Page 9 of The Atonement
“Thanks.” I tore open one of the containers and poured the liquid into my drink, stirring it slowly.
For the past six days, I’d worked tirelessly to track Ainsley down. I’d never been so thankful I’d decided to put in an emergency escape plan, on the off chance something went wrong in that room, though I’d never expected thatsomethingto be what it was. After escaping the room that day and taking care of a few housekeepingitems like burying Joanna’s body, I checked the bank account.
After she’d killed our therapist, Ainsley said they were going away, but she hadn’t said where. Luckily, the charge to the Panama City hotel was easy enough to track. She thought she was so smart—always one step ahead of me—but this time, I’d proved her wrong. This time, I was the one ahead of her. I’d found them at the hotel, watched how she moved so freely through life, as if she didn’t have a care in the world. As if she wasn’t a walking, talking husband murderer.
I could’ve gone after her. Could’ve chased her down and confronted her right then, but I’d been working on my impulse control. Ironic, isn’t it? My impulses were what got us into this mess, and now I wanted to learn to control them?
Hm.
Well, better late than never, I guess.
So, rather than acting, I watched. Observed. Though she tried to hide it, I saw her checking over her shoulder more than once. Was she looking for me then? Or maybe just the police?
Did she worry about that?
I had the feeling my wife never worried much at all.
But she should’ve.
At least, she should now.
After two days of watching, I sent the text to let her know I’d escaped. I wanted to see how she’d react. Wanted to see the fear in her eyes. Wanted to watch it settle into her bones. I wanted fear and terror andparanoia to permeate every inch of her body, every nerve, every muscle, every cell.
I wanted to be her walking, talking nightmare. To haunt her every waking thought.
And it had worked—possibly better than I’d anticipated.
Within minutes, she’d loaded the kids into the car, stopped at the hotel just long enough to pack their bags into the car, and they’d left. I could’ve stopped them then, I supposed. And I thought about it. I was hidden in plain sight—my rental car completely unnoticeable when she was watching for our SUV, but I was having entirely too much fun pacing myself.
As long as I knew where she was, there was no need to rush. I could have fun with this.
For once, I’d stay ahead of her.
For once, my wife would be my prey.
CHAPTER FIVE
AINSLEY
The kids knew something was wrong.
I was doing a terrible job fooling them, despite my best effort. When I’d finally made it back to Mom’s house, they were sitting together on the couch while Mom flitted about, dusting this and wiping that. Maisy had a book in her lap and Dylan was scrolling through his phone while Riley played a video game on his handheld system.
To someone who didn’t know them, they might look normal, but I knew better.
Maisy had been staring at the same page for far too long to actually be reading, Dylan was scrolling so aimlessly I knew he wasn’t paying attention, and Riley was losing repeatedly at a game I’d seen him beat a thousand times.
I was hurting them.
I went upstairs, changing into something more comfortable and splashing water over my face beforereturning to the living room. Practically at once, the kids looked up.
“Hey, Momma.” Maisy’s smile was soft and hopeful.
I sank down next to her, patting her leg.
“Did you take care of everything?” Dylan asked. “Can we go home now?”
I had no idea what I was going to say or how I was going to explain any of this to them. I only knew I couldn’t put this off any longer.
