My Wife Is Missing(34)

Her voice trembled, her tension palpable as a touch.

Natalie didn’t lower her arms, but that didn’t deter Audrey, who ducked low enough to get under the barricade as though she were doing the limbo. After righting herself on springy legs, Audrey made a hasty departure for the elevators.

Natalie went to follow, but stopped when a strong tug on her arm pulled her in the opposite direction. She turned to see Tina Langley standing there. Tina kept a tight hold on Natalie’s arm. Glasses magnified brown eyes that conveyed Tina’s surprise and concern.

“What the hell are you doing, Nat?” Tina said, taking a sharp-edged tone with her friend.

“She’s sleeping with Michael,” Natalie answered back in a whisper. Evidently, she wasn’t whispering quietly enough, because from down the row a young employee did what prairie dogs do and popped up from his cube to have a look around. He caught Tina’s fiery gaze and down he went again.

“You need to come to my office. Now.”

No debate there. Moments later, Tina and Natalie were seated together in her windowed office with the door closed.

“Look, I was going to call you,” said Tina. “HR came to me with a complaint about you. Apparently, Audrey thinks you’ve been harassing her, and they’ve opened an internal investigation.”

Natalie looked aghast.

“What? What the hell?? No! She’s sleeping with my husband.”

For Tina’s benefit, Natalie rattled off the evidence, starting with where Audrey and Michael met—at the gym. She reminded Tina about the note.

“‘Flirting with one woman in particular,’” said Natalie, paraphrasing the confessional.

Natalie listed more connections, the same batch she’d given Michael. Then came the big reveal: Michael’s reaction to seeing Audrey’s picture, and Audrey’s reaction to seeing Michael’s. (She left out the part where she may have imagined both reactions because she’d been seeing things lately.)

“Hey, Encyclopedia Brown, I’m glad you’ve done your homework. And maybe you’re right, maybe Michael is doing what you think he is, but if you keep going down this road with Audrey, you’re going to lose your damn job. I’m saying this harshly only because I love you and I don’t want to see that happen.”

Natalie rolled her eyes the way a teenager might.

“Please … some random employee is more important than me?”

A sharp pain radiated around Natalie’s temples. Her headaches were starting to come back. She’d gotten what, three hours of sleep last night, according to her tracker? This week was shaping up to be one of her worst yet.

“I’m sorry I said that,” offered Natalie, adopting a grimace of embarrassment. “I’m not myself.”

“Obviously,” said Tina, her smile slight. “Just promise me you’ll cool your jet engines, okay? We’ll put our heads together and figure out a way to get the name of Michael’s love interest without you getting tossed out on your ass.”

“Right,” said Natalie.

Tina tapped her fingers impatiently against her desk, her eyes demanding more of Natalie.

“Okay,” Natalie said, with emphasis this time. “I promise.”

To seal the deal, Natalie used her finger to make the shape of an “x” over her heart. Tina didn’t look entirely convinced.

“Let’s meet up after work for a drink. We can talk and plan.”

She took that as her cue to leave.

“Let me see how I feel,” replied Natalie, knowing full well she already had plans.



* * *



Hours after she’d bailed on drinks with Tina, following too many emails and meetings, the day’s work was finally done. Natalie sat in her car in the employee parking lot, keeping an eye on things—one thing in particular. She moved to a new parking spot, one that offered the perfect sight line to a little red Kia Rio, the same car Audrey had driven to Buckley’s on the day the two had shared that fateful lunch.

It was going to be a late day at the office—that’s what Natalie had told the nanny. The kids were fine. The nanny was taking care of things at home, as she did Monday through Thursday. She agreed to stay as long as needed, freeing Natalie to go on a little expedition, though the right word, she knew, was tailing.

Natalie was texting with the nanny, making sure dinner was set (Bryce and his finicky eating these days), when Audrey finally appeared. She exited the building looking, to Natalie’s eyes, hardened, determined. The sky was gray and overcast, the threat of rain hanging in the air, which seemed to suit Audrey’s mood. This was a new look for her, and if Natalie were to infer anything from it, she’d say that Audrey didn’t appear eager to go to wherever she was headed.

She watched Audrey get into her car. Moments later, the Kia abandoned its parking space after completing a tight turn. Thank goodness Audrey didn’t seem to take notice of the midnight-blue Toyota Highlander that followed her out of the parking lot.

Natalie had never played PI before, didn’t know the first thing about following somebody. She didn’t think her SUV would attract much attention, but even so, she kept a few car lengths back. Twice she got a yellow light and had to switch lanes, gunning it to make sure she wasn’t left behind. If Audrey became suspicious and checked her rearview, she likely wouldn’t even recognize Natalie, who had donned a black baseball cap and wore sunglasses despite the gloomy day.