The Couple Next Door(78)

Should Marco confess to the police? Is that what Richard wants? Perhaps once he’s arrested, the “kidnappers” will miraculously get back in touch with Richard and return the baby unharmed. Because despite what Richard says in front of Anne, Marco knows Richard wants him hung out to dry for this. He wants Marco to go to jail but doesn’t want to look like he’s the one who turned him in.

“Fine, call the police,” Marco says.

Anne starts to cry. Her mother rubs her back.

Richard reaches for his cell phone. “It’s late, but I’m sure Detective Rasbach won’t mind coming out,” he says.

Marco knows he is about to be arrested. He needs a lawyer. A good one. There’s still some equity in the house, if Anne will agree to let him mortgage it further. But why would any woman agree to mortgage her house to defend her husband on charges of kidnapping their own child? Even if she were willing, her father would dissuade her.

As if reading Marco’s mind, Richard says, “I need hardly tell you that we won’t be paying for your defense.”

They wait in tense silence for the detective to arrive. Alice, who would normally busy herself making tea for everyone, doesn’t even budge from the sofa.

Marco is desolate. Richard has won, the manipulative bastard. Anne has fallen into the family fold one last time, and forever. As long as she stands by her parents, everything will work out for her. Richard will find a way to return her baby to her. He will be a hero. They’ll take care of her and the baby financially while Marco rots in prison. All she has to do is sacrifice him. She has made her choice. He doesn’t blame her.

At last the doorbell rings. Everyone jumps. Richard gets up to answer the door, while the others remain sitting stone-faced in the living room.

Marco decides that he will confess everything. Then, after Cora’s safe return, he’ll tell the police about Richard’s role in all of this. They may not believe him, but surely they can investigate him. Maybe they can find a connection between Richard and Derek Honig. But Marco is pretty sure that Richard will have covered his tracks.

Richard ushers Detective Rasbach into the living room. The detective seems to take in the situation at a glance: he looks at Anne weeping in her mother’s arms at one end of the large sofa, Marco sitting at the other end. Marco knows how he must look to the detective—pale and sweating, he must look like an absolute wreck.

Richard offers the detective a chair and says, “I’m sorry, I know you don’t like it when we deal with the kidnappers and don’t tell you until after the fact, but we were afraid to do anything else.”

Rasbach looks grim. “You say they phoned you?”

“Yes, yesterday. I made arrangements to meet them with the additional money earlier this evening, but they didn’t show.”

Marco watches Richard. Wonders what the hell he’s doing. Phoned him? Either Richard is lying to the police or he’s lying to Marco and Anne. When is he going to tell the detective that Marco was the one who took Cora from the house?

Rasbach reaches into his jacket and takes out his notebook. He carefully writes down everything Richard tells him. Richard says nothing about Marco. He doesn’t even look at Marco. Is this all for Anne? Marco wonders. Is he showing her that he’s deliberately protecting Marco, even though they know what he did? What is Richard’s game here? Maybe Richard never had any intention of telling the police what Marco did—he just wanted to watch him twist in the wind. The absolute bastard.

Or is he waiting for Marco to throw himself on his sword? To see if he’s got the guts to do it? Is this a test, one he must pass in order to get Cora back?

“Is that everything?” Rasbach says finally, standing up, flipping his notebook closed.

“I think so,” Richard says. He plays the part of the concerned parent and grandparent perfectly. Smooth as glass. A practiced liar.

Richard sees the detective to the door while Marco slumps back in the sofa, exhausted and confused. If this was a test, he has just failed it.

Anne meets his eyes, for only a moment, then looks away.

Richard returns to the living room. “There, now do you believe me?” he says to Marco. “I destroyed the note to protect you. I just lied to the police. I told him the kidnappers called me—to protect you. I didn’t tell them about the note and the cell phone sent to me. Both of which incriminated you. I’m not the bad guy here, Marco. You are.”

Anne pulls away from her mother’s embrace and stares at Marco.

“Although I don’t know why I do it,” Richard adds. “I don’t know why you married this guy, Anne.”

Marco needs to get out of here, so he can think. He doesn’t know what Richard is up to. “Come on, Anne, let’s go home,” he says.

Anne has turned away again and doesn’t look at him.

“Anne?”

“I don’t think she’s going anywhere,” Richard says.

Marco’s heart sinks at the thought of going home without Anne. Evidently Richard doesn’t want him to go to jail. Perhaps Richard doesn’t want the public humiliation of having a convicted criminal for a son-in-law. Maybe the whole time all he wanted was for Anne to know what kind of man Marco was, to separate them. It looks as though he’s succeeded.

They all look at him, as if waiting for him to leave. Marco senses the hostility and reaches for his cell to call a cab. When his cab arrives, he is surprised when the three of them follow him outside, perhaps to make sure he leaves. They stand in the drive, watching him go.