Infinite(58)

“Roscoe—”

My friend shook his head with the sharpness of a door closing. “No. I’m sorry, Dylan. You can’t simply undo the choices you regret from another life. That’s not how it works. All you can do is learn from them and become a better man.”

“I’m trying to do that. I swear, I’m trying to change.”

“Change requires sacrifice. Change requires acceptance of your sins. Is that what you’re doing? Or are you still pursuing your own selfish desires? I’m telling you, walk away. Walk away from Karly. If you think you can’t be with Tai, then walk away from this world altogether.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking.”

“I do. Believe me, I do.”

“Roscoe, I came to you as my friend. I need your help.”

“Yes, I know. Believe it or not, help is what I’m giving you. I know you think I should be loyal to you, and I’ve told you many times that I’d always be there for you. But you’ve also made it clear that you’re not the man I know. My friend is dead. Don’t you understand? The longer you stay here, the worse it’s going to get. You are a trespasser, Dylan. You need to leave.”





CHAPTER 23

When I got home, Tai was packing. Grabbing clothes by the handful, she stalked back and forth between our closet and a pink suitcase on the bed. Her long black hair was mussed, her golden face streaked with tears. I stood in the doorway, and she pretended to ignore me, but I could feel the depth of her hurt. Watching her, I knew that Roscoe was right about everything. I’d come to this world and ruined her life. She deserved better.

Her husband, her real husband, was gone. He was dead by the river, and he was never coming back. Meanwhile, the husband who was living in her house was in love with another woman.

“Who is she?” Tai asked, as if she could read my mind.

“What?”

She stopped in the middle of the bedroom and let the dresses she was carrying fall to the floor. “I followed you this morning. I saw you talking to that blond woman at Northwestern. Who is she?”

I hesitated, but there was no point in trying to hide it. “Her name is Karly Chance.”

“Are you having an affair with her?”

“There’s no affair.”

“Don’t lie to me. I saw you. Do you think I can’t read your face? Do you think I haven’t looked for that expression when you stare at me? But I’ve never seen it. Not once. You’ve never looked at me the way you were looking at her.”

“It’s impossible to explain,” I told her. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Save your explanations. I don’t care. I’m leaving. I’m going to stay with a girlfriend.”

“Tai, I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “No, you’re not. That’s the worst thing. You say the words, but you’re not sorry at all.”

“That’s not true. I hate that I’ve hurt you.”

“Everybody warned me. My family. Roscoe. Hell, even Edgar warned me. They said I was making a mistake by marrying you. I should have listened.”

There was nothing I could say to that.

“Is it love?” Tai went on. “Are you in love with this woman? Or is it something worse?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not an idiot, Dylan. I see the resemblance. She looks like the woman who was murdered across the street from us. She looks like the woman you were stalking behind the dorm at Northwestern. What kind of man are you? Who did I marry?”

“You have it all wrong,” I insisted.

“Do I? Well, I guess we’ll see about that. I gave Detective Bushing the clothes you were wearing when you came back on Thursday. I told him to get your DNA and test it. If you killed Betsy Kern, they’ll find out.”

“I don’t care what the test shows. I didn’t kill anyone.”

“In other words, you already know the DNA will match.”

“I’m telling you, this is not what it looks like.”

She started packing again. “Go away, Dylan. Leave me alone. I don’t want to be in the same apartment with you.”

“Tai, please—”

“Go!” she screamed at me. “Get out! If you don’t go, I’ll call 911 and have them drag you out.”

I held up my hands in surrender. “Okay. Whatever you want. I’ll go.”

I left the apartment, because I didn’t want her to get any more upset. She was wrong about me, wrong about who I was and what I’d done, but then again, she wasn’t wrong. No, I wasn’t a killer, but the DNA would probably say that I was. No, I wasn’t having an affair, but I was in love with Karly and would take her back in my arms if I could. I’d been cruel to Tai in this world, but it’s not like I’d been a saint to her in my own world. I’d led her on and told myself it was innocent, because I had no bad intentions. But it wasn’t innocent at all.

After I left the apartment, I took the stairs to Edgar’s place. My grandfather and I didn’t have a great relationship in any world, but I was running out of people to talk to. Roscoe and Tai had both thrown me out. I was feeling increasingly isolated by my mistakes.