The Night Before(49)

“Like Mitch Adler,” Rosie blurted out.

Gabe didn’t flinch even though she expected it. “Yes. Like Mitch Adler. And this man, Kevin Brody, he was off-limits for every possible reason. He was older. He was married. He had kids. And he was her shrink. That’s Mount Everest right there.”

“Christ, Gabe. I can see her, you know? Sitting in his office, being vulnerable but clever. She probably cried.”

“I know. I can see it too. Walking past him a little too close. Brushing his shoulder as she passed by, looking up with soft eyes.”

Rosie thought about that picture on her computer. Somewhere along the way, Laura had learned that sadness and longing didn’t get her what she needed. So she’d become sexual. Irresistible.

“She doesn’t know she’s doing it,” Gabe said. “I truly believe that. It just kicks in like a car shifting gears.”

“And now he’s dead.” Rosie pressed her hands to her face.

Gabe leaned closer, lowering his voice. “Wait a minute—you don’t think she had anything to do with that, do you? It was a robbery.…” He grabbed his phone and pulled up the article Rosie had sent him. “Okay … here—he was struck with something from behind. Knocked to the ground, where he hit his head a second time against the cement. It took over an hour for him to die.”

“Struck with something … knocked to the ground. Is it really that crazy? You’re the one who told us about that story with your brother—at the fort, remember? How she hit him with a stick? Looked like a wild animal?”

“Rosie…” Gabe stopped himself. Rosie could see that he knew—he couldn’t deny any of it. Laura had a history of violence going back to her early childhood.

“She could be more psychotic than we know, Gabe. I love her, but sometimes you can love someone, think you know them, and then suddenly you find something out and your eyes open to a different world.”

His name was Joe. Rosie could still hear Kathleen saying those words.

“Let’s just back up,” Gabe said. “Step one—find Laura. That’s it. That’s all we have to do. Then we can figure out what’s been going on with her.”

“Okay,” Rosie said, pulling herself back. She wanted to tell Gabe about Laura and Joe, but she didn’t even know what there was to tell. Was it an affair? A flirtation? Why the hell was her husband calling her sister? Why had he gone to her apartment weeks before she’d come back home? If it was anything other than an affair, if Joe was helping her, counseling her somehow, maybe for the murder of her boyfriend, he would have told Rosie. Nothing would have been worth the fallout if he kept it from her—the fallout that was now upon them.

“The way I see it,” Gabe began, “we now have three possibilities. First, Laura found out about this guy being a player and can’t face whatever it is she did that night. Second, something went wrong when she found out and one of them got hurt. But there’s a third one now. And it has to do with those notes.”

“I’ve thought of that,” Rosie said, thankful Gabe didn’t use the word “dead.” Even though they both knew that was a possibility.

“If this guy is more than just a womanizer—if he’s a professional con man—then it’s possible he targeted Laura in connection with Mitch Adler’s murder.”

“But why now, Gabe? I mean, she lived an hour away in New York. It’s not as though she’s been in hiding. And who would have gone to all this trouble? Who would even know she was on a dating website?”

“It could be anyone affected by the murder—a family member, a friend—and what about Lionel Casey? Maybe he had family and maybe they have a vendetta because he spent his life in a mental facility against his will. If they were all just going about their business, and then one day someone saw Laura in town—it could have broken the dam.”

“Or…” Rosie’s eyes opened wider. “Gabe—what if she was on this date last night and that’s when someone saw her—someone close to Mitch Adler or Lionel Casey who believed she was responsible for the death? What if this has nothing to do with Jonathan Fields or Laura finding out about him and freaking out? What if we’re chasing the wrong lead?”

Gabe agreed all of that was possible.

“We should tell the police, Rosie. About those notes, about the connection to the past. They can find people faster than we can.”

Rosie wasn’t sure. That would mean bringing everyone back to that night in the woods. She hadn’t heard from the two officers since yesterday evening. She’d assumed that they hadn’t put the pieces together about Laura Lochner, past and present, because if they had, they would have called her. Telling them about the notes would make that inescapable.

“Rosie,” Gabe said, “why didn’t Joe show them to the police when they were at the house?”

Rosie shrugged. “I think he didn’t want them to focus on the past. To not take it seriously—finding Laura.”

“Okay,” Gabe said, nodding a little too hard. She could tell he wasn’t buying it.

And Rosie had no patience for guessing. “What? Do you think it’s something else?”

“No … I just … Look—don’t take this the wrong way. But sometimes when I’m at your house, and you’ve gone upstairs with Mason, we all keep drinking and talking. And then sometimes I leave, and they pour another round.”