Page 35 of She Didn't See It Coming
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Derek Gardner,on the advice of his attorney, is driving himself to the police station. The detectives have left ahead of them. Alice, to his annoyance, has insisted on accompanying him to the station, although he tried to dissuade her. His business attorney has recommended a criminal attorney, Joe Pagett, from their firm, Roten & Pagett, who is meeting them at the station for the interview. Derek is simmering with rage, although he doesn’t think you would know it to look at him. Alice knows though. Alice knows him better than anyone. And he knows Alice better than anyone. They are alike. They understand each other. They are a team. Theirs is not a typical relationship, they both know that. They are not typical people; they are not like everybody else. They are outliers. They both feel so lucky to have found each other.
That’s not to say they always trust each other. Right now, Alice doesn’t seem to trust him. She clearly doesn’t believe him when he says he didn’t have anything to do with Bryden Frost. It’s not like he can offer to take a lie-detector test for her, because they both know he can beat one of those. So can she. They are both expert liars. Both members of Mensa. They tell each other that they love each other, whatever that is. They have a partnership based on sex, intellect, ambition, and joint interests. But love? They don’t really know what that is.
Before they left for the police station, she’d said, “Well?” She’d folded her arms across her chest, still in her silk bathrobe, looking like a film star.
“Alice, I swear on my life, I had nothing to do with this woman. You know you’re the only one for me.”
She studied him, unconvinced. After all, he’d strayed before. But they’d worked that out. They are on the same team now. They can’t betray each other again. They’ve made a commitment. They havemade vows that are stronger than marriage vows. Theirs are written in blood.
“You’re not lying to me, are you?” she asked. “Because if you are—”
“I’m not lying to you. I made a promise, remember? I keep my promises.” He kissed her.
All the way to the station, she keeps banging away at him. “If there’s anything I should know, you ought to tell me.”
“There’s nothing you should know.”
“If you might be in any trouble, I can help,” she says.
“I know, but I’m not in any trouble. Trust me.”
“You didn’t kill her and stuff her in a suitcase? Because if you did, just admit it. I might still be able to forgive you.”
“I did not kill her,” he says.
She falls silent and starts scrolling on her phone. She stares intently at something on the small screen. “You lied to me,” she says, her voice chilly. She holds the phone up to his face while he’s driving, and he glances at it.
“What?” he asks.
“That’s her picture. She’s very attractive. You said she wasn’t.”
“I didn’t say she wasn’t attractive,” he answers. “I said she wasn’t as attractive as you.”
22
Lizzie is a nurse, and taking care of people is what she does best. She is able to put her own needs and feelings aside as required. She knows that no matter how bad things are, someone must keep functioning, keep things together. Now, in her sister’s living room, she regards the rest of them and notes the grief, the lethargy, the tension. She’s put Clara in front of the TV in the other room for now.
She’d watched, earlier that morning, when Sam had told her that her mother wasn’t coming back, that she was in heaven now. He’d handled it sensitively, Lizzie thought. But Clara hadn’t seemed to understand. “Mommy’s coming back,” she said.
“No, Clara, she’s not. She’s in heaven.”
Clara shook her head. Lizzie had caught Sam’s eye, seen the desperation there.
Lizzie thinks they should get some professional help for her; she’lllook into that. Maybe this kind of denial is normal. But tomorrow she thinks Clara should go back to day care. A crime scene with everyone moping around waiting for developments is no place for a little girl. And she doesn’t want to ask too much of Angela. Sam is going to need her.
“When will we get the autopsy results, do you think?” Lizzie asks now.
They all look at her blankly. Then Sam says, “I don’t know, they didn’t say, did they?”
He looks like he can’t rub two thoughts together, Lizzie thinks. She turns to Paige. She’s never really liked Paige. She thinks that it’s probably because Paige has always seemed rather glamorous. Though she doesn’t seem very glamorous now. Or maybe it’s because Paige was Bryden’s best friend in the world, and until Bryden went to college and met Paige, Lizzie had always considered herself to be her sister’s closest friend. But perhaps that was never really true. Or maybe it’s because Bryden once said carelessly that Paige was Clara’s favorite babysitter, and Lizzie had always thought that she was Clara’s favorite babysitter. When she’d said as much to Bryden, her sister had answered, trying to be conciliatory,But you’re her favorite aunt.Lizzie hadn’t replied. She knew perfectly well that she was Clara’s only aunt.
Lizzie says, “I’m going to call them right now, for an update.”
“Yes. Call them,” her father says.
She has already entered Detective Salter’s number into her contacts. She presses the number on her cell as they all watch. But it goes to voicemail. Lizzie disconnects without leaving a message and huffs unhappily. “I’ll call back later.”
