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“I bet Boone loves that.”
“Guess he should’ve thought about that before.” Rita sipped her drink and shrugged. “As long as he stays behind bars, I’m happy.”
“What I still don’t get,” Ariana said, “is why he admitted to buying the arson supplies when he knew Mitch was abducting you. That’s a horrible alibi.”
Rita snorted. “Right? But Mitch acted earlier than they’d agreed to, leaving Boone with those receipts as his only proof that he didn’t take me. Since he didn’t actually burn this place down, they didn’t arrest him. But they were still watching him closely. My attorney filled me in on all the details, though the legal jargon made my head spin. I think they could’ve arrested him for planning to commit arson, but they hoped he would lead them to me.”
“I don’t know how he expected to get away with torching our house,” Damon said.
“The man does stupid things when he’s desperate. Trust me.”
Damon laughed. “I don’t doubt you.”
“Enough about him,” Rita said. “I want to hear all about your new house.”
Ariana rubbed her temples. “Not much to say just yet. They’re only just tearing out the old foundation today.”
“They couldn’t even save that?” Rita asked.
“No,” said Damon. “They said it was compromised.”
“You get a brand new fresh start.” A dreamy look overcame Rita for a moment before she snapped out of it. “I’d love to design a new home. That would be so much fun. Did you know in college I almost majored in interior design?”
“I didn’t,” Ariana said. “But you’d be so good at it with your eye for style.”
“No matter. I love the bar and grill.”
“Why’d you change your major?” Damon asked.
Rita looked away. “My father forced me to get married. Boone didn’t want to pay for the rest of my education.”
“Seriously?” Ariana asked.
“Yep. Married off to save my dad’s business.”
“How can that be legal?”
“I agreed to it, and there’s no paper trail for the financial side of it. But at least I’m out of it now. My divorce is in the process, and my lawyer says that given everything Boone is charged with, the prenup will be void. It turns out he was also embezzling money from his company, and they have reason to believe I wasn’t the first person he paid to have kidnapped.”
Ariana stared at her in disbelief.
“That’s a relief that you don’t have to worry about the prenup,” Damon said. “What would happen if it was still viable?”
“My office here at the restaurant would double as a bedroom for a while until I figured some things out.”
“I’m glad that isn’t a worry,” Ariana said.
Someone’s phone rang.
Damon held his up. “Sorry, I need to get this. It’s the foreman of the crew tearing out our foundation.” He accepted the call. “Hi Jerry. Got a question?”
Ariana started to ask Rita about the divorce, but stopped mid-sentence because Damon’s face had drained of all color.
“I see. Where exactly did you find that?”
Rita and Ari exchanged a concerned glance.
“Yes, thank you,” Damon said. “We’ll be right over.”
“What’s going on?” Ariana demanded.
Damon blinked a few times. “Jerry’s crew unearthed human remains. They haven’t been there very long.”
Ariana tried to speak, but couldn’t find any words. She and Damon stared at each other, the shock on his face matching the horror running through her.
Were they suspects?
