between Rowena and them but because it was safer for Addie to not be out in the open like this. Plus, seeing the twins would settle both of them.
The moment they both had on their seat belts, he pulled out of the parking lot, and with Livvy behind them, they headed home. From the corner of his eye, he saw Addie text someone. Probably Etta Jean to let the woman know their estimated time of arrival.
Judson had barely made it out of San Antonio when his phone rang and Eden’s name popped up on the screen. He went ahead and took the call on speaker, hoping this wasn’t bad news.
“Should I ask how the meeting with Rowena went?” Eden said the moment she was on the line.
He waited and let Addie respond to that. “Rowena didn’t give us any new info on where we might find Yvette, but she did mention the fishing cabin.”
“She’s definitely not there,” Eden confirmed. “Well, not unless she showed up after the crime scene team left about an hour ago.” She paused, and Judson heard what he thought was Eden texting someone. “I’m having one of the county deputies go back and have a look just in case.”
That was a smart move. Yvette had to be somewhere. Well, unless she was dead. And if she was alive, she might try to hole up in a familiar place rather than risk checking into a hotel.
“Did you get anything else from Rowena?” Eden asked.
Again, Judson let Addie take that question. “Nothing more on possible locations, but Rowena told us that both Yvette and Shane visited her in prison and that she believes either Trevor or Elijah are trying to eliminate Yvette so they can inherit her money.”
“Interesting,” Eden muttered. “During my interview with Jennifer, she pointed the finger at Trevor, too. And at her brother.”
No surprise there. If money was indeed the reason to get Yvette out of the picture, then Trevor, Shane, Elijah and Jennifer all had motive. But all these accusations were muddying the investigative waters. What they needed was proof.
“Did anything come out in Rory’s interview with Shane?” Judson asked Eden.
“Not really. Shane certainly didn’t mention anything about having visited Rowena,” she explained. “We had to cut Shane loose about a half hour ago, but we can call him and ask him about that.”
“I’ll do that,” Judson heard Rory say in the background.
Good. Because Judson wanted to hear what Shane had to say about those trips to the prison.
“What about Jennifer?” Judson asked. “Is she still there?”
“No. Grace said not to hold her, and we didn’t. She left shortly before her brother did. Elijah picked her up.”
Again, that wasn’t much of a surprise. Grace didn’t have the evidence to arrest Jennifer, and of course, she would have wanted her boyfriend to get her the heck out of there.
“Did Jennifer say anything about her recent miscarriage during the interview?” Judson added.
“She did. Said it happened about six weeks ago.” Eden paused. “Why? Is it important?”
“Could be.” Judson stopped and decided to rephrase that. “According to Rowena, it’s important, anyway. I don’t have a clue if Rowena is telling the truth, though. If she is, then Jennifer blames her mother for creating the stress that caused her to lose her baby.”
“Wow,” Eden muttered. “That could be a game changer and maybe give Grace enough to make an arrest, since it speaks to motive.”
Yes, it did, but Judson wasn’t sure they’d be arresting the guilty party. “What was your gut feel when you interviewed Jennifer?” he asked Eden. “Do you think she could have done the whole deal? Drug her mother and provoke her into abducting the twins so she could get back at Yvette?”
“My gut feel is she probably couldn’t have done it solo,” Eden said on a sigh.
“She’s an emotional wreck, likely suffering from some lingering trauma from her miscarriage.
FYI, during the interview, Jennifer said a couple of times that the baby would have made her relationship with Elijah stronger.
When I pushed on that, I got the impression that she’s worried he’s about to dump her. ”
Judson was giving that some thought when Addie voiced a question that was forming in his own mind. “When did Elijah and Jennifer start seeing each other?”
“Shortly after Yvette was awarded all that money in her settlement,” Eden admitted. “But that’s also around the time Trevor and Yvette hooked up. The timing is so coincidental that I understand why Shane thinks they could be gold diggers.”
Shane just might be right about that, too. “Grace should soon be finished interviewing Trevor,” Judson commented. “What about Elijah? Is Grace bringing him back in, too?”