There were thousands of unread messages in her account, nearly all of which came from online stores and retail outlets where Sarah used to shop. Jake had to scroll back to a year ago to find real correspondence between his wife and other people. He finally arrived at the week of her death. Again, it was surreal to see Sarah corresponding with friends and other moms about Piper’s numerous extracurricular activities. There were a few exchanges with Jake that week as they tried to manage the balance between work and home life with Piper. The exchanges seemed extra cold to him now. Like they were just partners and not a married couple. What had happened to them? How could he have let it go so far that Sarah had sought intimacy with someone else?
Jake scanned every email from the entire week but found nothing that stood out to him. There were no email exchanges with any guy that gave Jake the slightest indication that an affair might be happening. Then he thought of another direction to go. While he didn’t have Sarah’s cell phone, Jake did have access to all her texts through her Messages app on her laptop. He opened the app and gave it a second to load. The most recent text messages were first. There weren’t many over the past year, and most of those were spam messages. Jake searched back to the week in question. There were dozens between him and Sarah; again, mostly organizing their life and running Piper around. He paused extra moments on the messages between Piper and her mom. There was a real tenderness in the text messages. Piper had lost so much last year.
He kept searching. Then Jake found a text strand that struck him hard. The contact was someone he knew well and one of the possibilities for an affair he’d thought of earlier. A successful attorney, Brent Grisham was a most-eligible-bachelor type of guy and a real charmer. Sarah and Brent had dated the year before Jake had met her. There were times when Brent was around that Jake felt he’d crossed the line in his casual flirting with his wife. Most of the texts between Sarah and Brent looked like casual banter between old friends. Some of it was about legal counsel. But it was their intimate exchange in the two days before the car crash that put Jake’s heart all the way up in his throat.
Thursday. The day before the hit-and-run crash.
Brent: Hey you. You OK? You were really upset last night.
Sarah: This is hard. I don’t know what to do.
Brent: I know. I’m here.
Sarah: Thanks. I’m glad.
Friday. The day of the crash.
Sarah: When can I see you again?
Brent: Tonight?
Sarah: Can’t. Jake’s game is tonight. Tomorrow?
Brent: Of course.
Sarah: OK. I’ll text you in the morning.
Brent: Hey, be careful. This could get messy. For both of us, the way our families are so interconnected. Especially with my new job.
Sarah: I haven’t told anyone. You?
Brent: No. I’m being careful.
Sarah: Same.
Jake felt his entire chest tighten up. He was suddenly having a difficult time breathing. It was one thing to ponder the possibility of an affair. It was another thing to actually see it unfolding right in front of his eyes. Why would she do this? Dumb question. He knew why. Still—it crushed him. The new job Brent had mentioned in the text exchange was a big one. Brent had been highly involved in politics for years. He and his wealthy family were well connected. His new job was being the governor’s chief of staff. Jake thought about that. Could the affair somehow be connected to Sarah’s death? Did Sarah know something she shouldn’t? Did Piper know the truth? Had Eddie Cowens been hired by someone to keep her quiet?
Jake’s mind was flooded with questions. He needed to talk to Brent. But it wasn’t like he could just call up the guy and chat about this right now. And he had no idea where the guy lived. Brainstorming another strategy, Jake pulled his burner phone out of his pocket and typed in Brent’s phone number. Then he punched out a message.
I know about you and Sarah Slater. We need to meet ASAP. Or I’ll go straight to the media with it.
He pressed “Send,” waited, hoping he would get a quick reply. He did.
Who is this? What is this about?
Jake typed out another urgent message.
Meet me at Alliance Children’s Garden next to Palmer Events Center at 11. If you’re not there, I swear I will ruin your career.
TWENTY-FIVE
Dani stared at a whiteboard on a wall in a small FBI conference room. She’d turned the space into a makeshift war room. The table behind her was littered with files and paperwork. The whiteboard was covered with her different scribblings as she tried to examine every intricate aspect of her investigation thus far. Jake’s name was circled in the middle of the board. From there, she’d drawn lines to Caitlin Kingston’s house with notes about all that had happened there last night—both the police version of events and the version Jake had told the police.