The First Wife (29 page)

They fell silent. After a moment, Raine broke it with a question. “What’s wrong with
you?”

“Excuse me?”

“The throwing up. Is it the head injury?”

“No.” She hoped Logan didn’t mind, but she couldn’t not tell the other woman. “I’m
pregnant.”

Raine went white. The reaction hurt. “You must not be ready to be an aunt,” Bailey
said.

“It’s not that.”

Again, nothing. Just that hollow-eyed stare.

“Then what, Raine? Talk to me.”

She shook her head and looked away. “Congratulations.”

“That’s not what I—”

A tap on the restroom door interrupted her. “Bailey? It’s me. Are you in there?”

“I’m here, Logan,” she said. “With Raine.”

He poked his head in. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Just … sick to my stomach.”

He looked at Raine. “Could you give us a minute?”

She shrugged and stood. “Sure … Daddy.”

When she’d exited, he came to sit beside her. He gathered her hand in his. “You told
her about the baby?”

“She asked why I was throwing up all the time.”

“She would.” He paused. “I’m glad she knows now.”

“She didn’t seem all that happy.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.” He angled to fully face her. “I don’t want to talk about
Raine.”

“No?”

“I’m sorry, Bailey,” he said. “I’ve been wrong about everything. How I—I brought you
unprepared into this soap opera. How could I expect you to just sit back and act as
if everything was fine? It’s not fine. It hasn’t been in a long time.”

“I don’t understand.”

“There are things … I haven’t shared. Thoughts and—”

“As long as I have you, everything is fine.”

“No.” He tightened his fingers on hers. “We have to talk. Everything on the table,
Bailey. Everything.”

She searched his gaze, suddenly chilled. “What is it, Logan?”

“Not here. Home. Just you and me.”

“I love you so much, Logan.”

“And I love you.”

He kissed her. Raine chose that moment to open the door and peek inside. “You’d better
get out here, Logan.”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s Billy Ray and some sheriff’s deputies.”

He frowned. “What about them?”

“They’re looking for you.”

Bailey went cold. He stood to head for the door; she grabbed his hand, stopping him.
“Don’t go out there. Please.”

“Do you believe in me?”

“I do.”

“Then have faith. It’s going to be okay.”

She couldn’t return the smile. This moment felt different. Felt coordinated, timed
to inflict the most discomfort.

Logan exited the restroom. Bailey followed. Her knees went weak at the sight of Billy
Ray and the deputies. At Billy Ray’s smug expression. It seemed to shout, “Gotcha!”

Rumsfeld, the sheriff’s detective she recognized from the other day, approached Logan.
“Logan William Abbott?”

“Yes. What’s this about—”

The viewing room doors opened and the pallbearers emerged with the casket, followed
by Stephanie, Paul and August. They all looked their way; Stephanie stumbled and Paul
steadied her. The townspeople of Wholesome began spilling out behind them, the stunned
silence deafening.

“I have a warrant for your arrest.”

“On what charges?”

“The abduction of Dixie Jenkins.”

“No!” The word slipped involuntarily past Bailey’s lips.

Rumsfeld nodded to Billy Ray, who stepped forward with handcuffs.

Logan glanced at her, then back at Billy Ray. “C’mon, Billy Ray. You can’t really
think cuffs are—”

“Turn around, Abbott.”

“—necessary. Seriously?”

“Seriously,” he said, yanking one arm behind his back and snapping on the cuff. “You
have the right to remain silent.” He grabbed Logan’s other arm and wrenched it back.
“Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law—”

He snapped the cuff closed. “You have the right to—”

“You son of a bitch!” Raine pushed past Bailey and lunged at Billy Ray. “This is a
lie!”

The two deputies grabbed her and held her back. She fought them, kicking and thrashing.
“How can you do this! It’s a lie! A lie!”

Billy Ray went on as the deputies escorted her outside, unaffected by her outburst,
completing his Miranda recitation. “Do you understand these rights as I have relayed
them to you?”

Logan said he did and Billy Ray jerked him forward, with what seemed like all of Wholesome
watching. Bailey hurried after them, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Wait!” she cried. “What do I … I don’t know what to do!”

