Page 26 of The Couple's Secret
“Tobias isn’t my biological father.” Jackson’s fingers tapped lightly against the side of Riley’s neck. “He was engaged to my mom. She left us for some other guy. Tobias raised me. My grandparents wanted to, but my grandmom had MS and needed full-time care. They couldn’t take on a three-year-old. They were happy when Tobias took me in.”
“Your mother gave him guardianship?” asked Josie.
“No,” Jackson answered. “My biological dad was in and out of prison since I was born so my mom had my grandparents designated as standby guardians in case something happened to her while he was incarcerated. He consented to it. Once she left, that stayed in place. Gram and Grandad technically had guardianship of me, but Tobias was the one who raised me. My bio dad didn’t give a shit. He would have gladly signed away his parental rights.”
“You’re lucky,” Riley grumbled, pinching the thread on her sleeve. “I wish my dad had just given up.”
“The medical examiner found that Cora had several old, healed fractures,” Josie said. “Eye sockets, collarbones, ribs, forearms. Do you know how she got those?”
Riley’s lips twisted like she’d tasted something sour. “My shitty father, that’s how. He used to hit her all the time. Even after she left, he was always stalking her. She made police reports but that never stopped him.”
Josie made a mental note to check the Brighton Springs file for any investigation into Riley’s father. Surely Detective Fanning had suspected him of being involved, whether on his own or in a murder-for-hire scheme.
Gretchen scrawled something on her pad. “Had he been stalking her up until she and Tobias went missing?”
Riley rolled her eyes. “When was he not stalking her? Yes and yes, he was a suspect. The police could never find any evidence he was involved.”
“What do you think?”
“As far as suspects go, he had the most motivation.” Riley clutched her mug tightly again. “But I don’t know, he’s too dumb and too impulsive to have avoided getting caught for seven years. Plus, he wouldn’t be able to resist gloating about it to someone.”
“Was Tobias ever violent with Cora?”
Jackson shook his head. “No, never. He wasn’t like that. He could get moody but usually if he was upset or mad about something, he’d get quiet, avoid you—avoid Cora.”
“Did they fight a lot?” asked Josie.
Again, husband and wife looked at one another, some sort of silent communication passing between them. Then Riley said, “The chair.”
They both started laughing, keeping it up until they had tears in their eyes.
Finally, Jackson swiped a hand down his face and turned his attention back to Josie. “My dad had this recliner that was ancient. I mean, it seemed like it was older than him. It was worn and creaky.”
“And it smelled, no matter how much Febreze he used,” Riley added. “He would not get rid of it.”
“’Cause his ass-print was just right,” Jackson said. They both chuckled. “They fought over that a lot.”
Riley’s voice was thick but filled with a sweet sort of nostalgia. “Mom hated that stupid chair. Actually, we all did. Zane, too.”
Jackson surreptitiously wiped away a tear as it fell from his eye and curled his arm around Riley, hugging her close to his side.
“Where is the chair now?” asked Gretchen.
Riley said, “It’s Zane’s year.”
Jackson grinned. “Yeah, my brother and I pass it back and forth every year. At Christmas. Zane’s got it now. It’s a silly tradition but…” He drifted off, face going slack. Grief raged in his eyes. He blinked back more tears.
In the silence that followed, their pain—and now their defeat—was a living, breathing thing.
“Traditions help,” Gretchen offered.
Riley looked down at her sweater and then back at Jackson. “You got joint custody of the chair, and I got the cat.”
Jackson dragged a hand down his face again, wrestling some of his composure back. “Stupid cat.”
“She’s around here somewhere. Probably in our bedroom. Captain Whiskers. That was the last thing—” Riley’s voice cracked. “The cat was the last thing she texted anyone about that night.”
Not for the first time, Josie wished there had been time to review all the phone records. “What do you mean?”
