One Bad Thing by Jenny Hilborne

Author:Jenny Hilborne [Hilborne, Jenny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: TreasureLine Publishing
Published: 2018-09-10T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 41

The questions about Eve reminded Penny of something important.

Four months ago, Oliver had taken his girlfriend to Las Vegas on what was supposed to have been a guys’ trip, and Penny had gone along to provide her with some female company. The group included some of Oliver’s friends, people Penny barely knew, and they were all drinking heavily, partying hard, and hitting all the clubs. For a lot of the time Oliver was drunk and Eve was embarrassed. Penny remembered the last conversation she’d had with her.

Eve had confronted him during the week about one specific incident when he’d grabbed her by the hair and bent her over, forcing her head into his crotch and completely disrespecting her in front of his friends. It was out of character and it shocked Penny, but she’d put it down to him being around the guys. She’d told Eve that Oliver meant no harm, but that he sometimes made stupid decisions. Eve had confided to her that day that she wanted to leave him. Penny assumed they’d left the problem in Las Vegas, because they’d stayed together.

Even before the crotch incident, Oliver had started behaving strangely. He was a gambler, and they were only two days into the trip when he ran out of money and asked his girlfriend if he could borrow some. She withdrew some savings from her account and loaned it to him. He kept on gambling until he lost it, and then they argued. Finally, it was Penny who told him he had to stop, but he was unable to walk away.

After that, he didn’t talk to her for a few days. Then he took off and was not answering his phone. He didn’t come back for some time, and when she next saw him he was spending a lot of cash, thousands of dollars. He told her he’d collected a debt.

Penny knew it wasn’t the first time he’d stolen, but it might have been the first time he’d lied to her. Nobody else seemed to realize it.

As the week progressed, Oliver spent more time with the guys and less with Eve. Right after the trip, he walked out of the house with whatever he could carry and never returned to his wife. Penny had also had no contact with him, until a few days ago.

She communicated all of this to Doucette when he returned, rubbing a hand across his ribcage.

“Something horrible happened,” she said. “I’ve always suspected it was the reason he left the city. It reminded me of what he was like when we left San Diego, like he was trying to avoid someone.”

She gave Doucette the dates of the trip so he could check for reports of any burglaries around the time.

“When we spoke over the phone, you said that Oliver turned up in the bar unexpectedly,” Doucette said. “Do you have any idea why he came back?”

“No, I never got the chance to find out.”

He asked her to go over the facts of the

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