“Trent was researching your husband, trying to find out about his illegal activities.”

Rather than seeming surprised, Lydia nodded her head determinedly.

“I’ve been wondering what JD was up to,” she said. Then her eyes narrowed. “What do you know?”

“He might’ve been involved in a couple of murders,” Jo said. “I was hoping you would know more.”

Lydia gasped and shook her head. “I . . . suspected something, but not that. And I have no proof.” She jabbed a finger at the open drawer. “I was hoping we’d find something there.”

Jo shook her head, then spent several minutes checking the drawer to make sure she hadn’t missed anything else.

“There’s nothing incriminating in any of the files,” she pronounced, then held up the USB drive. “We should look at this.” She glanced around. “But not now. We need to get out of here.”

Lydia motioned at her. “I have an office upstairs. Come on.”

Jo grabbed the papers and the drive and closed the desk drawer. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t locked. She and Lydia had opened a bag that couldn’t be closed, its contents spilled like so much trash. By the time JD noticed the drawer and its missing contents, the jimmied lock would be the least of their problems.

Lydia dashed to the door and opened it quietly, then poked her head into the hall.

“All clear,” she whispered. Then she jumped and glared at her phone. “He keeps calling.”

She dashed down the hall, Jo right behind her, alert for anything. They hurried up the stairs, not seeing anyone as they went down a wide hallway to a spacious room, completely unlike JD’s office. Where his was all dark tones and a manly feel, this room was open, light-carpeted, with maple furniture and abstract paintings on cream-colored walls. Lydia went to a long desk and sat down.

“Let me log in.”

She typed at a laptop, then muttered to herself. “Dang it, why can’t I get the password right?”

Her hands shook and she typed again, finally logging in, and then she stood up and moved to a big window that overlooked the front drive. Jo took the seat and shoved the USB drive into the port. She grabbed a mouse and tried to open the drive. Then she swore softly.

“What?” Lydia asked.

“The drive’s password-protected,” Jo said.

Lydia frowned. “There must be a way to get past that. I know some of the passwords JD’s used.”

“If this is Trent’s drive, JD’s passwords won’t work.”

“I have no idea who that belongs to,” Lydia said. “Try this.”

She gave Jo a password, and Jo typed it in.

“That didn’t work,” Jo said.

Lydia told her a few more, and still no luck. Jo tried a few passwords she thought Trent might use, combinations involving his name, but none worked.

“We need some software to look at this,” she said.

“Could you get something like that?” Lydia asked.

“It would take some time.”

Jo sat back. She had to get the drive to Kelsey. Her team would be able to break into it. However, Lydia didn’t know who Jo was working with. She thought of an excuse she could make, and she turned to Lydia. The woman still stood in the window, her face pale as she stared at her phone.

“JD keeps calling me,” Lydia said. “I’ll put a stop to that.”

Jo held up a hand. “No, don’t.”

But it was too late. Lydia was answering the call.

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Lydia’s hand shook as she put the phone to her ear.

“JD,” she snapped.

She heard the anger in her tone, but she was done trying to be nice, done trying to hide what she’d been feeling. She was going to resolve things with her husband now.

“Why haven’t you answered my calls?” He seethed with anger.

“Don’t talk to me that way,” she said as she looked at Jo.

Her driver didn’t look happy, but right at that moment, Lydia didn’t care. She was fed up with everything.

“I know you had affairs,” she said. He started to protest, but she cut him off. “Stop, stop! Don’t try to deny it. I’ve spent too long doing that, pretending like the rumors weren’t true. But they are.”

“Lydia, you’re wrong,” he said.

“What else have you been hiding?”

“What do you mean?”

“What happened all those years ago?”

His voice immediately became more careful. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“JD, stop lying to me!” It almost came out in a shout.

“You’re wrong. Listen, I’m almost home, and we’ll talk.”

“No. It’s over.” She gulped hard as the words spewed out of her mouth. “I don’t care if all this ruins your career, if it ruins our marriage. You’ve embarrassed both of us, but I’m putting an end to it right now. Do you hear me? I’m leaving the house now, and my lawyer will be in touch.”

“Lydia, you listen to me.” She had never heard his voice sound the way it just had, so threatening. “If you do anything, I’ll see that you regret it. Do you hear me? We’re almost to the house, and you and I will talk. We’ll take care of all of this. Do you hear me?”

Lydia opened her mouth, but she couldn’t find any words. She was as frightened as she’d ever been.

She stared at Jo, who had stood up and was saying something to her. The words were inaudible. Lydia couldn’t hear anything past the roaring in her ears. JD was talking, too. She blinked a few times, and in an instant everything came back into focus, and she heard JD yelling at her.

“Leave me alone!” she screamed into the phone.