Everyone at the observation gathered closer to watch Matt's and Amaya's conversation.

"I am all ears, m'am," said Matt to Amaya. "But it is my obligation to tell you before we go on that this conversation is being recorded."

"That's fine." Amaya responded with approval. "I'm happy to cooperate with however you need."

"That's very kind. Not everyone we talk with is this cooperative. Is there anything you need before we get started?"

"Just for you and the others to call me by my name. Enough people already call me m'am. Now please ask me what you want to know."

"Alright, Amaya. Let's begin from the top: where were you born?"

Amaya turned red. "This feels damn near ridiculous to say aloud, but I was born in Death Valley."

Matt arched an eyebrow. "California's a long way from here."

"Yeah. The rest is just so embarrassing." Amaya replied. "I'm from Death Valley during the time that Charles Manson was around. My parents were even two of his early followers."

"Extraordinary..."

"My parents didn't do anything bad, so far as I know, but they believed in the rest of his ideals." Amaya looked Matt straight in the eyes. "I did a lot of research when I was younger because an opportunity presented itself. And I suppose I was around him, but I wouldn't remember."

"Of course not." Matt sympathized. "You were a child back then. Amaya, can you remember if or when your parents broke away from that life?"

"Yes. I became very sick. My parents were told that if they left, they would never be allowed to come back." Amaya began drawing patterns on the tabletop without even thinking about it. "I contracted pneumonia. We left Death Valley for a proper hospital, and my parents gave just about everything they had so they could pay the doctors."

"I would do the same for any of my kids if they became that ill. What happened after you recovered?"

"We left the state and settled in Houston. Our happiness didn't last long because a tornado him a small handful of months later. It took my parents and spared me. I was only seven. You don't forget trauma like that."

"Certainly not. Did your parents tell you the memories about California?"

"Mhm. It was always just the three of us, and they were always open because they believed in straightforward honesty. I was told the truth when I asked why we left." Amaya stopped tracing shapes and tapped the hard surface beneath her fingers. "Ask me something else now."

Matt's next inquiry came fast. "How did you end up in Louisiana?"

Amaya gave a slight frown. "Foster care has always been a total soul-sucking bummer. When I was older, state budget cuts forced the home where I lived to be sent to a bigger one in the Bayou State. Where I landed first isn't important."

"No? Then what is?"

"The fact that I ran from my last group home, and wound up in New Orleans. It was 'the big city' for me."

"That town is magical." Matt had been to New Orleans a few times before. "How old were you at the time?"

"Too young. I even caught the eye of a local man studying to be a cop. He was older than me, but not so older than me that it was totally obscene." Amaya nervously flexed her fingers. "Things were also just... different back then. Louisiana has interesting marriage laws."

"Then I take it that you married this man? Was it a marriage of convenience?"

Amaya nodded. "I loved him. I loved him, I loved him, I loved him. William Isaac Jesse LaMontagne. We had a son together. I named my boy for his father. We had a senior and a junior in the house."

To his credit, Matt didn't react to this passing mention of JJ's husband. Amaya was all but eating from the palm of his hand.

"Were you happy together?"

"I was. For awhile. Bill, too. Junior was always happy and oblivious. I protected him from every bad thing I could. His first full sentence was that he loved me. My son had the biggest heart."

Even though Matt already knew half the answer, he said, "I notice you talk about your son the past tense. Where is he?"

Amaya did her best to keep from crying. "I have to ask something else first. Just please tell the truth—does it go that you all somehow discovered June, but not what she did for a living back then?"

"Yes. That's correct."

"Then what I have to say is going to sound like it's from a soap opera, but I swear it's the truth. June the harlot crossed Bill's path while he was a detective because she was a paralegal in those days." Amaya griped. "It was awhile before I discovered what they were doing, but that's when everything fell apart."

"I'm sorry." Matt said sincerely. "Did you confront either of them?"

"I sure did. June acted like it wasn't a big deal because I was young. She thought she could offer more. Bill and I... we got into the mother of all fights. The dreams I had for myself didn't fit in with his expectations for me."

"And you needed to be your own person. When did you walk away from Bill?"

"The next day. I also made the hardest choice of my life, too."

Matt could see where this was going. "Was it to leave your son in Louisiana with his father?"

"Uh-huh." Amaya gave a shaky exhale. "I've never stopped loving my boy. My choice to leave him had even been made before I told Bill that I wanted out."

"Then what happened to change your mind?"

Amaya twirled a lock of her long hair around one finger. "I learned that my daughter was on the way. Bill and I were already strangers to each other by that point. Hostile, too. Like I was going to tell him that another baby was on the way when things were that bad."

"And it sounds like the secret still came out, anyway." Matt reasoned. "What was the response?"

"Bill told me that he never wanted to see me, or meet the new baby. Then he turned on me when I offered to collect Junior at the last second to take him along."

"In what fashion?"

Amaya clenched her hands together in her lap. "My offer to bring Junior with me contradicted what I'd already said earlier about kids needing a stable home life. It couldn't happen if June and I were both around. And since she refused to back off..."

Matt thought fast before before Amaya could start down on a rabbit trail. "I take that you and June have never gotten along? Even before it all went bad?"

"Yes. I haven't seen June since I left New Orleans. She always took the lead in heckling me just for being young." Amaya scowled. "Still... the last straw was had when Bill made a solid threat."

"And what was it?"

"The man threatened to close ranks on me altogether, saying that any return would just confuse Junior. He even got in his version of the last word—he threw his pocket watch at me with full intent to cause harm. It didn't hit me because I caught it. And I never gave it back. Now the watch belongs to Virginia. She cherishes the thing."

Matt mulled over Amaya's tale for a few long moments. It was all so much.

