Page 18 of My Stupid Heart

“Maybe,” Ryker said, his voice unconvinced.“But now that we know there are two people, I’m wondering if it’s someone else.Like an old flame of Adrian’s and she’s jealous ofyou.”

“Of me?”Molly stupidly pointed at herself.“He never mentioned any exes.”

“You only dated for two months, Mom,” Sasha pointed out.“How much did you tell him about your past in two months?”

Molly gave her daughter an impressed look.She’d always been mature for her age, but given everything that had happened to them in the last few weeks, Sasha was really demonstrating just how grown up she really was.It was both wonderful and sad that Molly’s little girl wasn’t so little anymore.

“I didn’t tell him much,” Molly admitted.“Only Susannah knows how Brendan—” She glanced at Sasha.

Sasha rolled her eyes.“I know Dad killed himself, Mom.You’ve tried to hide that fact from me, but I know.I’ve known for a while.I’ve heard you guys talk about it before.Plus, we all know you’re a terrible liar.”

Molly’s heart crashed to her feet.“I’m so sorry, baby.”

Sasha dismissed it with a headshake.“It’s fine.It sucks, but it’s fine.”

The kettle squealed.Molly went over to the stove and turned off the element, then brought the kettle over to fill up the three mugs.She took a deep breath.“Only Susannah knows that Brendan killed himself.Everyone knows I’m a widow, but I’ve kept his cause of death a secret.People get really weird about suicide and this town is so gossipy already.”

Ryker nodded and thanked her for the tea when she pushed the mug toward him.“How much do you know about Kate and Olivia?”

Molly’s head reared back.“No.Them?I know they seemed bitter tonight, but I honestly think that they’re just upset Sasha left the team.Especially with playoffs coming up.They know the team doesn’t have much hope with Sasha gone.They want the win more than they want their daughters to play.”

“And if they think Sasha quitting and their daughters ultimately losing is because of your relationship with Adrian going south, who are they going to blame?”he asked.

She opened her mouth but didn’t say anything.Cradling her mug on the counter with both hands, she let the warmth seep into her and soothe her tortured soul.

“Have any of your former teammates messaged you or reached out since you left the team?”Ryker asked Sasha.“Negatively or positively?”

Sasha pulled her phone out of her back pocket.“Yeah, I mean, pretty much all of them messaged me after I quit.A lot were sad and asked what happened.A few got mad and said I threw a hissy fit when I didn’t get my way, but I ignored them.”

“Who got mad?”Ryker asked, accepting Sasha’s phone from her.

“Camden,” Sasha replied.

Ryker scrolled through Sasha’s phone; his brows pinched tight.

“Are Olivia and Kate married?”he asked.

“Olivia’s husband travels a lot for work.As far as I know, their marriage isn’t great, but it’s not on the rocks, either.She doesn’t work and they just have Camden.Her life revolves around her daughter, the PTA, the HOA and the soccer team.”

“And Kate?”he probed.

“Divorced.And from what I’ve heard—because this town loves to gossip—it wasn’t pretty.”An icy chill swept down Molly’s spine and she trembled.“I don’t think they’re capable of … I mean, somebody nailed Anthony to the side of the house.You’ve got to be pretty mentally unstable to do something like that.Animal cruelty is … I just, I just can’t believe they’d do something so horrific.Kate’s vegan, for God’s sake.”

Ryker handed Sasha back her phone just as his buzzed in his pocket.He answered it and put it on speakerphone.“You’re on speakerphone, Chase.What did you find out?”

“Took a bit of digging, but it would seem that Adrian Huber and Kate Gubler were in a relationship.They kept it pretty secret, and it didn’t last long.But I managed to pull up some footage from a security camera of Adrian’s building and it shows Mrs.Gubler leaving his apartment at two in the morning.I was also able to dig into some emails and found some pretty racy communication between the two of them.And this relationship preceded Mrs.Gubler’s divorce.”

Molly’s jaw dropped.“Kate was sleeping with Adrian while she was married?”

“Yes,” Chase confirmed.“Whether Mrs.Gubler and her husband were separated at the time, I can’t tell.But it would appear she was having an affair.”

“Any idea when the relationship ended?”Ryker asked.

“All email communication ended two weeks before Mr.Gubler filed for divorce.”

“What’s the timeline for all of this?”Ryker asked.

“Everything has happened within the last six months.”

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