CHAPTER 46

CHAPTER 46

CAT

Kelly called me twice, her voice mails filled with concern and giddy intrigue over the police presence dotting the Ryders’ property. This would be the most exciting thing to happen to Atherton since the Bakers’ disappearance. Add in the fact that this was on the same property, and we officially had the most notorious block in the neighborhood. We might need to buy and bulldoze the house just to retain our property value.

I deleted her voice mails and watched as the police car containing Neena pulled out of the drive. She had been put in the back seat, handcuffs on, in the rigid pose of the detained. Their garage door was still open, her SUV in its spot, Matt’s car still missing. Where had he gone after he had confronted William? Our guesthouse was prepped and empty, but I had a feeling he’d rather sleep in the street than on William’s property. I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my contacts, finding his name, and the number I had never used. I typed out a text.

I don’t know where you are, but if you’re up for a drink, let me know.—Cat

I sent the text and turned to face the dining room table, where Randall James sat. Our Tennessee-born attorney had a full spread before him and was digging enthusiastically into a blueberry-and-whipped-cream-topped crepe. Across from him, William was on the phone with the Human Resources director of Winthorpe Tech, discussing termination possibilities for Neena. Firing her had been my first demand, coupled by the quick requirement that he never, ever speak to her again. No texts, no emails, no calls. A complete dissection of her from our lives. He had quickly agreed, then tried to pull me in for a kiss—one I had refused. Punishment for this crime had been too long coming to be dealt swiftly. Neena was experiencing a mountain of it. William barely had to deal with a molehill.

“No severance package.” My husband slid his chair back from the table and met my eyes. “Yes, effectively immediately. I want her locked out of everything.”

Randall tapped a piece of paper and slid it toward him. William glanced at the document and nodded.

“Yes, I’m aware of that risk. If she threatens anything, you have her call Randall. He’ll handle it. And we have a release form she needs to sign. Tell her that her final paycheck is contingent on it.”

“Not until Monday,” I said quietly. “Lock her out now, but don’t fire her until Monday. In the meantime, send out an email that looks like it’s going to the entire team but only goes to her. One that says the office is closed today and tomorrow.”

“Will she believe that?” Randall settled back in his seat and straightened, his checkered orange tie resting on his generous belly.

“She won’t have the mental energy to question it,” I said, turning to the window and looking across our yard at their house. In the light of day, there were only two police cars present. The forensic van and search dogs had left, their work done. The dogs had followed the intruder’s path through three yards and over a low place in the neighborhood’s fence, then lost the scent when he got into a vehicle. Poof, gone.

“Why wait until Monday?” William questioned, the phone pulled away from his mouth.

“She’s been hit with a lot,” I said. “Losing her job in the middle of a police investigation—it might be too much for her to handle.” I said it with an air of kindness, but my motives were far from altruistic. She needed to properly understand the ramifications of her actions, and right now, her firing would just be one more thrown stone. Better for that blow to come when she would feel the sting of its impact.

I met William’s gaze and raised my brows, daring him to question me. He held the eye contact for a moment, then relayed the instructions.

From the front of our yard, movement caught my eye as a police SUV made the turn into our drive. I cleared my throat. “Randall, they’re here.”

The doorbell rang, and the attorney stood and wiped at his mouth. “Both of you, just stay right here.”

I leaned against the wall and silenced my phone, which was ringing with another call from Kelly, who must be watching the excitement with binoculars. Randall’s smooth accent boomed through the entry hall as he flirted shamelessly with Atherton’s female chief of police.

“Cat. William.” Chief Danika McIntyre appeared in the open doorway. “Good afternoon.”

I rounded the edge of the table and smiled, accepting the hug that the tall woman provided. Danika McIntyre had been our chief for eight years and had, during that time, coordinated several toy drives and charity projects through our Winthorpe Foundation. “I’m sorry about the middle-of-the-night call.”

“No apologies needed. I’m sorry it’s taken so long for me to get here. But don’t worry, we’ve been very busy on this case. I had a judge sign off on the warrants as soon as the courts opened, so we’ve been able to get quite a lot done in the last ten hours.”

I spoke before William did, hoping that he wouldn’t question the purpose of warrants. “That’s great to hear. Please, sit down. Have you eaten? I can have a plate fixed for you—anything you want.” From behind her, I spotted two officers hovering in the foyer, and I paused.

Following my gaze, she gave a regretful smile. “Unfortunately, this isn’t a pleasure call. Mr. and Mrs. Winthorpe, this is Detective Cullen and Officer Anders.”

I shook both of their hands, as did William.

“They need to speak to you, Mr. Winthorpe. Privately. If you’d like your legal counsel to join us, that is certainly within your right.”

“You can question me here, in front of Randall. And I’d like Cat to stay. We have no secrets.” He hesitated. “Not anymore.”

What a laughable statement. He may not have any secrets from me, but I had a mountain of them from him.

“Very well.” The chief pulled out one of our linen-wrapped chairs and sat, gesturing to the other uniforms to follow suit. “We need to ask about your relationship, or lack thereof, with Neena Ryder.”

