“How are you holding up?” Molly asked the older woman.

Sonya shrugged. “I don’t sleep much, but I suppose I’m okay.” She adjusted her headband, which would have given her an uptight preppy look if not for the casual sweat clothes she wore.

“I’ll try to make this as brief and painless as possible,” Hunter promised.

She folded her hands in her lap. “I’ll tell you whatever I can.”

“First, walk me through the day and night of the murder, okay?”

“It was a normal day. I had a hair appointment in the morning.” She brushed her fingers through the short strands. “I color my gray,” she said, blushing. “I ran some errands afterward and was home when Seth returned from school. Jessie came with him. They spend a lot of time together as I’m sure Molly told you.” Sonya smiled warmly in Molly’s direction.

Hunter realized the two women shared a genuine affection. Then again, most people Molly met seemed to be drawn to her. “Yes, Molly told me how close Seth and Jessie are,” he said, keeping up with the conversation. “I’m looking forward to meeting him.”

“He’s a good boy. He’s had a hard time. Even before…his father wasn’t the easiest man to live with, but Seth is my pride and joy.” She twisted her hands in her lap, her nerves showing.

Hunter nodded. “I understand,” he said, speaking gently. “Now, back to that day…”

“Right. Seth and Jessie spent the afternoon here. They were doing homework and listening to music. I remember yelling for them to turn it down. I’d volunteered to help do the school directory for the PTA, so that day I was typing lists into the computer.” She gestured toward another room, which Hunter assumed held the family computer. “It was a normal day. Jessie left around five-thirty and Seth and I had dinner alone because Paul was working.”

“And then?”

Her expression turned dark, her eyes dimmed. “Paul came home. He closed himself in his office and I knew better than to bother him. He’d been moody lately.”

Beside him, Molly remained silent but she reached for Hunter’s hand and held on tight. Sensing her nerves, he covered her hand with his free one and waited for Sonya to continue.

“But I started hearing noises from inside the office, like Paul was trashing the place. So I opened the door.” Her eyes glazed over at the memory.

Molly’s hand clenched tighter inside his. “What happened next?” she asked.

“I asked Paul what was wrong and he told me he’d lost everything. I barely understood what he was trying to tell me until he started talking about embezzling money from the business and Frank finding out. Paul just kept yelling that everything was gone.”

Her shoulders shook, but Hunter admired the fact that she remained strong and composed.

Sonya shook her head, her disbelief still obvious. “I lost it. I started yelling back. I told him he’d destroyed our family and our reputation and Seth’s future. I said I’d never forgive him.” Her voice cracked.

“Then what?” Molly leaned forward in her seat, riveted by the story.

But Hunter was focused not so much on Sonya’s words but on her. Had the general told her to reveal her husband’s abuse or counseled her to remain silent?

Her expression had been filled with grief and pain, but suddenly she shifted her gaze as if unable to face Hunter or Molly. “Then Paul hit me,” she whispered. Her hand came up to her cheek, as if the blow were fresh.

Hunter winced.

Molly sucked in a startled breath, which answered one question in Hunter’s mind. She hadn’t known about Paul’s temper.

“I told him we were through. To get the hell out, and he left. He stormed out and that was the last time I saw him again until-” She shook her head and finally buried her face in her hands at the memory of her husband’s murder.

Hunter glanced up to see Molly had left the room, only to return with a glass of water for Sonya. She handed it to her, then took her seat beside Hunter.

“I have a few more questions if you’re up to it,” Hunter said.

She sipped her water. “I’m fine. Go on.”

“The general said you called him to come over.”

Sonya nodded. “I’m embarrassed to admit it, but after Paul left, I fell apart. I’d just discovered we’d lost our money, our savings, my husband had-He’d torn apart his office. I was hysterical.”

Hunter glanced down at his notes, but what he was thinking wasn’t on paper. He debated the wisdom of asking, then decided he wasn’t being paid to be nice or correct in his questioning. Hell, he wasn’t being paid at all, but he was expected to get the general acquitted of all charges.

He had no choice but to delve and pry until he found something that would help his case. “So your husband loses it and the first person you call is Frank? Not a female best friend or neighbor?”

“Hunter!” Beside him, Molly stiffened. “That’s an awful question.”

“Actually, it’s a pretty common-sense question. One a jury might think about. It’s my job to cover all those potential bases.”

“It’s okay,” Sonya said. “As awkward as this sounds, Frank is my best friend.”

“Was Paul also your best friend?”

Molly threw her hands in the air, then rose from her seat. “This is a ridiculous line of questioning.”

“Why? Why is asking if her husband was also her best friend a ridiculous question?” Hunter asked, narrowing his gaze at her over-the-top reaction.

“Because she just admitted he abused her,” Molly hissed.

“Relationships don’t always make sense to the outside world.” Hunter was referring more to Sonya and Frank than to Paul and Sonya. He had no doubt Sonya’s marriage had been in trouble for a long time. He’d only asked her about Paul being her best friend to contrast her relationship with Frank to that of her husband. He turned to Sonya. “It strikes me as odd that you’d turn to Frank and not one of your women friends at a time like this.”

Molly groaned, her frustration with him obvious.

Between Molly’s frustration and Sonya’s silence, Hunter had the sense he was hitting a little too close to home for both families. At first, Hunter had just been asking questions that might or might not come up in the course of a trial. Now he realized he was on to something serious.

“You’re being completely insulting to a woman who just lost her husband.” Molly now stood behind Sonya, defending her.

