The Ex by Freida McFadden(63)

Well, it’s clear I’m not his favorite person right now. But still, it’s a shock to see him looking at me with such obvious distaste. I mean, we used to be…

Well, never mind. This is important. I’m not going to be deterred that easily. “How are you doing, Joel?”

“Fine…” He heaves a breath as he forces out the barest nicety: “And you?”

“Good!” I say. “But, um… I was hoping we could talk…”

He averts his eyes, looking at the garbage can behind me. “I don’t think that’s a great idea.”

“Just for a minute?”

He sighs and his shoulders sag. “Fine.”

He doesn’t tell me to have a seat, but I take one anyway. I sit across from him, wondering how in less than a year we could go from practically engaged to… this.

“It’s about your girlfriend,” I say.

He lifts his eyes sharply. “No. We are not talking about her.”

“This has nothing to do with me. I swear.”

“I don’t understand. What could you possibly have to tell me?”

He’s getting really upset. I wonder if on some level, he already knows.

“Listen,” I say. “I’m sorry I have to be the one to tell you this, but you deserve to know. She’s been keeping things from you.”

“Keeping things from me?”

“She’s in debt,” I push on, before he can walk out on me. I sense he’s about five seconds away from marching out of here. “Like, really deep in debt.”

He frowns and shakes his head. “So what? She’s got a business… it’s natural to have to borrow some money…”

“She doesn’t just owe money to banks,” I blurt out. “She owes it to… you know, bad people. Money she can’t pay back. Joel, your life is in danger.”

His jaw drops open. “What?”

“She’s in really deep,” I say again. “They might try to kill you.”

His eyes flash. “That is,” he says, “the most ridiculous lie I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth… and I’ve heard some whoppers from you. Are you joking? Do you hear yourself?”

“It’s true!” I insist. “I swear to you.”

“Uh huh.” He folds his arms across his chest. “And how, pray tell, do you know this?”

“Because…” I chew on my lip. I didn’t want to tell him this part, but it’s the only way to get him to believe me. “My cousin Nick investigated her. He’s a private detective.”

Joel’s eyes are bulging. “You got your cousin to…”

Hmm. Maybe I shouldn’t have told him that part.

“Jesus Christ…” He rakes a hand through his chestnut hair. “This is… I mean, I knew you were having issues with jealousy, but… this goes above and beyond…”

“It’s true though.”

“And you tracked me down to warn me,” he says dully.

“Well, I didn’t track you down, exactly…”

“Then how…” He narrows his eyes at me. Something finally hits him, and his head snaps back as if I punched him. “That stupid app I put on my phone! Are you still using that?”

Before I can answer, he pulls his phone from his pocket and loads the app. I get a sinking feeling in my chest. “Joel…”

“You are!” When he looks up again, his face is full of disgust. “I can’t believe you! You’re stalking me using this app?”

“No, it’s not like that…”

He stands up so abruptly, his chair nearly overturns. “I’m deleting it from my phone. I should have done it a year ago.”

“Okay,” I say in a tiny voice.

“And you,” he says, his voice dripping with venom. “You need serious psychological help. We have been broken up for a year. A year. I was trying to be nice, but enough. Enough. You need to get the fuck over it already.”

“That’s not what this is about.” I stand up too, trying to reach for his arm but he shrugs me off. “I’m worried about you. You could be in danger…”

“Please,” he says, “just stay away from me. Okay?”

He pulls on his coat. I feel utterly helpless as I watch him leave. He doesn’t believe a word I say. There’s no way to convince him his life could be in danger.

“Just ask her,” I plead with him. “Ask her about her debt. You’ll know she’s lying.”

He shakes his head at me. He’s not going to ask her. He’s too infatuated.

As he walks away, I realize there’s a chance this could be the last time I ever see him.

Unless I do something about it.





Chapter 42: The New Girl


As Cassie unlocks the door to her apartment, she hopes Joel is happy with eating leftovers for dinner. She’s exhausted from work today, including an unexpected errand she had to run during her lunch break. She definitely doesn’t feel like cooking. And there’s nothing wrong with the Chinese food from last night. Everyone knows Chinese food is better the second day.

Her phone buzzes in her purse. She pulls it out and sees a text message from Joel: