Page 40 of The Thinnest Air
“The first time?”
“It was shortly after they were married,” he says. “Before I knew her.”
The fact that Meredith neglected to tell me that stings, but I bury my hurt and focus on squeezing every last ounce of information out of this man.
“So you were sleeping with her, like, you two were having a full-blown affair?” I ask.
He nods. “Off and on, yeah. It was complicated.”
“Did she love you? Were you in love? Were you planning to be together at some point?”
“She was waiting,” he says. “Said she had to save up money or something. She had nothing. The house, the cars, the credit cards—everything was in Andrew’s name. He had full control over everything. She couldn’t leave if she wanted to.”
Her trust fund.
She was waiting for her trust fund.
“Did she say how she was going to get this money to leave him?”
“She didn’t tell me any details, just that she was possibly coming into some money, and she was going to leave him after that.”
“Did he know she was planning to leave?”
Ronan shrugs. “No idea. For all I know, she told him, and he did something to her. Nobody actually saw her at the grocery store that day. All we have is an empty car and an abandoned purse and phone.”
“So what are you suggesting?”
“I’m suggesting that anything is possible,” he says.
My stomach twists, hardens. When I close my eyes, I can’t help but picture Andrew, his hands around her neck, tears streaming down her cheeks. Bile rises, burning my throat, but I swallow it away.
“Her trust fund is going to be endowed later this month,” I say. “On her birthday. If she’s declared dead ... it’ll go to Andrew. All five million of it.”
Ronan pinches the bridge of his nose, his tired eyes squeezing shut. “That son of a bitch.”
“Let’s not jump to conclusions.” I stand because I can’t sit still anymore. Pacing his small living room, I tuck my hair behind my ears. “We need proof. We need something we can take to the police.”
Ronan scoffs. “The Price family owns the police department. Not literally, but his father was the chief of police for over three decades. His grandfather started that finance firm Andrew runs. Made his first million managing the department’s pension accounts. That name is pure gold in Glacier Park, untouchable. The moment I so much as suggested to Chief Rolland that we should do some surveillance on Andrew, he damn near ripped my head off and spat down my throat.”
“How can he get away with that?”
“Nothing bad ever happens here. Our crime rate is practically zero. The only reason they have a full-time detective is because the residents complained and city council approved it.” He rises, moving toward the window and glancing outside, as if he’s being watched. “They’re going to try to pin this on me.”
My nose wrinkles. “Why would you say that?”
“This is the biggest thing to happen in Glacier Park. This is a chance for the department to shine. To get their fifteen minutes.” He shakes his head. “They’re desperate to solve this case as soon as possible. Letting it go cold when the rest of the world is watching is the last thing they want to do.”
“They can’t pin anything on you. There’s no evidence, no body, nothing.”
“Nothingyet,” he corrects me. He lingers in silence, lost in thought for a moment. “We have to find her.”
“We will.”
“I just want to know she’s safe,” he says. “And then I’m going to destroy the son of a bitch who took her.”
Checking my watch, I glance toward the door. “I should go.”
Ronan nods.
