Secrets And Lies

Insurance fraud.

No one had been hurt except the companies that had to pay out millions of dollars.

Typical of Mitch, he’d probably thought that made it okay.

Just like cheating on her because she was boring was okay.

She winced at the memory. The look on his face when she’d confronted him, the complete lack of remorse had shocked her.

Or, maybe it hadn’t.

She’d realized long before then that he wasn’t the man she’d thought she’d married.

She turned off the downstairs lights. She probably needed to eat, but she wasn’t hungry. She was just tired. For the first time in a long time, she wished things could be different, that she had someone in her life who could stand beside her, offer her support, give her all the things she’d thought that Mitch would.

Tristan had done that to her.

He’d reminded her of what it felt like to have someone care. Sure, he was just doing his job, but she’d still felt safe when he was nearby. She’d needed that. Maybe she still did.

“It’s just us, though, sweetie,” she said, patting her belly as she walked up the stairs. “And, that’s going to be just fine.”

The baby kicked as if she agreed.

That was something to smile about.

No matter what happened, they really would be just fine.

Ariel had to believe that. She had to trust in it. God had a way of making things okay. She just had to keep moving forward, keep praying, keep hoping.

Everything else would come together in its own sweet time.

* * *

Tristan didn’t say a word to Mia as he drove home.

He was afraid of what he might say and of how it would sound. He was angrier than he’d been in a long time. His sister had a right to be confused and maybe a little unsure. They’d moved from the only home she’d ever known so that he could attend the program at Canyon County K-9 Training Center.

She didn’t have the right to wander around town without permission. Especially not when there was a murderer on the loose.

He’d told her that. Repeatedly.

Yet, she’d still gone to Jenny’s without permission, left there to go to Ariel’s house. Also without permission.