And why did Cole marry her? she wanted to add. She kept the thought to herself. Cole must have seen something in the woman to fall in love with her, yet from everything Jamie was learning about Teresa Donovan née Matthews, she couldn’t figure out what.
“You know how I always say that some people are just born evil?” Finn gave a bleak shrug. “Well, Teresa was rotten to the core. I knew her ever since we were kids, and honestly, there was nothing good or pure about her, even back then.”
“Bad childhood?”
“More or less,” he confirmed. “Dad ran out on the family when Teresa was five. Her mother was a drunk, so all the responsibility of running the house and raising Teresa fell to Valerie, who’s equally rotten. I think both of them felt they were entitled to something more. They had a crappy life and they wanted everyone to know it.”
“Well, at least Teresa had her sister. Misery loves company, after all.”
“Valerie settled down over the years. She works as an office manager for a law firm the next town over. But Teresa didn’t do so well. She was waitressing at Sully’s when she met Cole. Second she realized who he was, she turned up the charm and got a ring out of the deal. A few of us were tempted to tell him the kind of woman she really was, but he pissed off too many people by closing down the mill.”
Finn chuckled, the sound raising Jamie’s hackles. She understood the idea of small-town solidarity and all that, but these people had loathed Teresa themselves. Not one of them could have warned Cole about the woman he was about to marry? She found herself disappointed in her friend, unable to fathom how someone as honorable as Finn could let the closing of some silly paper mill relegate him to the sidelines so he could watch another man make the biggest mistake of his life.
She was about to voice her thoughts when Finn’s young deputy Anna Holt appeared in the doorway. “Got a minute, Sheriff?” the dark-haired woman asked.
Finn waved her inside. “What’s up, Anna?”
Anna took a step forward, looking a tad stricken. “There’s a Ronald Emerson here to see you.”
“Who?”
“Ronald Emerson.” Anna sounded slightly confused. “He was Teresa Donovan’s divorce lawyer, and he says he has some information about the case.”
“Let him in,” Finn said with furrowed brows.
Uneasiness climbed up Jamie’s throat, especially when Teresa’s lawyer entered the sheriff’s office and she saw the look on his face. Emerson was in his late fifties, a portly, bearded man who would’ve made a great mall Santa. Only he didn’t look particularly jolly. There was a nervous flicker in his eyes, and he shifted awkwardly, as if fighting the impulse to run out the door.
Finn rose from his chair and shook the attorney’s hand. “I’m Sheriff Finnegan. My deputy said you might have some information about Mrs. Donovan’s murder?”
Emerson visibly swallowed. “I’m not sure if this will help in any way, but I thought I should come in.”
“I’ll decide if this will help. What do you have, Mr. Emerson?”
The lawyer moved toward the desk and set his briefcase atop it. Unsnapping the buckles, he opened the case and extracted several sheets of paper stapled together. Jamie noticed his hands trembled as he handed the papers to Finn.
“What’s this?” Finn asked with a frown.
Emerson sighed. “The restraining order Teresa Donovan was in the process of filing prior to her death.”
Jamie briefly closed her eyes. This did not bode well.
Letting out an expletive, Finn studied the older man. “Teresa was filing a TRO? Against her ex-husband?”
Emerson nodded.
“Did she say why?”
The attorney released another breath. “Because she was scared for her life.”
Chapter 6
The new information sent Jamie’s mind reeling. Its implications were clear. Teresa Donovan had had reason to think that Cole would hurt her. She’d even taken steps to protect herself by getting a restraining order.
This did not look good for Cole. And the tiny glimmer of victory in Finn’s eyes told Jamie that he was now even more convinced of Cole’s guilt.
So why wasn’t she convinced?
She’d spent the entire night with the man, heard about his relationship with his parents, kissed him. She wasn’t easily deceived, and unless Cole was the most phenomenal liar on the planet, she didn’t think she’d pegged him wrong.
“Why didn’t you come forward two weeks ago?” Jamie spoke up, fixing a suspicious look at Teresa’s lawyer.
Emerson went a tad pale. “I was scared,” he confessed. “Mr. Donovan is a very powerful man. I worried he might consider this a personal attack, and perhaps take action against me.”
Jamie stifled a sigh.
“When was the order filed?” Finn asked.
“The date is on the top of the first page.” Emerson rushed on. “She came to my office and admitted that she feared for her life. Apparently her ex-husband had made some threats.”