Page 278 of Secrets Hidden In The Glass

Chapter Fifty-One

Nate let himself into the sheriff’s office, hitting the lights as he hurried down the hall. He walked into the tiny interrogation room and beelined to the cabinet, then put on gloves and shoved his key in the lock, eager to get into the Little Girl Lost evidence box. He opened the drawer, grabbed the bags he needed, and ripped off the tamper-evident tape. He pulled out Samantha Fletcher’s first painting—the one of a three-year-old Callie. He set it down, concentrating on the next—the one of a park in spring bloom and the Boston Harbor beyond. Pacing back and forth, he studied it, racking his brain, trying to figure out where he’d seen the place before. “Come on, Carter. Fucking think.” He focused on the pretty fountain in the center of the brick and grass area as his mind worked double-time—the answer floating just out of reach.

And then it clicked.

“Holy shit,” he said, leaning his ass against the edge of the table. The view outside Trace Miller’s window. Samantha had been there before. There could be no other explanation for the identical vantage point Nate was remembering. “Dear Christ,” he shuddered out. Everything made sense now. Or at least some of the pieces did—like Samantha’s locket being made by a Carter Island resident and who her married lover had been. But what happened that long ago Fourth of July night? How had Samantha ended up bruised, bloodied, and dead on the cottage floor?

Nate put the pictures away, securing the contents of the box behind the cabinet lock, then jogged out into the frigid temperatures and blowing snow. After taking his seat behind the wheel, he headed back toward the Sanderson Mansion, using his four-wheel drive in the deteriorating conditions. Minutes passed before he finally pulled into the driveway, not bothering to be polite with his parking job. Getting out, he took the snow-covered stairs in twos and stepped into the warmth—to where he heard Dad and Gwen’s laughter in the family room. A movement down the hall caught his attention, and he spotted Evan heading his way. Their eyes locked in the dim lighting—both of them knowing the game was over. “You son of a bitch,” he said, gesturing to the library with his head, following Evan into the drafty space.

“It was an accident, Nate.” Evan collapsed more than sat on one of the couch cushions. “Christ, it was an accident.”

Nate closed the door with a sharp snap.

Evan sucked in several unsteady breaths as he rested his elbows on his knees and covered his face with his hands. “I can hardly live with myself anymore.”

Nate stared at the defeated man he’d known his whole life, his emotions warring between anger and mourning for the upstanding individual he’d always believed Evan Sanderson to be. “You’re going to tell me what happened—every detail. Then I’m going to take you down to the station, you’re going to lawyer yourself up, and you’re going to tell me all over again.”

Evan lifted his head, meeting Nate’s gaze. “I don’t know where to start.”

Nate sat on the coffee table in front of him. “At the beginning.”

Evan nodded. “We met at the bar—On The Rocks. One night Trace and I stopped off for a drink to talk over some business issues. She caught my eye as soon as we walked through the door. I was attracted to her immediately. She was so beautiful.”

Nate swallowed, understanding perfectly the punch-in-the-gut impact the Fletcher women had on the heart as he remembered the life-changing moment when his gaze met Callie’s as he peeked his head out from beneath the cottage sink.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about her,” Evan continued. “I went back and saw her again—a few times. At first we just talked. That’s all it was supposed to be. Lily and I were having problems. She was so busy with the kids and we had the stress of the business…”

Nate didn’t want to hear Evan’s excuses, but he nodded anyway.

“Occasionally we met up at the park—had coffee and chatted. It was so simple. She listened to me, and she was funny. Sammy,” Evan said with a small, sad smile. “She was so talented.” He gestured to the painting hanging above the fireplace. “That was supposed to be a gift for Lily, but Leah loved it so much, Lily and I gifted it to her instead.” Evan exhaled another long breath. “Sam stopped by my office in the evenings every once in a while before work. She loved my view of the park—wanted to paint it. Every now and again she would tell her roommate she’d picked up an extra shift, but she would come over to paint and I would order us up some dinner. Eventually she started coming over to the Boston house. Lily and I were still living here on the island at the time, so I was on my own Monday through Thursday. We clicked, Nate. Sam and I connected. Everything was so intense.”

“You gave her the locket.”

Evan nodded. “I asked Silas to make it for me.”

“Were you in love with her?”

Evan nodded again. “I was going to leave Lily. Things had gotten so bad that we went almost two months without talking or seeing each other. One afternoon, I came to the island to meet with her and tell her I wanted a divorce, but I realized she was pregnant—five months along with Maddie—and she’d never said a thing. I should have figured it out for myself long before that, but I didn’t.”

“What happened with Samantha?”

“I ended things a few weeks later. I should have done it right away but I couldn’t. I wanted a life with Sam so badly, but I needed to fix my marriage. What I was doing wasn’t fair to Lily and the kids—Sam either. Things seemed like they were going okay. It was hard as hell not calling her—hearing her voice. I missed her, but she deserved more than what I could give her.”

“She came to see you on the island?”

Evan nodded. “I had no idea she was coming. We hadn’t talked for almost a month, but then I saw her by the ice cream stand on Main Street, smiling and standing in the sunshine with the wind blowing through her hair. Lily and I were there with the children. We made eye contact, and Sam saw that Lily was pregnant. She took off with Callie—got lost in the crowd. I wanted to explain everything, so I tracked her down later. Eventually I spotted her when she and Callie were walking toward the pier for the six o’clock ferry. I told her we needed to talk. She refused at first. Then she put Callie in the front seat with her, and I drove out to the cottage where I knew no one would see us. The logging trail was in a little better condition then. You could drive almost the whole way.”

“Tell me what happened next.”

“Sam put Callie upstairs in the loft so she could nap after a long day in the sun. Then she came back down.” Evan pressed his hands to his face again and took a couple of deep breaths, fighting to keep his emotions together. “I kissed her. God, she was like a drug. Lily has always been steady, but Sam was intoxicating. I pushed her up against the wall in that red dress she was wearing. We ended up…”

Nate nodded.

“We finished and she started crying. I told her how sorry I was—that we couldn’t do that anymore or see each other again. She cried harder and said that she thought I loved her. I couldn’t lie to her, Nate. I told her I did, but I couldn’t let what we’d had mess up what I had with Lily, especially when Lily was due any day. Sam got angry and shouted about how I’d been busy—making two babies in less than seven months.”

Nate’s stomach pitched. “Samantha was pregnant?”

Evan started sobbing. “She tried to move past me—to go up the stairs for Callie, but I got in her way. I didn’t want her to go, but I knew she needed to. She pushed me, shouting and crying. Then she pushed me again. When she came at me a third time I shoved her back, Nate, and she lost her balance on the step down into the living room. She fell into the coffee table and smacked her head on the edge.” Evan cringed. “It was so loud—such a horrid crack. I rushed down to her but her eyes were rolled back and she was shaking—having a seizure, I think. She made these odd noises and I…” He started crying again. “I didn’t know what to do so I went and got…” He scrubbed his face.