Vanessa Spencer angrily slammed the front door of her apartment shut, threw her handbag onto a nearby chair and headed into her bedroom. Her fingers tightened around her phone which was held up to her ear, "I'm tired of waiting, Christopher!" she yelled, "It's been four fucking weeks already. When are you going to sign those damn papers?" She heard Christopher laugh softly, and got even angrier. Sometimes, she wondered how she'd managed to stay married to him all those years. He was the most infuriating man she'd ever met in her life. Vanessa had married Christopher at the young age of twenty one, and now at the age of twenty eight, she often wondered what the hell she'd been thinking when she had made such a horrible decision. She'd been young and stupid and she'd honestly thought that she loved him… Or the man she thought he was, but six months after their wedding she'd painfully realized that Christopher wasn't the man she thought he was. He was a liar and a cheat, and Vanessa bl

"I have no idea," Vanessa replied, "He didn't say. Look, if you think that I killed him because he wouldn't sign the papers, then you're very wrong indeed. I was pissed that he was delaying things, but I knew he'd have signed it eventually. I wasn't going to kill him for it or kill anyone for that matter,""You could hire someone to do the job for you…." Alaric cut in, "I've seen people hire other people to do the job for them," It took a lot of self control for Vanessa's not to give in and scream like she actually wanted to. An emotional reaction in this situation wasn't going to do her any good, so she kept her cool and remained in her chair. "Are you insane?" she asked, "I would never do such a thing," He continued like she hadn't spoken, "I see that you had different surnames too. You never changed yours after you got married. You guys have been married for years and you don't have any kids. You've been separated for a year. You even moved out and rented an apartment. From what

Though Jeremy kept his tone respectful, his firm reply told her he meant business. “Perhaps you’d like to contact your bank and verify?”“Of course.” Hands shaking, she fumbled with her phone, looking up the bank’s number and calling it. Once she had an account representative on the line, she identified herself.“Mrs. Spencer, we’re so sorry for your loss,” the woman exclaimed. “What can I do to assist you?”After taking a deep breath, she asked to check the balance in the checking account, since she was also listed as an account holder in addition to Christopher for that account. “Certainly. Just one moment.”Vanessa gripped the phone, listening while the bank representative typed in the information. “Let me see here,” the woman said. “I show a balance of one thousand, six hundred and forty-seven dollars and seventy-eight cents.”“What?” Vanessa swallowed, again trying to comprehend. “The checkbook ledger shows seventy-two thousand dollars and change.”“That would have been before M

“That’s not necessary,” Vanessa said, steeling herself. “I’ve already done all that. The funeral will be at Blackenstock Funeral Home. The arrangements are made. I’ll get you the details once they’re printed up.”The older woman’s perfectly made-up eyes narrowed. “I wish you had waited for me. I really wanted to approve the casket.”Battling the urge to offer to take her to the funeral home in the morning so she could approve of her choice, Vanessa managed to keep her mouth closed.When Vanessa didn’t respond, Lois glared at her. Vanessa hated that she was alone with them. She felt like she desperately needed an ally. Someone whose presence would give her strength because she knew if she wasn’t strong, her in-laws would roll over her like a steamroller on freshly laid concrete. Even Christopher had been unable to hold his own around his parents.Abruptly, Lois pushed herself up and walked over to the sink, where she stood staring out the window. Her shoulders began shaking as she sile

The deputies began snapping photographs, one of them taking notes. They stepped through the room, broken glass cracking underfoot, talking quietly among themselves. When they moved outside, Lois spoke up.“What were you doing outside at three in the morning?” Lois managed to sound outraged rather than concerned.“I couldn’t sleep,” Vanessa explained, hearing the complete lack of emotion in her own voice and realizing she was beyond caring what anyone thought of her. “I went outside to get some air.”And, of course, both Lois and Steven gazes drifted from each other to Vanessa and back again, hers narrow and his appraising.“You had difficulty sleeping?” Lois finally asked, her suspicion clear in her snide tone.“Yes.” Vanessa stared at the older woman, practically daring her to speak her thoughts out loud. Right now she felt as if she was walking on the edge of a narrow precipice. Christopher was dead, and all the bickering or accusations in the world were not going to change that.Mo