Chapter 62
EDDIE
Iwoke up on Saturday morning, knowing it was the day of David Devers’s funeral.
The local news wouldn’t shut up about it. I knew going in that his murder would probably get some local news coverage, mostly because April was a pretty white woman, and the news usually ate that shit up. She made a great widow—little did they know she was in on it.
What I hadn’t expected was for it still to be in the news cycle nine days later. Did people really need to know when David’s funeral was?
Lucy and I had a few conversations about it—it was inevitable being all over the news—but I would quickly try to steer the conversation elsewhere.
“The guy had a beautiful wife and was about to become the vice president of his company. I feel terrible for him,” Lucy said at one point.
“Yeah, it’s really sad.”
“Do you think she had anything to do with it?”
“No, she seems pretty distraught from the pictures they’ve shown.”
“Maybe. I just think something is off with her. Call it a hunch.”
Is there something off with me, Lucy?
“I’m going to have a piece of cake. You want one?” I wasn’t even hungry. I just wanted the conversation about April Devers to end.
“No, I’m okay. Thanks.”
Bullet dodged.
On Sunday morning, I’d grabbed the two bugs that I’d hidden in the house.
I told Lucy I was going for a walk, hoping she wouldn’t want to join. She politely declined.
“I’m okay, thanks. I’m going to watch the end of The Beast in Me since you never really got into it.”
The Beast in Me could have described me, but she was referring to a Netflix series starring Claire Danes.
“Let me know how it ends,” I said. “I’ll be back in forty-five.”
“Have a nice walk.”
The bugs could be connected to my phone, and I could play them from there. I started with the one from our bedroom.
I pressed play on the phone and fast-forwarded until I heard talking. It caught a few conversations between Lucy and me, and then a television show booming from the TV. I recognized Claire Danes’s voice and knew that must have been The Beast in Me.
About a half hour into my walk, I switched over to the bug I’d set in the living room. I once again fast-forwarded until I heard my wife’s voice.
“Hello, Mom. Do what do I owe this surprise?”
I listened as the conversation morphed into my worst nightmare. I could only hear Lucy’s end, but it was pretty easy to keep up with what was going on. Lucy had intentionally asked Nia Clemons to interrupt our lunch and had her put me on the spot about The Shadow of the Wind.
That stupid fucking book! When was I ever going to be done with that thing? It had become my nemesis.
And the call only got worse. Lucy said she was strongly considering divorce. Fuck!!!!
I needed more time. April had to live up to her end of the bargain. Strangers on a Train.
This couldn’t be worse news. I wanted to throw my phone at the next car that passed by.
And who the fuck uses the phrase “origin story”?
I tried to gather myself as I headed back to our house. I couldn’t let Lucy think something was up—or more than she already did.
There were two silver linings I could hang my hat on. One, Lucy had said the divorce wasn’t imminent. She needed at least a week or two to think about it. And two, Lucy’s mother, Iris, had let on that she and Bruce were going to Lake Tahoe next weekend.
The timing was far from ideal, but I didn’t really have a choice. If I waited any longer, Lucy was going to divorce me, and I’d never get the money I so richly deserved.
It had to be next weekend, when they were in Tahoe.
And it’s not like April could say no.