Chapter 45
IT’S BEEN A GREAT DAY. My loot:
A couple of throw pillows
A cooling gel pillow for when I have night sweats
A self-adjusting electric blanket for when I don’t
A rug
New sheets
A bedspread
Matching drapes
A blackout shade
… and one new friend
As friends go, Amber is enormously generous.
Not just by maxing out her credit card. I mean emotionally generous as well.
I’m kind of touched that she brought up the subject of Ben’s behavior.
It was sweet of her to try to make me feel better about his outburst. (“I know Ben’s been difficult the past couple of weeks.
”) She opened up. She brought me in. She wants me to be comfortable with everything that’s going on. That’s what friends are for.
CARRIE: I dunno, maybe I was a little harsh on everybody at the prom. I mean, like, telekinetically sealing the gym, starting a fire, electrocuting the principal…
HER FRIEND: You kiddin’? The way they’ve been teasing you all these weeks? Fuhgeddaboudit. Hey, does your mom have any Spray ’n Wash? I think pig blood might stain.
It takes us several trips to unload everything from the car. Today was my first deep dive into retail therapy. And if these results are any indication, I’ve wasted several years and thousands of dollars on the regular kind. Amber is happy. Lily coos. Wait. Make that Lily is happy. Amber coos.
I’m cooing too. With Ben going away, I’ll be able to search the house for something that will incriminate him.
In the course of my FBI work, I’ve gotten warrants to search some odd places—tree trunks, litter boxes, even a coffin or two.
But once Ben is gone, I can search every drawer and closet in the house for secret panels.
(Okay, I’ve been reading too many mystery novels. But still.)
Amber unwraps the packages and I strap Lily into her highchair.
Did I mention she’s really getting into exotic foods now?
Forget cottage cheese and yogurt. Now we’re doing guacamole, red pepper hummus, and veggie frittatas that she squishes with her fingers.
I sit next to her, constantly bending down to pick up the food she drops, hoping my back muscles are going to cut me some slack.
Then the doorbell rings. No one is there when I open the door, but an envelope has been left on the welcome mat. I pick it up and bring it to Amber.
She opens it. “Oh, look,” she says. “Someone dropped off some pictures.” Then she gasps. “It’s Lily!”
Amber screams. Startled, Lily begins to cry. Amber lifts her up out of the highchair and hugs her, dropping the photos.
I pick them up. They’re pictures taken at Bella’s birthday party.
It’s the usual shots—the party girl with friends, the birthday cake, the mountain of presents on the gift table.
But one is a photo of me and Lily, clearly a candid of the two of us.
The top of my head is out of the frame, and I’m looking off into the distance, watching something or maybe just eavesdropping.
Lily, in her Snugli, is looking straight at the camera. At least I think she is.
Someone has scratched her face off.
Now I’m frightened too. Who took this picture?
And when? I have no memory of anyone stalking us, photographing us.
Could someone have faked this using AI technology?
No. This was definitely taken at the party.
I see the massive food table in the background.
I am wearing my uniform and Lily is in her yellow party dress, the clothes we wore that afternoon. This photo is real.
I tell Amber to call Ben but she’s too upset to do it, so I call him. He can hear Amber sobbing in the background and insists I put her on the phone, but she won’t talk to him. She’s out of control, hysterical, holding tight to Lily as if both their lives depend on it.
“She wants you to come home,” I tell Ben. “She needs you here.”
A pause. Then: “I can’t right now,” he says. “But tell her I’ll be there as soon as—”
I hang up on him. I shouldn’t have done that. He’s not my husband. But I did it anyway.
I’m remembering what that officer said on the Day of the Snake: Is somebody maybe trying to send a message?
Clearly, the answer is yes.
Maybe Metcalf was right. Forget about all the other people in Ben’s gallery who might be in cahoots with the cartel and trying to betray him. Ben knows exactly what this is all about. On my Billboard list of Top 100 Suspects, Ben has bounced back up to Number One.
Amber takes Lily upstairs. I go around the house and make sure all the doors are double-locked and the alarm system is on. Then I close all the first-floor windows and pull down all the shades. I know I’m on a fool’s errand. The side of the house facing the water is all glass.
Anybody who wants to send a message in person just needs a large rock.