All the Dark Places(43)
He glances up at me and shakes his head. “It’ll crush Kim.”
“Yeah. You should’ve thought of that.”
He’s crying now and wipes his eyes with his palms, takes a deep breath. “She’s pregnant,” he whispers.
I catch the side of the counter to keep myself from tumbling to the floor. Sadie walks over and nudges me with her nose.
“Kim? Kim’s pregnant?”
He nods. “She didn’t want to tell you right away. She was hoping you’d have good news too. You’d be pregnant together.”
I glance at the ceiling and let my gaze linger there. What a lovely dream that would’ve been.
“Look. I’m so sorry, Molly. I’ve royally screwed up, and I know that you and Kim are really close.” He jumps up from the table and moves to put his arm around my shoulders, but I step away. “You won’t tell her, will you?” He grabs my arm. “I’ll make it right, okay? I’ll make it right. It’s just . . . you remember when Willow was born seven weeks early? What if Kim delivers the new baby early? Or what if the stress causes her to lose the baby altogether? I’d never forgive myself.”
God, what a mess.
His fingers are digging into my flesh, hurting.
“I’ll tell her. I promise. But I need time.”
“Whatever, Josh. Just break it off with Laken. You can at least do that for now.”
His bloodshot eyes meet mine. “Yeah. Right. It’s the right thing to do.”
Oh, how I despise this man. The fact that he and Jay were friends is beyond me. But then, Jay liked everybody, saw the best in everyone. “I’m tired, Josh. You should be on your way.”
I walk down the hall, Josh tagging behind me, and open the door to the dark night.
CHAPTER 29
Rita
A NOTHER COLD MORNING, AND NO ONE HAS ANYTHING NEW TO offer on the Bradley murder, except that a disgruntled patient bent on revenge hasn’t surfaced. And that’s okay now that the necklace has pointed us in a different direction. In the conference room, I catch the team up on our visit to Mountclair. But a certain pall lingers as everyone filters back to their desks. We need a break, something to breathe life into this investigation.
I settle in my office and place a call to Mrs. Bradley.
“Hello?”
“Detective Myers here. How are you this morning?” I flip through my notebook, phone clenched between my jaw and shoulder.
“Okay. Do you have anything new?”
She sounds pretty worn out, and I glance at the clock, wondering if I woke her. “Well, not exactly, but we would like your permission to search the house in Mountclair.”
Silence, but I can hear her ragged breath. “Mrs. Bradley?”
“Why? Do you really think that’s necessary?”
“Just routine. If we’re going to find your husband’s killer, we need to put all these pieces together.”
She clears her throat. “I don’t see what the necklace has to do with anything. My husband probably found it somewhere in Mountclair. Maybe he picked it up off the street.”
“Could be.”
“This woman is still missing?”
“Yes.”
“What was her name?”
“Annalise Robb. You know her?”
“ No.”
“Okay. Can you meet us up at the house? We’d like to take a look around.”
“I guess I could if you think it will help.”
“Tell me again about your husband’s last trip up there.”
“He went up to fix the window. But you said this woman disappeared last summer.”
“Yes. That’s right. How was Dr. Bradley’s demeanor when he returned from fixing the window?” I start drawing the necklace in the margin next to my notes from my last conversation with Mrs. Bradley.
She sniffles. “Uh, I don’t know. He was fine.”
I shuffle back through my notebook. “Didn’t you tell me that he was preoccupied, troubled when he came back?”
“I don’t remember.”
I read back her statement to her. “You remember that?” Dr. Westmore had also noticed Dr. Bradley’s “preoccupation.”
“I guess. But I think it was just turning forty, you know? Big birthday.”
“Yeah. It hits some people hard. But maybe he was troubled by something else.”
“I don’t know what that could be. Maybe he heard from someone in town about the missing woman and felt bad.”
“Why wouldn’t he have turned the necklace in to the sheriff?”
Silence. Then, “Jay wouldn’t have had anything to do with a missing woman, Detective.” She’s breathing hard. “Jay wouldn’t ever . . . hurt anybody.”
“That’s not what we’re saying. So can we meet you up there?”
“Yes. Of course.”
We iron out the details and hang up. Her mood had swung from confused to desperate and fearful to resolved to vindicate her husband. That’s fine, as long as she cooperates, things will move along.
CHAPTER 30
Molly
ALL MORNING, I WANDERED THE HOUSE, SADIE FOLLOWING IN MY wake. What does Detective Myers think happened to Annalise Robb, and why would Jay have her necklace? It’s totally got to be a fluke. A strange coincidence. But what if someone in Mountclair thought Jay hurt that woman and they came here and killed Jay? Could that have happened? Is that what the cops think? I searched the internet for information about the incident. I hadn’t heard anything about it at the time. But we did leave early on that Friday, before anyone would have been searching for her probably and before her disappearance made the community gossip. I don’t know what to think. According to what I read, it appears that the local investigation has stalled. Annalise Robb is still missing. It sends a chill down my spine. I know what it’s like to be missing.