Woman on the Edge(16)
Eventually, she found her voice. “Greg! Come here!”
She heard his thundering footfalls rush up the stairs. He appeared, panting at the door with Quinn in his arms. “What?”
“This.” Shakily, she nodded to the mobile.
“What’s the problem, Nic?” he asked. “It’s just the mobile.”
“Did someone give that to us?” she asked. Quinn started to cry again, and Nicole was desperate to hold her. But she was trembling so much she was afraid to. “Why is it here? Where is it from?”
Greg gawked at her. “Are you kidding?”
She pressed her hand to her stomach as a cramp seized her. “What do you mean?”
He walked over to the crib, then placed Quinn in it. Nicole backed herself against a wall and slid down it so she could rest on the floor.
“Hey,” Greg said when he saw the terror in her face. He came down to her level, sat beside her. “It’s okay.” He laid a gentle hand on her knee. He was being overly kind, as if she were on the verge of a breakdown. “Nic, you bought that mobile.”
Nicole pushed herself away from him. “I didn’t!”
“Honey, you did. You left a printout from eBay on the living-room table a few days ago. You ordered it. I put it up for you, so you’d have one less thing to do. What did I do wrong?” His shoulders fell.
She felt a crawling sensation, a thousand insects skittering down her arms. Nicole had never bought anything from eBay in her life. And even if she did, she would never have bought that mobile. Never.
Nicole’s throat felt like she’d swallowed broken glass. The name card, the redhead outside her room at the hospital, the missing pills, and now, the mobile. Was she losing her mind?
She could see that Greg was trying to stay calm, but there was impatience on his face.
“Nicole, it’s not a big deal. I forget stuff, too.” He got up carefully and went to the crib, sniffing at Quinn. “She needs a change. I’m really sorry, but I have to go to work.” He came back to her and wrapped his arms around her freezing body. “You need more sleep, babe. How about I come home a bit earlier and take Quinn for a walk so you can nap?”
“No, don’t worry. Tessa’s coming.” Then she squinted at him, remembering his voice laughing on the phone. “Greg, I know you’re here, so why does it feel like you’re not? Like you’re not really present.”
He massaged his temples hard. “Nic, I’ve offered to give her a bath. To change diapers. Let you nap on the weekends. You always say no or just ignore me.”
What was he talking about? She couldn’t remember a single time he’d offered anything like that.
He looked at her sadly and got up from the floor. “Tessa says you haven’t once checked in with your office, and you’re walking around like a zombie. Please see if she can come over earlier so you’re not here by yourself. I’m just worried about you. I want you to feel happy and safe with Quinn.”
You can’t keep her safe.
“She’s safer with me than anyone!” Nicole cried out.
But she wasn’t sure anymore if this were true.
CHAPTER SEVEN MORGAN
Jessica and I are in her white Mercedes. She’s driving me home, after rushing me past the throng of reporters outside the police station. They were already scouting for information about the well-known CEO’s suicide. Even through the glass, I could hear them shouting out questions. “Were you on the platform?” “Was she pushed?” “Where’s the baby?”
As their cameras furiously clicked, I wondered if my photo would get published. Would my colleagues and former friends see my picture in the press? Would my mother? I’m already a pariah, but now this? The last thing I need is to find myself back in the limelight.
We exit the lot and sail through a green light to turn onto West Division Street. Jessica is focused on driving me safely to my home, the brown-brick apartment building where I live on North Sheridan Road. “How could this happen?” I ask. “I was just going home. And does Martinez really think I could have grabbed the baby and pushed Nicole Markham off that platform? For what reason?”
“Right now you’re only a person of interest. Martinez will try to figure out the connection between you and Nicole. Which is exactly what I’m going to do, too, as soon as I get back to the office. If reporters contact you, do not comment.”
“I have nothing to say to them. I don’t know anything.” I curl up in my seat, wishing I could disappear.
When we pull up to my building, I point out the back parking lot. “Go that way. I’ll enter from the rear entrance.”
Jessica navigates the dark, narrow driveway. Her phone rings on the console between us, startling me. She takes one hand off the wheel to pick up. “Hi, Barry.”
Barry is Jessica’s investigator. Her face changes as she listens to him. At one point, she glances at me, but I can’t tell if her look is nervous or confident.
She hangs up and parks the car. “You were on YouTube. A dad taking his son to his first baseball game was recording his kid on the platform at Grand/State. He caught what happened between you and Nicole. The cops have taken the video down, but Barry managed to copy it beforehand. He’s emailing it to me now.”