Page 42 of The Next Mrs. Parrish

Nancy filled a glass for each of them and brought them to the table.

“You said on the phone that Jake told you about my husband?” Nancy said.

Amber recalled her conversation with Jake and how he’d been so disgusted to learn that Wade Ashford had stolen a patent from Nancy’s husband, Shane Ellis. “Yes. I’m so sorry that Jake wasn’t able to help you. Honestly, I was so devastated after his accident that I completely forgot that you had called him for help. It wasn’t until a friend of mine mentioned Wade’s name as a potential investor in her business that it all came rushing back.”

Nancy gave her a sad look. “I’m so sorry about your husband. It was just terrible. I read about it in the papers. Jake Crawford was a well-loved man here in Dallas.”

Amber pretended to wipe a tear from her eye. “It was just horrible. I’ll never be able to forgive myself. He wasn’t supposed to be in front of me. I don’t know why he ran ahead, and then he didn’t have a safety vest on…” She put her head in her hands, her shoulders shaking.

Nancy put a hand on Amber’s back. “There, there, honey. It’s okay. You don’t have to talk about it. I know what it’s like to lose your husband in an accident.”

Amber looked up. “Look at us, two sad widows.” She sighed and played dumb. “Well, anyhow, I thought I would try to help you on behalf of Jake. I remember him telling me that Wade did something shady to your husband. But I can’t recall the exact details.”

Nancy nodded. “That loathsome man stole my husband’s invention. It’s his fault Shane’s dead. He may as well have killed him with his own hands.”

Amber could see the anger in the woman’s eyes. Her whole demeanor changed as she started talking about what happened.

“Shane was always tinkering with things. Fancied himself an inventor of sorts. Had turned our garage into a workshop. Coming up with ideas for this and that. None of it really took off. He wasproject manager for one of Wade’s construction companies. Shane saw a good friend get injured when a nail from a nail gun malfunction penetrated his protective goggles. So he started working on improving them. Took him five years but he finally perfected the design. Problem was, we didn’t have the money for prototypes and distribution. So he went to Wade to see if he would invest.”

“When was this?”

“Six years ago. Shane came home one day all excited. He said Wade loved the design and wanted to go in on it with him. Fifty-fifty partners. Wade would put up all the money. Have the goggles manufactured, help with advertising and sales. Sounded great. He told Shane not to share the design with anyone, that someone could steal it. He said he’d do all the legal things too. Get the patent.”

Amber knew where this was going.

“Wade is the one who applied for the patent?”

Nancy nodded. “Yeah. Only he put it in his own name, didn’t add Shane. ’Course we didn’t find that out for a while. It seemed like all was going great. They started producing them, sales were through the roof. And then he gave Shane a check for a hundred thousand dollars and said he didn’t need him no more.”

“That’s horrible. What did Shane do?”

“There was nothing Shane could do. We went to lawyers; he filed an ethics complaint, but nothing worked. He’d given Wade all the original documents and drawings. Wade Ashford made millions.”

Amber was stunned. How could Shane have been so stupid not to keep proof of his ownership? “Are you sure he didn’t keep anything? Early designs? Emails to Wade? Nothing?”

Nancy shook her head. “If he did, he didn’t tell me.”

Amber took a tiny sip of tea, thinking. “You said he died in an accident. What happened?”

“The day Wade showed his true colors, Shane called me. He was inconsolable. He said he was going to stop for a drink and then come right home, but he never got here. I’d gotten a text from himsaying he was coming home, but then he was killed in an accident on the way—crashed into a telephone pole.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. “If that criminal hadn’t screwed him over, he’d still be alive.”

Amber digested this information, her mind racing. “I assume the accident was investigated. There’s no chance that…”

Nancy shook her head. “Yes, of course. But I’ve always wondered if there’s any way Wade had something to do with it. I can’t prove anything. This whole thing has just eaten me alive. I was four months pregnant at the time. I miscarried.” Nancy pressed her lips together and Amber could see she was trying to hold it together. “I’ve lost everything,” she finally said.

“I’m so sorry,” Amber said and then had a thought. “Maybe Shanedidhave a copy. If Wade was responsible in some way for the accident, it would mean Shane might have had proof that Wade didn’t want to come to light. Did you go through all his things from his office?”

“Yeah, but Wade owns the construction company he worked for, so even if there was anything, he would have taken it.”

“What about a home office? His computer?”

Nancy gave Amber an annoyed look. “I know you wanna help. But of course I went through everything. I’m telling you, there’s nothing anywhere.” Her hand went to the necklace she was wearing—a gold dragon encrusted with blue-and-red stones—and she rubbed the pendant between her fingers. Amber had noticed her doing it earlier, like a nervous tick or something.

“That’s a beautiful necklace.” In truth, it was kind of odd looking and something about it made Amber curious.

“Oh, thanks. It’s not real. Shane gave me plenty of real jewelry. But this was the last gift he gave me.”

“That’s sweet. Was it a birthday gift?”

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