Chapter 42

FORTY-TWO

We grab a couple more hours of unsatisfactory sleep, and by 7 a.m., Ronnie and I are up again and sitting on the back deck drinking coffee that's so weak I can see through it. I need to teach her how to make real coffee. Rebecca comes out to talk to us.

Rebecca says, "I haven't been completely honest with you. I'm sorry for not trusting you with everything. Mom hasn't been herself for the last couple of months. She's more withdrawn. She's gone during the day and comes back late at night. Mom always said she was at board meetings, or shopping, or at one of her charities."

I say, "But you didn't believe her?"

Rebecca shakes her head.

"What did Jack think? Did he say anything?" I ask.

"At first Dad asked her where she was going but then he just stopped."

Ronnie adds, "Our parents were never very outwardly affectionate."

Rebecca says, "It's been months since they really spoke to each other. My dad has a home office, Mom has a reading room, and they spend most of their time at home in those rooms. They rarely have meals together. I eat with Mom but Dad always has some client he's taking to dinner. He normally doesn't drink, but lately he's come home intoxicated and goes straight to his office. We were never allowed in his office growing up but I think he hides a bottle behind in his desk."

Ronnie has found out more about her family—most of it bad—in the last day than she probably knew her whole life. I feel for her. At least I knew how screwed up my family was and there's never been a moment when I was blind to it.

I say, "Every marriage goes through ups and downs." I'd heard that from several people but they usually were talking about it ending in divorce.

Rebecca gets that ugly face people make just before they break down in tears. It hurts my heart to see her so distressed. She dabs at the corner of her eyes with her fingers and fights the emotion that God didn't intend us to ignore. Hurt should be let out. I'm not one to talk but lately I'm becoming a real girl, feelings and all. The hard edge to me is still there but another person is just below the hard scrabble.

Rebecca gets up and goes inside.

"I'm really sorry for what you're going through, Ronnie. Your sister will be okay."

Now Ronnie is crying. I put an arm around her shoulders and pull her into me, but she pulls away. "You're going to make me cry, Megan."

"Okay," I say. "I'll be mean to you. What's really bugging you? Spill." I feel better already.

She makes a fist and pounds the bench beside her. "Are they living a lie? Is it all a front? They've had quiet spells before but this is different. Rebecca told me she found a notepad that Dad must have left in the kitchen. There was a note on it to call his personal attorney. The one who drew up their wills. She asked Dad what it was about, and he told her it was nothing for her to worry about."

She takes a breath before continuing.

"After Mom went missing, Rebecca looked in Mom's reading room and it looked like she'd been sleeping in there."

Being the pessimist I am, I'm thinking wills, divorce, murder. I'm sure Ronnie knows this as well as I do. Domestic violence doesn't always take time to come to a boil. Sometimes the volcano blows and the one unprepared for the violence gets dead fast.

What Lucas said about the Ohio woman threatening divorce and that she was going to "clean him out" crosses my mind. From what I've seen of Jack he is very full of himself and protects his reputation at all costs. He's very much the alpha male. If he thought his wife was cheating on him, or going to leave him, he would have called his attorney to see what he could do to fight Victoria's claim to his wealth and holdings. I don't want to ask Ronnie but I have to.

"Have you ever had any indication your parents might split up? Any separations? Accusations of cheating?"

She shakes her head. "I don't know what to think. So we have to add possible divorce to the picture."

Tuesday morning, now. Five days was a long time for kidnappers to keep quiet. That made me worry that she was dead. Maybe by accident and the kidnappers didn't know what to do next. It's still possible they've killed her and cut the finger from her dead body, though forensics will tell us quickly if that's the case. And there's the opposite side. If she's leaving Jack anyway is it a possibility she would cut the finger from her own hand to move things along? I can't see that happening. She has two perfect daughters. Why do that to them?

The time has come for me to come clean with Ronnie like I should have last night. I say, "Lucas told me something yesterday on the way to Custer."

I tell her about the Ohio woman and give her all the details I have. As she listens, her expression grows more and more concerned. When I'm done, she can't keep the accusatory look out of her eyes.

"You should have told me yesterday."

"I know. I thought about telling you last night but we couldn't have done anything. Today we can get all the case file records from Ohio. I couldn't ask Lucas. The case is closed and he's not moving from that position."

"You should have told me, Megan. No secrets, remember."

"You're right. I should have told you."

Ronnie says, "I forgive you but don't do that again."

"I promise." Maybe. "One other thing is bothering me. How did Vinnie get two grand to buy a junk van? He'd just been bonded out by your mom so he wouldn't have had money. If she gave him the two grand, why would he leave a note saying she promised? Promised what? Do you think your mom promised him more?"

"Possibly. It sure seems that way, doesn't it? But Rebecca would have found it when she looked into the financials. Dad gives Mom a generous allowance, and he puts money in her charities accounts. Maybe she used that money."

Rebecca comes outside again and sits beside Ronnie. She's taken her makeup off and has bags under her eyes. "What have you been talking about?"

I deflect the question and ask, "Can you check on the bank accounts for your mom's charities?"

"I've done that. No big withdrawals or expenses."

"Can you check if the accounts are legitimate.? Who owns them? Where the money is going?"

"Are you suggesting my mom would set up a bogus account?"

"Of course not." Hell yeah . "But I want to know where the money is going?"

"I can do that but I don't see how it fits with her being gone."

In my job I've seen women hide money preparing for a divorce. Men too. Victoria might use the money. "We need to find out how your uncle got the money for the VW and how it's related to the note."

She quietly sips her coffee while she processes this.

Ronnie says, "And there's something else. Brace yourself."