“Call my lawyer,” Logan said. “Terry King. Tell him what happened.”

Billy Ray shoved him into a sheriff’s cruiser, then slammed the door. Moments later,
Bailey watched it speed away, cherry lights and siren screaming.

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Wednesday, April 23

1:25
P.M.

The next few hours passed in a blur. As Logan had instructed, the moment she returned
home Bailey called his lawyer. Terry King had explained that Logan would be taken
to the parish jail, processed and booked in. He’d warned her that it could be hours
before he had an opportunity to speak with him and that she should stay calm.

Easier said than done.

Both Paul and August had offered to stay with her. She had refused. Adamantly. Both
had only agreed when she promised to call if she needed anything.

She’d worried their presence might make her feel worse, not better. She couldn’t trust
August not to say something snarky. And Paul, although staunch and reassuring, she
feared would expect her to behave in a similarly stoic manner. She’d wanted to be
able to sob, scream or stomp her feet, to throw herself across the bed and howl, or
curl up in a ball of silent misery.

All of which she had done since they left. She felt as if her heart had been ripped
from her chest.

As if sensing her distress, Tony laid his head across her lap and whimpered. She bent
and buried her face in his furry neck.

“What’re we going to do?” she whispered. “He didn’t do it, Tony. I know he didn’t.”

Tony responded by licking her hand. She shut her eyes, tears squeezing from the corners.

For all the agonizing over the past weeks and months, over the whispers of others
and unanswered questions, over the coincidental and inexplicable, she knew in her
heart that Logan had not done this. He couldn’t have, not the man she loved.

Ironic that just moments before he had been arrested they’d promised to trust each
other. To start anew. To believe in each other and their love.

She straightened, wiped the tears from her cheeks. Wasn’t that the essence of faith?
Belief beyond doubt? Absolute trust not in what could be examined in the physical
world, but in what could only be felt by the heart?

So, had she meant it when she promised him? When she said she loved him?

Tony lifted his head, nose and ears twitching. He growled, low in his throat.

The kitchen door. Softly closing. Footsteps. Bailey’s heart leaped with joy. Logan.
They’d released him. He had been right, it was all going to be okay.

“Logan!” she cried, leaping to her feet and running that way. “Thank God! I was so
afraid—”

She stopped cold. Not Logan.

Raine.

They stood gazing at each other for what seemed to Bailey like forever, but in truth
couldn’t have been more than a couple of moments. “How’d you get in?”

“I have a key.”

Anger washed over Bailey in a white-hot wave. “Have you come to laugh at me?”

“No. God, no. Why would you say that?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

She looked stricken. “I love my brother. More than you can imagine. It’s me I’m not
so crazy about.”

“Or me.” Raine didn’t comment, so she went on. “Why are you here, Raine? We’re not
friends. And you’ve made it more than clear you think I’m a naive fool and beneath
your brother.”

“Like I said, even I don’t like me.”

Bailey folded her arms across her chest. “Was it Paul or August who told you to check
on me?”

“Neither. This fabulous idea was all mine.”

“You’ll be relieved to know, I’d rather be alone.” She held out her hand. “I’ll take
the key, then you can run along.”

“Sorry, can’t do that.”

“Please go.”

“Sit. I’ll make us a cup of tea.”

“Raine—”

She cut her off. “I don’t blame you for being angry with me. But now’s not about what
a jerk I’ve been. It’s about Logan.” Her voice softened. “This is where he’d want
me to be. Making certain you and the baby are fine.”

Bailey stared at her a moment, then burst into tears. She brought her hands to her
face. “I’m so scared.”

Raine held her while she cried, awkwardly patting her back. “I know. I am, too. But
it’s going to be all right.”

When she’d finished crying, Raine led her to the keeping room couch, then instructed
her to sit. She squatted in front of her and caught her hands. “Have you heard anything
yet?”

“Nothing.”

“Which doesn’t mean anything. You called the lawyer?” She nodded; Raine went on. “He’s
very good, so no worries there. Do you know anything about how this process works?”

“No,” she whispered.

