“I spoke with your husband’s business associates,” Kovac said. “The people he had dinner with last night. A man named Edmund Ivors. Do you know him?”
“No. David doesn’t include me in his business dealings.”Or anything else, she thought.
“Does the name Ginnie Bird mean anything to you?”
“No. Why?”
“I think your husband is sleeping with her,” he said bluntly. “Actually, I’m pretty sure of it.”
Carey didn’t say anything for a moment. Kovac let her process the information.
“I’m telling him I want a divorce,” she said at last.
Kovac raised his brows. “Just like that? No ‘Let’s work this out’? No ‘Let’s go to counseling’?”
“Our marriage has been dying a slow death for a long time. There isn’t anything left to work out except visitation rights.”
“I’m sorry.”
She almost laughed. “Why? You hate my husband. You can’t believe I ever married him in the first place, let alone that I stayed with him all these years.”
“I’m sorry for you,” Kovac said softly. “I’m sorry you have to go through it. I’m sorry I had to tell you about the girlfriend.”
Carey shook her head. “No. Don’t be.”
She stared down at the desk drawer, then finally pulled it open and took out the file. She handed it across the desk.
“What’s this?”
“Evidence. I’ll be using it in court.”
Kovac paged through the contents. “How long have you been saving this up?”
“Since this morning. I did a little detective work of my own. He wasn’t even bothering to hide it.”
“That rotten, rat bastard son of a bitch,” Kovac growled half under his breath as he looked at the hotel receipts and florist bills. He picked out the list of escort agencies and turned red with anger. If David had been there, Carey had little doubt that Kovac would have punched him in the face.
He pulled out a copy of several canceled checks made out to the property management company. “What are these for?”
“He’s paying for an apartment,” she said, and recited the address to him. “For himself or for one of his little playmates. I called the company this morning, pretending to be David’s new accountant. I needed information. The last accountant left things in a terrible mess. Couldn’t they help me out? All I needed was the address of the property.”
“And they gave it up,” Kovac said.
Carey nodded.
Kovac picked up the copy of the note regarding twenty-five thousand dollars. “What’s this?”
“I don’t know,” she said softly. “It was in his wastebasket this morning.”
“It’s a payoff,” he said.
“You don’t know that. It could mean anything. A debt. Something related to his business. He’s talked about buying a boat.”
Everything she said sounded like an excuse. If she had been sitting in Kovac’s place, she knew what she would have been thinking.
“In October?” Kovac said. “Who buys a boat right before winter?”
Carey didn’t answer him.
“Carey…”
“David is a lot of things,” she said softly, looking down at the desk. “But I can’t believe he would do what you’re suggesting.”
“Before you found this stuff, would you have believed he was living a secret life? That he was cheating on you with prostitutes every time you turned your back? That he would use your maiden name as his alias?”
She looked up at him, startled and hurt.
“You didn’t know that part,” Kovac said gently. “What else don’t you know about him?”
What could she say? She was married to a stranger.
“Things weren’t always like this between us,” she said at last, feeling the need to justify having stayed in the marriage. “We were in love once. The last couple of years, we’ve grown apart. He’s slowly become this bitter, unhappy person. I wanted just to gloss over it, to think he was frustrated with his lack of success. I didn’t want to come down on him, because I knew his ego was fragile and my career was going so well.”
She brushed a thumb beneath her eyes. “And there was Lucy. She loves her daddy. If nothing else, he’s been a good father. He adores Lucy. The sun rises and sets on her.
“I didn’t care that he didn’t love me anymore. I had my career, my daughter. I could make that be enough.”
She felt weak, was trembling ever so slightly. She didn’t think she’d ever felt so defeated in her life. Kovac just sat there quietly, watching her with sympathy in his world-weary face.
“I’d like to go home now,” Carey announced, pushing herself to her feet. “I need to rest up for the big scene.”
“You’re telling him tonight?” Kovac said, rising from his chair. “Are you sure you want to do that?”
“Why wait? I’ve waited too long as it is.”
Kovac gently caught her by the arm as she came around the desk, headed for the door. His touch surprised her.
“I can be right there for you,” he said, looking her straight in the eye.
And he meant it, Carey thought. This hardened street cop, who didn’t even like her, would help her through this if she asked. And she had no doubt that he would follow through. That was who Sam Kovac was-blunt, honest, reliable-and not for any reason other than he simply believed that that was the right thing to do.
“I really don’t want an audience,” she said.
“I’ll stay outside.”
Carey shook her head. “I already have two officers sitting out front. David is as aware of them as I am. He wouldn’t risk touching me. He has a whole other life to live for. I can guarantee you prison isn’t on his agenda.”
“I don’t want you to be alone,” Kovac said.
“Well, that’s what I’ll want to be-alone. Despite all recent evidence to the contrary, I prefer to cry in private.”
He didn’t like the idea at all. He wanted to protect her. What a lovely thought, someone looking out for her, someone to lean on, someone volunteering to shoulder the burden for her.
“I appreciate the thought,” she said. “I really do.”
“I don’t trust him, Carey.”
“Don’t worry. David is far too passive-aggressive to hurt me himself.”
“I want you to call me after,” Kovac said. He still had hold of her arm and stood close enough that she could feel his breath on her cheek. Peppermint… and the faintest hint of scotch.
She arched a brow. “Drinking on the job, Detective?”
“Yeah,” he admitted, that little tug of a smile at the corner of his mouth. “You drove me to it.”
“Well, then, I guess your secret should be safe with me.”
She took a step away from him, and he let go of her arm.
His expression turned serious. “Be careful. And call me. And remember: I can be there before you hang up the phone.”
Carey nodded. “Thank you… Sam. Thank you.”
She wanted to put her arms around him and hug him for being kind. Or because she wanted to feel strong arms around her, supporting her, protecting her. She felt so alone.
Instead, she thanked him again and went to the door. Lucy’s face lit up.
“Mommy, I learned how to arrest somebody.”
Officer Young smiled at her. “What do you say to the bad guys?”
Lucy put her hands on her hips and made her best mean face. “Assume the position!”
Carey chuckled. “We have to go now, sweetie. Thank Officer Young and Detective Kovac.”
Lucy said her thanks to the officer, then went to Kovac’s feet and looked up at him. “Thank you for holding my hand, Detective Kovac.”
Kovac leaned down and shook her hand formally. “You’re welcome, Fairy Princess Lucy. You can call me Sam.”
The little girl smiled, delighted. “I like you, Detective Sam. Will you carry me?”