Envy(151)

Maris took a deep breath and expelled it slowly. “So Noah went to New York in a blaze of glory because of The Vanquished.”

“And Parker went to prison.”

“Prison? Prison.” She lowered her head and ground her palm against her forehead. “He told me once that he had spent years in rehab hospitals and ‘other facilities.’ I would never have imagined he was referring to prison.”

“Because of the mitigating circumstances of his case and his physical condition, he was sent to a minimum-security prison and allowed to continue with his treatment program and physical therapy. He was released after serving twenty-two months of an eight-year sentence.

“He might have been better off if the state had kept him longer. On his own, he didn’t fare very well.” He looked at her from beneath his eyebrows. “I believe you know that he’d sunk pretty low by the time I heard what had happened to my star pupil and went looking for him.”

She picked up the manuscript pages in her lap and straightened them. “I regret that I ever met Noah Reed. I loved him, Mike. Or thought I did. I was married to him. Wanted to have his children. How could I not have seen what he is?”

“You weren’t looking. You didn’t know to look.”

“But I should have read the signs. I knew this is where he’d attended university, but he never talked about his life before coming to New York. Not even a casual reference. He didn’t have any keepsakes or photographs, except one of his mother and father with him as a boy. He was never in touch with old friends. He never reminisced. He said he preferred living the present to visiting the past, and I stupidly accepted that explanation without question. Why did it never occur to me that he was hiding something?”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Maris. Noah is like two different men occupying one body. You weren’t the only one he hoodwinked.”

“Was it a plot device for Envy, or did you actually write Parker a letter, cautioning him not to turn his back on Noah?”

“I wrote a letter very similar to the one Parker read aloud to us. Almost word for word, in fact.”

“So you saw through Noah, and he was only your student. I was his wife. Not a strong recommendation for my perception skills.”

“Parker lived with him, too, remember. For nearly six years. Here at the university, then in Florida. Occasionally he saw traces of selfishness and self-absorption, but not until he was in the water that night did he realize that Noah is evil.”

“I believe that. Recently I’ve had glimpses of that evil alter ego.” Looking down at the pages still lying in her lap, she ran her fingers across the top sheet in something like a caress. “Parker’s not evil like Noah. But he’s cruel.” Raising her head and looking across at Mike, she said, “Why did he do this, Mike?”

“Revenge.”

“Why did he involve me?”

“I apologize for my part, Maris. I was uncomfortable with it from the start. I certainly didn’t like it once I came to know you.” He eased back in his chair and focused on a corner of the ceiling as he arranged his thoughts. “You see, in that damning video deposition, Noah accused Parker of lechery with Mary Catherine.”

“So he made the accusation a reality. With me.”

“Something like that. Parker’s success with the Mackensie Roone books should have been enough for him. But it wasn’t. The best revenge he could devise was to write his and Noah’s story and write it well enough to captivate you, a respected editor.”

“Who also happened to be Noah’s wife.”

“I think the idea sparked when he read that Noah had married you.”

“I was the element that made the plot work.”

Mike nodded somberly. “Every good plot has one component that links all the others. The common thread that seams the pieces together.”

“What’s the ending to be?”

“He wouldn’t tell me.”

“Maybe he doesn’t have an ending. Maybe deceiving me, bedding me, and being able to laugh up his sleeve at Noah over it is vengeance enough for him.”

Mike responded to the bitterness she couldn’t conceal. “I’m not justifying what he’s done, Maris. But I can understand it. Parker feels everything passionately or not at all. It’s the only level of experience that makes sense to him. Otherwise, why bother? How could he be less passionate about vengeance?

“He wanted Noah to experience at least twinges of the pain he had suffered because of him. He wanted Noah to know what it felt like to be deceived and betrayed to the nth degree. So Parker tricked you into coming to him. You both betrayed Noah by sleeping—”

“Oh, my God!” She reached out and gripped Mike’s sleeve. “I’ve just figured out his plot.”

“His—”

“Plot. His ending.” She wet her lips, spoke hurriedly. “Earlier, you quoted Noah from his videotaped deposition. He claimed that Parker had turned devious, lecherous, and…”

“Murderous,” Mike finished, slapping his forehead. “Goddamn me for being so old and stupid. As many plots as I’ve analyzed, I should have realized where he was going. That’s why he hasn’t shared the last chapter with me.”

Maris rattled off her racing thoughts. “Parker’s done everything Noah accused him of. Except—” She looked at Mike with alarm. “He couldn’t,” she said huskily. “He wouldn’t. I know he wouldn’t.”