Infinite(54)

They’d ask Karly about me, and as soon as they did, I’d be cut off from her forever. She would never talk to me, never trust me.

I could feel a web closing around my life, exactly the way it had in my own world. No doubt that was just what the other Dylan Moran wanted. I was running out of time.

“I drove up there to visit the Block Museum,” I said, grasping for any kind of excuse.

“You went all the way from the South Side to the North Side to visit a museum? Why? When I talked to you, you said you were exhausted.”

“I was, but I was also restless. I’d lost two days of my life, and I didn’t know what had happened to me. I was trying to shut off my mind and see if anything came back. It’s not like I really thought about where I was going. The Block had a photography exhibit I wanted to see, so I went up there.”

“Did you see it?”

“No. The museum was closed by the time I got there. I had it in my head that they were open until nine or ten. I was wrong. They closed at eight. So since I was already up there, I decided to take a walk.”

Bushing snorted. “Another walk, Mr. Moran? You took a walk on Tuesday, and Betsy Kern died. You took a walk last night, and a woman who looks a lot like Betsy Kern saw you coming after her with a knife.”

“She made a mistake.”

“Is that the story you plan to stick with?”

“It’s the truth.”

The detective stuffed papers back into his briefcase and stood up from the wicker chair. “Let me tell you what happens next, Mr. Moran. I’m going to tear your whole life apart. Everywhere you’ve lived. Worked. Gone to school. Gone on vacation. I’ll be looking to see if there are unsolved murders around the time you’ve been there. Then I’ll be back with a warrant to search your house, your car, your office, everything.”

“You can search all you want. I’m innocent, Detective. I haven’t done anything.”

“Yeah? Well, if I were you, I’d get a lawyer.” Bushing glanced at Tai. “And if I were you, Mrs. Moran, I’d think about sleeping somewhere else.”



When Bushing was gone, Tai stayed on the sofa, not saying anything. Her back was straight, with perfect posture, and she kept her hands neatly folded in her lap. She calmed herself with steady breaths, and then her head swiveled slowly to watch me. Her eyes didn’t blink.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Come on, Tai.”

“I’m serious. Who are you?”

“You know who I am.”

Tai shook her head. “No, I thought I did. Now I don’t know. I’m beginning to wonder if you’ve been wearing a mask all along. Yesterday I was afraid you were having an affair, but this is a thousand times worse.”

She got up from the sofa. As she passed by me, I grabbed her hand to stop her, but she made a violent twist to shrug me away. “Don’t touch me! Keep your hands off me!”

“Tai, I’m sorry. I wish I could make sense of this for you.”

“But you can’t.”

“No. The only thing I can tell you is that I am not a killer.”

Tai’s mouth pinched into a frown. Her eyes made it clear that she didn’t believe me.

“Who were you having sex with last night?”

“What do you mean?”

“Who were you screwing in our bed last night, Dylan? Because it wasn’t me. You were thinking of someone else, I could tell. Was it this girl at Northwestern?”

“Tai, please. This is all messed up.”

“Yes, it is. It’s very messed up. Sleep on the sofa tonight. I don’t want you anywhere near me.”

“Whatever you want. But I swear to you, you have nothing to fear from me.”

Tai walked away. At the fireplace, she stopped and studied our wedding photo, then reached up and turned it facedown on the mantel. “I have nothing to fear from my husband,” she told me. “You’re not the man I married.”





CHAPTER 22

The next day, I found Karly back in the coffee shop at Northwestern.

I had a decision to make. Talk to her, or let her go. I knew I couldn’t get what I wanted from this world. I’d never have Karly back in my life forever. The walls were closing in on me, and soon I’d have to leave. But she was here now. Even a few minutes with her were more than I’d thought I would ever have again.

I walked over to her table.

“Karly?”

She brushed her hair from her blue eyes and looked up at me. Her gaze was far away. I’d distracted her in the midst of a thought. “Yes?”

“You are Karly Chance, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

I tried to be myself and not to choke on my words. “I’m sure you won’t remember, but we went out on a date a long time ago.”

She gave me a smile. It wasn’t a Karly smile, but a smile of polite disinterest. “Did we? I’m sorry, but you’re right. I don’t remember.”

I shook off the blow to my ego and replied with a joke. “Don’t worry about it. It went so well you’ve probably blocked out the entire experience.”

Her eyes reviewed my face, trying to place me in her memory. It was excruciating, because to me, she looked exactly the same. Her face, the pale lips, the firm confidence in how she held her jaw. Her voice, soft and musical, making you lean in close to hear her. The uneven blond-brown ends of her hair. I was madly in love with this woman, and she didn’t know me at all.