Wish You Were Gone(66)

Emma smiled gratefully at her and saw that Zoe, too, had been crying. “No, thank you. I’ll be fine.”

“Well. Just let me know.”

Zoe started to leave, when Emma remembered there had been something niggling at her. She also had this overwhelming feeling that she didn’t want to be alone, but she wasn’t ready to go back to the crowd yet, either.

“Zoe, wait.”

The girl turned slowly, her shoulders slightly hunched, as if she’d been caught at something she wasn’t supposed to be doing.

“You wouldn’t happen to know where James’s laptop is, would you? He never came home at night without it, but it wasn’t in his briefcase.” Emma touched the cool paper towel to the back of her neck.

Zoe pressed her lips together and averted her eyes. “Um… I think it’s still at the office?”

“Really? That’s so weird. Do you have access to it?” Emma felt emboldened by the chat she’d had with Jenny Mahone. Until that moment, she hadn’t known she was capable of such nerve. Maybe she hadn’t been, before all this happened. But now, she didn’t give a shit anymore.

“Not really? Mr. Garrison confiscated it after the fight.”

Emma shook her head. She felt like she had whiplash. “I’m sorry, what? Confiscated it? After what fight?”

Zoe made a sound that brought to mind a mewling kitten, and bounced a bit on her knees. It was pretty clear she wanted out of this conversation, but that was not about to happen.

“Look, I wasn’t there for the whole thing, so I don’t know the entire story? But they got into a fight.”

“Who, Zoe? Who got into a fight?”

“Darnell and James?” Zoe said, and chewed on her lower lip.

“No. They never…” But Zoe looked so pained that Emma stopped talking. She swallowed hard, remembering something Zoe had said to her a couple of weeks ago—how she and the Garrisons might have tension between them after everything. “What did they fight about?”

“I’m not totally sure? But it had something to do with money and clients, and Darnell said, ‘Did you really think you could just leave? Do you really think I’m that stupid?’ And then he hit him. James. I mean Darnell hit James.”

“What?!”

Emma’s hands flew up to cover her mouth. Until last week, Emma would never have been able to imagine Darnell hitting anyone, let alone her husband—his best friend. But after what she’d witnessed at Gray’s house, she wasn’t so sure. Still, James must have done something horrible to make Darnell react like that—especially in front of someone young and impressionable like Zoe—an employee, no less. It must have been a betrayal of biblical proportions.

“When? When did this happen?”

“The night James died?” Zoe had chewed all the lipstick off her bottom lip. “I mean, that evening, I guess.”

“Oh my God.” Emma braced both hands on the sink and leaned in. “What did James do?”

“Well, he was furious. All red in the face and bleeding?” She looked at Emma and blanched. “Anyway, he spit in Darnell’s face, and then they took his computer and security escorted him from the building. Which was good, because I swear I thought Mrs. Garrison was going to kill him herself. She—”

“Gray was there?”

Emma stood up straight. An odd sort of coldness sluiced down her spine.

“Well, yeah. They were going to that party.”

“Gray was there. Gray Garrison. The night James died. And Darnell hit my husband so hard he drew blood.”

“Um… yes?”

Emma walked past Zoe out the door.





GRAY


Gray kept one eye on her watch and the other on Darnell, who was deep in conversation with a few of the company’s board members. She just wanted to get out of there before someone did or said something to make Darnell snap, and now that Emma had half-solved her mystery-woman puzzle, she felt like they could reasonably make their escape. If only Darnell wasn’t viewing this memorial as an opportunity to put his employees, clients, and investors at ease.

“I need to talk to you.”

Emma’s voice was like steel. Gray gave her a quizzical look, but her friend was already stalking through the crowd and out into the hallway. Confused, Gray followed. From the corner of her eye, she saw Lizzie notice them and follow as well. Of course.

“Emma? What’s wrong?” Gray asked, as soon as they were free of the room.

Emma kept walking, however, until she was a good few yards down the long hallway. Then she whirled on Gray so fast that Gray stopped short and Lizzie walked right into her from behind.

“Darnell and James had a fight the night James died? About James leaving?”

Gray instantly regretted all the sushi she’d grabbed off passed platters this evening.

“Emma—”

“Did you know he was going to divorce me before I showed you the papers?” Emma demanded, shaking. “Did you know he was having an affair?”

“No.” Gray splayed her fingers and stepped cautiously toward Emma, as if approaching a raging bull. “That is not what the fight was about.”

“Then what was it?” Emma asked.

Lizzie moved past Gray and over to Emma, putting her arm around her to try to steady her. Gray wanted to bite the woman’s head off when, to no one’s surprise, she looked over at Gray as if she were a piece of dirt.