But... things were beginning to tall into place.

"I appreciate you sharing so much of your story with us, Amaya. All of that is the perfect breeding ground for bad blood." Matt said kindly. "Will you share what happened after you left Louisiana?"

"I ended up moving to Mississippi because it was all I could afford, and because I was pregnant. Texas was my first choice. But I had to settle as quickly as I could. Homelessness is not something I want to ever experience again."

Matt wanted nothing more than to go home and hold his family now. "And what year was it?"

"1979. My fresh start didn't go that well because we were also hit by a hurricane that year." Amaya's bottom lip quivered slightly. "My town was out of its range. But Louisiana was hit hard."

"How hard is hard in this case?" Matt wanted to know.

"Enough destruction occurred to the point where I had cause to believe that my ex and my boy perished in the storm. And I couldn't find a trace of them after. Then again... I couldn't look too hard. Virginia was born six days after the hurricane was over."

"And you kept quiet about your pre-Mississippi life after that. Had it all been a secret until today?"

"Yeah. What I don't get is how my eldest children even met, but I think the arrival of Emily into her life is to do with it."

Amaya ran her fingers through her hair now. It was getting harder to keep her emotions in check.

"Now my boy is alive? All I want is to hold him and tell him how sorry I am that I didn't try harder to look for him. I would give anything to do that. If he has a wife and kids, I would love to meet them. But I also understand if they wouldn't want that."

Once more, Matt worked on keeping himself in check. "Those are extremely positive things to hope for. Would you like to take a break before we talk about your marriage to Asher Silas?"

"No, thank you." Amaya answered. "He was much worse than Bill, sir. I just want to get it over with. Please."

"Fair enough. Amaya, my team and I have already learned that Asher did real estate, so how about you start by explaining how the two of you met?"

She took it from the top. "My company provided an extravagant dessert spread for a massive open house event of his. He wanted to meet the person who made the centerpiece."

"And that was you?"

"Yes. We fell in love, dated, became engaged, and then married. Asher even supported my career. We were also the same age. Things like that matter to me now. My daughter loved him dearly, and he loved her. We were all so happy then. I even became pregnant more than once..."

Amaya's thought process had clearly derailed again at this point. Something was really bothering her.

"What is it? You're doing really well." Matt told her after letting her have a beat to think.

"Real estate was Asher's world, not mine." Amaya reflected. "I was mostly seen as the equally-rich wife on his arm at smart parties, meaning that I couldn't begin to know all that Asher did. He also didn't share a lot because he knew I didn't find it interesting. But... he did go to Atlantic City to gamble. A lot."

"Did you ever tag along?"

"Uh-uh. I stay out of casinos because I've been accused of card counting on multiple occasions."

"Do you?"

"Hell, no." a small smile of amusement flickered across Amaya's face. "The ubiquitous 'they' claim I cheat at cards. My response? I've always been stupidly good at all things math. I've obtained PhDs in that area and in chemistry."

Matt sputtered, "You have two PhDs? Why didn't you mention that? I could have been addressing you as 'Doctor Rainer' this whole time."

"There's also an additional degree in philosophy. I earned it last year. When people find out, they just ask me why I became a chocolatier, with all the smarts I have. 'Tiresome' is the word."

Amaya cleared her throat.

"Let's never mind that. Asher got in trouble some time back: a client he vouched for completely tanked. He ended up being on thin ice for the rest of his life. And... He went from being perfectly normal to incredibly mean."

Though Matt had a sinking feeling, he still asked a tried question. "What happened?"

Amaya sat up straight in her seat. All ounces of sadness, wanting to remember the fond times, and becoming lost in old memories had vanished. Now she seemed regal. Majestic.

"In my office, you asked why I wasn't invested in hearing about an update on the case. Well... I'm sure you can understand why one wouldn't have sympathy for the actual devil. Your abuser..."

Matt felt the biggest lurch of pity and sympathy. No one on the team had profiled this. He couldn't even think of how to respond.

Amaya went on. "I lost a baby to that man that I didn't even realize was there until it was too late. Halo would be ten this year. Things were a blur in the years after that, but..."

"Talk it out." Matt prompted. "No answer is wrong."

"The man upstairs laughed at me when I swore I'd never have another baby after Halo. I did get pregnant once more. Jubilation Adele Jennifer is in our lives now. She doesn't have a mean bone in her body. It's just..."

"Talk it out." Matt repeated.

Amaya still sounded like she was going through an actual epiphany. "I don't know why I didn't think about this when the detectives asked me during the original investigation. Asher's company really was in the hole. I started learning more than I wanted because it was all he could talk about. His abuse was verbal by that point... And please don't think that I never tried to fend him off because I did—he was just unpredictable."

"Nobody is going to look down on you. I promise. I believe you. So do my colleagues." Matt soothed. "Things were jumbled for you because you were in shock and pregnant. Did an old memory just pop in to your brain?"

"Yes. When I was at the six month mark, the abuse just... stopped."

"How unusual. What do you remember?"

Amaya thought about it. "Asher came home from work, and we all made it through a civil evening together. Then..."

Matt waited for Amaya to complete her thought. She was on the verge of something. But what?

"Then," Amaya repeated. "Asher went to work. Several hours later, I was receiving the call that the he was dead. But why didn't I think of this back then?"

And everyone watched as the mighty Doctor Amaya Elle Jo Rainer began to spin out.

This was going to be a long conversation.

Yet again on the other side of the glass, Emily held herself back from going to help. Matt was doing an excellent job of things by himself.

He was always a good man in a storm.

At the moment, it would be awhile before Amaya would find her way back to port. But Matt could handle that.

So... that just left Emily to wonder if Rossi was having better luck with Virginia.