Page 69 of Little Last Words

“How aboutIfillyouin. A call just came into the station from Zachary Sandler’s next-door neighbor. It seems his wife is having a grand time tossing all his belongings onto the front lawn.”

I assumed Zachary had spoken to his wife about his interaction with Penelope.

That was fast.

Then again, I had given him a small pocket of time to do it in.

“What else do you know?” I asked.

“What else is there to know?”

I brought Foley up to speed, telling him about my conversation with neighbor Aaron, the notecard I’d found, and everyone else I’d spoken with today. I hoped it would improve his mood. It didn’t.

“Whitlock is headed over to the Sandler place to speak to Zachary and his wife now,” Foley said.

“Good, I’ll join him there.”

“The hell you will. We’ll take it from here. Next time, if you expect special privileges, you’d be wise to keep me in the loop. Got it?”

I got it.

What he didn’t get was that I was already in my car, making my way to the Sandler house. Foley may not have given me permission to talk to Vanessa, but ifshegave it to me, I didn’t need it from him.

CHAPTER27

When I arrived at the Sandler home, Zachary was sitting inside his Jeep, bawling his eyes out. Whitlock was leaning against the driver’s-side door, talking to him.

Whitlock watched me park and then headed in my direction.

“Well, well,” he said. “If it isn’t the dutiful homewrecker in the flesh.”

He had a smile on his face when he said it.

“How bad is it?” I asked.

“You tell me. Vanessa wants a divorce.”

“A divorce, huh,” I said. “Seems a bit dramatic, don’t you think?”

“Depends. I’m guessing there’s more going on with these two than we know about.”

“What’s Vanessa said so far?”

“I wouldn’t know. She won’t talk to me, or Zachary. All she’s focused on right now is chucking things out the front door. Zachary says she’s never acted this way.”

I shifted my gaze from Whitlock to the front of the house. It was littered with clothes, duffel bags, a gaming console, and shoes, among other things.

“Maybe she’ll calm down after her tantrum,” I said. “It’s not like he cheated on her. He said he didn’t, anyway.”

“Zachary’s shared a few things with me that might explain her actions.”

“Like what?”

“Years ago, Zachary started dating Vanessa. When that didn’t work out, he started dating Penelope. And when that didn’t work out, he got back together with Vanessa.”

I knew Vanessa and Penelope had been friends. It was possible Zachary’s recent actions had ripped open an old wound, sending Vanessa back to a place in time when Penelope had come between them. Or had she?

“I wish Zachary had given me this information when I spoke to him earlier today,” I said. “I may not have pushed so hard for him to confess to his wife.”

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