But in small towns?
The shit you bring to a place like Holly Woods stays in Holly Woods. Small towns are a dangerous place to have secrets, mostly because the concept doesn’t exist. You can’t have secrets in a place where everyone knows everyone and everything about everyone is known. By everyone.
So how in the hell did she keep this secret?
I pull into the parking lot of the HWPD building and push the door open. Charlotte smiles at me as soon as I walk in, and I lean against the reception counter.
“Can you tell Brody I’m here?”
“Sure thing.” She picks her phone up and presses two numbers. “Detective Bond? Noelle’s here.” She looks at me and puts it back down. “He’ll be out in a few seconds.”
“Thank you. Has Nonna been in here causing more problems?”
Charlotte’s dark eyes glitter. “Not since Trent pulled her out of here.”
“Great. Can you ban her from the building, or…?”
She giggles. “I don’t have that power. I just answer the phones.”
“And tell us all what to do,” Brody offers, opening the door and stepping into the reception. He smiles at Charlotte.
She returns it, pink coloring her cheeks, and I fight the urge to raise my eyebrows in interest.
My brother looks at me and says, “Well?”
“Coming, coming. See you later, Charlotte.” I skip through the door, Brody sweeping past me as soon as he’s closed the door.
I’ve never much thought about my baby brother as a man, but seeing him now, confident and strong and leading me through the police station, I see he is. He’s not the shy, gangly teen I remember. He’s a muscular, self-assured gentleman. Which means I can tease the hell out of him.
“Well now, Detective Bond, I do say that Miss Charlotte is rather sweet on you.”
Brody looks at me flatly as he closes his office door. “Sure she is. That’s why she can’t say a word to me.”
I grin and sit down. “Brother dearest, that’s exactly why she can’t say a word to you.”
“We’re not here to discuss my private life.” He coughs and sits down. “You’re here to find out about Lena.”
“I am. But a little sibling teasing never went amiss.”
“You’re testin’ my patience real good, Noelle.”
“Aw, Brodes. C’mon. You know I’m your fave.”
“Lena got divorced,” he says, his eyes, which are the exact shade of mine, hitting me hard. “We have the documents.”
I stare at him flatly. Documents? How? There shouldn’t be documents. There was never a divorce.
“There was,” Brody argues. “You said your thoughts out loud.”
“Oh.” I should get a handle on that. I’ll be in trouble a whole lot if that keeps happening. “Well? Tell me about these documents.”
“We spoke to Dr. Gentry this morning. He’s as shocked as we are.”
“Wait—you’re saying the man didn’t know he was divorced?” But I know that. He was sure they were together. In fact, he was entirely adamant he didn’t want to divorce her.
“Either that or he’s a real good liar.” Brody sighs and sits back. “He admitted that divorce was something they’d both considered. They went to lawyers, split their assets fifty-fifty for a clean and easy split, and the papers were sent to Dr. Gentry. He signed them, but he never gave them to Lena.”
Why would you go through all of that to just not hand your wife the papers? All of that time and money?
“He still hoped she’d come back,” I say softly. “He never wanted to say goodbye to their marriage. So, how did she get the papers?”
“She found them and stole them. The dates on record are not long after the original file. It really was an easy one.”
“How did he not know?”
“She intercepted all the mail. It was summer vacation and Lena stayed with them for a few weeks to be there for their daughter.”
I look out the window. The police station is on the opposite side of the park to my office, but the view is much the same as mine. The play area, the dog walkers, the trees, the flowers, the water fountain in the center of it all. The familiar sight brings comfort to me.
Swallowing, I look at my baby brother. “Who was she, Brodes?” It comes out a whisper.
He pats the hand I have on his desk and looks at me with sympathy in his eyes. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”
I’d give just about anything right now to clear out my savings account, fly off to some Caribbean island, and hire a cabana boy to fan me and bring me fruity cocktails.
The twists and turns in this case are getting to be too much—and so are the emotions. Telling Ryan Perkins that his wife was actually his wife wasn’t the easiest conversation I’ve ever had. In fact, it was downright fucking hell. Pulling out the divorce papers not even a week after I’d shown him the marriage certificate shocked him. It’s a wonder the man isn’t entirely screwed in the head after all of this.
It makes me wonder who else knew about all of this. The secret marriage, the secret divorce, the marriage to Ryan.
It really sucks when the person who’d know it all is dead.
Daniel is my obvious choice. There has to be some kind of record about this somewhere.
I lean back in my seat and tap my pen against my lips. I’ve written everything down for what seems like the fiftieth time, but I’m not getting anywhere. Despite Drake’s assurance that my working with the HWPD would give me access to some files, he hasn’t shown me a thing, and I barely trust him enough to give me the information I need. I wouldn’t put it past him to omit any information he didn’t deem necessary for me to know.
Like if anything turned up in Lena’s or Daniel’s apartments.
I dismiss the thought as quickly as it popped up. No, that’s silly. I can’t break into their apartments. Just because I’m no longer required to uphold the law doesn’t mean I want to break it.
Do I?
“Agh!” I flop forward and drop my forehead to my desk. Maybe I have to break the law to uphold it.
It can work that way, right?
It’s not like I’d be taking anything. I’d just sneak in, have a little snoop, and slip back out. Easy peasy. I’d barely be five minutes.
But Lena shared her apartment with Ryan. Which would mean I’d have to get there when he wouldn’t be there.
Dammit.
Wait.
He just told me that he’s spending the night in Austin for business. I’m sure his business is inside Penny’s vagina, but whatever works for him right now works for me.
I pick my phone up. “Dean, I need a favor.”
“What is it, Miss Noelle?”
“I need you to tail Ryan Perkins.”
“What for?”
“Doesn’t matter. He’s going to Austin. You’re still working that infidelity case right?”
“Yes,” he replies slowly. “And that’s all I’m working.”
“I’ll pay you overtime. And won’t bug you for cupcakes for a week.”
A moment of silence. Then, “You got it. What am I tailing him for?”
“Just watch him. Call me as soon as he looks like he’s coming back to Holly Woods, okay?”
“Okay… Miss Noelle, what are you up to?”
“My job.” I hang up and dial Bekah’s extension.
“What’s up, buttercup?” she answers cheerily.
“What are you doing right now?”
“I should be working, but I’m eating Twizzlers.”
I roll my eyes. Of course she is. “Wanna go do some investigating in places we probably shouldn’t?”
“So, breaking and entering.”
“You said that, not me.”
“Whatever. Where are we investigating?”
“Lena’s and Daniel’s apartments.”
There’s a scuffle and a bang. “Let’s go!”
“This is insane,” Bekah whispers in the elevator. “If we caught, we’re screwed.”
“Nah. I’ll get us out of it.”
“Having three family members in the police force does not give you a free pass to break the law,” she mutters grumpily.