Page 148 of Dead Man's List

Kennedy swallowed hard and looked Kit right in the eye.“He sexually molested me from the time I was nine years old until I got out of the house in August for college.”

And there it is.She glanced up at Navarro. “Much worse than adultery,” she murmured.

“Indeed.” He smiled gently at Kennedy. “Thank you for telling us. You’ve had a long trip. Can I get you some water or coffee?”

Fresh tears filled her eyes. “Yes, please. Water is fine. I’ve cried so much that I have a headache.” She fished a bottle from her purse. “It’s just Advil,” she said defensively.

“Then you’ll need something to eat with it.” Kit held out the sandwich. “I’ll split it with you.”

Kennedy shook her head. “I think I’d throw up. But thank you. You’re very kind.”

Navarro returned with a bottle of water. “Can you tell us what you know, Kennedy?”

“I will. But first…my grandfather said my mom was murdered because my father was being blackmailed. Is that true?”

Kit nodded. “We think so, yes.”

“That was why you said that incest was worse than adultery. He was being blackmailed for adultery?”

“He said he was,” Kit said. “Your statement puts that in doubt.”

“You had doubt to begin with.”

Smart cookie.“Yes, I did. You said the abuse started when you were nine?”

“Yes, ma’am. My mom was pregnant with the twins. She had a difficult pregnancy. She was older and she was on bed rest for most of the time.”

“Your father started touching you.” Kit kept her voice calm when inside she wanted to scream.

“Well, he started touching me before that. The actual sex started when I was nine.”

“Did you tell your mother?” Navarro asked gently. Still, Kennedy flinched.

“No, I didn’t. My father told me that if I told my mother, she wouldn’t believe me. That she’d send me away to boarding school and I’d be all alone.”

Sonofabitch.“Do you think your mother would have?”

“Maybe? When I started to tell her once, she cut me off. Said that I was being dramatic, so I didn’t say any more. But if I had told her, I know it would have hurt her. She loved him with all her heart, even when he hurt her feelings.”

“How did he hurt her feelings?” Navarro asked.

“He’d leave for a weekend here or there. He was cheating on her. I knew that and I think she did too, but she loved him. Maybe more than she loved us. I don’t know. Maybe if I had told her what he did, she would have sent him away.” Her shoulders heaved in a sob. “I’ll never know now.”

“The woman your grandfather told me about would have loved you,” Kit said softly. It might not have been true, but it was what the young woman needed to hear right now.

Sniffling, Kennedy dabbed at her eyes with the soggy tissue. Kit gave her the box from her desk and Kennedy took one with a nod of gratitude.

“It wasn’t all the time,” Kennedy went on. “My father, I mean. He waited until my grandparents took the twins for a sleepover and then…he’d come into my room. I think he put something in my mom’s bedtime tea because she always slept through it, even when I yelled.”

“For help?” Kit asked.

Kennedy shrugged. “And because it hurt.”

Beside her, Navarro took a long breath through his nose, but said nothing.

“Can we ask a few questions about your parents?” Kit asked. “How was money? Did they both have enough? Did they argue?”

“They never argued, not that I heard. Not even when he’d disappear for a weekend. Mom just cried and made excuses for him. As for money, there was always enough. I guess, in that, we were lucky. My dad handled all the bills, so Mom never worried about it. He said he didn’t trust an accountant with their finances. That was how people got ripped off.”