CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Renee Pearson—now Renee Matthews after getting married three years ago—lived just outside of Roanoke, in a neighborhood nestled in a valley that gave a breathtaking view of the mountains. Seeing the neighborhood was, to Kate, an exercise in not pre-judging people based on their history. The neighborhood was a gated community, with houses that would easily go for seven to eight hundred thousand in this part of the country. Dusk was only an hour or so away, the evening light painting the neighborhood in rich colors that seemed to add to the value of the place.
Just as Kate was parking along the curb in front of Renee Matthews’s house, DeMarco’s phone rang. She answered it right away. Kate continued to admire the neighborhood from behind the wheel as she listened to DeMar
