A Stranger on the Beach(37)

I pulled up Aidan? in my contacts and pressed call. He answered before the first ring was even completed.

“Finally.”

“Did I catch you at a bad time? You sound out of breath,” I said.

“I went for a swim.”

“Oh.” I looked out the kitchen window at the gray sky. It was like fifty degrees outside. Didn’t really seem like the weather for that, but then he was an odd guy.

“I’m returning your call,” I said. “Your many calls.”

There was an awkward pause.

“What do you expect when you don’t call me back?” he said.

“How about, wait? Also, how did your number get in my phone?”

“I thought you’d want it.”

At least he admitted to messing with my phone, though he hardly sounded remorseful. I wanted to ask him what else he’d done with the phone while I was sleeping. But I was afraid of the answer.

“You shouldn’t mess with another person’s phone,” I said.

“Jeez. Sorry. Why didn’t you call?”

“My husband was here.”

“With you?”

“Yes, with me. What do you think?”

“You said you were getting a divorce.”

“I said I wasn’t sure.”

“That’s not what I heard, Caroline.”

I sighed. “Look. I need to ask you to back off and give me space to figure things out. Can you do that for me, Aidan?”

“Are you saying you might be getting a divorce?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Where are you now?”

“Why?” I asked, my heart skittering with alarm. I did not want him coming to this apartment.

“I want to see you. When can I see you?”

“Not today. I have a lot of things to do.”

“What about our agreement?”

Agreement? What the hell was he talking about? We’d never agreed to anything. The only thing I could think of was that conversation in the shower about Jason taking the money. He’d made noises about getting it back for me, which, naturally, I didn’t take seriously. He wasn’t a lawyer, after all. Hardly. If he had some crazy notion about that, I needed to disabuse him of it, fast.

“Look, I appreciate your concern. But my husband and I are working things out amicably, as far as the money is concerned. So, I won’t be needing any help.”

“I don’t buy that.”

“You don’t buy what?”

“You can’t trust him. He’s not reliable. He’s possibly even dangerous. I have some information to give you. Things you’re not aware of. When can I see you?”

“That’s not a good idea right now.”

“Then when?”

He’d nearly shouted into the phone. This guy’s temper was on a hair trigger. Did I need to get the police involved? But that would blow my secret, probably without doing much to protect me. I had to remember that Aidan’s brother was a cop. My father always said, cops stick together.

“When I get back out to the beach, I’ll give you a call,” I said, to put him off, and calm him down.

“When will that be?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll call you when I know.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that.”

If he’d been listening, he would’ve realized that I hadn’t actually committed to anything specific. But he seemed less agitated, so if he wanted to think I’d made him some kind of promise, then fine. I ought to get off the phone while I was ahead.

“Okay, talk soon,” I said cheerily, and hung up.

I immediately deleted Aidan’s number from my contacts and blocked it. That gave me more satisfaction than it should, given that I knew it was useless. Aidan was not the type of guy you could get rid of just by blocking his number.





26


My friend Stacey Allen was waiting for me in front of the spin studio. I watched her from across Third Avenue as I waited for the light to change, steeling myself for this encounter. It was a cool, crystalline fall morning, and I was trying to get my life together. Stacey was on my to-do list.

The light changed, and I ran up to her breathlessly.

“I’m not late, am I?” I said, giving her a hug.

“Not at all. I’m glad you called. I’ve missed our spin classes together. But I didn’t want to press, since I know you’ve been going through a tough time,” Stacey said, in a syrupy voice, holding the door open for me.

We hadn’t seen each other since the night of the housewarming party, when Jason brought the Russian woman to the house. Stacey had acted so sympathetic then, but she was a terrible gossip. Sure enough, mutual friends in the city had been pity-texting me about my marriage troubles ever since. Stacey had obviously blabbed my business all over town. Jason and I were patching things up, but the truce was fragile. Gossip would make things harder. I’d invited Stacey to spin class to tell her to back off.

“I’m not sure what you mean, Stacey. Things are great with me,” I said, in a cheery tone, as we presented our cards to the girl at the desk.

Stacey looked confused. “What about that big upset at your housewarming party? That woman, with your husband?”