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“An injury from the accident?”
“Maybe.”
“You thinking rape?”
“Sebastian rapes his victims.” Nick’s brain was running in overdrive, working through the possible implications of that finding.
“But he didn’t kill his wife.”
“At least not directly. But if he’d just raped her then she might have been distracted, could have contributed to the crash,” he pondered.
“Wasn't Sebastian with one of his daughters at the time of his wife’s accident?”
“Naomi. Supposedly at least. But this was twenty-one years ago, and Naomi would only have been eight years old, we can't be one hundred percent sure that he was really with her that night. It was Aggie’s first sleepover, the first night Sandra would have been home alone. There’s no way to really know what happened.”
“Why would Sebastian rape his own wife?”
“Maybe she wanted out. Aggie said that her parents fought about his affairs, about Clara and Naomi. What if Sandra found out about another affair and was going to leave him. His first wife could have been his first victim. He leaves Naomi at the hotel, comes home, rapes her then leaves. Then Aggie calls, wants to come home, so Sandra goes to get her, but is traumatized and not paying attention and is involved in a fatal car accident.”
“What does the autopsy report say? Were signs of sexual assault found?”
“Sandra was alive, in a coma, for six days. Even if the medical examiner had thought to check, which there was no apparent reason to, there probably wouldn’t have been anything to find.”
“Okay. Well, that is quite a story. Let’s say that all of that is true. How does that help us prove Sebastian is a killer?”
“I don’t know,” Nick replied slowly. Right now, he wasn't exactly sure how all the puzzle pieces fitted together, but he was positive that once he had the answer to that he would have the answers to everything.
* * * * *
6:57 P.M.
Aggie stretched, yawned, and sat up in bed.
She felt good, well-rested, clear-headed, ready to face the day.
Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, she was surprised to see that it was almost seven in the evening. Those sleeping pills had really knocked her out. She’d slept for almost nineteen hours straight. And it had been good sleep, the sleep of exhaustion, deep and dreamless.
It felt nice to get up and not have to worry about anything. She was glad that she’d sent her phone back with Andrew. If she hadn’t, all she would be doing was stressing about whether or not Nick was going to call.
And he would call.
As soon as he realized she’d fled town, he would begin tracking her down. Aggie didn’t doubt that he could indeed find her if given enough time. But that was okay. She just needed some time to get herself together so that when she saw him next, she was strong enough to turn her back and walk away.
This game he was playing with her had to stop. And she had to be the one to do it. He thought he could wear her down. Badger her into forgiving him and maybe he could. Whenever she was around him, she couldn’t think straight. She let him get to her, which was a mistake that was only going to get her hurt time and time again.
It was time for her to toughen up. To learn how to say no, to learn that making decisions based on what her heart told her had been acceptable when she was a kid, a teenager, a young adult even, but she was twenty-nine years old now, it was time to let her head take over. She had to start making sensible, practical decisions. She had to be strong. She couldn’t be a weak, sappy, pushover forever. And if she took Nick back now, after everything he had done to her, then that’s exactly what she would be.
Climbing out of bed, she pushed aside thoughts of Nick. That’s why she’d come here. For a life, time out, and she wasn't going to waste her day thinking about a guy who didn’t deserve one millisecond of her time.
Her tummy grumbled loudly. Aggie couldn’t remember the last time she ate, so food was definitely next on her agenda. Then maybe she’d go for a walk. There were still several hours of daylight left, and regardless, she didn’t mind walking in the dark. In fact, she kind of liked the dark, she liked the moonlight, she liked the stars, she liked the shadows, she liked the peace.
After a bathroom stop, she headed to the kitchen. The kitchen cupboards were fairly well stocked. Andrew had filled them with plenty of her favorites. She poured herself a glass of apple juice and cooked some macaroni and cheese.
Once she’d eaten, she wandered outside. It was beautiful here, so secluded, just what she needed right now. She hoped her sisters understood why she had needed this time to herself. She really wanted to connect with them, get to know them, and really become sisters, but she had to sort out this Nick thing first, and to do that she had to be as far away from him as possible.
She wondered if Nick knew what she had done yet.
She assumed he must.
