She was worried about the baby and didn’t want to do anything thatmight put her at risk. So she took one large step forward and spread her arms wide,blocking Ariana’s momentum. The young mother, realizing she had nowhere to go,stopped. But that didn’t prevent her from yelling.
“I heard everything!” she shouted over the baby, who had gone fromwide-eyed confusion to terrified crying. “I wanted to believe you. You said youjust wanted to relax, that you didn’t want any part of that group sex stuff. Itold myself I could trust you. But I had a feeling. I just knew it. I knew thatthe only reason you really wanted to stick around was to be a part of theirlittle game. You disgust me!”
Theo was standing behind his desk like it was a shield that mightprotect him. He looked genuinely fearful.
“Ariana,” Jessie said softly, forcing the woman to meet her eyes,” Iknow you’re upset. You have every reason to be. But look at your child. She’sscared. You’ve got to think about her.”
“He wasn’t thinking about her when he decided to have athreesome the second I was gone.”
“I just—” Theo began to protest. But Jessie cut him off so that he didn’texacerbate the situation.
“No, he wasn’t,” she agreed, “and he’s going to pay a price for that.But right now, we need to cool things down a little. So here’s what’s going tohappen. You’re going to hand me Ginny and I’ll pass her over to Theo.They’ll stay in here for a little while. You and I are going to the kitchen toget some water and take a breath. Then we’ll reevaluate, okay?”
She looked back and forth between them. Theo’s face was pinched inapprehension and his hands squeezed the back of his chair, as if he was readyto use it to defend himself if necessary.
Ariana Aldridge didn’t look like she was especially enthused with theidea, but after a few seconds her face softened slightly and she nodded. She whisperedsoothing shushes to the baby as she handed her over to Jessie, who in turn puther in Theo’s outstretched arms.
“Don’t leave this room,” she ordered, and then turned back to his wife.“Why don’t you lead the way to the kitchen?”
Ariana, who no longer looked like she might jump across the desk to getat her husband, gave him one last, sickened stare and left the room. Jessiefollowed her, keeping enough of a distance that she had time to react if thewoman changed her mind and charged back to the office. It turned out not to benecessary.
They reached the kitchen and Ariana walked over to a cabinet and pulledout two glasses.
“Is tap okay?” she asked. “Or would you prefer mineral water?”
“Tap is fine,” Jessie said. She wasn’t really thirsty. She was justhoping that having the woman perform an everyday task would get her back on theroad to normalcy.
As she waited, she rested her hands on the kitchen counter and allowedherself a moment to regroup. She casually scanned the messy countertop, coveredin empty baby bottles, pacifiers, and a pile of unopened mail. Next to a set ofkeys rested a checkbook with several pieces of paper sticking out. Glancing atthem absently, she noticed a name at the bottom of one. It said: CatalinaCouriers. Looking closer, she saw that there were multiple receipts with thename.
“Ice?” Ariana asked with her back to Jessie as she opened the fridge toget herself some.
“Sure.”
As Ariana rifled through the ice tray, Jessie slid out the receiptsslightly and saw that they weren’t receipts at all. They were ticket stubs.There were four of them.
Ariana closed the fridge and turned around to hand over the glass.Jessie’s body was tingling slightly, though she couldn’t quite place why.Something just felt off.
“I hate to impose but do you think I could have a little something toeat?” she asked. “I didn’t have lunch. Even a few crackers or a granola barshould tide me over.”
“No problem,” Ariana said. “That’s all in the pantry. Just give me asecond.”
“Thanks so much,” Jessie replied.
The second Ariana was out of sight, Jessie moved the stubs out furtherso she could read them all clearly. The first two made sense. One was a ticketfrom Long Beach Terminal to Avalon on Friday afternoon. The second was a returntrip to Long Beach on Saturday afternoon. That one was clearly Ariana’sunexpected, rushed return to the mainland after bailing on the swingers’weekend.
She assumed the other two stubs would be for Theo’s outbound and returntrips, but they weren’t. The third stub was another trip from Long Beach toAvalon on Saturday night, arriving at 6:30 p.m. The fourth was for a returntrip on the first ferry out on Sunday morning at 9 a.m.
Jessie stared at the collection of tickets, letting the magnitude ofwhat she was seeing coalesce in her brain. There was only one logicalexplanation for these timestamps. Ariana Aldridge, despite her claims of havinggone back to L.A., had apparently returned to Catalina on Saturday night withouttelling anyone.
“You said a granola bar was okay?” Ariana asked as she stepped out ofthe pantry with one in her hand.
She looked at Jessie and then down at the counter. Her expression madeit clear that she understood what had been uncovered.
“It’s not what you think,” she said defensively.
“What is it then?” Jessie asked, not making any sudden movements. Arianahadn’t run away or attacked her, and there was no reason to escalate thesituation if it could be avoided.
“I did leave the island,” she insisted. “You can see that from thestub.”
“But you went back.”
Ariana Aldridge sighed heavily as she put the granola bar on thecounter.
“Yes,” she admitted in a quiet voice. “The whole ferry ride back toLong Beach, doubts were racing through my head. By the time we reached theterminal, I was sure that Theo had stayed behind to cheat. I’d seen him oglingseveral hotel employees. I couldn’t just go home and pretend like it was no bigdeal. So I got a ticket for the very next ferry back to Avalon and turned rightaround.”
“Where did you go once you arrived?” Jessie asked.
“I checked in at the cheapest hotel in town. Then I
