Juanita: You make it sound like you’ve forgiven him.
Cam: I don’t know about forgiveness exactly. Some pity and regret. Actually, scratch that. Lots of regret for what I did.
Juanita: But in the end, Sebastian got what he wanted. Gigi Long didn’t die. Thanks to those videos, people flooded GoFundMe campaigns with money. Hospitals and doctors stepped up with free medical care. Gigi got her lungs. Her doctors say she’s on track for a full recovery.
Cam: [scoffs] No thanks to Sebastian’s life insurance company, who refused to pay her a penny.
Juanita: Because he looked into a camera and announced to the entire world what he was about to do. He told his daughter where to find the insurance papers, and then he threatened police officers knowing they would retaliate. Life insurance policies carry an exclusion for suicide.
Cam: When you push a man to the edge of a cliff, you can’t get pissy when he jumps.
Juanita: Are you implying the insurance company made the wrong decision, that they should have honored Sebastian’s policy?
Cam: Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Suicide by cop is not a thing. Or at least it shouldn’t be.
Juanita: Or maybe you just have a bone to pick with insurance companies, seeing as yours didn’t pay out, either. Not after you confessed to insurance fraud and—
Cam: Attempted insurance fraud. My attorney was able to talk down the charges.
Juanita: Because you also confessed to arson in the first degree. You got six and a half years.
Cam: And I deserved them. But for the record, I confessed to Jade first. I told her everything, and I mean everything, before I went to the police. There are no more secrets between me and Jade. Nothing’s stayed buried. She knows every single thing.
Juanita: Does she know what happened to the missing $49,000?
Cam: I already told you. It was in my truck, and then it wasn’t.
Juanita: Yes, but if that’s really the case, why would she tell me to look into it? What do you think she meant by that?
Cam: I don’t know. You’d have to ask Jade.
Juanita: She wouldn’t tell me, either. But I did do a little digging. I took another look at the GoFundMe campaigns, and do you know what I found?
Cam: [doesn’t respond]
Juanita: I found a donation of $49,514.27 made in late August. Three weeks almost to the day after Sebastian forced his way into your home, after the same amount disappeared from your truck. The donation was anonymous. There was no name attached.
Cam: I know what anonymous means, Juanita.
Juanita: I just think it’s strange, don’t you?
Cam: It is quite the coincidence.
Juanita: A gift like that, though…if people found out you were behind it, that would go a long way to improving your public standing.
Cam: I already told you. Scrubbing my image is not why I’m here.
Juanita: And Jade?
Cam: What about her?
Juanita: Is it possible that maybe she wanted me to discover the donation? So that people might look a little more kindly on you?
Cam: [doesn’t respond]
Juanita: Come on, Cam. I thought you were here to set the record straight.
Cam: I am. I did. I confessed my crimes in front of a judge and now your cameras. I’m paying for them with six and a half long years of my life. Years where I’m missing out on violin concertos and soccer games and birthdays and anniversary dinners and a million other important moments.
Juanita: Okay, different question then. Do you think Jade has forgiven you?
Cam: It’s a lot to forgive.
Juanita: When I spoke to her last week, I asked her the same question. I asked if she forgave you.
Cam: And?
[Door opens, male voice from off camera]: Sorry, Ms. Moore, but time’s up. I’m going to have to ask you to wrap it up.
Juanita: I just have one last question. Please, may I ask it?
Man: Okay, but make it quick.
Juanita: But what about all the people watching? People who’ve been following your story since the moment it began, the afternoon of August 6. They want to know where things stand between you and Jade. What should I tell them? Are you still a couple?
Man: By my count that’s three. [approaches desk] All right, Cam. You know the drill.
Juanita: What do I tell them, Cam?
Cam: Here’s an idea. [stands, offers wrists to guard] Tell them to do what they’ve been doing all along, to use their imagination.
Keep reading for an excerpt from Stranger in the Lake by Kimberly Belle.
A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
My Darling Husband is a work of fiction, but like all fiction, it’s a story rooted in truth. I live in Atlanta, a city with its fair share of violent crime. Home invasions occur here often enough it’s almost easy to become numb to them…until one day it happened to people I know. Their story began much like Jade’s: an armed stranger confronting the mother and children in the garage and forcing his way inside. The ransom he demanded was an odd amount, a number he’d gotten from a bank statement pilfered from their mailbox. That family survived, but their experience got me thinking. What would I have done in that mother’s shoes? How far would I go to save my children? My answers formed the basis for Jade’s actions in My Darling Husband.