“And you’re too close to this situation to see things clearly, Counselor.” His goal was to remind Molly she was not just a family member but also a professional who knew the score. Who’d hired him to do his best and that meant leveling anyone who got in the way of him defending his client.

“God, stop arguing over me, please.” Sonya rose to her feet. “There’s a simple explanation. Really there is. I called Frank that night because he’s the only one who knew Paul had hit me before.” Sonya began pacing the floor in front of her chair.

Molly remained silent behind her, not meeting Hunter’s gaze.

Sonya shook her head. “So you see, he was the only one I could call when it happened again.”

But she’d also said he was her best friend, Hunter thought, the words sticking in his head. Very few married men or women would use that term to describe their relationship with a member of the opposite sex that wasn’t their spouse. And until her husband’s murder Sonya had been married. Which begged the question Were Sonya and the general more than friends?

In his first meeting with the general, Hunter had noted that he was protective of Paul’s widow. Could Frank have killed his partner because he’d laid a hand on Sonya again? And what exactly was going on between the two?

“How did Frank react when he found out Paul hit you?” Hunter asked, starting slowly. He didn’t want to risk antagonizing Sonya to the point where she called off the interview.

Hunter wasn’t pleased with Molly’s defensiveness, either. He wondered what exactly she knew about Frank and Sonya’s relationship that he didn’t.

Sonya shrugged. “Frank was upset when he saw the red mark on my face. Just like he was upset that Paul had stolen from him and lost everything they had! But he wasn’t angry enough to kill. Frank doesn’t have it in him to…” Her voice trailed off.

Hunter knew she couldn’t say the general didn’t have it in him to kill, because General Frank Addams was a military man through and through.

He’d served in war.

He’d killed before.

“The army was different,” Sonya said quickly.

Molly chimed in, “I agree.”

Hunter was not about to argue with either woman at the moment. His head was swimming with information and notions he had to sort through.

Just then, Sonya’s phone rang. “Excuse me.” She lifted the receiver. “Hello?” she asked, then listened to the voice on the other end. “Well, hi, yourself.” She smiled, a full-blown, feminine smile before turning away from Hunter and Molly so she could talk more privately. “Yes, yes, I’m still tied up,” Sonya said.

Hunter couldn’t help but overhear and he had no intention of walking away.

“I’m doing the best I can. No, no need to worry, although I appreciate it. Yes, I’ll call you when I’m through.”

Her voice held a warmth people reserved for a person they cared about, Hunter thought.

Her eyes held a glow he’d seen before, during their earlier conversation.

Sonya hung up. “Sorry about that,” she said.

“Was that the general?” Hunter blurted out the thought he hadn’t even realized had been running through his mind.

Sonya blinked. “Well, yes, it was. How did you know?”

Hunter gathered his pen and paper. “Simple, really. You light up when you talk about him. Or to him.”

“I’m so tired,” she said, lowering herself into the nearest chair. “And I can’t lie on a good day, so forget about it now. Yes, Frank and I have a special relationship. We care deeply about each other, but I never-and I mean never-cheated on my husband.”

Hunter’s glance immediately focused on Molly, who hadn’t reacted at all during this part of the interview. Molly, who’d questioned his tactics in order to keep Sonya and her father’s relationship from him. He knew that for certain now, he thought, disappointed in her and in her basic lack of faith in him.

“I’d like your permission to look through Paul’s office,” Hunter said to Sonya. “Maybe I’ll turn up something helpful.”

She nodded. “Of course. I just want to help Frank.”

“I know you do and the best way to do that is to level with me. Always,” he stressed. “Anything I don’t know can come back to bite me. If I know the facts, even if they seem bad, I can work with them. Okay?”

Sonya nodded. “Then there’s one more thing you ought to know. I didn’t bring home pizza for Seth last night, I brought it home for Frank and I.”

“I thought Frank had a meeting.”

Sonya forced herself to meet Hunter’s gaze. “He made it up. We spent the evening together. We just wanted to unwind and have some peace without the family wondering what was going on, so once everyone was out, he dropped me off in the back parking lot of Joe’s, then he picked me up again. We spent the evening at a friend’s house who’s out of town.”

“And his mother picked up the kids from the party?” Hunter asked.

Sonya nodded. “I lied when I saw you and Molly earlier.”

Molly let out a slow exhale.

Hunter ignored her. “I appreciate you telling me,” he said to Sonya. “Now, let’s call it a day as far as questioning goes, okay?”

She nodded again. “Thank you,” she whispered. “You, too, Molly.”

Molly inclined her head. She certainly didn’t look shocked by Sonya’s confession. She’d obviously known or suspected something was going on between them all along. And she’d chosen to keep it to herself.

Damn her.

Time to wrap this up, he thought. He and Molly needed to have a few words alone. “I’m sure I’ll have more questions.”

“Just call me,” Sonya said.

“We will,” Molly replied.

Hunter glanced at the small room off the family room. “I’d like to go to Paul’s office now.”

Sonya wrapped her arms around herself, then nodded. “The police already went through it looking for the gun.”

“Which they didn’t find. When was the last time you saw your husband’s gun?”

She shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. He didn’t take it out much. He just always kept it in a locked drawer in the office. He promised to keep the bullets in a separate place for safety’s sake and I believed he’d put them someplace safe.”

“Okay, then. Thanks.” Hunter inclined his head toward Molly. “Ready?”

“Sure.”

“I’m going out for a while. Would you mind locking the door behind you?” Sonya picked up her purse.

“Of course,” Hunter said.

Sonya left the house, while Molly led Hunter into the office.