NAILED by Elaine Macko Read Free Book Online Page A

couldn’t understand women who let men run everything. A marriage was a partnership, and while I loved my husband, at least I did a few days ago, there was no way the man would ever get away with telling me when I should leave a gathering or when I had to go to bed. He’d find himself out on the curb if he ever tried that nonsense. And I was glad to say all my friends felt the same way and had great marriages. I tended to choose strong women, not doormats, as friends.
    Maddi took a sip of tea and then continued. “But lately things were changing. Jenna was getting tired of living like property as opposed to a wife. She even filed for a legal separation, but then got back with Victor. In the last month I think she regretted that decision and I think she was planning to leave. This time for good. My husband Hal is the CEO of a medical supply company and right before she died Jenna asked him if he had any office work she could do for the summer. She didn’t want us to mention it to Victor. I think she wanted to work and save up so she could move out. Victor would not let her go easily, I can tell you that, so if she really was planning on moving out, she’d want to have all her ducks in a row. And then she told me that Vic suggested they take a nice getaway for their anniversary. Never in all these years did he do anything like that, but Jenna thought maybe it was a good sign. She could be so naïve. Not me. I was sure he found out somehow that she was planning on leaving him. He found out and he arranged for them to take out big life insurance policies saying it was all for Moshi, to secure her future. Yeah, right. And then he comes up with a getaway to Maine. Maine . Out in the middle of nowhere in the winter. Why not the Bahamas or Hawaii, right? I begged her not to go. I told her I had a bad feeling about the trip.”
    I finished the last bite of my sandwich, took a sip of my tea and looked at Maddi. “And then what happened?”
    A tear ran down her cheek. “And then Jenna fell off a cliff.”

 
     
     
Chapter 14
     
     
    I left Maddi Wickersham shortly after lunch. She was taking the girls to see the latest summer blockbuster, and had to get them out of the pool, dried off, and dressed. Moshi was putting on a brave front. All her cousins seemed very protective of her, and I prayed the little girl would be okay. She had a loving aunt and great cousins, and Maddi said her husband was only too happy to take Moshi in and would raise her like one of his own daughters.
    Maddi told me that Ruth Sanjari was living in Victor and Jenna’s house. The house was left in a trust for Moshi, and in a few days, after Victor’s funeral, Maddi planned to kick Ruth out into the street if need be. I didn’t want to talk to the woman yet. Give her a few days to get through the funeral. So, the next person on my list was Gary Hachmeister. Shirley had given me the name of his construction firm and its address. Shirley wasn’t exactly sure of the relationship between Victor and Gary. If Mr. Hachmeister was a good friend, he might very well have taken the day off, but I was willing to take my chances.
    I had parked my car under a big shade tree when I arrived at the Wickersham home, but I had been in the house a long time and the sun had moved. I rolled down my car window trying to get the hot out. Yes, my car has roll down windows and no CD player. It was going on twenty years old, but I loved it and it got good gas mileage. It did, however, have air conditioning, and I turned that on a couple miles later and rolled the window back up.
    Connecticut Custom Homes was in Fairfield, so I hopped on the turnpike and turned my thoughts to Jenna Sanjari. If she was really planning to leave Victor, then why did she go away with him for the weekend, especially considering her sister had a bad feeling about the whole thing? Was she hoping to rekindle a long-ago-burned-out fire? Or maybe she didn’t have a choice. It seemed that what Victor