Keep Quiet(83)

“You’re just saying that because you don’t want to break up.”

“That’s not true. I’m saying it because you could be in danger. So could we all. The more I think about it, the more I worry that whoever killed Voloshin could come after us—”

“I thought you were worried about the police. Now a murderer’s coming after me? What is this, scare tactics?”

“No. It could happen, babe. I looked at those pictures you took and I figured out that Kathleen was meeting someone in secret. I’m thinking he’s the guy who killed Voloshin—”

“So what are you saying? I need a bodyguard?”

Jake hadn’t gotten that far in his thinking. “You might—”

“Oh, great! Of course we can’t go to the police, or Ryan goes to jail. My son goes to jail!”

“That won’t happen.”

“What do we do then? Got any ideas?”

“We can talk about it tonight. I need you to be careful. Keep an eye out when you’re driving or when you—”

“Jake, if you’re trying to scare me into staying in this marriage, it won’t work. You don’t understand the damage you’ve done. You don’t get it.”

“We can fix it. I can fix it.”

“No we can’t,” Pam shot back. “I didn’t go outside the marriage because I wanted to, I went out because I had to. I’m not proud of it, but it is what it is. And we gave it a shot, which you totally destroyed. I’m making myself crazy, going over it and over it in my head. If we had broken up, you wouldn’t have been in the car Friday night with Ryan. None of this would have happened.”

“You can’t think that way. You don’t know that—”

“Yes, I do. Get your head out of the sand, Jake. It’s over. It has to be. We can’t go back, we just can’t. I can’t. I’m done. I can’t forgive you, ever. I want a divorce.”

“Babe, listen, I love you, and no matter what problems we’re having, we have to get through this together. Even tonight, we have to put up a united front, for Ryan’s sake.”

“You’re saying that for you, not for him.”

“No, I’m not. You know this is killing him, and we have to make sure he keeps it together. He’s cutting classes, getting high, messing up in basketball. God knows what he could do next. He needs us both—”

“You’re shameless! Since when are you so sensitive to our son? Since he started taking your side? Since he decided I’m the bad guy?”

Jake told himself to remain calm. “Pam, you said you don’t have time to talk, so let’s not waste time fighting.”

“It’s so unfair to me, Jake!” Pam raised her voice. “This is unfair to me and him! You’re the one who put us in this impossible situation! You’re the one who told him it was okay to drive in the first place!”

“We’ve been over this—”

“But somehow, I’m the one who’s a murder suspect, and now, a target! That girl would be alive if not for you!”

Jake felt the truth in her words, and her contempt for him, like a knife to the chest. “I know that, believe me, I know that every minute. But as far as we go, you and me, please just let me live at home, at least for the foreseeable future.”

“Damn you! Damn you for doing this! You’re putting me in a corner!”

“No, I’m trying to make the best of it. We have to stay together. You want to kick me out later, fine, but for right now, let’s agree to disagree.”

“I’ll be damned if I’ll pretend that everything is fine!”

“You don’t have to.”

“You’re damn right I don’t! This is awful, Jake, all the way down—”

“I know that—”

“It’s awful and it’s all your fault. Now you’re telling me we’re in danger and all of it is your fault!”

“Honey, I’m sorry, I’ve said it a thousand times, and I mean it—”

“Wait, hold on.” Pam lowered her voice, as if someone had come into the room. “See you at home by six fifteen. Don’t be late.”

“Okay, bye,” Jake said, but Pam had already hung up.





Chapter Forty


The sky was beginning to darken, and an early chill came on. Jake had searched the parking lot at the corporate center over an hour, with no luck. He’d found three black BMWs, but one had a New Jersey license plate and none had a plate with HKE. It was still his theory that the killer worked at the corporate center, though he kept it open as a possibility that the killer worked elsewhere and used Dolomite Road to park, finding it on his own.

Jake parked in his driveway and walked to his front door, glancing over his shoulder to make sure he hadn’t been followed by the detectives or anyone else. Nothing on their street was amiss, and there were no cars he didn’t recognize. The houses stood quiet because nobody was home from work yet.

Jake unlocked the door and let himself in, but Moose didn’t greet him. He stopped, feeling a glimmer of worry, but heard voices talking in the kitchen and one of them was Ryan’s. “Ryan?” Jake called out, puzzled. “You’re home?”