Page 53 of I’ll Be Watching You

“Yep. Up until then, she had a permanent residence in Syracuse, where her husband taught high school chemistry, but she also had a condo here in Phoenix during the Neurovantix trial and traveled frequently. Then last year they sold their house and I don’t know where they went. They’re a little young to retire, but as far as I know they are both alive. Maybe they did well enough to retire early and travel the world, but I couldn’t find anything on social media to support that theory. Neither has a social media presence on any platform.”

“Lu found the two kids. We can talk to them,” I said.

“Annette is a resident at a hospital in Virginia, and Madelyn lives outside Dallas. The family doesn’t seem to be close,” Luisa added. “Willa has never had social media, other than LinkedIn, which was used only professionally and hasn’t been updated in years. The girls both have some social media—Annette rarely posts, and Madelyn posts about her kids and husband and church extensively, but never mentions her sister or parents.”

“I don’t know, that seems a little weak,” Jack said. “Some people don’t like to post personal stuff. I don’t have social media anymore.”

I remembered when Jack deleted all his accounts after he took a continuing education class through Phoenix PD about cybercrime. At the time he was working in crimes against children and Austin was a toddler. He had tempered his paranoia, but still wouldn’t let Austin get social media until he was a legal adult and Austin could make the decision himself.

“Maybe that’s the case for Willa and her husband, but not their children,” Luisa said. “I would suggest reaching out to Annette to find Willa.”

“Why?” I asked. “You just said Madelyn was the one who shared everything with the world on the internet.”

“True, but Annette is in the same field as her mother, in a way. Willa wasn’t a medical doctor, but she had a doctorate in molecular biology. They might still be in touch. And because Madelyn doesn’t post about her parents, I’m wondering if they had a falling-out.”

“All the better to get her to talk,” I said. “But we’ll try your way first.”

“I sent everything to Tess. She might have other ideas to find them. When we’re done here, I’ll help her.”

I glanced at my watch. We’d been here for nearly thirty minutes and Mom had yet to come out of her room. “I’m going to check on Mom,” I told them.

I was worried about her. I could be angry and concerned at the same time. But my anger was fading and my worry was increasing.

There were too many things that could go wrong. Too many people I loved who could be hurt.

Uncle Rafe told me more than once that forgiveness wasn’t for the person who wronged you, but for your own soul. When you held a grudge—and I’ve been known to hold grudges—it hardened your heart, which separated you from God.

I thought about that a lot over the last three and a half years. I had let a lot of grudges go, but this had hit me like a train. The two people I loved and trusted more than anyone—my parents—had lied to me, had lied to all of us. They had kept this dark, dangerous secret for so long that even when I tried to remember Uncle Rafe’s wise words, I was having a hard time letting go.

But no matter what Mom and Dad had done, or why they had lied about Dad’s guilt, I would do anything to protect them.

Chapter Eighteen

Ava Angelhart

Ava sat at her vanity, but didn’t see her reflection. Her mind was with Cooper, worried about where he was, what he was doing, whether he was safe.

Ava had never doubted they’d done the right thing to protect their family. She forced herself to act normal, to be the smart, tough lawyer that was her reputation. She put her foot down with Margo because only by being firm could she protect her dangerously curious daughter.

Had Margo been right? Should they have investigated Devin’s murder? Should she have told her children about the threats? Would they have agreed with Cooper’s decision to plead guilty? Could they have kept the secret?

Ava didn’t know who killed Devin. She didn’t know who was behind the threats. But it had to be someone who knew both men, who knew that Cooper was the man who’d found Devin dead. Could it be someone he trusted? Someone he would never think capable of murder?

Cooper wasn’t privy to what Devin was doing related to the drug trial, but since they were friends and Devin had called Cooper that night, perhaps the killer thought he knew something? Was forcing him to confess a way to make sure he stayed silent?

She’d thought about all the possibilities then, but never had a name, never had someone to investigate. With Cooper in prison, his lack of freedom had put him in greater danger. If she had started looking for answers, and the person—or people—behind Devin’s murder found out, Cooper was a sitting duck behind bars.

So she’d agreed to shut down any investigation by her family. It hadn’t been easy, but eventually her children came around. Everyone except Margo.

Her actions may have cost Ava her daughter’s respect and trust.

And now, knowing that Cooper had been talking to his ex-girlfriend, and hadn’t told her, that hurt. She trusted Cooper, of course—nearly forty years of marriage and five children gave them a foundation that couldn’t be easily shattered.

But it could be shaken.

Cooper had a reason for confiding in Nadine and not telling her. But Ava didn’t know what it was. And that disturbed her. They had no secrets between them. Or so she thought.

A knock at her door made her jump. “I’ll be out in a minute,” Ava said.