Page 85 of Second Chance

Meredith shakes her head. “No, no, I don’t want to put you out.”

“You’re not, not at all. I’m so glad you came—”

“Tony,” Meredith says firmly. Her hair is darker than Daniel’s, pulled up to a braid gone messy after a day of travel. It’s less curly too. Her eyes, though, are the same, and the way she looks at Tony, half gentle, half chiding—that’s Daniel all over. “It’s okay. Get some rest. We’ll have all the time tomorrow to be awkward in-laws, yeah?”

In-laws. The word sends a shoot of fear and longing straight through Tony. “Yeah, all right. Thanks, Colette.”

Colette gives him the same kind of look. She’s been spending too much time with the Rosenbaums. “My contributions have been vast. Eating your mother’s cooking and drinking your wine.”

She leaves her coffee maker on the stove when she and Meredith slip downstairs for the night, a clear sign tomorrow will be more of the same as today, with the apartment full of people who care about Daniel. And Tony. If he makes it back from whatever’s waiting for him in Germantown. Especially now he’s missed his chance to tell Colette about it.

Emilio clears his throat.

“Right,” Tony says. “We gotta get you home, huh?”

“I don’t wanna put you out, but you did drive me here.” Emilio shrugs. “I’m kinda short on other options. Unless you’d rather I call a cab.”

“It’s twenty minutes, man. It’s fine.” Tony turns to Blake and Lisa. “Bedding’s in the bedroom. You can throw all the pillows off the couch onto the floor.”

Blake salutes.

By quarter to eleven, Tony’s in the car, peeling off onto the 9G toward Germantown with Emilio in the passenger seat, and by some miracle, no one thinks it was his idea.

Of course, there’s the minor matter of being alone with a man who might have killed his wife.Germantown, Daniel’s message said, andCome alone. It doesn’t mean anything to Tony. Before Daniel, he didn’t spend much time this side of the Hudson, and Germantown isn’t known for its social scene. Mostly, it’s known for having a big trailer park. Or for being another dot on the map on the way to Hudson (the town, not the river).

What other connection could there be besides Emilio?

“So, no new leads, huh?” Emilio asks. It’s dark in the car. Tony can’t make out his expressions while he watches the road.

“Not exactly.” Tony drums his fingers on the steering wheel. “Sorry to waste your time.”

Emilio laughs humorlessly. “You got me out of the house. And you got to watch a prime suspect nap all day. Still think I did it?”

“After last year, I don’t trust my own instincts.” Tony never for a moment suspected Stacy until he knew it was her beyond a shadow of a doubt. Which means his gut instinct in ruling Emilio out as a suspect is meaningless. Ever since Daniel’s message told him to go to Germantown, everything Emilio says has sounded suspicious.

“Fair enough.”

“You’re still shockingly chill about people thinking you killed your wife.”

“Tried getting angry. Made it worse.”

“Ah. The memorial.”

Emilio rubs his hands across his face, scraping against his stubble. “Yeah. Apparently, yelling at a bunch of people makes them think you’re volatile or something.”

“Did it feel good?”

“When does it not feel good to get pissed off?” Emilio asks it as if it’s natural, as if everyone enjoys feeling rage.

After the last few days with Gianna, Tony can’t relate. Anger makes him miserable.

“God, the fights I used to have with Amy…” Emilio mutters.

“Yeah?” Tony prods. This is what got him in trouble with Stacy in broad daylight on a college campus. Now, he’s in a moving car, in the dark, and the only people who know where he is have no way of following them. This has “bad idea” written all over it, and Colette would tell him so, but she’s not here. Daniel would tell him so, but Daniel’s why he’s here, speeding to Germantown in the middle of the night.

“Yeah, man,” Emilio continues. “I was practically raising our kid alone as soon as the semester started. Of course we fought about it.”

“Sounds rough.”

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