Chapter Thirteen—Julie
MEG TURNS TOWARD ME with the wine bottle in one hand. “What did he say?”
I read Dalen’s message again: Julie, call me now. Don’t trust Meg. Do NOT let her into the house.
A second text appears before I can decide what to do: Police are coming. Get away from her.
I lock my phone and slide it into the back pocket of my jeans. “He wants me to call him.”
Meg sets the wine beside the two glasses. “Are you going to?”
“In a minute.”
She watches me for a few seconds, then reaches for the corkscrew again. “You know you don’t have to jump every time he decides something is urgent.”
“I know.”
The cork comes free with a soft pop.
I look at the bottle she brought as an apology. Chinese food covers half the kitchen table. Her purse sits on the counter beside the takeout bag, and my overnight bag is still at the foot of the stairs because I haven’t completely unpacked.
Twenty minutes ago, I was relieved to see her. Now, Dalen has called the police.
Meg pours wine into one glass. “Redemption cabernet.”
I make myself smile. “That’s ambitious for eighteen dollars.”
“Twenty with tax. I’m deeply sorry.”
The familiar joke hurts.
She reaches for the second glass, and I put my hand over it. “I’m good.”
Meg glances at me. “You haven’t had any.”
“I know. I don’t want it.”
Her expression doesn’t change much, but she sets the bottle down. “Okay.”
I move around the table, putting the island between us as casually as I can. My phone presses against my hip. I want to call Dalen to know what he found. I also don’t want Meg to know he frightened me until I’m closer to the front door.
She opens one of the cartons. “Mara said this place has a weird little back staircase.”
My attention snaps to her.
Meg laughs. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“She gave me the grand tour over the phone while she was explaining how to find the place. Apparently, this house has personality.”
I think about the pantry door behind me. The narrow passage. The little service stair leading to the second floor.
Mara told her. That’s all. It’s enough to be unsettling.
Meg spoons fried rice onto a plate. “Are you going to stand over there all night?”
“I need to call Dalen.”
Her hand stops.
I take out my phone. “I’ll be right back.”
She frowns. “Why don’t you call him here?”
“I want privacy.”
“From me?”
I look at her.
Meg drops the serving spoon into the carton. “Sorry. I’m doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Asking questions that sound like I’m checking up on you.” She rubs both hands over her face. “That’s why I came here. I don’t want us doing this.”
I want to believe her so badly that my throat aches. “I got angry yesterday. You kept asking whether I remembered things correctly.”
“I know.”
“I’ve had enough of that from Dalen.” I don’t have to pretend that’s true.
“I know that too.” Meg comes around the table, then stops when I move backward. She frowns. “Julie?”
I don’t answer.
She looks at the space between us. “Are you scared of me?”
The question is so ridiculous that yesterday I would’ve laughed. Tonight, I don’t.
Meg stares at me. “What did Dalen say?”
“He told me not to trust you.”
She gasps softly.
“He called the police.”
She steps back. “What?”
“I don’t know why yet.”
Meg gives a breathless laugh. “You don’t know why, but you’re standing there looking at me like I’m dangerous?”
I hold her gaze. “He knows something.”
“About what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Call him.”
The answer surprises me.
Meg points at the phone in my hand. “Call him. Put him on speaker. Let’s hear what he has to say.”
I hesitate.
Her mouth twists. “Jeez, Julie.”
“What?”
“You’re doing to me what he did to you.”
Anger comes fast enough to shove fear aside. “Don’t.”
“He decided something was wrong with you without proof but sends one text, and you’re doing the same thing to me.”
“I said don’t.”
Meg folds her arms. “What did I do?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Then call him.”
I unlock my phone.
Meg’s shoulders loosen.
Before I can touch Dalen’s name, a call comes through from an unfamiliar number.
I answer it. “Hello?”
“Mrs. Dorsey? This is Officer Bennett. Your husband contacted us. Are you alone?”
My gaze stays on Meg. “No.”
Her expression changes.
“Is Margaret Nirris with you?”
“Yes.”
Meg moves.
She doesn’t come toward me. She turns toward the counter and grabs her purse.
Officer Bennett says something I miss.
“I’m sorry. What?”
“Can you move away from her?”
Meg has her purse open.
I step backward. “Yes.”
She pulls out her keys.
Relief hits me so hard I have to brace one hand on the island. She’s leaving.
“Julie.” Meg slings the purse over her shoulder. “I’m going.”
I nod. “Okay.”
“I have no idea what Dalen told them, but I’m not staying here while you look at me like that.”
“Okay.”
She stares at me, waiting for something else. An apology or reassurance. I don’t have either one.
Meg heads toward the living room.
Officer Bennett is still talking. “Mrs. Dorsey, stay on the line with me.”
“I am.”
Meg reaches the front hall.
Then she stops.