“We had a friendship, one that felt inappropriate at times. She made it clear that she was interested in a physical relationship. I declined her advances, for the most part.”

“For the most part?” Detective Cullen spoke up. “What does that mean?”

“Don’t answer that,” Randall drawled. “The extent of William and Neena’s relationship has no bearing on this conversation.”

“Did Neena ever speak to you about a future between the two of you?”

“No.”

“Do you think she believed that there was a chance of a real relationship between the two of you, if Cat or Matt were out of the picture?”

He frowned. “I don’t know what Neena believed, but I never led her to think that there was any possibility of a relationship. I love my wife, and I made sure Neena understood that.”

Oh yes. I’m sure he was just gushing about me in that private boardroom. I’m sure Neena never even considered the possibility of stealing him away from me.

“We did uncover some unsettling items in the Ryders’ bedroom. Photos of William, some of both of you.” The second officer produced a file and pulled out photos, sealed in protective bags. William and I leaned forward, examining the pictures.

They were all familiar snapshots of our lives, and I glanced up at our visitors. “These are all from my Instagram profile. I’ve posted all these. She must have printed them out.”

William inhaled as he took in the large number of images.

“You said there were some photos of the two of us?” I prompted.

“Yes.” He pulled a second set of images from the accordion file. This set, when placed on the table, caused a visual flinch from William.

Hack jobs of my favorite photos. One of William looking tenderly down at me, my face replaced with a cutout of Neena’s face, beaming out. Another—one from our wedding, my dress topped with a too-large image of Neena, her grin angled toward William’s handsome face. And worst of all—the photo of him and me and my baby niece. She’d replaced my entire body with hers, the three of them making a demented Frankenstein family.

“There are also these.” The chief moved three more photos out of the stack, each one a demonic hack job of a group photo where Matt’s and my heads were cut off.

“This is psychotic,” William said quietly. “We need security on Cat. I’ll pay for protection for Matt as well—at least until Neena is locked up permanently.” He looked up at me. “You were right about her. I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to you.”

I studied his taut features, the guilt and emotion clogging his eyes. Did he mean it? Was he sorry? I thought he was, but would I ever be able to trust him again?

I cleared my throat. “What exactly happened inside the house? Someone tried to attack Matt? Did they break in?”

“The intruder either had a key, or a door was left unlocked. He seemed to be a professional. There are no fingerprints, no shoe prints, no hair. He came in around two forty-five in the morning, put a gun in Mr. Ryder’s mouth while he was sleeping. Mr. Ryder woke up, then the intruder pulled the trigger.”

William let out a low curse.

“The gun misfired, Matt tried to grab at the gun, and the man fled. We weren’t able to track him down.”

“But you think he was hired? This isn’t someone who’s going to come back and try to kill Matt again?”

“We’re keeping two cars stationed at the Ryder house for the next few days, but our current thought is that Mrs. Ryder—or someone else—hired the hit. We’re doing an audit of Mr. Ryder’s bank and business accounts but haven’t found any evidence of gambling, money owed, or suspicious contacts. He seemed to be well liked and honest, so the list of people interested in killing him is slim.”

“He’s a good guy,” William said quietly, and I resented the look of guilt on his face. Matt was a good guy, but I had been a good wife. He had sworn to love, honor, and protect me, and that’s where his guilt should have been focused.

I straightened in place. “Where’s Neena now?”

“She’s at the station being questioned. They’re going through all the evidence with her. I’d like to say that we’ll keep her there, but to be frank, we have a lot of speculative evidence but nothing hard. Though this has been a very scary incident for Matt, there hasn’t been an actual crime, just an attempt at one. And we’re going off Matt’s testimony for that—nothing else.”

William raised a brow at me, and I knew what he was thinking of—my trip to the emergency room. The poison in my system. Just yesterday we’d gotten the call from the hospital confirming the presence of antifreeze in my stomach. I shook my head at him, wanting him to stay quiet.

“Is William an official suspect?” Randall spoke up from his end of the table.

The detective and chief exchanged a glance. “At this moment, he’s not even an unofficial suspect. We will let you know if that changes.”

“In that case,” William said, “I think we’re done for now.” He pushed on the arms of his chair and stood, running a hand roughly through his hair. “Please, take those photos. Looking at them makes me sick.”

The chief was the first to rise, and she gave a curt nod. “We appreciate your time, Mr. Winthorpe. We’ll be back in touch if we have any more questions.”

“Call me William,” he corrected, coming around the desk and extending his hand to her. “And thank you for your discretion.”

“Well.” She grimaced. “I can’t promise it will last very long.” She opened up her large leather bag and slid the file and photos inside it. “We may need you to come to the station at some point, but I’ll try to contain everything, as best as I can, from this end.”

I waited until she shook Randall’s hand, then gave her another hug. “Thank you,” I whispered in her ear. She squeezed me in response.

As they headed for the door, my phone buzzed with a response from Matt.

I’m at the White Horse. In a horrible mood, but misery loves company. I’ll save you a barstool.