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The man slammed the car door and turned. “Yes. Who wants to know?”
James and Cole flashed their badges and introduced themselves.
“You the two who showed up at my house and talked to my wife and son?”
“We are.”
“Then why are you harassing me here?”
“I don’t believe we can call this harassing, sir,” James said, keeping a smile on his face, even while Lainie’s words about the guy ran through his mind. “But we would like to ask you a few questions if that’s all right.”
The man sighed. “Sure, come on inside.” He led them to a corner office at the back of the building and motioned for them to have seats in the two maroon wingback chairs facing his desk. He leaned against the desk and crossed his arms. “What is it you need to ask me?”
“Do you believe Adam is still alive?” Cole asked.
Mr. Williams hesitated. “Why are you asking me that?”
“Because that seems to be the consensus of your wife and son.”
He sighed. “Yes. I believe Adam is alive.”
“You’ve talked to him?” Cole pressed.
“I have.”
James leaned forward. “What was your impression of Lainie Jackson?”
A snort escaped him. “I liked Lainie in the beginning. She seemed a little quiet, but was nice enough and treated Adam well. I don’t know when things changed, but in the end ... well, you know what happened in the end. She tried to kill him and, thankfully, failed.”
James made a mental note to check on the warrant to exhume the body. Those things took time—mostly when there was no time to waste—but they had no choice but to go through the proper channels. Digging up the body would give them an answer once and for all.
“We went to see a woman by the name of Victoria Irwin. Could you tell us the nature of your relationship?”
The man paled, then shoved out a laugh. “I really don’t see how that’s your business.”
“Look, there have been reports that Adam is still alive. Your wife and son, Nick, told us the marshals were involved in hiding him. I checked. They’re not.”
He leaned forward, a frown on his face. “Wait, what? Of course they were involved.”
“No. They weren’t.”
“Well, if they weren’t involved, where is he?”
True concern reflected in the man’s eyes and James frowned. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. We were at the bank today, and the manager there said you told him Adam was alive. If Adam faked his death, then that’s a crime. We’re just trying to put it all together.”
“So what does Victoria have to do with this?”
“That’s what we’d like to know. We found bank statements with Adam’s name on them and the money from his account is going to her. She admitted it.”
The man huffed a hard sigh. “She’s a mistress, okay? Yes, I’m a terrible husband, but I love her.”
Cole frowned. “But you won’t divorce your wife?”
His face reddened. “Of course Iwantto!” He slammed a fist on the table, then gulped a breath, taking a moment to pull himself together. “I can’t stand being at home. Why do you think I work all the time? But if I left her, I’d lose everything,” he finally said in a lowered voice. He lifted a hand, then dropped it. “The money is all hers. Except for the little bit I manage to bring home after I payVictoria. If I divorce, everything is gone, and the truth is, I’ve gotten used to the good life. I can’t afford to divorce her.”
James suppressed a sigh. He had no problem with wealth—or with people who had it. But the verse about the love of money being the root of all evil resonated. Only, his interpretation was that money wasn’t evil, it was those who had it and chose to do wrong with it—or chased it to the exclusion of all else. In other words, those who worshiped money instead of their Creator. “But you still use Adam’s account,” James said.
“Well, my name is on it, so technically it’s mine too.”
