Page 12 of Second Chance At Love

“I understand that. However, you might hear something through the grapevine since they are sharing the building with you. I would appreciate it if you passed on any information to me,” responded Henry.

“I can do that,” said Drew with a sharp unamused laugh. “The FBI doesn’t share. They just commandeered and expected us to live with the fallout.”

Henry decided not to respond to that particular resentment. “Kepler has talked to Cora at least once, maybe twice, before bringing her in for questioning now. Her husband, Nate Ramesly, had an autopsy come back as not natural causes like previously thought as the cause of his death. What is your take on the FBI talking to her again?”

Drew sighed. “I don’t know how the FBI handles things but if it were me, then the first talks were probably to rattle her. This one means they may have an interest in her as a suspect in her husband’s death. If they don’t arrest her, they don’t have enough proof and are fishing for a confession.”

Chapter Four

It was later in the afternoon when Henry escorted Cora into his suite of rooms at the RameslyHotel. The FBI had kept them waiting five hours before the lawyers finally extracted Cora.

Five hours of wondering what FBI Agent Kepler thought he had on her. Five hours of worry and feeling useless while standing and waiting in that grim little lobby of the police station while all sorts of humanity carried on with their business, each hoping for their problems to get solved. At one point Lincoln had left, only to return with two brand new fold out camping chairs, insisting Henry and Addison sit.

It was a bit demoralizing, but Henry was grateful to get off his feet. He could admit he was tired. Addison had simply smiled indulgently at her husband and sat.

Henry was starting to like Waters more and more. He didn’t understand why Gerrit and Nate had been so hostile in their opinions of the man the few times they and Henry had spoken about him in the past. Yes, they had thought Waters was surveying their hotel and trying to steal intellectual property from RameslyHotels, but the truth was that he had been secretly seeing Addison. From what Henry had seen over the last two months, Waters seemed to treat Addison well and had been decent when speaking with Henry.

The three of them had chatted amicably and worried about Cora together. The conversation had shifted to the hotel and how it was fairing, with Lincoln offering sensible suggestions. Then Temple and Addison’s lawyer had appeared with an exhausted looking Cora. Despite the fact Henry wanted all ofthem to sit down and discuss what had happened, one look at Cora had him insisting on simply bringing her back to the hotel.

Now here they were, with Henry putting down his keys and the envelope he had gotten from the front desk of the hotel. Cora stood in the middle of the living area. Henry could see that she was shaking. Her expression was troubled as one hand was pressed to her mouth and the other protectively rubbed her abdomen.

Henry wanted to take her in his arms and tell her it was all going to be okay. It would be a lie. He didn’t know if it would be okay. He also didn’t have the right to hold her.

Instead he carefully took her hand from her abdomen, gently enfolding it in his. “Hey, talk to me. I might be able to help.”

Cora shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. Henry’s heart clenched as a tear spilled over, tracking down her cheek.

“What did Kepler want to talk to you about?” gently pressed Henry. He knew a little of what had happened from Addison and would learn more when he talked to the lawyers but it was better if Cora told him herself. He didn’t want secrets between them, even though he had his own.

He hoped their friendship could withstand it all.

“Cora?” he asked softly, hoping she would talk to him.

She dragged in a steadying breath, the tears coming in earnest now. “He wanted to talk about Nate and how he died. Kepler went over the details again and again. It was awful.”

Cora had been the one to discover Nate, lying on the road, presumed dead of a heart attack from jogging, recalled Henry. Finding her husband, the man she loved, like that must have been traumatic. Forcing her to relive the moment was terrible in Henry’s opinion. Henry was about to apologize to her for Kepler’s insensitivity when she continued in a choked voice.

“He thinks I’m lying. I know Kepler thinks I’m lying about what happened,” said Cora. Her lips trembled as she wipedaway tears. She looked at Henry and he saw fear in her eyes as she made her confession. “He’s right. I did lie.”

Henry’s stomach bottomed out. Addison had said that Kepler had told Cora Nate hadn’t died of natural causes. Ben had intimated Addison had been afraid of Nate. Had Cora been afraid of her own husband? Nate had left her penniless, without a home, or a means of providing for their sons. Had she done something to Nate? What had their marriage been truly like?

He felt sick.

“I was trying to leave him,” whispered Cora, her hand unconsciously clutching his. “I was going to pick up the boys from school and we were going to leave. Nate found out. He was furious. I thought he was going to kill me. I didn’t break my arm falling when I found him like I said. Nate broke it by slamming it in the car door.

“I had to do it. I had to leave,” cried Cora, the tears coming in earnest now. She tugged her hand out of his, pressing her palms to her eyes. “He would have killed me and the baby.”

‘I had to do it’, just what had Cora done?Henry swallowed the question. He reached out, gently pulling her towards him, cradling her in his arms. Cora sobbed on him, leaning against him for support as he held her.

Had she killed Nate?Henry found he didn’t want to know the answer.

Nate had been his brother. He wasn’t blind to his brother’s faults. Nate could be witty, charming, and often manipulative to get others to do exactly what he wanted. When he was a child, he wasn’t always kind to those he perceived as inconsequential to him. Henry had often found his brother to be a bit of a narcissistic snob. He knew that Nate hadn’t always treated Addison and Ben very well and had sometimes intervened, even though Henry had mostly thought it was simply sibling rivalry.

Afterall, Gerrit and Nate had seemed to get along fine. Yet now Henry wondered just how much Nate had been using Gerrit as well.

Henry had thought Nate had grown out of his manipulative ways. He had seemed to be better, especially in college. Then when Nate had dated Cora, he had been on his best behavior, reformed and entirely pleasant. Never once had Henry thought Nate might hurt her.

He had been wrong, Henry regretfully decided. He didn’t want to believe it, but he knew deep down that Cora wasn’t lying. She had a wrist brace for the funeral. She had worn it for weeks and it was just recently off. Sadly, Henry found that he could fully believe Nate had abused her.