I hear the deadbolt and start to relax slightly, but the door doesn’t open. I turn around.
She hasn’t opened the door. She turned the deadbolt. I remember then I didn’t lock it after letting her inside.
“Meg?”
Her eyes are wet. “Did you really think I’d hurt you?”
I tighten my grip on the phone. “I don’t know what to think.”
“After everything?”
“Please leave.”
She wipes under one eye. “I came here to apologize.”
“I know.”
“I brought your favorite food.”
I try to sound soothing. “Dumplings and honey chicken.”
“I’ve been taking care of you for two weeks.”
That stops me, and I lower the phone slightly. “Taking care of me?”
“You know what I mean.”
I shake my head. “No, I don’t.”
“Julie, don’t do this.”
“Do what?”
Her mouth closes.
Officer Bennett asks if I’m all right.
“I’m fine.” I bring the phone back to my ear. “She’s leaving.”
Meg reaches for the deadbolt again.
My phone vibrates against my cheek with an incoming text. I glance at the banner.
Dalen.
Meg was fired four months ago for stealing from her employer. She’s been lying about going to work.
I stop breathing.
Meg sees my face.
“What?”
I read it again.
Four months.
The Northstar account was opened four months ago.
“Julie?”
The Wells Fargo card came later.
My file drawer, where I keep my passport and Social Security card, is accessible any time she visited. I never locked it.
The message I found yesterday makes more sense now.
Meg starts toward me. “What did he say?”
“Stay there.”
She stops.
I lower the phone. “You lost your job.”
She flinches, but her lips tighten.
“When?” I ask almost conversationally.
Meg looks toward the door.
“When did you lose your job?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Four months ago?”
She rubs her forehead. “Julie, let me explain.”
“You’ve been pretending to go to work for four months.”
She looks away. “I was embarrassed.”
I shake my head. “You wore your badge to lunch with me.”
“I said I was embarrassed.”
“You told me about your boss. You complained about meetings.” I hear my voice rising and force it down. “You made up an entire job every time you talked to me.”
Meg presses her lips together. “I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“Why were you fired?”
She doesn’t answer, but I already know. My stomach knots. “Did you steal from them?”
Meg flinches.
I close my eyes for a second.
Officer Bennett says my name through the phone.
“I’m here.”
“We’re less than five minutes away. Move to a room you can lock if possible.”
Meg’s gaze drops to my phone.
I back toward the pantry.
“Julie, please.”
I put out my hand. “Stay where you are.”
“I can explain all of it.”
“Start with Northstar.”
Every trace of crying disappears from her face. I wish she had looked confused, and my throat tightens. “You know what it is.”
“No.”
“You do. Beyond what I told you already.”
“I’ve heard you talk about it. You probably forgot.” The tone is spiteful.
Anger burns through me.
Meg realizes her mistake too late.
“Don’t you ever say that to me again.”
She grimaces. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Liar. You’ve meant it exactly like that for weeks.”
“Julie...”
“Did you open the accounts?”
“No.” She maintains eye contact, and her ability to lie like that is chilling.
“Did you use my Social Security number?”
“No.”
“Did you take out twenty-three thousand dollars in my name?”
“I said no.”
“What about the Wells Fargo card?”
She blinks twice. “Of course not.”
That’s enough to confirm she’s lying. “You’re my sister.”
“Julie, listen to me.”
“You did.”
“I was going to pay it back.”
The room tilts. Officer Bennett says something through the phone, but I can’t make out the words over the rushing in my ears.
“You stole thirty-two thousand dollars from me.”
She draws in on herself. “I borrowed it.”
“You used my identity.”
“I was desperate!” Her shout cracks through the kitchen.
I stare at my sister.
Meg presses both hands over her face. “I was going to fix it before you ever knew.”
“How?”
“I had a plan.”
“You don’t have a job.”
“I was looking!” Tears well in her eyes.
“You’ve been unemployed for four months.”
“I know!”
“Then what was the plan?”
“I don’t know!” She drops her hands. Tears run down her cheeks. “I don’t know, okay? Everything kept getting worse.”
“So you made me look crazy.” I could almost understand why she stole my identity, borrowing it in her mind, but setting me up to appear to be having a breakdown is incomprehensible.
Meg’s mouth closes.
The last piece settles into place. I don’t need to search for it. I don’t need to list every incident and match it to her. I know my sister, and she isn’t denying it. “You did.”
“I didn’t mean for it to go this far.”
My fingers tighten around the phone. “You stood beside my bed.”
Meg shakes her head.
“You opened the back door.”
“Julie, please...”
“You moved my necklace.”
She bites her lip. “I needed time.”
“You put that message on my phone and made it disappear.”
“I needed Dalen to believe you might be confused!” The words hang between us as Meg clamps a hand over her mouth.
I can’t breathe for a few seconds.
She lowers her hand. “I didn’t want him to leave you.”