One big fact was that she could never in a dozen lifetimes have afforded to hire the Colby Agency—one of the top private investigation firms in the country…maybe the world. But Austinattended college with Jamie’s younger brother, Luke. They were friends, and when Austin had dared to share her story with his new friend, Luke had jumped into action.
Rory had urged Austin not to tell people she was his sister, and to avoid talk of her and the case at all costs. He refused. Who could have imagined that her brother was telling the story to the one person in the world who might actually be able to help? The Colby Agency had insisted on taking her case pro bono.
“We are grateful to have the opportunity to right such an egregious wrong,” Jamie went on. “As I told you before, I have reviewed your case thoroughly, and the holes in the investigation are easily seen in my opinion. The investigative and legal work was not up to standard, and your rights were trampled repeatedly because of that. We will see that it’s done properly this time.”
“Thank you.”
But that, for Rory, was the downside to all this. No matter that the verdict had been overturned due to a single piece of evidence the DA’s office failed to present, much less share. The nightmare was far from over. A new trial would happen, and the detective had been told to go back out and to do the job right this time if they wanted to go after Rory again. And they did. Oh, how they did. The Harris family, her dead husband’s parents, were the wealthiest in the state—maybe in the whole Southeast. They were never going to stop until the person they believed had murdered their son was put away forever.
Even the thought of what they believed she had done hurt her to the core of her being. How could anyone believe such a thing?
“You hang in there,” Jamie encouraged her. “We will get this done.”
The call ended, and Rory closed the laptop. She picked up the cell phone her brother had bought for her. It was a lighter version of the turquoise color she liked so much. She was sograteful for all he’d done, but she worried about him. She didn’t want this nightmare to follow him the rest of his life too.
Somehow, if this went the wrong way, she needed to convince him to forget about her and to move on with his life without her in it. He would resist, but it was the best course of action if this didn’t work out. As much confidence as she had in the Colby Agency based on all she had read about them, this was not exactly a simple situation. The Harris family would not let this go without a long and ruthless fight.
She went back to her bedroom and picked up the photo of her and Pete. Her heart hurt. She had loved him so much. So, so much. They had dated for only two months before deciding to move in together. Then, four months later, they got married, and her world was turned upside down. Her wonderful life had been destroyed completely. Nothing had survived that night.
She had loved her life. Felt so fortunate to have landed a job at Caldwell Elementary as a third-grade teacher right out of university. She had thoroughly enjoyed working with the children. It was the thing she had wanted to do since she was just a kid. She used to make Austin pretend to be her student. The memory made her smile.
A few years after landing her dream job, she’d met Pete. He had just started running his father’s development company. Mr. Harris, Anthony, had built a great company, but Pete was taking it to the next level. He’d been so excited. Life had been really good for them.
After only six months together, they had decided to take the next step. There had been much talk about the wedding and the honeymoon, but she and Pete had decided to keep it simple. They’d had a lovely ceremony at the county park and rented a remote cottage on the water only a few miles away. They would have their few days of solitude and then get back to the businessof their busy lives. They had the rest of their lives for traveling the world.
Except they didn’t.
The first night at the cottage, two intruders broke in and woke them from deep sleep. It was late, and she and Pete had been drinking champagne—it was their wedding night, after all. The intruders had immediately drugged them. Rory closed her eyes against the memory of the things the intruders had done. Horrible…terrible things. And when they left, Pete was dead.
They had taken both their cell phones and the keys to Pete’s SUV, so she’d had no way to call for help or to drive into town. In a near comatose state, she had held Pete for hours, just rocking his body as if by sheer power of will she could bring him back. She had no idea how much time passed. She hoped the drug meant that Pete hadn’t felt the horrors done to him.
Eventually, she had recognized that it was necessary to leave him. First she had run from house to house on the short waterfront street. There were only a few, and all had been dark. No cars. No one answered the doors. So she had done the only thing left to do. She walked toward town in the hope that a car would come along. She’d been half naked, the nightgown she’d bought for her wedding night ripped. But the worst was the blood. She’d held Pete for all those hours. Blood had soaked into her gown…her skin.
Sometime in the wee hours of that morning, a car had driven past her stumbling journey along the road. The driver had stopped and called 9-1-1. She had been so grateful when the police arrived. Finally, someone to help.
But it was too late, of course. Pete was dead. The scene in the cottage had been like the big black moment in a horror movie.
At first everyone had been so kind to her…so helpful. Lulu and Austin had stayed at her side. Even Pete’s parents had stood vigil with them as Rory healed and the investigation got underway.
But then, a mere two weeks later, all that changed because the police found nothing—not one single shred of evidence to back up Rory’s story. There were no other prints in the cottage except hers and Pete’s. The place had just been painted and thoroughly cleaned when they rented it. The only prints on the big kitchen knife used on Pete were hers. There were no close neighbors near the property. No one to hear them screaming. There were no tracks to show another vehicle had come into the parking area other than the one they drove. There simply was nothing to prove the story she conveyed.
The way folks looked at her then was something she recalled vividly from her childhood. She’d been called a witch, a demon child…all sorts of ugly names. Mostly because of the way she looked. Her hair was so dark and her eyes so light, not to mention her skin was so, so pale. Lulu’s hippie vibe that had quickly rubbed off on Rory had added fuel to the fire. Kids at school had picked on her to no end.
She had thought all of that was behind her…until Pete’s murder.
At trial, no one—not the jury or those watching from the gallery—saw anything beyond the dozens of her handprints in his blood. Everything else had faded into the background.
How in the world would the Colby Agency find the truth two years later when no one had found a single shred the day after? How could she prove that she had not killed the man she loved…that she was not the monster the media had dubbed her?
TheMurder Bride.
CHAPTER TWO
Kindred Residence
Tupelo Pike
Scottsboro, 5:30 p.m.
