was much shorter than she remembered. He stood maybe five-eight with his sandals on. He had more facial hair than he did on his head. The slight beard forming on his chin and jawline gave him a shabby look. He had lost his hair, though, either shaved it off on purpose, or it had thinned on its own. Either way, the face reminded her of the actor Tom Hardy in his bad guy role.
With somewhat of an attitude, Derrick showed them into his living room, then crossed his arms over his chest in a defensive poster. “Okay. Let’s hear your questions.”
Gemma cleared her throat before Lando could speak. “How long had you and Laura Leigh been having an affair before she died on that road up to Moonlight Ridge?”
In response, Lando’s jaw fell open while Derrick simply slumped into the nearest chair.
When he was able to get over the shock of the question, Derrick choked out a question of his own. “How did you find out?”
Before she answered that, Gemma traded looks with her husband. “You said it before when you mentioned that Derrick wasn’t home the night Laura Leigh died. It got me to thinking. Anna Kate already suspected he was cheating. She just didn’t know with whom. Right? Plus, she couldn’t figure out why Laura Leigh would go out to Moonlight Ridge. Remember? I just put two and two together and took a chance that I was right. It seems like I was.”
She stared over at Derrick. “If you had to cheat on your wife, why did it have to be with her sister?”
“I’m not proud of it. Look, I never wanted Anna Kate to know about our affair. There’s no need to tell her at this late date, either. It’s true. We were sneaking around behind Anna Kate’s back. But I hadn’t been happy in my marriage for a long time. Deep down, Anna Kate knows that. As for the affair, one day, it just happened. It was just sex.”
Lando did his best to recover from the news enough to put the fear of God in Derrick. “The night she died, you were with Laura Leigh for how long? And where?”
“Earlier in the evening, yeah.”
“No, I mean, how long did you spend together that night specifically?”
Derrick licked his lips and slunk down further into the chair. “We had this habit of getting a room out on the highway at the Starlight Motel. But that night, we headed up to the little cabin I kept at Moonlight Ridge for some privacy.”
“I see. You mean like a love shack sort of thing?” Lando prodded.
“I bought the place with my own money. You can call it what you want.”
“Then I take it your wife knew nothing about your little love nest?”
“No. She did not.”
Not surprised by his answer, Gemma had a follow-up question. “Just curious, but where was Laura Leigh’s husband or boyfriend during all these bootie calls?”
“What? No. Laura Leigh never got married, not even to Sienna’s father. She was a free spirit. That’s what I liked about her.”
Gemma traded confused looks with Lando. “That’s weird. What happened to her wanting to be like Sandra Copeland, the lady of the manor, mom of the year, that sort of thing?”
Derrick lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Her wild side was one of the things that appealed to me. She was unattached, available, and willing to go crazy now and again. We were having fun. We weren’t hurting anyone. Neither of us was that serious about the other. I liked that. They might’ve been sisters, but Laura Leigh was the total opposite of Anna Kate.” He rolled his eyes. “Anna Kate, the one who always had to control everything I did, who always wanted me to account for every minute of my day. No, Laura Leigh was a breath of fresh air compared to the wife.”
Lando decided to take a seat across from Derrick so he could look him in the eye. “So tell us what happened the night she died, start to finish.”
Derrick itched a spot on his beard. “Jeez, I’m not sure I remember exactly. I probably made up some excuse to get out of the house. I do know I met Laura Leigh at the cabin because Sienna was at our house. We had time on our hands. I seem to recall Anna Kate planned to take the kids to the mall or something. Once I arrived at the cabin, we probably made love.