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Finally, Lily spoke up, her voice heavy with grief. "Do you think she'll be okay?"
Emma took a deep breath, hoping to find the right words. "I don't know, but we'll be there for her. We'll be strong for her."
Lily nodded, wiping away her tears. "Okay," she said, her voice still shaky.
Emma leaned in, kissing the top of Lily's head. "We'll get through this together," she promised.
As the minutes ticked by, the girls sat in a haze of emotions, their minds racing with worry and uncertainty. They both knew they would be able to weather this storm, too. All they had to do was be better—be perfect.
Chapter51
Ihad entered Emily Matthew's house with Matt and looked around the kitchen, taking in the comfortable furniture and the cozy ambiance. Emily, a tall, slender woman with auburn hair, was pouring iced tea for us, and I couldn't help but notice how her hands trembled slightly. Matt and I sat on the chairs, and Emily finally sat across from us, sipping her tea. Emily fidgeted in her seat, her eyes staring at the floor as if looking for the right answer. I could hear the children playing in the living room.
"So, tell me, Emily," I said, "Why did John leave the children here with you?"
Emily looked down at her tea, her face flushing slightly. She took a deep breath, her eyes still glued to the ground. “John and I have been seeing each other,” she said quietly.
Matt and I exchanged a look of surprise.
“What do you mean, seeing each other?” Matt asked.
Emily shifted in her seat, still avoiding eye contact. “We’ve been having an affair,” she said. "It sounds so bad when you say it out loud. But we really care about one another. He told me he was going to leave her eventually."
I could feel my heart rate increase as Matt and I looked at each other in disbelief. “How long has this been going on?” I asked.
Emily shrugged. “A few months,” she said. “He’s been having problems with his wife, and we just sort of… fell into it.”
"And why are the children here with you?" I asked.
"He's hiding them from his mother-in-law. She wants to take the children away from him. That's what he said. When Rachel went missing, he feared they'd be taken away from him."
Matt furrowed his eyebrows. "His mother-in-law?" he repeated, "Why would he need to hide the children from her?"
Emily sighed heavily. "John's mother-in-law is a very controlling woman," she explained. "She wanted the kids. At least that's what he said to me. She’s been saying he’s not fit to raise them. He didn’t want them to be taken away, so he asked me to look after them until things calmed down. I have to admit I was skeptical at first. Not to take in the kids, but the whole Rachel going missing thing. I worried…,” she paused and looked at her hands. "I worried that he had hurt her, you know? To get rid of her. It's been bothering me. I needed to know the truth."
"Was that why you came to the hospital? To talk to him?" I asked.
"Partly that, but also to see if he was okay. I had heard that he had been shot, and I was concerned. I guess I still love him. But then I heard on the news that he was considered a suspect, and that scared me, you know? I wanted… no, I needed some answers from him. I still do."
"Do you believe he could be capable of hurting Rachel? Of killing her?" I asked.
She hesitated before answering. "I… I do. He’s mentioned before that he wanted to get rid of her. Those were his words. I’ve been lying awake every night since she went missing, thinking about it and whether to tell the police. I can’t believe she’s dead. But I also care for him, you know? I didn't want him to get in any sort of trouble. And when it first started out, and Rachel was gone, I told him I could tell them—you—about where he was that morning when she went missing. But he didn't want me to."
"You can provide an alibi for him?" I asked with a frown.
She nodded. "Absolutely. He dropped off the kids at daycare with Rachel. I was there too, dropping off my youngest, then Rachel drove him to his work downtown, where she dropped him off, and then instead of going inside the building where his office is, he met me down on the beach. We went for a walk, trying to talk because we hadn't been able to see one another all weekend. We usually met on the beach or sometimes in his car to go for a ride. Sometimes, he took me to his storage space, and we had… sex in the car there. I’m not proud of it, but it is what it is. And I’m not proud to say this either, but he usually pays me for it."
I sighed. This wasn’t pretty. It made me feel awful for Rachel. Had she known? Did she find this out? And that’s why he killed her?
"But just to be certain I heard you correctly… John didn't want you to tell us that he was with you on that morning his wife disappeared, even though it gave him an alibi?" I asked, puzzled.
"He was afraid Rachel would find out that we were having an affair. So, I guess he couldn't have known that she was dead, huh?"
I had to admit that she made a valid point. Why would John refuse to get his alibi out if he knew Rachel was dead? Why would he still try to protect her feelings? To not risk losing the children? But he would anyway if he was convicted and going to jail.
It didn't really add up.
As I pondered this, Matt spoke up, "Emily, you have to understand that we are trying to get to the bottom of this case. If you know anything that can help us, you need to tell us. Otherwise, you could be interfering with justice," he said sternly.
