Half Empty (First Wives #2)

While Trina accompanied Avery to her follow-up appointments with the plastic surgeon and the orthopedist one last time before returning to Texas, Lori and Reed detoured to the law office of Dwight Crockett. Alice’s estate attorney had been the one to say there would be letters arriving throughout the year, and since there had yet to be one such note, Lori decided to probe further.

With the help of her friends, Trina locked up the Hamptons home and packed all her personal belongings. Everything else would be dealt with later. If Trina had any say, she wouldn’t deal with it ever again. The skeletons in the closets there seemed to come to life, and she was getting tired of jumping at her own shadow.

Shannon met Trina, Avery, Wade, and Cooper, the relief bodyguard, on the tarmac. They arranged a jet large enough to accommodate their group through Fairchild Charters, a company Trina had once worked with and had one day hoped to equip with her team of elite flight attendants. Now she was using their services as a paying customer.

Strange how life worked out sometimes.

She recognized one of the pilots when she entered the jet.

They exchanged pleasantries before she introduced him to everyone. “We’re just waiting for Reed and Lori.”

Unable to help herself, Trina assisted the flight attendant serving and did a quick check to make sure they had everything they needed for the three-and-a-half-hour flight to Texas.

The surgeon had removed the bulk of Avery’s bandages, leaving her with a small scrap of material over her nose. Most of the swelling had gone down, and the colors on her face were a nasty yellow green, but even those were looking better each morning.

The longest lasting effect was the haunted look in Avery’s eyes. Trina saw it every time Avery didn’t think anyone was watching her.

Social services at the hospital had suggested Avery see a psychologist or counselor of some sort to help deal with the aftereffects of the assault. At the time, Avery didn’t want to hear it. But maybe in a few weeks Trina could talk her into it.

“We’re here,” Lori announced as she and Reed climbed the steps into the plane.

Trina met the whites of Lori’s eyes. “Do you have the letters?”

Her smile waned. “Let’s get on our way.”

The hope in Trina’s chest sunk.

When the pilot had the jet in the air, Lori relayed her conversation with Mr. Crockett.

“He had been instructed to send the letters to a mailbox in Arizona.”

“Arizona?”

Lori nodded. “Starting six months ago.”

“Who was supposed to pick them up in Arizona?”

“Dwight didn’t know. He was assured the letters would get to you,” Lori told Trina.

“I haven’t gotten them.”

“I told him that. He seemed surprised.”

Reed unbuckled his belt and moved to the minibar, selected a bottle of water.

The flight attendant attempted to help him, but he waved her off. “I’ve already informed the team. We’ll find out who has control of the box and if the letters are just sitting there, or if Alice had another party invested in getting them to you.”

“Did he send out everything?” Trina asked Lori.

“He says there is one more letter in his possession. I asked him to hold on to it until he hears from me. In light of everything going on, he agreed.”

“Well, that’s something, at least.”

“So what’s the plan now?” Avery asked.

“I’ll get you comfortable at the ranch, and then Lori and I will go to the bank, check out whatever is in that safe deposit box.”

“I’m going to have to go home for a few days,” Shannon interjected. “I don’t want to miss any more appointments than I have to.” She paused. “Unless you need me.”

“We have it,” Avery told her. “But take a bodyguard.”

“I doubt anyone is after—”

Reed stopped her. “You’ve heard every conversation we’ve had. I’ll have someone on the ground ready to accompany you wherever you need to go until we get to the bottom of all this.”

Shannon frowned.

“Hey, at least you don’t have to worry about Scarface taking you out. Since he’s dead.” Avery’s off-color words made everyone pause.

She looked up. “What?”

“Whoever hired him isn’t,” Reed reminded her.

“Don’t you have clients to see, Lori?” Trina redirected the conversation.

“This has been more important.”

“I won’t disagree, but you need to get back to your life, too.”

“Trina—”

“I have bodyguards and Texas law behind me.”

“And me.” Wade reached out for her hand and laced his fingers through hers.

“Didn’t I hear something about a Vegas show you’re scheduled to perform?”

“I’ll cancel.”

Trina lost her smile. “No, you won’t.”

“Excuse me?”

“Wade. That’s ridiculous.”

He matched her frown with one of his own. “You are more important than a crowd full of strangers.”

As much as she wanted to fall into the image he was painting, reality kicked her. “I don’t know when things are going to settle down. You have a life, and I’ve taken you away from it since the day we met.”

“My choice.” He wasn’t backing down.

“Vegas is a short flight. You have two shows scheduled, right?”

He didn’t answer.

“Wade. Be reasonable.”

“We’ll discuss this later.”

“There isn’t anything to discuss. If things were calm, I’d go with you.”

His thumb stroked the inside of her wrist. “We’ll see.”

“Your mother hates me enough as it is. If you start canceling shows on my behalf, I’ll never get on her good side. If this is gonna work”—she pointed between the two of them—“then your mom has to tolerate me.” Trina wasn’t about to hope for more.

“What is your obsession with pleasing my mother?” he asked.

“Hey, my last mother-in-law left me a zillion dollars. It’s important.”

Wade cracked a smile. “My mother doesn’t have any money.”

“Great, then maybe I can leave her some of mine. The point is, you have a life. It isn’t all about me.”

Wade broke eye contact with her and looked around at all the faces staring at them.

“Let’s have Jeb meet you at Trina’s. We already have more security en route to your home. All I suggest is avoiding any after-parties or breaches in backstage security. Like everyone else here, you’ve been privy to all the conversations, and there is always a chance someone is watching you as closely as everyone else. But unlike the rest of us, you have a harder time blending into the background, and that will come in handy if you need help,” Reed said.

“So we’re all set.” Trina grasped Wade’s hand.

Wade grumbled but didn’t argue again.



Trina’s hands shook as she entered Interstate Bank. When she gave them her ID, she half expected them to tell her they didn’t have a box with her name on it.

They did.

She and Lori were led into the locked room full of locked boxes.

Once the bank manager left the vault, Trina found the box number that matched her key. She slid the metal container from its slot and placed it on a table at one end of the room.

“Well . . . here we go.”

Trina opened the box. Inside were two large envelopes. She opened the first and removed familiar paperwork. “Samantha’s contract.” The only proof that her and Fedor’s marriage was secured even before they said I do.

“Sasha knows about Alliance.”

Fedor would have placed the paperwork in his office safe, a safe that was virtually empty when they finally opened it just prior to closing up the house. There had been a stack of euros to the tune of fifty thousand.

Trina pushed the contracts aside and opened the second envelope. This one had several pieces of paperwork bundled together.

A photograph of Alice when she had to have been in her twenties fell out. She had a black eye and a battered soul. Along with the image was a copy of a hospital report. She used a fake name and said she’d fallen. Trina kept reading until she found a doctor’s note saying that the injury didn’t match the story, and that he suspected she was being abused.

Several other images through what seemed to be a couple of years followed. One had a social service referral, along with an agency in place to protect children.