False Pretenses - Kathy Herman [59]
“I don’t know. Maybe both. She knows it was wrong, that’s for sure. She hated lying to Pierce. She’s afraid that now he won’t believe how much she loves him. That he’ll think it’s just one more thing she lied about.”
Ethan raised his eyebrows. “Well? Could you blame him?”
“No. But if he really stops to think about it, what did Zoe have to gain by marrying him? She didn’t marry him for his money. She owned her own business, albeit wrongfully. And she didn’t need to change her name. She’d already done that and had been well received in the Cajun community. She had what she wanted. Getting married was never part of her plan. With her abusive background, she didn’t even trust men. But she fell in love with Pierce. That’s the only reason she would’ve married him.”
“It’s a wonder she didn’t choose a man just like her father.” Ethan kissed her forehead. “I’d be honored to think you did. I have the utmost admiration for your dad.”
“Me, too. I’m just so sorry Zoe’s dad hurt her.”
“It’s sad and, unfortunately, more common that most people realize. It’s estimated that at least one in four women and one in six men have suffered some form of sexual abuse. I hope now Zoe will seek counseling and try to work through the bad memories, the anger, and self-loathing. Keep in mind none of this is an excuse for stealing and lying. But it does make it easier to understand.”
“Let’s hope Pierce thinks so.”
Ethan traced her eyebrow with his finger. “Zoe has a more immediate issue. I wonder if she and Pierce will go to the sheriff yet tonight.”
“I don’t know. I’m so scared for her, Ethan. Shapiro said he’d kill her if she did. She’s convinced he means it.”
“You said yourself he’s probably planning to kill her either way. At least with the authorities on her side she stands a good chance of coming out of this alive.”
“What if Shapiro put a listening device in her apartment? What if he knows she’s decided to go to the sheriff? What if he knows she talked to me?”
“Don’t look for trouble, honey.” Ethan brushed the hair out of her eyes. “He doesn’t sound that sophisticated. You’ve been watching too many cop shows.”
“Maybe.” She sighed. “But after Drew was shot and killed in front of me, then you nearly died trying to expose why, it’s hard for me not to think worst-case scenario. People always think something that awful will never happen to them. But now I know it can.”
“Can. But only if God allows it. And if He allows it, He supplies the grace to walk through it.” Ethan kissed her cheek. “We have to trust Him with this.”
“I know. I’m just not so sure Zoe does.”
Jude sat at his computer, reading through the Jarvis murder file. How could they have no leads in the case? Why hadn’t someone in the black community come forward quietly and fingered the guilty parties—or at least offered a clue? Law-abiding African-Americans could not be happy with the media hype surrounding this case. Why wouldn’t someone talk? Surely there was some sort of scuttlebutt concerning who might have done this.
His mind flashed an image of Remy, stripped of dignity and hanging from a tree like some ghoulish Halloween decoration. As if the poor guy hadn’t struggled enough with the mental challenges he faced.
Jude blinked away the intrusive image and pushed back his chair and stood, hands on his lower back. He stretched until he felt the tightness relax, then stepped over to the window and looked out at the parish courthouse, illuminated and stately, and the streets emptied of the day’s throng of tourists. What was he doing here this late on a Saturday night, reviewing the same unyielding information on the Jarvis case, while Colette curled up on her side of the bed, lost in a novel? Wasn’t it time to go home and get some rest before Sunday Mass, lest he embarrass his family by falling asleep again during Monsignor Robidoux’s sermon?
He felt his cell phone vibrate. Yes, Colette, I’m on my way. He took it off his belt clip, surprised to see the call was from Stone Castille.
“Yeah, Stone. What’s up?”
“We’ve got a situation boiling at Roux River Park.”
“Talk to