Dear Wife(87)

“The one at your ankle, too.”

You puff a laugh, then put that one down, too.

“Good. Now empty your pockets.”

“Come on, Em—”

“Empty them.”

With a theatrical sigh, you toss everything to the ground. Your wallet, a set of cuffs, your badge, some papers and loose change. When you’re done, you hold your hands high in the air, humoring me, but your expression is anything but humorous. “Happy now?”

Not even close. I point the Sig at your face and nudge you backward, putting some distance between you and the weapons. When I get close enough, I kick them away.

“So, what—you shoot me in the head and leave me for the rats? Take out my kneecaps then roll me over the side?” He glances behind him to the edge, some fifteen feet away and closing fast. “What’s the plan here?”

The plan is to not do any of those things.

You take another step back, then another. The look you give me is the same as always, firm and fierce, but the fire I saw in your eyes before is gone.

I’m in control now.

“How did you know?” I have to shout over the roar of the traffic below us. “About Sabine, I mean. How did you know she was the one helping me?”

“I saw you together in the park.”

You pause to let that one soak in, and I do the math. The park was what—two, three weeks ago? That’s when Sabine told me about Nick, made me memorize his phone number. I wonder what else you know, what else you saw when I didn’t realize you were watching.

“I know a guilty person when I see one, and I saw the look on your face. You were terrified somebody would see you together, so I did some research. As soon as I found out she was working at the shelter, I knew what the two of you were planning. And then I came home early from that training, and I couldn’t find you, but I found her at that Super1. I was waiting at her car when she came out.”

“But Sabine didn’t know where I was. I didn’t tell her on purpose.”

You shrug. “That explains why she wasn’t very helpful.”

“So you killed her?”

Despite everything, I’m still praying you’ll deny it. It’s one thing for you to enjoy hurting me, but to hurt a stranger for helping me? I’m praying you’re not that evil.

“What else was I supposed to do? She looked me in the eyes and lied about that day in the park. She said it was a chance meeting, that you only talked for a minute or two when really it was sixteen. Sixteen whole minutes. I know because I timed it. When I told her that I knew she was helping you make a run for it, she got loud. She went for her phone. I shoved her in the back of my car and got out of there before anybody came over to see what the fuss was about. And what do you think would have happened if I’d let her get away? I’ll tell you what. She would have gone running to my boss. She would have told him lies about us. About me. I couldn’t have her doing that. I have a reputation to uphold.”

Yes, your precious reputation, more important to you than how you actually treat your wife. Something you fabricated to deflect from what you really are, a coddled mama’s boy with the same hot head as his convict father. Everything you do is an attempt to prove you’re nothing like him. Becoming a cop. Taking care of your mother. Shoving your gun down my throat so I wouldn’t leave. Anything to project this big, happy family.

I hate you with a burning, blazing fury. “I did this on purpose, you know.”

“Did what?”

A truck rumbles by, shaking the rooftop like an earthquake, and I wait for it to pass.

“Brought you here.”

Your brow crumples. “What do you mean, you brought me here? You didn’t bring me here. I am trained for this. This is what I do. You tried to throw me off your trail but I found you.”

“You think I didn’t know you’d be clocking all the Wi-Fi check-ins to the Facebook page? That you wouldn’t notice all those long listens on the scanner website? Those were all huge Bat Signals in the sky. I knew they would be.”

You tilt your head, and the look you give me is dubious. “No, you didn’t. You couldn’t even install the new printer. I had to come home on my lunch hour to do it for you.”

Your heels are inches from the edge of the roof now. One more step backward and you’ll be hanging over air.

“Pay attention, Marcus. I knew that Jade would be working her magic down in the basement, plotting all the IP check-ins onto a map, and I knew they would lead you straight to me. Did you see my friend Nick on all the ATM cameras? I am not as stupid as you think.”

You don’t say a word, but your expression is cussing me out.

“And how about those phones from that skeevy minimart? Did you find those?” I catch the flash of surprise in your eyes, the way your jaw goes slack, and I laugh, a harsh, bitter sound. “I gave three of them away to random people I met on the street. The fourth one I used for days. I stole money from a church, and then I spent it in a place just up the road, one with dozens of surveillance cameras. Are you getting what I’m telling you? I planned this. I sent up flares that would lead you here. I wanted you to find me.”

I see the moment the quarter drops, the way your brow clears in understanding, in shock. Your voice is both incredulous and enraged. “You fucking bitch.”