All About the Money (A Jesse Watson Mystery Series Book 7) by Ann Mullen

Because you’re jealous? You can’t have your own kids…”
    Oops…
    Savannah gasped. “Get out of here!” she screamed at him. The look on her face clearly
showed that she was embarrassed by his announcement that she was infertile. No
woman wants that broadcast.
    McCoy turned to walk out of the room when Savannah dropped another bomb on him. “She
was stealing money from you. I bet you didn’t know that, did you? She wanted
you, but until she could have you, she spent her free time stealing money from
your accounts. Not just one account, mind you, but all of them! I’m surprised
she didn’t steal any of my money. I guess I keep an eye on mine closer than you
do. Why am I not the least bit surprised?”
    “That’s a lie! Why would she steal from me when I gave her
plenty? I provided her with everything she needed.”
    “Because she could! You idiot!”
    The nurse returned and demanded that we keep the noise down,
or we’d have to leave. It was our last warning. The next time she had to return
would be the last.
    “That’s all right by me,” McCoy remarked. “I was just
leaving.” He turned and stormed out of the room.
    Before leaving the room, the nurse apologized for the long
wait, and said that the doctor would be back very soon. Then Savannah could go home.
    “I’m curious, Savannah ,”
I said as I walked back over to her bed. “How did Andrea get past your security
gate?”
    “I asked her and she said she got the code from McCoy.”
    “Did she steal that as well, or did he give it to her?”
    “She said that he gave it to her.”
    “Why don’t we go on the assumption that pretty much
everything she told you was a lie,” Billy said. “The woman surely wanted your
man, but I don’t think he wanted her. Maybe that’s why she tried to get rid of
you. She thought he’d come running back to her once you were out of the
picture. They do share a son together. That’s a mighty strong hold on someone.”
    “How many times has he cheated on you?” I broached the
subject. “Is this the second, third, or fourth time? Were there other women who
wanted your husband?”
    “No, it was just this one time as far as I know. He could’ve
had more affairs. They say men who cheat once, usually cheat again.”
    “Cheating… lies… they’re all the same,” Billy said. “One
small lie is nothing but a big lie in the making. If this is the only lie he
ever told you, then you’re pretty lucky.”
    “I sure don’t feel lucky. Why didn’t the two… three… of them
just run off together and leave me alone? I could live with that, but I can’t
live with her being a part of our lives. I don’t want her or her son in my
life.”
    “Because he didn’t want her,” I said. “He wants you. You know
your husband. Do you think he would choose her over you?”
    “No, but he might choose his son over me. He always wanted a
child.” Savannah started crying. “Having a child has
always been important to McCoy. He’s told me that over and over.”
    Russell reached over, picked up a box of Kleenex, and then
handed it to her. “Here you go,” he said. “You might want to think about what
Billy and Jesse are trying to tell you. McCoy would be a fool to pick anyone
over you. If you were my wife, I’d never leave your side.”
    Hmmm.
    Billy asked Russell if he could speak in private with him out
in the hallway. There was no doubt in my mind that he was going to tell him to
back off— Savannah was his client not a perspective
love interest.
    After they left, I walked over closer to Savannah , leaned down and said, “We’re here
to help you because we care about you, but if you lie to us again, or try to
use us in any way, I ‘ll personally see to it that you burn for it.”
    “What?”
    “I’ll write you off as a friend, and I’ll tell my mother
why.”
    “You don’t have to threaten me. I already said I was sorry. I
won’t hide anything from you ever again. I promise.”
    “Sometimes sorry just