The Night Before(45)

Rosie sat on the bed and looked at Kathleen. “She was. I’ve only seen him a few times over the years. He hasn’t even met my son. But honestly, I don’t know if that would be enough to stop her. If he said the right things, told her stories about his unhappy marriage. If he told her he loved her…”

“Yeah. I suppose that would get to any of us under the right circumstances.” Kathleen looked out the window as though she wanted to fly right out of it, away from this conversation. Away from the trouble of Laura Lochner. Rosie had already delayed her in leaving the city to visit her boyfriend.

But, like it or not, there was more to tell. “It doesn’t even matter anymore. Something happened to him. To Kevin Brody. He was killed.”

She waited for the appropriate response. Shock. Silence. Apprehension.

“It was a robbery outside his gym. Laura never said anything. She said he’d broken it off with one text and then ghosted her—you know? No calls, texts.”

“My God … when was he killed?”

Rosie pulled out her phone and found the article from the Post.

“Mid-August. Early morning.” Then she had a thought. She turned abruptly and looked at Kathleen. “When did you find her here, in the room crying?”

“I don’t know. It was on a Sunday night, as I said.”

“He was killed on a Wednesday. I wonder if it was before or after you saw her. If her despair was new or days old.”

“What are you saying? That Laura might have done something?” Kathleen was stunned.

Rosie caught hold of herself. “No, of course not. It just means that maybe she didn’t know. Maybe it explains why he stopped returning her calls.”

“And she thought he’d ghosted her after the breakup! God, how horrible.”

Yes, Rosie thought. But not nearly as horrible as the alternative.

Rosie got up and walked to the small desk on the other side of the room. She checked the drawers, felt beneath the surface. She opened the closet and did the same. Then under the bed. There was nothing.

“Did she have any friends who might know something? I’ve called her office—the woman named Jill she spoke about. But I didn’t know any of her friends here, and even from college.”

Kathleen shook her head. “I wouldn’t know. But—wait … there was a man. I heard her talking to him when I came home one night. She was cooking and he was on the speaker. She offered to pick it up, but I could see she needed two hands and I was going to my room anyway.…”

Rosie stopped her search and looked at Kathleen. “A man? Did you hear what they were saying? Was it her boyfriend?”

“No. I don’t think so. They were talking about the boyfriend. Laura was saying something about him to the man on the phone. Hold on, I’ll remember his name.”

Rosie stood before her impatiently.

“And I think he was here, actually. Outside the apartment. I was working from home that day, so she left without her keys, which she couldn’t find. I heard the buzzer and looked out the window. It was Laura. and she was there with a man. He was wearing a suit—he had his jacket draped over his arm. It was hot as hell that day. I was surprised she was home so soon—she never left work early. I don’t think she took one sick day the whole time she was living here.”

“What did he look like?” Rosie asked.

“Wait—I remember his name!” Kathleen said, her eyes lit up. “It was Joe.”

Rosie stared at the woman, unable to speak, or move, her husband’s name now ringing in her ears.

“Are you all right?” Kathleen asked.

But Rosie didn’t answer.

Joe. That was all she could hear. The sound of her husband’s name.





TWENTY-FIVE


Laura. Session Number Fourteen. Seven Weeks Ago. New York City.

Dr. Brody: This isn’t a good idea, having more sessions. Things have become complicated. We never should have started …

Laura: No—please. I’m so close. I can feel everything shifting.

Dr. Brody: Laura … all right. Close your eyes.… Can you see yourself as someone else? Another woman there in the woods with Mitch Adler?

Laura: I think so.

Dr. Brody: He pulls her behind a tree, kisses her. She can feel his desire and it makes her believe that she’s finally done it. She’s finally made him feel safe enough to love her. There’s a rush. Euphoria. You know what it’s made of. You’ve told me.

Laura: Power. It’s the rush of power.…

Dr. Brody: What do you want to say to her? That girl in the woods?

Laura: That it’s just an illusion? He’ll never love you?

Dr. Brody: Don’t ask me. Tell me. You’re the one who has to see it.

Laura: Okay. Fine. I would tell her that he’ll never love you, so stop trying.

Dr. Brody: Right. Exactly. He is never going to love her. The power is an illusion.

Laura: I would tell her to walk away. But I know she won’t. She never will. Why is that?

Dr. Brody: That’s because you can’t forgive her for trying. And you want her to suffer for it.





TWENTY-SIX


Laura. The Night Before. Thursday, 11:30 p.m. Branston, CT.

I find my purse in the kitchen. I search for my phone.