Page 35 of The Couple's Secret
Gretchen said, “You and Riley kept living there alone?”
“Yeah.” Zane jammed a hand into his pants pocket and came up with a tissue. “It was weird and freaky but technically, I was an adult so it was legal.”
“Riley was a minor,” Josie pointed out. “Did any of her relatives or her father try to get her to move in with them?”
“The only person Riley had left was her piece-of-shit dad.” Zane paused to blow his nose. “Since we didn’t know if Cora was coming home or not, and she wasn’t dead, he would have had to petition the court to get custody of her and he wasn’t interested in spending a bunch of money and showing up at hearings, so he didn’t bother.”
As Josie suspected, Dalton had only ever been interested in Cora. Poor Riley had grown up with a father who not only abused her mother but didn’t care about her at all. A sudden flash of Dex’s face burst across Josie’s mind. How he had smiled with such pride when he told her that he had a daughter. Wren had been nine when her mom died and they first met. He could have reacted with horror—a perpetual bachelor having a nine-year-old dumped on him—but instead, Dex was happier than Josie had ever seen him. Dalton Stevens had had the opportunity to be a father all of Riley’s life, and he’d pissed it away.
“Then Riley came to Denton for college,” Gretchen said, pulling Josie from her thoughts. “Do you still live in your father’s house?”
“Yeah. Couldn’t sell it ’cause he was still technically alive.”
“I helped them out whenever they needed,” said Hollis.
“Was Cora’s name on the house?” asked Josie.
Zane looked momentarily confused but Hollis knew what she was getting at. “No. Cora didn’t have any assets beyond what was in her bank account, which wasn’t much. But there was never any talk of making Riley leave. That’s not what Cora or Tobias would have wanted.”
“No way was I letting her go to her dad’s,” Zane said. “None of us wanted that.”
No wonder Cora had wanted to keep working. If her assets hadn’t amounted to much, it was likely she hadn’t owned her own house before meeting Tobias. Not surprising given that she was a single mother waiting tables to make ends meet. It was doubtful that Dalton Stevens had ever paid child support. Cora probably hadn’t had the funds to take him to court.
Cora and Riley had been absorbed into Tobias’s household. Without keeping her job, Cora would be left with nothing should the relationship end. Even if they’d been married, she would only have been entitled to assets accrued during the marriage. She’d been smart to insist on maintaining some independence. As it was, now that the couple were dead, Riley would only be entitled to whatever was left in Cora’s bank account, if anything. Zane and Jackson would split everything Tobias had left behind—the house, bank accounts, vehicles, and all personal property. They already split interest in the business.
“Did you help her out with college tuition?” Gretchen asked Hollis.
He chuckled. “Hell, no. She wouldn’t let me. Wouldn’t let anyone. She put herself through college with scholarships and loans.”
“Cora’s old boss from the diner started a GoFundMe for us,” Zane said. “Ri could have used that money for school, but she hired a private investigator instead to look for Dad and Cora.”
Josie wasn’t surprised. Many families did the same when their loved ones’ murders or disappearances became cold cases. “What was the PI’s name?”
Hollis and Zane looked at one another, brows furrowed. Then Zane said, “I don’t remember. You have to ask Riley. Doesn’t matter though. He didn’t find anything.”
“Did Cora bring any furniture with her when she moved in with your dad?” Gretchen asked.
Zane looked surprised by the change in the direction of questioning. “Um, I’m not sure. Maybe? I was fifteen. I wasn’t really paying attention.”
“What happened to her personal effects?” Josie said. “Did Riley take them with her when she moved?”
“Yeah. When she married Jackson. Once they got their own place.”
“Do you recall if Cora owned anything that required a skeleton key to open it?” Josie pressed.
Both men were silent. The moment stretched on, becoming awkward. Finally, Hollis said, “What are you talking about?”
“Are you familiar with skeleton keys?” Gretchen asked as though he hadn’t spoken.
“Yeah,” Hollis and Zane answered in unison.
“Did Cora own anything that required one?” Josie repeated.
“I don’t—I don’t know.” Zane’s voice dripped with exhaustion, but he took a moment to think about it, eyes narrowed in concentration. “I’m sorry, but I really don’t remember. I can ask Riley next time I talk to her.”
“How about anyone else in the household?” Gretchen followed up.
Zane took another pause to consider the question. “Um, no, I don’t think so.”
