Josh assumed he was still guessing.
“Are you sure?” he said. “Why would Peterson—”
“Murder his son-in-law?” said Richard. “I wondered the same thing, but it’s actually quite simple. From what I was able to gather, Erica had a contentious relationship with Peterson, and he resented her for it. If he couldn’t have her, then no one could, so when he got out of prison, he knocked off her husband.”
He sounded triumphant, but Josh couldn’t share his satisfaction. He was too shaken by the events of the evening. His mind wandered back to the motionless line on the screen, and he suppressed a shudder.
“I guess we’ll probably never know for sure,” he said. “I’m glad Lisa wasn’t there.”
Richard became agitated once again.
“So Graham didn’t see the two of you?” he said.
“No, I don’t think so,” said Josh. “He was already in the room when we got here. He might have seen me at some point, but he couldn’t have seen Lisa.” He looked down at the cell phone in his hand. “This is hers. She must have dropped it while she was waiting for her mom. I’ll give it back to her when I see her tomorrow.”
“You’ll be lucky if you ever see her again,” said Richard.
Josh looked up, and Richard’s expression made his blood run cold.
“What do you mean?” he said.
Richard surveyed Josh as if he couldn’t decide if he should elaborate. Josh watched him, a creeping sensation of dread infiltrating his mind. Finally, Richard shrugged.
“The time has come,” he said. “I’m afraid your childhood is over. I wanted to protect you like I protected your dad, but there’s no point. You have to live in this world, and you won’t stand a chance unless you know the truth. Sure, maybe you’re scared of Graham in a theoretical sense, but—”
“Is Lisa okay?” said Josh.
“You’re worried about her,” said Richard, looking gloomier than ever. “That can only mean one thing. You love her. I assume your relationship with her progressed rather quickly after I left. Josh, giving your heart to another person is a risky business at the best of times, but it’s highly inadvisable when there’s a crowd of vindictive killers on the prowl. You shouldn’t have done it.”
“What happened to her?” said Josh.
Richard laid a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.
“I don’t know all the details, but I’m going to talk to the idiot who’s responsible for this mess,” he said. “You’re welcome to come along, but consider yourself warned: the more you learn about the situation, the more you’ll question yourself. Trust me, there’s nothing worse than looking back across the wreckage of your life and agonizing over the choices you’ve made.”
“I can handle it,” said Josh. He felt too sick with fear to say anything else. His only comfort was the realization that Richard tended to exaggerate. They took the elevator up to the second floor. Richard found the office he was looking for and opened the door without knocking. Josh saw Lisa’s father huddled at the desk with his face buried in his hands.
“Andrew, I got your message,” said Richard.
Lisa’s father raised his head.
“You’re too late,” he said.
“That’s ridiculous,” said Richard, pulling Josh into the office and slamming the door. “You called me less than an hour ago, and I got here as quickly as I could. What’s the catch? If Peterson wanted her dead, Graham wouldn’t have offered to make a deal. Why don’t you pull yourself together and tell me what’s going on?”
“This shouldn’t have happened,” said Lisa’s father. “Richard, where have you been? I’ve been calling you for weeks. If you’d picked up the phone even once, this whole thing could have been avoided. Graham wants the notebook, and if I don’t give it to him soon, he’s going to—”
“Kill her?” said Richard.
“Well, he didn’t actually say what he was going to do,” said Lisa’s father. He looked at Josh, a flicker of resentment appearing in his eyes. Josh suspected he blamed him for bringing Lisa to the hospital in the first place, and he almost felt like he deserved it. “Why is he here? You’re going to damage him irreparably.”
“I’m educating him,” said Richard. “Don’t worry. He’ll be fine. It’s not the first time I’ve entrusted him with vital information, and I doubt it will be the last.”
Josh wanted to blurt out the truth about the notebook, but he didn’t dare. He bitterly regretted his decision to destroy it. He told himself he was a coward; he could have hidden it somewhere, but he had gotten rid of it because he had been afraid. He tried to prepare himself for the chaos that would result when Richard discovered what he had done, but Richard seemed preoccupied with something else.
“Andrew, this doesn’t make sense,” he said. “Graham didn’t know Lisa would be here. Besides, he doesn’t do the dirty work himself. He gets other people to do it for him. Peterson would never trust him with something this complicated, and he certainly wouldn’t hesitate to describe all the gruesome things he intended to do to your daughter if you didn’t cooperate. Something else is going on.”
“What’s your point?” said Lisa’s father.
“Graham has gone rogue,” said Richard. “Peterson isn’t behind this kidnapping.”
Lisa’s father didn’t look impressed.
“I could have told you that myself,” he said. “Graham indicated as much when he originally asked me for the notebook, but who cares? Lisa is still gone. Even if we manage to get her back, she’s never going to be the same. I had such high hopes for her, but now she’s ruined forever. This is all my fault. I refused to listen to her and left her crying in the lobby. If I hadn’t done that—”
“Andrew, stop acting like this is the
