Chapter 9 - THE OTHER WIFE
The woman in the photograph was named Rebecca Cole.
Sarah learned that from the stranger who finally called her.
“My name is Nicole Avery,” the woman said. “Rebecca was my sister.”
Sarah sat in Tessa’s car outside the sheriff’s substation while Miles slept in the back seat.
“What happened to her?”
“She married Linda’s older son, Paul.”
Sarah knew Paul only as a name nobody discussed.
Jason once said his brother had “left the family.”
“Rebecca owned a house in Decatur. Paul had gambling debts. Linda convinced her she was unstable. Ray filed the paperwork. There was an incident at a family dinner. Rebecca was removed. A deed got recorded two days later.”
“What happened after?”
“Rebecca fought it.”
“And?”
“She died before the hearing.”
“How?”
“Car crash.”
Outside, red and blue lights reflected across the windshield.
“Police called it an accident. I never believed that.”
“Why are you contacting me now?”
“Because I saw Tessa’s video. Somebody sent it to me.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Rebecca’s protective order.
A statement from Linda claiming Rebecca attacked her.
The language was almost identical to Sarah’s petition.
“Did Rebecca have kids?”
“A daughter. Emma. Paul got custody.”
“Where is she now?”
“Twenty-one. Lives in Savannah.”
Sarah stared at the building where Jason was being questioned.
“Nicole, why would Linda do this twice?”
“Because the first time worked.”
Then Nicole said, “There’s something else. Rebecca left me a voicemail the night before she died.”
“What did she say?”
“She said Paul wasn’t the one she was afraid of.”
Sarah gripped the phone.
“Who was?”
“Linda.”
“What happened?” Sarah asked.
Harris’s jaw tightened.
“His partner just produced a court order blocking us from holding him.”
Ray smiled at Sarah as he passed.
Then he mouthed two words.
May you like
Ask Jason.
And for the first time, Sarah wondered whether her husband was only the latest man Linda had trained to betray his wife.
