Page 55 of The Senator's Wife

“I don’t know about any picture. But look, it’s not what you think. Yes, Madelyn came to dinner. I didn’t want to tell you and upset you. She had a migraine coming on, and Fred asked me to drive her home, which I did. Then I met him at his office.”

“You should have told me she was there. Can’t you see how it looks when you keep things from me?”

“You’re right. But you’ve been so sick. I didn’t want to do anything to upset you. I’m not doing anything wrong. It didn’t seem important to tell you.”

“You swear you just took her home and dropped her off?”

“Yes! That must have been a picture from a couple of years ago from a charity event. Fred was in that limo too. In fact, he took the picture. Madelyn likes to put everything on social media. Last night I drove her home; we weren’t in her limo. I don’t know why she’d post a picture like that.”

Sloane sighed. Maybe Madelyn was just trying to goad her into fighting with Whit. She had played right into her hands. She was still feeling suspicious, but what else could she say? “Okay, I believe you. But you can’t keep things from me anymore. All right?” She was tempted to bring up the matter of breakfast with Athena this morning, but now didn’t seem like the right time.

He nodded. “Yes. Shall we go have dinner now?”

As she leaned forward to rise, the room began to blur, and Sloane gripped the arm of the sofa. She could see Whit’s mouth moving, but the words were unclear. The birds on the wallpaper slowly began to move, opening their wings and peeling away from the walls. She could hear them chirping as they began to fly around the room, the swirl of colors so beautiful. The breeze rushed across her face as they whizzed past, their wings flapping madly. She reached out to try and touch one, but it dipped up and down, its wings fluttering, and eluded her grasp. They were everywhere now, flying all around the room. Smiling at her as they came close to her face and then swept away. So beautiful! “Look at them!” she cried. “They’re everywhere.” A large red-winged blackbird turned and flew toward her. The orange and yellow, so pretty. It came closer and closer until its beak nearly touched her face. It was going to peck at her eyes. “Stop!” she screamed, sinking back against the cushion.

“Sloane, Sloane!” Whit’s voice broke through, and the bird disappeared.

“What happened? Where did the birds go?” Slowly it dawned on her. She’d had another hallucination.

Whit picked her up and carried her upstairs while she tried to make sense of what had happened. She’d experienced bad flares before but had never hallucinated. All of this had started after Athena moved in. She thought of the white stuff in her drink. It wasn’t stevia. Was the woman drugging her?

- 43 -

ATHENA

As soon as the words left her lips, Athena could have kicked herself. Hopefully Sloane hadn’t realized that Athena was lying when she told her that Whit had mentioned Emmy’s canceled Thanksgiving plans. She’d had Clint talk her through how to install an app on Sloane’s phone to tap it and she listened to her conversations every evening. Prior to her visit, Emmy had phoned to tell Sloane that she wasn’t going to be able to come for Thanksgiving after all. That was another sloppy mistake. Sloane was catching on.

Since Sloane had told her to take a break, she left and drove back to her apartment. She wanted to pick up a few more items of clothing. Despite her decision to keep some distance between her and Clint, she wanted to let him know that Sloane was not someone to be underestimated. She called him from the car on her way.

“Sloane’s sharper than we gave her credit for,” she said as soon as he answered.

“What are you talking about?”

“When I listened to the calls she made yesterday, I discovered she had cameras installed in her office to see if she could catch me doing anything wrong. She sent me on an errand there to test me.”

“And?”

“I made it look a little fishy at first. Going to her desk instead of the file cabinet. Then I rearranged two books on a shelf that were out of alphabetical order.”

“What? Another freak who arranges books that way?” He laughed.

“The point is, she’ll think that Brianna was overreacting. I passed the test.”

“I don’t like it. We need to get things wrapped up soon. Maybe we should rethink our strategy.”

Athena regretted calling him. “No. I’ve got it under control. I’ll check in with you later. Gotta go.” Athena inhaled deeply. She wasn’t about to listen to another lecture from Clint. She was beginning to think that their differences were too great. Clint had no real appreciation for everything that she’d been through, the losses that she’d suffered. She was the one putting her life on hold, unable to form any authentic attachments, while he went home to his family every night. He didn’t have to live with the regrets and guilt that she did. She’d learned all she could from him, she realized now. She didn’t need him anymore.

A new resolve filled her. She would amend the plan and do things her way. Clint would be pissed, but he’d eventually get over it. It would be her swan song—her greatest achievement yet. It was time to up her game. The only potential problem was Sloane. She was beginning to get suspicious, and that wasn’t good. Athena wasn’t about to let a jealous wife get her fired. She was going to have to be proactive. As they say, the best defense is a good offense.

- 44 -

SLOANE

The morning sun was streaming into the room when Sloane opened her eyes. She was in bed and in pajamas, the clothes she’d worn last night thrown across the back of a chair. When had she changed? Her eyes traveled to the far end of the room, where Whit sat by the window reading the paper.

“Whit?”

“Ah, you’re awake. How are you feeling?” he asked, folding the newspaper and putting it down.

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