Jason shook his head. “No, we’re here on other matters. Have they been bothering you since you moved?” Furrowing my brows, I glanced over at him, but he shook his head discreetly.
“No, thank goodness. That’s one of the reasons my husband refuses to bring up Philip’s name. It was hard on us all there for a time.”
“Excuse me,” I said. “I’m new on this case. Do you mind telling me what happened?”
She took a deep breath. “It happened a few years ago, but one of Philip’s patients was murdered by her boyfriend; he was actually her fiancé. His name was Aiden Wheeler. When it came time for court, Philip testified about how Emery was afraid of Aiden when he’d drink and so forth—that he was violent when intoxicated. After he was indicted, his family started harassing us, saying that Philip had lied. It got to be too much and it drove a wedge between us. We got divorced about a year later. It wasn’t until I moved up here that the harassment stopped. Unfortunately, Philip moved to North Carolina, too.”
“How is your relationship with him now?” Jason asked. “Do you ever talk to him?”
She chuckled. “Goodness, no. I’ve heard from some of my friends how he blames the divorce on me and says that I left him for a younger man. My husband may be younger than me, but only by two years. I guess he’s just looking for pity.”
“Have you ever wondered if he lied during his testimony?” I asked her. “That maybe there was something else going on?”
She shrugged. “Philip and I grew distant way before any of that ever took place. There was a time I thought he was cheating on me. He would come home from work and just be distant. It all started because we couldn’t have kids. We tried for years, and then when it never happened it was like he gave up on me.” She glanced down at a picture of a little girl on the desk who looked just like her. “Turns out the failure wasn’t on my end. Anyway,” she said, refocusing on us, “he was distraught after Emery died. He was more upset about her passing than he was about his own mother six years ago.”
“What would you say his and Emery’s relationship was like?” Jason inquired.
“They were close, maybe a little too close. He talked about her all the time. They met outside the office and such for lunch. She was younger, so I didn’t think too much of it as far as him having an affair. I considered it more of a fatherly, protective type of relationship.”
“What was the age gap?” I asked, glancing back and forth between them.
Gina fumbled through the papers in front of her and pulled out a newspaper clipping. “Ten years. He was thirty-three and she was twenty-three. After she died, Philip kept a box with all of the newspaper clippings in it. This is her,” she said, holding out the paper.
Jason grabbed it first, and when he focused on it his eyes went wide. I turned in my seat. “What is it?”
He handed it to me, and my stomach clenched. Emery was a beautiful girl with golden blond hair, blue eyes, and a wide smile. “Do you see what I’m seeing?” I said, keeping my focus on the girl.
Jason sighed. “I do and it’s not good. It could be a coincidence.”
“What could be?” Gina asked.
I held up the paper. “Emery looks exactly like my girlfriend, Summer. She’s been a patient of Philip’s for two years. He’s made it known that he wants her.”
She gasped, closing a hand over her mouth. “Oh, no, I’m sorry.”
Jason sat forward in his chair. “Mrs. White, is there anything you can tell us about Philip that no one knows? I’m asking because I’m investigating some recent events with assailants paid large sums of money. One of these events happened to cost a girl her life. We want to know if Philip could be capable of orchestrating this.”
“Anyone could be capable of it. He has the funds to do it. To this day, he still pays me alimony even though I don’t want it. It goes into my personal account so that Charles doesn’t see it. I want it to stop, but I don’t want to go to court. I want my daughter as far away from this mess as possible.”
Jason’s brows furrowed. “How much money does he give you a month?”
“Five thousand. I don’t even know where it’s coming from. It’s from a bank somewhere far off.”
“Like where? Switzerland?”
She stared at Jason, her lips pursed in concentration. “I’m not really sure. Let me pull up my account and you can take a look.” Typing away on her computer, she sat back and turned the screen toward us. “Here it is. Do you know where that’s from?”
Jason and I both looked at the screen. “Holy fuck.”
Chapter 32
Summer
“I’m going to stop by our house when I leave here,” I announced, coming up behind Lara.
She twirled around, grinning. “I don’t think you can call it ‘our house’ anymore. It’s basically mine now.”
I rolled my eyes. “Anyway, I’m going to get the rest of my stuff and take it to Evan’s. Will you be home tonight?”
“No, I’ll be at Grayson’s. After we leave here, we’re going to watch a late movie and go back to his house.”