The Ex Who Wouldn't Die by Sally Berneathy Read Free Book Online Page A

couldn ' t maintain eye contact. Judge Caulfield could stare down the toughest lawyer or criminal in the courtroom, but he was a marshmallow when it came to his daughters. Charley had a family, and her father had known it before today. A long time before today, she'd guess from his reluctance to face her.
     
    Detective Jerk , on the other hand, was studying her intently. " You ' re saying you didn ' t know anything about your husband ' s family? He never took you home to meet his parents? No holiday dinners with the in-laws? "
     
    Amanda glared at him. She 'd just realized the enormity of her husband's deception, been confronted with the probability of her father's, and this creep wanted to twist the knife. She drew in a deep breath, straightened her spine and leaned forward, returning the detective ' s gaze defiantly. " What part of con artist do you not understand? Charley conned me just like he conned everybody else. "
     
    " He married you. "
     
    " Con artists don ' t marry their victims? " She flipped her hand through the air. " Give me a break. You hear about that on the news every day. "
     
    " When the victim is wealthy. You ' re not. Your parents are, but they ' re both in good health. You won ' t be inheriting money for a long time, and you ' ve never made a lot at any of your short-lived jobs. "
     
    Amanda's eyes narrowed . "Thank you for pointing that out."
     
    " So, " the rude detective continued, " if it was all a scam, what was the scam? What did Charley Randolph expect to gain from marrying you? "
     
    Amanda was pretty sure she knew the answer to that one, but she wasn ' t about to admit it to this creep . Anyway, sh e felt sure from the man's shrewd expression that he had done his homework and already knew the answer.
     
    How many times had her father bailed Charley out of trouble, used his influence to get the charges dropped or provided a lawyer who could keep Charley out of jail ?
     
    For a long time, maybe until this very minute when so many truths had been shoved in her face, she had believed that, in his own selfish way, Charley had loved her, that amidst all the deceit , that one element had been genuine .
     
    She ' d realized shortly after their marriage that Charley lied to her when he came into the real estate office where she worked, claiming he wanted to buy a house. He had no money to rent a house, much less buy one. He ' d sheepishly admitted, when confronted with his deception , that he saw her entering the building and fell in love at first sight, so he ' d told " a little white lie " in order to mee t her. Only after he'd begun to talk about marriage had she told him her father was a judge, and he'd seemed surprised. A judge would not, he'd said with a giant sigh, want his daughter to marry someone with Charley's dubious background.
     
    Until she could get her fa ther alone, she had no idea why he had kept secret his knowledge of Charley's family , but she had an icy feeling that, when she unraveled all the secrets, she ' d find that Charley knew , the day he walked into that real estate office and smiled at her, she was the daughter of a judge.
     
    "Mrs. Randolph?"
     
    She rose from the wooden chair. " Apparently, Detective Daggett, you know more than I do about my ex-husband. Since I can tell you nothing else, I assume we ' re finished and I can go home . "
     
    " Ex-husband ? Your divorce wasn ' t final, Mrs. Randolph. "
     
    "Perhaps not, b ut death did us part. I think that ' s about as ex as it can get. "
     
    The cop gave her a tight smile. "Go home. But d on ' t plan any long trips. "
     
    She returned the pseudo-smile. " I ' ll be sure to send you a copy of my itinerary. "
     
    Brian took her left arm and her father her right as they hustled her out of the interrogation room. She let them. She wanted to get out of there. She ' d had enough of answering questions. She wanted to get her father alone and interrogate him. She wanted answers instead of questions . She doubted