Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
AINSLEY
“ H ey, love, what are you up to?”
It had been weeks since I’d heard from Glennon, and it felt so good to hear her voice. I leaned forward, turning up the car’s speaker.
“I’ve just left work and am on my way to therapy. What about you? Where are you jet setting this week?”
She laughed. “Oh, I don’t know. I can’t keep track anymore. I swear, it’s no wonder Seth has always been so exhausted. I don’t even remember if I ate breakfast today.”
“You’d be hangry if you didn’t,” I teased. “Maybe you should ask Seth.”
“Ha.” She gave a sarcastic laugh. “I miss you.”
“I miss you, too. When are you coming home? I want to do a whole big thing.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do a big thing. A quiet night with pizza and beer sounds amazing to me.”
I mock gasped. “What? Hate to break it to you, sister, but pizza isn’t typically vegan.”
“Eh, well, that lasted all of a month. ”
“Seriously, when are you coming home?”
“We’re going to try and squeeze in a weekend next month.”
“Next month? Really? That’s so far away…” I had so much I wanted to talk to her about, but I couldn’t do it over the phone.
“Well, we were supposed to come down this weekend, but um”—she cleared her throat—“Seth actually introduced me to one of his coworkers in Canada, and he’s taking me out for dinner this weekend.”
She said it casually, as if it were no big deal.
“What? You met someone? And he lives in Canada?”
“I know. Am I crazy? Is it crazy? Seth thought it was a good idea. He’s this really nice guy. An investment banker. Single dad. Has the whole two-point-five kids and a dog. Picket fence. Yada yada.”
I winced. “Kids and a dog? Is he divorced?”
“Widowed.”
We released sympathetic sighs at the same time. “Poor guy.”
“Tell me about it,” she agreed.
“As much as I hate it, he sounds pretty perfect for you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Of course. You’ve always wanted kids. And a dog. And, hell, Canada’s got free healthcare. Maybe I’ll move up there with you.”
“Well, no one’s moving yet, but we’ll be sure to build you a guesthouse.”
“Let him know you’re a package deal.”
She laughed. “Will do. Seriously, though, I miss you guys so much. ”
I put the car in park. “We miss you too, G. We’ll see you soon, okay?”
“It’s a date.”
“Okay, well, I hate to let you go, but I just got to therapy and I don’t want to be late.”
She let out a playful groan. “Okay. Fine. Go get mentally healthy.”
I snorted. “Love you.”
“Love you more.”
With that, I ended the call and stepped out of the car. Once inside, I greeted her first, though she had her back to me.
“Hey, Joanna.”
“Hey, Annie,” she said gently, her voice hoarse as she glanced over her shoulder, seeming startled to see me. Had she been sleeping recently? Or crying?
“Everything okay?”
She cleared her throat as I took a seat. “Yep. Sorry. How are you? How was your day?”
“Well, I just found out my best friend is probably going to move to Canada and become best friends with a moose or something, so there’s that.”
She furrowed her brow. “What?”
I waved it off. “Nothing. I’m joking.”
“Your best friend… That’s the one you mentioned before? The one you spend most of your time with?”
I nodded, tears stinging my eyes at the thought of her. “At least, I used to.”
“What happened?”
“There was this whole thing with her husband, er, ex-husband. They had a rough patch, then a divorce. Now they’re closer than ever and traveling the world together.”
“That seems…healthy.”
“Surprisingly, they’re probably the healthiest couple I know.”
“Are you including yourself in that?”
I glanced at her, then looked away, refusing to answer.
After a moment, she went on. “You must miss her.”
“Every day.” My voice broke as I said it, and I swiped my cheek against my shoulder.
“When did you see her last?”
“It’s been like seven or eight months, I guess.” I tried to do the mental math.
“Was she the person you used to talk to when you and Pete had problems?”
I nodded.
“Who do you talk to now?”
“You?” It was a question, rather than a definitive answer.
She pursed her lips. “Maybe you should go see her. Tell her what’s going on.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because!” I exploded. Why was she forcing the issue? “Because she deserves to be happy for once without my problems interfering.”
“I’m sure she doesn’t think you’re interfering.”
“Of course she doesn’t. Because that’s not who she is. But I can’t do that to her. I made this mess. It’s my fault. I have to fix it now.”
“And how are you going to do that? ”
“I haven’t decided.” I took a sip of the tea I’d brought with me.
“Have you tried to talk to Pete? To tell him you’re unhappy?”
“You don’t understand…”
“I’m trying to.”
“He’s not the kind of person you can just leave. The things we’ve done to each other, with each other—”
“The fencing ?” she asked, a lilt in her voice that told me she knew we weren’t actually talking about fencing when we’d brought it up.
“Among other things…”
“You just need to talk to each other. Maybe the two of you want the same things without realizing it. Maybe you’re so busy protecting each other that you can’t see the truth right in front of you.”
“And what truth would that be?”
She hesitated. The room was eerily quiet, just the ticking clock on the wall to keep us company. “Do you love him, Annie? Are you in love with your husband?”
I locked my jaw, refusing to think about the question.
It was too painful.
It hurt too badly to admit the truth, even to myself.
“Have you asked him if he loves you?”
I jerked back as if I’d been slapped. “Excuse me?”
“I’m just trying to point out that—”
“You don’t have any idea what you’re talking about,” I said. “You don’t know anything about my marriage.”