“First off, arresting is one thing, charging is another. They have to have enough
evidence to do that. Billy Ray doesn’t make that decision. Neither does the sheriff’s
office. The district attorney’s office does. If the state doesn’t think they have
enough to move forward, essentially to win the case, they have to release him.”

“Really?”

“Yes. People get arrested all the time and aren’t charged. If they can’t charge him
they have to let him go. And they don’t have long to make up their minds. Like, seventy-two
hours.”

“Three days,” she whispered, sniffling. “It sounds like forever.”

Raine held out a box of tissues. Bailey grabbed several. “How do you know all this?”

“Dad,” she said. “Or the person I thought was my dad. And True.”

“Logan’s been—” The words stuck in her throat. She cleared it, forced them out. “Arrested
before?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Questioned about True. It was so awful. So unfair. I—”

She bit the last back and stood. “I’ll get us that tea.”

“Tea?”

“Don’t look at me like that. An alien isn’t going to pop out of my stomach. Dammit,
I’m trying to be a sensitive, caring sister-in-law. You’re pregnant, so no alcohol.
If you weren’t, I’d be opening a second bottle already.”

Impossibly, Bailey felt her lips curve into a smile. “My husband’s been arrested and
my sister-in-law’s being nice to me. I’ve fallen into an alternate universe and can’t
get out.”

Raine laughed. “Life is some screwed-up ride, isn’t it?”

A carnival ride, Bailey thought. Spinning out of control. She hugged one of the throw
pillows to her chest. Raine’s horrid painting, the one of True wearing red shoes,
popped into her head.

That damn shoe. She wished she never found it.

Ask her about it, Bailey.

Raine returned with the tea. She set Bailey’s cup on the coffee table in front of
her. It smelled like oranges and spice, cinnamon and clove. A comforting combination.
She didn’t have the energy to reach for it.

She looked at Raine. “I have to ask you a question.”

“Okay.”

“Did True own a pair of red shoes?”

Raine almost choked on her sip of tea. “Wow, I didn’t see that one coming.”

“Did she?”

“I don’t know. Why?”

“One of those paintings of her, in that room … she was wearing red shoes.”

“An aesthetic decision. That’s all.” At Bailey’s silence, she added, “That’s the difference
between realism and expressionism. My artistic choices are emotional ones.”

Bailey drew her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them, thoughts racing. “Do
you think Logan killed True?”

Raine looked shocked. “No! Of course not. He loved her.”

“Love and murder go hand in hand.” She blinked against tears. “Isn’t that what they
say?”

“Logan did not kill True. Despite the heartless monster Billy Ray and others like
to make him out to be, he’s anything but. He’s gentle and kind. He couldn’t hurt a
flea, let alone another human being.”

Bailey’s tears spilled over and she pressed her face into the pillow.

Raine came over and tried to comfort her. “Hey, it’s okay. I didn’t mean to make you
cry again.”

“I’m just so … happy.” She looked at Raine, vision blurry with fresh tears. “Because
that’s the way I feel about him. But no one else … everyone else seems to think he’s
a cold-blooded killer.”

“And they’re all full of shit.”

She laughed, a sound that was more whimper than amusement, then blew her nose. “How
did everything get so screwed up?”

“You’re asking
me
that?”

Bailey laughed again, then wiped her eyes with the clean tissue. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Being here.”

Raine was silent a moment, then looked back at Bailey. “There’s something I need to
tell you.”

Bailey waited, though a part of her wanted to cover her ears. She didn’t know if she
could take any more bad news.

“I know Logan didn’t kill True.”

Her mouth went dry. She tried to swallow but couldn’t. “How?” she managed, the word
coming out choked.

“Because I know why she left Logan.”

“I don’t know if I can do this right now, Raine. I don’t know if I can handle learning
another thing Logan didn’t share with me.”

“He doesn’t know this. Only I do. It’s my secret.” She brought her hands to her face.
Bailey saw that they were shaking.

“My secret,” she said again. “Mine and True’s.”

“Logan didn’t know?”

“No. It’s been eating me alive. I feel so … responsible.” She sighed. “I got True,
why Logan fell in love with her, why she fell in love with him. What drew them together.
But not you.”

“Wow. Thanks.”