“Adversity must’ve taught you to be strong,” I say.
“You would think so, wouldn’t you?” She pauses, and then, “But I was never strong enough to tell the difference between a good guy and one who wanted to hurt me.” She flings the rock I’d given her into the water. “I walked an awful, broken road to get to Ravenwood.”
“Does Mr. Harris know about your past?”
“Michael knows the basics, and that’s enough. From the start, we made a conscious decision to keep the past behind us and only focus on the present.”
If Michael beat his wife to death and buried her across the street, he happened upon the perfect woman to replace her—one who didn’t want anyone digging into her past, either.
“Are you happy?” I ask without thinking. The personal nature of the question surprises me. I’m equally surprised by my desire to know the answer.
“I am.” She eyes me carefully before stooping down to pluck another rock from the sand. “I’ve known from the moment I met Michael that his heart rules him. Morally, he’s solid, right to his core. He treats me like I’m special, and I’ve never felt that, not once in my life. And I can offer him things he’s always wanted, things no one has been able to give him before.”
“Like what?”
“Our child.” She smiles when my eyes go to her growing belly. “Listen, Detective, I heard something yesterday—something you should know that might help you with your investigation.” She turns, stepping through wet sand as her dress billows behind her. “I’m not sure how to say it, exactly.”
For the first time since we’ve been talking, Colleen seems fidgety. She drops the rock into the waves and clasps her hands in front of her. Her eyes shift from the surf to me and back again. What could possibly have her more on edge than talking about the demons from her childhood?
“Take all the time you need,” I say.
She blows out a shaky breath and starts to walk. I keep pace beside her. “Samara told me that Joanna miscarried her child in May, and then went to a women’s clinic in June or July, though she didn’t know the reason for the visits. Joanna didn’t want to tell anyone—not even Michael, if you can believe it. To keep the secret, Samara told her to choose a different name, so she could be treated under complete anonymity. I just thought—I knew you’d figure it out eventually, and I—well, I thought you should know as soon as I did.”
My skin prickles. “It was her.”
Mandy McKnight. Joanna.
“Samara said she was the one who took Joanna to her appointments. Michael doesn’t know about the clinic visits at all,” Colleen continues. “If you think about it, he’s the true victim in all this.”
I hear the pleading in her voice, but I can’t agree with her.
Not yet.
MICHAEL
“You almost ready, Coll?” I check my watch. “I don’t mind being fashionably late, but this is pushing it. I need to make sure the staff is handling everything properly.”
Tonight’s the five-year anniversary of Harris Financial. We’ve come a long way, hustled until our feet hurt, worked until our eyes burned, and we’ve created a successful company. At least on the outside. If any of my employees knew the truth about our declining accounts and bad investments, it’d be a different story.
If it weren’t for the insurance money I’m about to receive from Joanna’s death, I’d probably be giving layoff notices rather than hosting a party at the Point Reina Distillery.
I’m equally relieved and disgusted by the thought.
I hear Colleen fussing with something in the bathroom and call out to her a second time.
“One more minute,” she says. “I promise I’ll be worth the wait.”
“You always are.”
Things have turned around between us since yesterday’s ultrasound. Overall, the mood in Ravenwood has