Chapter Twenty-Four
While he waited forLori to come back from putting Maisie down for a nap, Devon paced his brother’s kitchen. He needed to tell her about Anna; they’d been as close as he and Vince. It would suck to let her down, but better him than someone else.
“Okay, Devon, I’m all yours. What’s up?” Lori opened the refrigerator and pulled out a jug of orange juice.
“It’s not good news, Lori.”
She paused in reaching for a glass and looked back at him over her shoulder. “Is it about the case?”
At his nod, she abandoned the juice and sat at the table by the window. Winter sun slanted in through the panes and set her golden hair on fire.
“I spoke to John. They found Anna and brought her in.”
Lori stared at him for several moments. “Brought in and released?”
He shook his head as he answered. “No, brought in and detained. Chief Hemsworth is charging her as an accessory.”
She went pale enough to have him reaching over and taking her hand in his. “An accessory means she helped him do that to Hailey?”
“They don’t think she physically helped him, but at some point before Hailey was found, Anna knew where she was.” When Lori’s hand trembled, he squeezed it. “She claims Vince threatened her, that she felt unsafe. And she’s pregnant, as he told me, so she feared for her life and the baby’s.”
“That's a terrible excuse for what they did.” Lori stood abruptly, striding across the kitchen and back. “Maybe with someone else, I could believe that sob story and even feel sorry for them. Maybe with someone else, I could agree that their husband was going to hurt them and they felt scared.”
“But not them.”
“No, not them.” She sank back down in her chair.
“I’m sorry, Lori. I know exactly how you feel.”
“You do, out of everyone. You know what the betrayal feels like.” Tears leaked from her eyes, and she sighed.
“It doesn't help, I know, but there’s no use blaming yourself.”
“I can try. I know it’s been difficult for you to work past Vince’s deceit.”
He looked out the window at the bare limbs of the trees. “I saw a therapist today, and I want to work through it all. I can finally move forward from Kathy’s death, but I can’t move on from what Vince did. Not without help.”
“That’s what they’re for, so good for you.”