“Of course not. I’m just saying—”
“Well, don’t.” I stood, storming past her. “Don’t just say . ”
“Where are you going?”
“Home. Goodbye, Joanna.”
“Wait—” she called after me, but it was too late. I was done.
Done with her.
Done with everything.
I’d only been in the kitchen a few minutes, still dressed in my work clothes, when I heard a knock on the door. I’d left work early for therapy, so it was not yet time for Peter or the kids to be home.
Who could be at the door, then?
I dried my hands on the towel near the stove, then crossed the room, jogging toward the front door. I pulled back the curtain, my body going cold at the sight of a woman in a dark suit standing just beyond the glass, looking very official.
The woman waved at me when she noticed my movement. I closed the curtain and, seeing no alternative, opened the door just a hair.
“Can I help you?” I asked, now filled with a new kind of worry.
“Are you Mrs. Greenburg? Ainsley Greenburg?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“I’m Detective LaToya Burks,” she said, handing over a business card. “Is your husband home?” She peered past me into the house.
“He’s at work. Is something wrong? Is it the kids?”
Her eyes darted back to meet mine. “No, ma’am. They’re fine. I’m actually here about a man named Chris Henson. Do you know him?”
My heart sank. I blinked. Breathed in slowly. “Chris Henson…” I let the name linger on my tongue. “You don’t mean Coach Chris, do you? Our daughter’s dance coach?”
“That’s the one.” She pointed at me.
“Um, well, yes. Of course I know him. He’s been coaching my daughter all of her life. Except this year, she’d kind of gotten bored with it. But we love Coach Chris. Why? Is he okay? Did something happen?”
“Do you mind if I come inside?” She pointed behind me, and I stepped back instantly, allowing her past me.
“No, not at all. I’m sorry. I’m a bit frazzled. Come in.” I gestured toward the couch. “Please, sit. Can I get you something to drink?”
“I’m fine,” she assured me. “If you want to sit as well. I just have a few questions to go over.”
“That sounds…serious.”
She clicked her pen, pulling out a notepad. “When was the last time you saw Chris Henson?”
“Um, I don’t know… It’s been a while. Over a year, probably. As I said, my daughter dropped dance class and that was really the only time we saw him.”
She pursed her lips as she wrote. “Do you ever recall seeing Chris getting into heated arguments with the parents? Were there any incidents or parents that stand out to you as particularly disagreeable?”
“No,” I said quickly. “Everyone loves him. He’s always been great with the girls. Lots of private sessions… He’d take them out for ice cream after practice.”
Something lit up in the detective’s eyes, and I knew I was onto something. She pursed her lips, scrawling a note onto the paper in her hands.
“And did your daughter ever mention anything to you about him behaving inappropriately? Maybe something he said or did? Did he ever text your daughter about practice or…anything like that?”
My eyes widened with apparent shock. “No, never. She was sad to stop going, honestly. And she’s only eleven, so she’s just recently gotten a cell phone. She only texts her friends. Why do you ask?”
She jotted down something else, ignoring the question.
“Can you tell me what’s going on? Please? Sh-should I be worried?”
“Right now, I can’t say much. But if you do hear from the coach—”
“Wait, if I hear from him? Can you not find him? Maisy mentioned that he’d left, but I just thought she meant vacation.”
“I’m afraid right now we haven’t been able to locate him or his girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend?”
“Joanna St. James. Do you know her?”
“The name doesn’t sound familiar…” I pretended to search my memory.
“Okay, that’s okay. It’s Chris we really need to find. Apparently, no one has seen Chris in about a month, but Joanna was last seen by family and friends two weeks ago.”
“Oh no. Do you think they could be in danger?”
Her jaw tightened. “Right now it’s an open investigation, so we’re exploring all our options. The most important thing is that we’re able to get in touch with Chris as soon as possible regarding a few allegations.”
“Allegations? What do you mean? Is he in trouble?”
She gave me a patronizing grin. “Again, I’m not at liberty to say, but if you do hear from him, could you call me right away? You have my number.” She pointed toward the business card still in my hand.
“Yes. Of course.” I stared at it.
“And if your daughter mentions anything…”
“Yes, we’ll call you right away. Do you need to speak with her?” I winced internally as I offered.
Please say no.
Please say no.
“That won’t be necessary. I think I’ve taken up enough of your time.” She placed the notepad and pen in her jacket pocket and stood. “Thank you for talking with me.”
“Of course. And if there’s anything I could do, just let me know. I’m the manager of a bank downtown, so I know quite a few people around here. I could ask around, see if anyone’s heard from him.”
If it was possible, her expression softened even more. I was a bank manager, not a killer. It was obvious I couldn’t pose a threat to anyone.
“Don’t go to any trouble. Just keep an eye out for him. And talk to your daughter about Internet safety… Lots of freaks out there. You can never be too careful.”
“Thank you, Detective.” I shut the door behind her, watching through the glass as she made her way out to the unmarked car. My heart raced as I waited for her to leave, my breathing erratic and petrified. As the car finally pulled down the driveway and out of sight, I felt my pulse slow.
It was okay.
It was all okay.
At least that meant they were looking for him because someone had turned him in, not because they thought he’d been murdered.
Once again, it seemed we were going to get away with everything.
I turned back toward the kitchen, searching for something to make for dinner while I prepared myself for how I would bring this up to Peter.
It was amazing just how much you could hide behind the mask of a normal, boring life.