Page 80 of The Perfect Marriage

Standing in the doorway is Matthew. “I wondered where you had gone to.”

“I just needed a minute—”

He walks to me and wraps his arm around my shoulder.

“You think you fucking know people.” I shake my head.

“Look, for what it’s worth, I think Anne’s intentions were in the right place.” He rubs my shoulder.

“Don’t!” I warn. I really don’t want to hear about Anne’s intentions. I’ve been betrayed by nearly everyone in my life.

Matthew lets out a small sigh and never one to quit, he continues, “Like I was saying. Anne isn’t… how would you say? The strongest of people. She is a follower, not a leader. You have no idea how much that girl idolizes you, Sarah. So, the idea of her being the one to turn your world upside down. She just… couldn’t do it. She was too scared of being the dead messenger that you would just leave in your wake and never remember again. People do lots of stupid things under extreme duress, but I’m telling you right now, I know when someone is lying or not, and that woman in there, she truly loves you and would never mean to hurt you.”

I let out a large breath I didn’t realize I was holding in. I know Matthew’s right. Anne is like the little sister I never had, and our relationship is more than a subordinate and a superior. More than a meal ticket and a mouth to be fed. More than a rung on a ladder to be climbed and an ambitious young woman. But that doesn’t change one thing, I am still enraged, and maybe just a little bit hurt.

“I know she does,” I say grudgingly.

“There you two are.” Sheriff Stevens says as he pushes open the door. “I wrapped things up with Anne. We’ll still do the handwriting analysis as you requested, but based on that initial interview, I think she’s clean.”

Matthew drops his arm from my shoulder, and we take a few steps toward Sheriff Stevens.

“Regardless of how upset I am with her, I have to agree with you,” I admit. I want to be mad at her, and I still am, but Matthew and Sheriff Stevens are both right. There’s no way she had anything to do with this, and her threat to Adam and dishonesty with me came from good intention.

“Should we move on to Bob?”

Matthew and I nod, following Sheriff Stevens back into the police station.

49

Adam Morgan

Scott wants to help me? Part of me isn’t surprised. If he really doesn’t believe that I killed her—which he shouldn’t, because I fucking didn’t—then as someone who lost the person he loves most, he should stop at nothing to bring the true culprit to justice.

But… on the other hand, Scott has been known to let his temper get the best of him, and he is an asshole. Would it be so surprising for a piece of shit like that to pretend like he believed me just to win back some credibility with the department, all while pushing my head underwater with his boot even further? The shitty reality is that beggars can’t be choosers and right now, Scott is all I have left.

But should I be doing this to myself, really? My mind is almost reaching a state of ultimate enlightenment as I am able to hold two conflicting thoughts at the same time.

On the one hand, I know that hope is the only thing that I can cling to and the only thing that can’t be taken from me, so I should hold on to it for dear life, right? But on the other hand, I’m not naïve. I know my chances are slim to non-fucking-existent. Why torture myself into thinking something is there that isn’t.

It’s as if one half of me has been told a secret about our inevitable demise, and instead of warning my other half to steer clear, I devise a plan to lead us both down to it.

Another possibility does cross my mind. What if Scott is the killer? All of this erratic behavior, the loose cannon, bereaved widower act is both a cover for the truth and a convenient outlet for the fear and “caged animal” emotions running through him. If that is the case, then I am giving him even more ammunition to use against me. And not only that, but I have led him straight to the one person on the outside who was willing to help me uncover the truth. With me stuck in here and no one watching Rebecca, Scott can hunt her down and dispose of her just as easily as he did Kelly. Really though, at this point, short of a miracle, I am fucked either way. So, who cares what happens on the outside? All I can do now is just sit and wait…

Or maybe not.

50

Sarah Morgan

We walk back inside with Sheriff Stevens. My anger hasn’t entirely dissipated, but at least I am trying to process everything. While I can be angry that Anne withheld information from me, she isn’t the one who made Adam fuck Kelly and certainly isn’t the reason someone killed her. Her motives, while slightly misguided, were not nefarious. That is enough of a kernel of redemption to start bringing my blood pressure down to a more human level. I’m not naïve though, and I still have to brace myself for another potential bomb, as it is now Bob’s turn to speak.

Marge changes her tune when Sheriff Stevens walks through as opposed to some annoyance in the form of yet another attorney.

“Hello again, sir. Returning to the dungeons? Would you like me to buzz you through?” she says with a smile. She is clearly amused by her own choice of wording and pleased to have the opportunity to aid the good sheriff in any way.

“No, Marge. It’s fine. I can scan myself through. And how many times have I asked you, please, not to call it that, especially in front of visitors?” he says with an imitation stern tone that suggests a mere show of reprimand as opposed to actual anger.

“I’m sorry, sir. I’ll try and remember better in the future.” There’s a wry smirk across her face.

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