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The mention of Vanna’s seemingly unquenchable thirst for money reminded Lia that they still had no idea where her considerable wealth had gone. She didn’t think Vanna would have shared that information with her professor, but Mary might be able to give them a lead on someone who might know.
“We have reason to believe Vanna had a secret bank account,” Lia said, releasing the older woman’s hands as she stepped back.
“I’m sure she did,” Mary said without hesitation. “She would have craved the sense of security of having her money spread in several locations.”
“Do you have any idea where she might have kept those funds?” Lia pressed. “Perhaps a bank she used when she was in college? Or a friend who was willing to let her use her identity to open another account?”
“I’m sorry.” Mary shook her head. “I really wouldn’t know.”
Lia shrugged. “It was worth a try.”
Turning away, Lia halted when Mary reached out to touch her shoulder.
“Wait.” Glancing back, Lia met the older woman’s worried gaze. “I don’t know if this is connected, but shortly before she disappeared, I had lunch with Vanna.” A wistful smile touched Mary’s mouth. “I don’t think I’d ever seen her so happy. She was excited about the wedding and the honeymoon she was planning with Darren. At the time, I remember thinking she was glowing. I decided to use the opportunity to ask the question that had been on my mind for a while.”
“What question?”
“I wanted to know if she’d seen her mother. Her real mother.”
Lia was confused by what Vanna’s real mother had to do with her bank accounts. Vanna was way too smart to give a junkie large amounts of cash. Still, Mary seemed to think it was important.
“What did she say?”
“A weird expression crossed her face and she told me that she hadn’t seen her mom, but that Lisa was allowing her to live the life she’d always desired.”
Okay, that was strange, Lia conceded. “Did you ask her what she meant?”
Mary nodded “She said that for once the worthless bitch was giving her something she really needed.” The older woman held up her hands as Lia arched her brows. “Her words, not mine. I asked what that was, and Vanna said, ‘Her name.’ That was it. I didn’t understand, but I let it go.”
Her name. Lia sucked in a sharp breath. “I think I do.”
Mary firmly headed toward the door, bringing an end to the meeting. “If that’s all, I really should go.”
Chapter 26
“A baby. That’s a plot twist I didn’t see coming,” Kaden muttered as he drove out of the quiet neighborhood and headed north.
Lia nodded, feeling almost numb as she struggled to comprehend what they’d discovered. It was more than a plot twist, she silently acknowledged. It had shaken up everything they thought they knew about Vanna Zimmerman and her connection to Pike.
“I’m not sure if I’m more shocked that Vanna had Tate’s baby or that Tate managed to disguise the fact that Jolene wasn’t Sunny’s mother.” The words held an edge of bitterness. “Everyone in Pike knew my dad fled town rather than be a father and that his parents refused to acknowledge my existence. But I never heard so much as a whisper that Sunny might have been adopted.”
Kaden reached out to give her hand a comforting squeeze. “Thankfully, you were raised by a loving mother who believed honesty and decency were more important than pride,” he said. “Tate Erickson, on the other hand, is a man who would be willing to go to any extreme to cover up his sins. The last thing he’d want is for his citizens to discover he’d been having sex with a college student and then purchased her baby after he got her pregnant.”
Lia grimaced. “Not the best reelection platform.”
“No shit.” He returned his hand to the steering wheel, but the warmth of his touch chased away the unwelcome memories.
Trying to imagine Tate bargaining for his baby, Lia was struck by a sudden thought.
“Do you think Jolene knew about Vanna?”
“How could she not?”
“Tate might have told her that he bought the baby on the black-market. It’s something he would do.”
“True.”
“And if Jolene was desperate enough for a child, she wouldn’t have asked awkward questions.” Lia wrinkled her nose. Just talking about Jolene Erickson left a bad taste in her mouth. The snobby woman treated everyone in town as if they were beneath her. “And honestly, I can’t imagine she could be as devoted to Sunny as she is if she knew the baby belonged to Tate’s lover.”
