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Ava was nodding as I spoke. “She’s a calculating bitch. And she’s dangerous.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I can’t lay all of the blame for my marriage problems at her feet, because I was the one who screwed up first. Matthew was always so busy with work that it was almost as if I were a single mom, and I was very lonely. I had a short fling with a younger man, but it meant nothing.” She took a deep breath and waved her hand dismissively. “As I said, Matthew was so involved at his investment firm, not paying attention to me and traveling all the time. We separated, but I realized after I left that I’d made a huge mistake. I told him I wanted to come back and give our marriage another chance, for the sake of all the years we’d been together and for Mia.” At this she began to weep.
My heart broke for her, and I waited silently as she composed herself and went on. “He had just begun seeing Pamela. Or Piper, as you know her.” Her lip curled into a sneer. “She did everything she could to keep us apart. We weren’t divorced. He was still a married man even though we were separated.”
“How long was it before they were married?”
“Oh, it wasn’t long. She was pushing him to get a quickie divorce. Matthew threatened to expose my affair, to tell Mia. I couldn’t have that, and besides, as the months went on, I knewhe was never coming back. She had him in her thrall. He was bewitched.”
I sat up straight. “Yes, that’s exactly the word. ShebewitchedLeo.”
Ava closed her eyes and nodded. “When he was awarded shared custody, it nearly killed me. I didn’t want my daughter near that woman, but I had no choice. Mia hated going to their house on weekends, but I felt there was nothing I could do. I should have insisted. She would be alive now if I had.” She was crying again, deep choking sobs.
My heart began to beat faster. On the phone, she hadn’t provided much detail about the accident, saying she’d prefer to speak in person. I was about to ask her more, but she went on, seeming to need to get it off her chest.
“Mia would come home from there, and it would take all week just to get her out of her funk. Pamela would be overly affectionate with Matthew in front of her, flaunting their relationship. And she began to exert more control at the house, even forcing Mia to drink her horrible green smoothies, which gave her stomachaches. I told her to pretend to drink them and then flush them down the toilet.”
I sighed sympathetically. “How awful. Your poor daughter.”
“I should have done more to keep her from my child, but I couldn’t prove anything to the courts, and Matthew wouldn’t relent. He kept telling me that I needed to give her a chance, that she cared about Mia. I still can’t believe that I was the one who brought that creature into our lives.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I’d hired her to give Mia sailing lessons. At first Mia didn’t want to learn, but Pamela won her over. Mia loved her when she was her teacher, thought she was the coolest thing. Of course, Miahad no idea, and neither did I, that Pamela was only trying to get close to her dad. Once they were married, she couldn’t have cared less about my daughter.”
“She was a sailing instructor?”
Ava nodded. “Yes, at our country club. Just on the weekends. I think she did it to meet a rich husband. I guess she saw all the money that was being thrown around and decided she wanted to be elevated from the help to the helped. You know, after she married Matthew, he gave her the money to leave the practice where she worked and start her own counseling office. But she had no interest in helping anyone but herself. She’s a master manipulator.”
I nodded. “I’ve come to the same conclusion.”
Ava’s eyes were smoldering, and she spoke with bitter resentment. “That sailing accident was no accident. Matthew and Mia were expert swimmers, and they both knew how to sail... but somehow they both drowned, and she got out alive. She killed my daughter. And she got away with it.”
Her words made me tremble. “I’m so sorry for your loss, Ava,” I said. “And I’m sorry to bring this up, but I’m worried that my children are in danger, too. She takes them out on her sailboat most weekends, and I’m terrified that something bad is going to happen to them.”
She leaned forward now, getting closer to me. “You’re right to be concerned. She’s evil, and she’s smart. She knew how to make sure that nothing could be pinned on her.”
“How did she get away with it?” I asked.
“Pamela’s story was that a squall came up suddenly. Something broke and the boom hit Mia, who went overboard. Pamela said she’d tried to get her to wear a life vest earlier, but she refused. Of course, no one can corroborate that.”
“What happened to Mia’s dad?”
“Matthew went right in after her, but they got caught in the sail and drowned. Pamela said she threw the life preservers out, did everything she could, but lost sight of them in the high seas.” Her eyes were now filled with rage. “I know she orchestrated the whole thing, sabotaged the boat.”
“Was there no way to prove that? Wasn’t there an investigation?” I asked.
Ava’s fists convulsed with suppressed rage. “Yes, but the police concluded that it was an accident.” She twisted her hands together. “Matthew had changed his will in her favor. There was a large trust fund for Mia, but since she died, too, the bulk of his estate—over twenty million dollars—went to Pamela. She stayed in the house for a while, but this is a tight-knit community, and I made sure everyone knew what she had done. No one wanted her at the country club, or anywhere else, for that matter. She finally sold the house and moved away.”
“And that’s when she became a new person,” I said. “She came east to find another target. But I don’t understand. Doesn’t she have all the money she needs now? Why does she need another rich husband?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s not the money. Maybe it’s something else.”
I felt a terrible chill go up my spine, despite the warmth of the sun on my face.
“What was her maiden name? Maybe I can find something out about her past that would help me convince my ex-husband she’s dangerous.”
She shook her head. “It’s Rayfield, and she comes from Annapolis, Maryland. Just a small-town girl looking to strike it rich.”
I left Ava’s feeling shaken, and though it was nearly six o’clock by the time I returned to the hotel, I wasn’t hungry. The onlything I felt was a sick ball of fear in my stomach. Ava was a broken woman. Though I’d been in awe of her house and everything she had, all the money in the world couldn’t make up for losing a child. It made me more determined than ever to keep digging and stop Piper before she could do the same thing to Evie and Stelli—and Leo.