They returned to the historic door.
The old key slid into the lock without a problem but didn’t easily turn. He jiggled it, adjusted its position, attempted to twist it again and again. Finally, the lock gave way with a rusty wheeze.
Remy gasped.
Jeremiah pushed the door inward. Light from the butler’s pantry revealed a tiny room and an even smaller table that supported only one item—a manila envelope.
He pulled the dangling cord overhead and the bulb flickered on.
Remy came to stand at the table next to him, hands wrapped around her overalls’ straps.
“Do you want to do the honors?” he asked.
“No. This is your envelope. Yours to open.”
“Except that we’re a team.”
She shook her head. “I’m a lone wolf.”
He paused. “You do that a lot, you know.”
“What?”
“Put distance between us.”
“Distance is good.”
“Except when it isn’t.”
“Jeremiah! We’re standing in a secret room in front of a mysterious envelope. This is not the time for introspection.”
He freed the envelope’s flap and pulled out a stack of paper and more. Photos? Clearly, they’d found his missing notes. “How about we move into the kitchen? We’ll have better light and more space.”
“’Kay.”
In the kitchen, he set the stack on the marble surface of the island. They pulled up barstools.
The top-most piece of paper was a printed email from someone named Fred Kimley dated two and a half years prior.
March 23
Dear Mr. Camden,
I’ve completed my work on your case. You hired me to determine whether or not your wife, Alexis Camden, was engaging in an extramarital affair. According to the evidence I uncovered through financial forensics of her accounts, analysis of the activity on her phone, and visual surveillance, the answer to that question is yes. She engaged in an affair with Sabato Messina for three months.
You can view the evidence I compiled via this link. I will also mail physical copies to you shortly.
I’ve attached a detailed report of the hours billed on this project and my activities during each of those hours. I’ve also attached an invoice for the remaining portion of my fee.
Sincerely, Fred Kimley
The email ended with a logo that included Fred’s name followed byPrivate Investigator.
Jeremiah held himself perfectly still while pain carved into his skull and the taste of betrayal rose like bile up his throat. Even though his memory had wiped Alexis away, his body bore the scars of her infidelity and death. His physical self—muscles and bones and blood—remembered and was rebelling.
“No,” Remy whispered in a shaken voice. She looked horrified.
Tenderness for Remy shoved much of the darkness aside. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her near. Her head tipped against his shoulder, and he rested the side of his head on top of hers.
