“Just stating the truth,” he assured her, and because the timing felt right, he went ahead and pulled her into his arms.
Addie made a sound, sort of a sigh mixed with a soft sob, and she dropped her head on his shoulder. Judson tightened his griparound her, but he also kept watch. Making sure they weren’t about to be attacked. He was certain Livvy was doing the same thing. Sitting here was a risk, but he wanted to give Addie these moments to try to settle from the emotional ordeal she’d been through.
“She is self-centered,” Addie muttered. “And narcissistic. She made my life a living hell long before I even knew she’d murdered my mother and kidnapped me. I had to be perfect. My hair, my clothes, my manners. Everything. I had to present the perfect child to her so-called friends.”
Over the years, Addie had mentioned bits and pieces of her life with Rowena. She’d been forced to perform in pageants, and Rowena had even put Addie on severe diets when she’d been only five years old.
“She was never violent with me,” Addie went on. “She never physically hurt me the way she did my mother.” The venom, and the hurt, spiked in those words. “But there was abuse.”
Yeah, there had been, and while Judson hadn’t wanted to pry into that part of Addie’s life, once he’d become a cop, he had taken a look at the case file and reports after Rowena’s arrest. Along with the diets and strict training routines for the pageants, Rowena had basically isolated Addie, not allowing her to make friends and even pulling her out of school so that Addie stayed right by her side. Rowena’s generous inheritance from her late parents had allowed her to have that lifestyle.
And to basically keep Addie a prisoner.
Addie lifted her head and met his gaze. “Thank you,” she said.
Judson felt he should be the one doling out the thanks for allowing herself to be put through this, but he didn’t get the chance.
“Just please get me far away from her,” Addie insisted. “I need to get back to the ranch and see Lily and Rose.”
He needed that as well. Not just to put some distance between Rowena and them but because it was safer for Addie to not be out in the open like this. Plus, seeing the twins would settle both of them.
The moment they both had on their seat belts, he pulled out of the parking lot, and with Livvy behind them, they headed home. From the corner of his eye, he saw Addie text someone. Probably Etta Jean to let the woman know their estimated time of arrival.
Judson had barely made it out of San Antonio when his phone rang and Eden’s name popped up on the screen. He went ahead and took the call on speaker, hoping this wasn’t bad news.
“Should I ask how the meeting with Rowena went?” Eden said the moment she was on the line.
He waited and let Addie respond to that. “Rowena didn’t give us any new info on where we might find Yvette, but she did mention the fishing cabin.”
“She’s definitely not there,” Eden confirmed. “Well, not unless she showed up after the crime scene team left about an hour ago.” She paused, and Judson heard what he thought was Eden texting someone. “I’m having one of the county deputies go back and have a look just in case.”
That was a smart move. Yvette had to be somewhere. Well, unless she was dead. And if she was alive, she might try to hole up in a familiar place rather than risk checking into a hotel.
“Did you get anything else from Rowena?” Eden asked.
Again, Judson let Addie take that question. “Nothing more on possible locations, but Rowena told us that both Yvette and Shane visited her in prison and that she believes either Trevor or Elijah are trying to eliminate Yvette so they can inherit her money.”
“Interesting,” Eden muttered. “During my interview with Jennifer, she pointed the finger at Trevor, too. And at her brother.”
No surprise there. If money was indeed the reason to get Yvette out of the picture, then Trevor, Shane, Elijah and Jennifer all had motive. But all these accusations were muddying the investigative waters. What they needed was proof.
“Did anything come out in Rory’s interview with Shane?” Judson asked Eden.
“Not really. Shane certainly didn’t mention anything about having visited Rowena,” she explained. “We had to cut Shane loose about a half hour ago, but we can call him and ask him about that.”
“I’ll do that,” Judson heard Rory say in the background.
Good. Because Judson wanted to hear what Shane had to say about those trips to the prison.
“What about Jennifer?” Judson asked. “Is she still there?”
“No. Grace said not to hold her, and we didn’t. She left shortly before her brother did. Elijah picked her up.”
Again, that wasn’t much of a surprise. Grace didn’t have the evidence to arrest Jennifer, and of course, she would have wanted her boyfriend to get her the heck out of there.
“Did Jennifer say anything about her recent miscarriage during the interview?” Judson added.
“She did. Said it happened about six weeks ago.” Eden paused. “Why? Is it important?”
