The Perfect Marriage(36)

He suspected that he was as much a mystery to Asra as she was to him. Likely all she knew about him was that he had run the investigation into the murder of Charlotte Broden a few years back, and once it was solved, he’d started dating the victim’s sister. At least the relationship was no longer considered scandalous now that he and Ella were married and had a baby.

They rode up Park Avenue, barely saying anything to each other. At around Grand Central, the silence was broken by the ring of Gabriel’s phone.

“My wife,” he said. “I need to answer. We just had a baby.”

Asra smiled as if to say that he didn’t need to explain.

“Hi, sweetheart,” he said into the phone.

“Annie misses her dada,” Ella said. “I thought I’d put the phone up to her ear so she could hear your voice.”

Gabriel knew it was Ella who missed him. She’d been half-asleep when he brought Annie into bed and said he had to go to work. He understood how isolating it was for a new mother to be alone with a baby. He sometimes said that he envied all the time Ella spent with Annie, but the truth was that he’d been happy to return to the job, much as he knew that Ella was champing at the bit to return to the DA’s office as soon as her three-month maternity leave ended.

“I’m in the car on my way to a crime scene,” Gabriel said. “But a quick call with Annie would be great.”

He heard Ella’s voice, now sounding far away. “She’s on.”

“Hi, sweetie,” he said, his voice a few octaves higher than usual and feeling self-conscious about being “Dada” inches away from Asra. “Are you and Mommy having fun? Daddy loves you so much.”

He heard nothing from the other end. Then Annie started to cry.

Ella’s voice got louder as she resumed speaking directly into the phone. “She’s been fussy this morning.”

“I’m sorry if I revved her up before leaving.”

“No, I’m sure that’s not it. I think she really likes her daddy time. I know I do.”

“What’s on your agenda today?” he asked.

“I wanted to go to this exhibit at the Met on Roman architecture that closes this week, but it just started snowing.”

“Go, Ella. Annie won’t freeze. Besides, it’s high time that baby got some culture.”

He heard Ella laugh. “Okay. Maybe. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

After the call ended, Gabriel put the phone into the cup holder. He was now close enough to their destination that he was checking which side of Madison Avenue had the even-numbered buildings so he’d know where to park.

“Congratulations on your new baby,” Asra said.

“Thanks.”

“What’s your little girl’s name again?”

“Annie. Anne, actually.”

“Old school. I like it.”

“She’s named after my wife’s mother.”

Asra smiled. “Me too. I mean, I’m named after my mother’s mother. I like the idea of family names. It ties the past and the future.”

Gabriel nodded. He liked that too.

The press vans were lined up one after another. They were all there: ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX. Even NY1, the city’s local news station, had sent a camera crew. Gabriel pulled their vehicle beside a black-and-white cruiser parked in front of a fire hydrant.

“We just walk past the reporters,” he said. “Nothing for us to tell them yet.”





11

For once, Haley arrived on time for an appointment with Dr. Rubenstein. She took off her shoes, assumed the position on the couch, and immediately launched into the very serious problem on her mind.

Dr. Rubenstein didn’t let her get ten words out before stopping her.

“I’m sorry, Haley,” he said, not sounding the least bit contrite. “We can’t discuss this.”

She sat up so they were facing each other. One of the things that was so strange about the relationship Haley had with Dr. Rubenstein was that even though she saw him every week, and even though they had the most intimate relationship in her life at the moment, sometimes she doubted whether she could have picked the man out of a lineup. She saw his face only briefly, at the start and end of their sessions. Staring at him now, she was surprised to find that he was rather handsome. Strong-chinned with large dark eyes and a full head of chestnut curls.

Haley told him she didn’t understand. Not even a little bit. She was in extremis, and Dr. Rubenstein was her therapist.

“There are certain ethical rules that therapists need to follow,” he explained matter-of-factly without breaking eye contact. “Even regarding past acts, which this is, I prefer to err on the side of caution with my patients.”

She knew what he was saying. And why. But he had never before told her to stop talking about a subject.

“I don’t think that’s right. I mean as a legal matter, Dr. Rubenstein. I’m not talking about committing some crime in the future. This has already happened.”

She had googled this on her phone before today’s session and was confident that she was correct. After all, criminals always tell their lawyers about their guilt. Wasn’t that the whole point of attorney-client privilege? And she knew for a fact (or at least from TV) that murderers on death row were allowed to make confessions to clergy. Didn’t therapists operate under the same principles?