“I’m tired, but otherwise I’m fine,” I tell him honestly.
Sighing, Chief Turner leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees, steepling his hands together. “I’m assuming your husband has filled you in on how you were found?”
Cleaning my throat, I nod. “Yes, he has.”
“Okay. Can you tell me a little about your and Courtney Ortega’s relationship?”
Looking at Sebastian, I turn my attention back to Chief Turner. “Courtney and I were best friends when we were younger, right up until high school when I moved to live with my dad in Maine, and we lost touch. I saw her once or maybe twice when I first started at Kingsacre. She wasn’t particularly nice, but at that point it’d been years since we’d seen each other, so I just figured we didn’t really know each other anymore. Tobe honest, even though I’ve been living on campus for the last couple of years, I sort of forgot about her. Our world is odd. Everyone wants to know Sebastian, but they’re rarely interested in me as anything but a route to my husband, so we tend to keep our social circle pretty small.”
“And Ms. Ortega wasn’t a part of your social circle?” Chief Turner asks.
“No,” I admit.
“It sounds obnoxious to say it, but although Courtney’s family has money, it’s really not on the same scale as our families. People of the same socioeconomic status tend to stick together,” Sebastian explains, sounding like an asshole, no matter how true what he’s saying is.
“Okay, so if you and Ms. Ortega aren’t friends anymore, why did you agree to meet her? Your husband said she’d texted you.”
“We actually bumped into each other on campus last week. She was at the table next to us when we went to get coffee. I don’t know why, but she’d been on my mind recently, so when she was right there, I thought it was a sign that we should reconnect. We invited her here for lunch with us.”
“And how did she act that day?”
I shrug. “She was fine. We laid out by the pool, we had lunch, the others came around, and we were talking about trying to set her up with one of our friends. But that was when she started making some strange comments.”
“Like what?”
“She asked if I had signed a prenup.”
“That’s a very personal question to ask someone you haven’t seen in years,” the female detective asks.
I nod. “It is, but it’s not the first time I’ve been asked. I’m not from money. My mom is an author, and my dad owns a fishing boat. The moment people find out that I don’t have a trust fund,they automatically assume I’m a gold digger,” I say with a wry smile.
“Is that what Ms. Ortega thought?”
“She asked if I was planning to divorce Sebastian and take him for half of everything he has.”
“Why would she ask that?” Detective Hollins questions.
“Honestly, I don’t know. Sebastian and I have been together since I came to Kingsacre, and we’re married. I know I live a beautiful and very privileged life, but if I had to give it all up and only got to keep my husband, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
“Which is why we’ll never need a prenup,” Sebastian drawls, cupping my cheek with his palm and pressing a soft kiss to my lips.
“Tell me what happened the day you were kidnapped,” Chief Turner asks.
“She texted me and asked if we could meet. We were already planning to go to campus, so I agreed.”
“You didn’t think it was odd that she asked you to meet her in the parking structure?” Detective Hollins questions.
“I mean, it’s a little odd, but I guess I just figured she wanted to talk privately, and there isn’t really anywhere on campus that you can be truly alone,” I tell her.
“So, what happened when you got into the parking structure?”
“I remember walking down the ramp and finding her car. She got it as a gift for her sixteenth birthday from her parents. I remember thinking I was a little surprised that she was okay driving a four-year-old car, because her parents had always changed out their cars every couple of years when we were kids. After that I have a very vague feeling of pain, then nothing until I woke up in the hospital.”
“Can you think of any reason why Ms. Ortega would want to hurt you?” Chief Turner asks.
I shake my head. “Ever since Sebastian told me what happened, I’ve been racking my mind trying to understand why she’d do that, but I just don’t get it.” Real tears fill my eyes, and I quickly wipe them away.
Inhaling slowly, Chief Turner straightens. “When Officer Moorhouse and I arrived at the warehouse, Ms. Ortega’s car appeared empty and was parked in the lot outside. The warehouse door was ajar, and when we entered the property, we found Ms. Ortega in one of the three enclosed rooms. Officer Moorhouse and I had entered one of the other rooms first and ascertained that it was empty, and after I escorted Ms. Ortega outside, Officer Moorhouse entered the third room.” Pausing, he swallows thickly, like he’s bracing himself.
