Page 90 of Little Hidden Fears

“Dawn came to me the day she left the women’s center. I’d suspected Clark was cheating, but I didn’t know who with or how long it had been happening.”

“How did it start?”

“Dawn worked as a waitress at a diner. One night, when I was out of town visiting my mother, he went to the diner. They met and hit it off. She said he didn’t have a wedding ring on his finger, and he told her he was single.”

“Did you believe her?”

“I did. They started an affair, but he was careful to be discreet. They stayed at a hotel an hour away in Oceano.”

“Didn’t you wonder where he was when he didn’t come home on time?”

“I did, but his excuses always sounded believable, everything from being away for some tennis event to fishing with friends on the weekend.”

“What else did Dawn say when she came to you?”

“When she found out she was pregnant, she texted Clark, saying she needed to speak to him right away. He didn’t text back for a couple of days, so she showed up at the tennis club. It infuriated him.”

“I can imagine.”

“She told him about the pregnancy, and that’s when he admitted he was married and that they had no future together. He asked her to abort the baby. She said no.”

“I’m guessing that led to the assault?”

“It did.”

“And then?”

“She told me she feared for her life, and for the life of her baby. She said she had no family—no one she could rely on, anyway. So, we came up with a plan.”

“What was the plan?”

“The address I just gave you ... my uncle has a cabin that sits empty for most of the year. It’s a couple of hours from here, and he’s always said I can go there anytime I want. He even gave me a key. We decided Dawn would stay there until we figured something else out. It was never supposed to go on this long,but when Noelle was murdered, I panicked. I never wanted to believe Clark was capable of killing anyone. I still don’t.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “What you’ve done for Dawn, a woman you don’t even know, is amazing. She’s alive because of you.”

“I just wish I would have talked with the police earlier. I was so afraid of what would happen if they didn’t believe me.”

“They believe you now, and because of you, Dawn and her baby are safe.”

“Isn’t it weird how things work out sometimes? A woman I didn’t even know, who’d been having an affair with my husband, has now become my friend.”

“I think it’s a beautiful thing, and I thank you for sharing your story with me.”

I stood, saying goodbye and walking outside, where Giovanni was waiting for me. He pulled me in close, planting a kiss on my forehead.

“Your case has been solved,” he said. “What’s next?”

“Next we’re going to put it all behind us because we have something far more important to do.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Oh?”

“Yes, oh,” I said, nudging him. “Wehave a wedding to plan.”

THE END