Locust Lane(78)
“Yeah, Oliver came to see me early Thursday. And yes, he wanted me to tell the cops that Jack had been here all night. He was worried they wouldn’t believe just Hannah, but if I said Jack was here, too, he’d be in the clear. It was really important to him that Jack didn’t become a suspect, even though he was innocent. Just the suspicion could damage him. But I guess you know all about that, don’t you?”
She said nothing. Her sense of triumph was evaporating rapidly.
“But I couldn’t just say that he was here because, you’re right, I did pass out for a while. So he asked me if we had a security camera and I said yes and he asked me to check it. He asked me to check it, Alice. Think about that. He knew his son was innocent. There were no threats. The drugs didn’t even come up. He was just a concerned dad. So I looked. And you know what? Jack was here all night. He arrived with Hannah at 11:57 and didn’t leave until 6:58. Nobody in or out in between. Front, back, garage. So yeah, I did the guy a solid. But I was always telling the truth.”
“So Hannah telling you wasn’t enough?”
“Was it enough for you?”
Touché, Alice thought.
“Did you show the tape to the cops?”
“Sure, I sent them a copy. Jack’s not a suspect, Alice. They have their guy. All you did with that thread was cause an innocent family grief.” He gestured toward his office. “I could show it to you if you want.”
“But the drugs,” she said, hearing how feeble her voice sounded.
“They’re hypnotics that don’t have FDA approval yet. Sid gave them to me. They’re kind of like Halcion, only a lot more targeted. They have a real short half-life, like an hour. I took one myself on the night in question.” Geoff was resurrecting his rage. “Nobody’s blackmailing anybody. Your boyfriend’s son killed Eden. The police know it and now he’s going to be put in a cage.”
She continued to say nothing.
“The chef,” he said. “Unbelievable. With his smock. You’re done. I want you to leave. Now. Pack a bag and get out. Go stay with your cook. Live under a bridge. Whatever. But you come near Hannah again and I’ll slit your fucking throat.”
A theatrical threat, but there were those Wüsthofs to consider. Seeing that he’d made his point, he turned and started to walk from the room.
“Geoff, hold on.”
He turned, his face cold and resolute, ready to deny any clemency she might request.
“I’m just curious. While all this was going on, did it ever occur to you to talk to me about it?”
“Yeah. Wednesday night. When we got back from the station. I wanted to talk to you then. But you weren’t here. Because you were with him, right?”
She didn’t answer.
“I guess I’d been suspecting something for a while now,” he continued. “I mean, I’m not an idiot. But it wasn’t until I saw that bandage on your arm that I knew for sure.”
“The bandage?”
“No way could you have wrapped that yourself. And I doubted the Uber driver did it. I was going to call you out on it but with everything that was going on … I just never thought it would have been him.” His voice had taken on a mournful quality she’d never heard before. “You’re just so fucked up, Alice. You see yourself as being this wild child but in the end you’re just a bad, selfish person.”
“But isn’t that why you married me? For the wildness? Did you think you could defang me?”
He didn’t have an answer for that one. Once he was gone, she did as instructed. She packed a few things and crept to the nearest acceptable hotel. It wasn’t until she was checked in that the fear and humiliation really hit her. This was it. She’d lost everything. Michel and her house and Hannah. She’d finally gone too far and now she was going to pay for it.
The room phone rang. She snatched up the receiver.
“What?”
It was a recorded voice, asking her if she would like to take a brief survey on her experience at the hotel.
“I only just got here!” she shouted, slamming the phone down so hard that it was a wonder it didn’t break.
MICHEL
He wasn’t surprised when Cantor told him about the article. He’d sensed some fresh catastrophe bearing down on him all weekend. Yes, there was a brief period of hope after Alice tweeted her accusations. It seemed as if Jack Parrish really might be brought to justice. But the police had gone ahead and arrested Christopher anyway, and the descent had resumed. People chattered away online all weekend about Jack and his family but his son remained caged. This morning’s Herald article was just another downward jolt of the elevator to hell he was riding.
After Friday’s hearing, Michel had spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how he was going to get his hands on a quarter million dollars. That was the amount Cantor guessed they’d need if the judge were to grant bail. He’d have to take out an equity credit line on the house, max out existing credit cards, and sign up for others. Liquidate the college fund, borrow more from family and friends. With all that, he could just about manage. It would leave him buried in debt. He’d probably have to take a job at the Cheesecake Factory. But he couldn’t think about that now. He just needed to get Christopher home.