Page 119 of The First Gentleman

CHAPTER 115

Seabrook, New Hampshire

I pull the Subaru into a spot at Seabrook’s Harborside Park, a thirty-minute drive from my hotel.

I’m not sure why the trial got delayed for a day, but that meant I was free when I got the call from Teresa Bonanno saying she needed to talk to me.

This morning. Somewhere safe.

She suggested this park.

So here I am.

Only a couple other cars are in the parking lot on this cloudy day with beach season officially over.

I can see the gray Atlantic stretching out past a scrubby green lawn.

But no Teresa.

I pick up my phone to see if she left another text while I was driving.

Suddenly, I hear knuckles rapping on my window.

My heart jumps.

It’s her.

Teresa seems calm, not as edgy as I’ve seen her in the past. She’s puffing on a cigarette, taking deep drags.

“Thanks for coming,” she says as I get out of the car.

She points toward the beach.

“Let’s walk.”

I don’t know quite how to deal with Teresa.

I believed her when she told me about Cole Wright threatening her sister.

But the police clearly didn’t find her credible.

And she hasn’t been called to testify at the trial, which means the AG didn’t find her credible either.

But she seems straight today.

Her eyes are clear and she’s walking steadily.

“How are you doing, Teresa?”

She pulls a small medallion out of her pocket.

“Six months sober today.”

Wow.

That’s a change. “Teresa, that’s great. I’m proud of you.” I really am.

She nods. “Thanks.” Then she puts her hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry about your partner.”

“Thank you. I miss him.”

I think about what Teresa and I have in common now: Cole Wright was one of the last people to see Suzanne alive.

And one of the last people to see Garrett alive.

“So you’ve been at the trial?” she asks.

“Every day.”

“How is it? How did my mom do?”

“Your mom did great. I know how hard it must’ve been for her.”

“Yeah. It was. I wish I could have been there for her,” Teresa says, “but I just can’t make myself go to the courthouse.”

As we walk, I’m wishing I’d brought a heavier jacket.

The wind is really whipping off the water.

“Did they show pictures of my sister?” Teresa asks softly.

“Her bones and everything?”

“They did, Teresa. They had to. But they also showed pictures of her in her cheerleading uniform, and she looked really, really beautiful.”

I immediately sense that this is not what Teresa wanted to hear.

“I was so jealous of that uniform,” she says, looking out over the water.

“Suzanne had everything. Pretty face. Perfect body. Great job. Famous boyfriend. Me? I had shit .”

“You were mad at your big sister, I get it. She seemed to have it made. It was natural to feel a little envious.”

Teresa nods.

“I wanted what she had so bad. At least a piece of it.” She takes a drag of her cigarette and blows out the smoke.

“I wanted a boyfriend too.”

“I remember your mom talking about your teenage crush.”

“Oh, it was more than a crush. First Tony Romero, then Cole Wright,” says Teresa.

“We were all here one day, the three of us.” She points to a spot on the sand.

“It was right there. I could tell Suzanne didn’t like me tagging along so much, but Cole was cool with it. It was really hot that spring, and when Suzanne went into the water to cool off, that’s when I told him.”

“Told him what?”

“That I wanted to have sex with him.”

“Teresa! How old were you?”

“Old enough. But I was no virgin.”

I’m nervous to hear where this is going.

But I have to ask. “What did Cole do?”

“He kissed me. Right on the nose. Like I was some puppy dog or something. And that was it. I was so embarrassed. I hated him from that day forward.”

A thought occurs to me.

“Teresa,” I say, “were you trying to get back at Cole when you told me what happened? Did you make up that story about Cole threatening your sister because he rejected you back then?”

Teresa looks down at the ground.

“I know there was yelling, but I’m not sure what I heard. I was pretty drunk most of the time back then.”

“Is that why you made me drive all this way, Teresa? So you could come clean about trying to seduce Cole Wright?”

“No, there’s something else.” Teresa flicks her cigarette into the sand.

“I heard that a doctor testified that Suzanne might have been pregnant.”

“Right. But there was no scientific proof. No way to be sure.”

“I’m sure,” Teresa says.

“She was.”

What?

I need to get to the bottom of this.

I see a bench a few yards ahead and suggest we sit down.

“Teresa,” I say, looking her in the eye.

“How do you know Suzanne was pregnant?”

“Because she told me—the night before she disappeared. She said she was gonna break up with Cole because of it.”

“Why? Because it would get him kicked off the team?”

“No. Because it wasn’t his baby. It was Tony Romero’s.”