“When?” Jamie asked.
“The end of the school year, probably. I’m sorry. I was so happy you came back, and here I’m the one to leave.”
Jamie tried to sound enthusiastic, but she already felt bereft. If it weren’t for Cooper, she knew she’d be thinking of leaving herself . . . but, of course, there was Emma.
Harley came home from school with Marissa, who was planning to spend the night. Jamie made a point of calling Laura to make sure they were really on the same page, but Cooper’s ex was perfunctory, saying it was fine with her as long as Marissa felt safe and now she had to go.
Marissa overheard just enough of the conversation to offer an opinion. “She’s really scared. David’s gone. She kicked him out. We’re both scared.”
“What happened?” Jamie asked, knowing she was prying, but not caring.
Marissa shrugged. “I think he took some money and lied about it and got caught.”
“From the law firm? You said he lost his job.”
Harley, who’d been listening in silence up till then, chipped in. “He’s an embezzler?”
“Nobody tells me anything. They’re trying to protect me.” Marissa made a face. “But that’s what I’d guess.”
Jamie sent a silent message to Teddy Ryerson, hoping he was doing as he’d said, fighting as her financial advocate.
The rest of the evening passed uneventfully. Jamie picked up Emma from work, giving Theo a break from driving, and brought her home. The two pumpkins on the porch had been lit and were glowing in the descending nightfall as Jamie pulled into the driveway. “Halloween is too far away,” Emma complained.
“Not that far,” Jamie said. She’d been trying to think of how to ask her about Alain Metcalf and finally decided to just come out with it. “Emma, I want to ask you a question, and I want an honest answer.”
“All my answers are honest.”
“Yes. Okay. That’s true. But I want you to think hard before you answer this question. It might be a difficult one for you, but I think you can answer it. Just try not to get upset, okay?”
“Okay.”
They were sitting in the car in the driveway. Beyond them was the backyard, already deeply shadowed. Emma turned to face the garden and said, “I had a dream about Mom. I was driving her car. And we were sailing in the clouds and she said, ‘Emma. He’s bad news.’”
Jamie seized on that. “Your boyfriend? The one Mom called bad news? Was that Dr. Alain Metcalf?”
Emma jerked as if stung. “You know him?”
“He was your boyfriend?” she pressed. “Alain Metcalf?”
Emma didn’t speak for a moment, then finally said, “That repairman’s name was Allen. Not spelled the same way.”
Allen who’d replaced their dishwasher? “That’s why you noticed him? Allen?” she asked quickly. “Because his name was the same as Dr. Metcalf’s?”
“Not spelled the same,” she repeated.
“But similar. Similar enough for you to remember?”
“Similar,” said Emma.
“So, Alain Metcalf was your boyfriend when you were in high school?” Jamie tried again, seeking to pin Emma down. Maybe Cooper’s hunch was paying off.
Emma started to breathe harder. Jamie recognized the signs that Emma’s anxiety had been triggered and she was heading for another fit.
“You see his eyes,” Jamie said quickly, hoping to intervene and stave off full-blown hysteria. “Where? Where, Emma? Where do you see his eyes?”
She blinked, and her breath quivered.
“Where, Emma? Where do you see his eyes?”
“I see his eyes . . .”
“Where, Emma? Where? Behind the mask? Emma! Behind the mask?”
“Yes! I see his eyes! I see his eyes!”
“Stop! Stop! Slow down, slow down. Stop. It’s okay, Emma. It’s okay. He’s not here. He’s not here. He can’t hurt you.”
“I see his eyes.”
“Take a breath. Stop. I’m here for you. Right here!”
Emma threw a wild glance Jamie’s way. She was hyperventilating, but she was clearly trying to get a grip on herself.
“It’s Metcalf ’s eyes behind the ski mask. That’s who it is, right? Your boyfriend. Dr. Alain Metcalf. He came to the Ryersons to see you . . . ?”
Emma slowly lifted her hand near her ear, as if she were cradling a phone receiver. “I love you. Don’t yell at me. I love you! Come over . . .”
Jamie stopped, aware this was more than she’d ever gotten from Emma before. “Did he attack you at the Ryersons’? Your boyfriend?”
“We were supposed to have sex, but he was mad. He came over . . . and I could see his eyes inside the mask. But I knew . . . I knew . . .” Her voice was a mere whisper.
Jamie leaned toward her to hear.
“I know who you are!” she suddenly yelled.
Jamie jumped and gasped at her loud voice.
“He said it was a pipe dream. He said he wouldn’t marry me because it was a pipe dream.”
Jamie looked at her sister, her own breath coming short and fast. “He’s dead, Emma,” she said gently. This was as close to an eyewitness account of the attack on her as anything Jamie was likely to get. “He can’t hurt you anymore.”
“He was bad news, but I loved him,” she said gravely.
“I know you did.” She wanted to grab Emma’s hand and console her, but she knew Emma needed to make the first move.
Emma looked from the garden back to Jamie. “Are you going to have sex with Cooper again?”
Jamie wanted to brush that aside, but that rarely worked with Emma. “Probably,” she admitted.
“It’s very personal.”
“Very personal,” Jamie agreed.
* * *
Cooper’s phone buzzed as he was leaving work. He’d stayed later than he’d intended, updating reports. He was just grabbing his coat when his cell rang, and he saw it was Bette Kearns. “Can you stop by?” she begged. “Phil’s not here and I don’t feel safe.”
“Where are your kids?”
“With Phil. I just want you to come by . . . there’s something
