Livvy couldn’t look at the picture for long, not with the reaction it was causing inside her. She had to focus. Had to keep reading. And she saw that nearly thirty years ago to the day, Belinda had testified against her husband in a San Antonio trial that had resulted in his conviction for felony domestic violence. Since it’d been his third conviction, he had been sentenced to ten years.
Livvy kept scrolling, moving to the background info on Belinda Tate Anderson. Born fifty-seven years ago in Houston, where she was orphaned at age sixteen when both of her parents were killed in a car crash. And the irony of that? Livvy saw that Belinda had spent the next year and a half in the foster care system. Much less time than Livvy but still the same system.
“No criminal record,” Ethan read aloud. “Married to Quentin when she was twenty-one, and two years later, she had a child, Alyssa.”
“Alyssa,” Livvy repeated.
After a couple of deep breaths, she kept on scrolling, only to realize there wasn’t anything else after the trial. That was it. No driver’s license renewal. No cyber footprint left of any kind.
“That’s when she went to New Hope,” Livvy concluded. “And after she disappeared, there was no missing person’s report ever filed.”
If Franklin was to be believed, Chloe had told him that Belinda had simply left. Of course, she hadn’t left by choice, and if Chloe had indeed murdered her, there was no way she would have told the police she was missing.
“What about her husband, Quentin?” Grace asked.
Livvy shifted the search, wondering if he could have played a part in Belinda’s death. But she soon dismissed that. Less than a year after he’d gone to prison for the felony domestic abuse charge, Quentin Anderson had been killed in a fight with several other inmates.
So, both of her parents were dead. And while Livvy was actually thankful that Quentin wasn’t in the picture, she felt the loss of her mother bone deep. It crushed her heart to think of the hell Belinda had gone through with her husband only to end up being murdered.
“This is her,” she said. “This is the right one.”
Neither Grace nor Ethan disputed that. Grace put her hand on Livvy’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry,” she muttered.
The silence hung there for a while, not nearly long enough for Livvy to try to grasp everything she’d just read, but Grace and Ethan gave her some time to tamp down the worst of the sensations. The senseless loss for both Belinda and her.
Grace cleared her throat and checked the time again. “I have to go pick up Sunny, but if you need anything, just let me know.”
Livvy managed a nod and was thankful that she didn’t have to get to her feet. Ethan showed Grace to the door, and after he locked up, he made his way back to her. He didn’t even glance at the info on the computer screen. He simply scooped her up in his arms and started walking.
She didn’t protest. Couldn’t. Livvy just let him carry her into the guest bathroom where he turned on the water in the tub. “Take a long soak,” he suggested.
Livvy doubted that was going to fix things, but she thought of something that might help. She took hold of Ethan and pulled him into her arms. Yes, it was a huge risk with her emotions running so high, but she needed him to hold her.
And he did.
Performing his usual magic, he gathered her close, pressing against her. They sank down onto the floor, Ethan anchoring his back against the tub, and he let go of her only long enough to turn off the water.
“I don’t feel like an Alyssa,” she muttered. “I feel like Livvy.”
He brushed a kiss on the top of her head. “Because you are Livvy and have been for twenty-eight years.”
She knew that but had apparently needed to hear it because it lifted some of the weight from her heart. Of course, a lot of that heaviness would likely be there for a long time. Livvy knew she wouldn’t be able to quickly process what she’d learned and handle the grief for her dead mother. No, that would have to come bit by bit.
And she’d need more information.
A deeper background check might help with that so she could learn about her mother’s family. It was possible she had other relatives out there. Not that she wanted to deal with that now, but she might down the road.
“About the visit to the house tomorrow,” he said, his words dripping with concern. “Are you sure you don’t want to give that a day or two?”
“I do want that,” she agreed, “but more than that, I have to know what happened. Right now, all I have is Chloe’s file and Franklin’s account of things. Neither of which might be the total truth.”
He sighed, causing her to look up at him. Oh, yes, the worry and concern were definitely there and had darkened his gray eyes to the color of a storm cloud.
“Just think about this investigation being over,” she said. “Being solved. A killer identified and caught. Then, we can go on that date.”
As she’d hoped, that caused him to smile. Even though it was barely there, it did amazing things to his face. Then again, Ethan’s face hit theamazingmark without him doing anything at all.
Livvy didn’t try to talk herself out of what she was about to do. She kissed him. And yes, that helped, too. It wasn’t going to undo any of the bad stuff that’d happened, but for this moment, the kiss did the job.
