Sleep No More

“But not outside the realm of what a grief-stricken mother might seize on as a reason for her suffering.” Penn stopped swinging, his eyes somber. “Tell me the truth. After Lily lost those babies, did you never feel-even for a moment-that what you had forced Mallory to do was somehow the cause of it?”

Waters stood with his mouth open. Though he wanted to deny it, he could not.

“Guilt is a powerful thing, John. Especially in a man like you, with a highly developed conscience. I know, because I’m the same way.”

Waters walked over and sat in the swing beside Penn. He had to cling to the chains to hold himself steady. “If your goal was to blow my mind, you succeeded. I’m willing to consider your theory. You say Lily and Cole are in this together. Sleeping together. But Lily doesn’t even like sex. After she lost those babies, we basically went without it for four years.”

“Maybe that should tell you something.”

“Like what? That she’s sleeping with my best friend? A guy whose sexual habits she despises?”

“After Lily lost the baby, were you patient with her about resuming sex? Very careful and considerate?”

“Of course!”

“Maybe that wasn’t what she needed. Maybe that made her think about it too much. Maybe she needed someone to just take her and be done with it.”

“No way.” Waters struggled to control his temper. “That’s not Lily. I know my wife.”

Penn reached out and touched his shoulder. “None of us really knows anyone. Not even our own parents or siblings. And last night, Lily showed you that she has a lot more sexual knowledge and skill than you ever suspected.”

“This is bullshit.” Waters got out of the swing and kicked it against a wooden post. “I can’t even remember what it felt like to be normal!”

“The normal man is a fiction,” Penn said. “There is no ‘normal.’ Not for women either. Your life is on the line now, John. You have to face reality, no matter how terrible it might be.”

Waters had heard all he wanted to. He got out his keys and started walking back toward the house.

“Where are you going now?” Penn called.

“The office. I want to talk to Sybil.”

“About Cole and Lily?”

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

“Be careful. Call me if you find out anything important. And let’s talk later today in any case.”

“I’ll call you.”

“Don’t forget.”

Waters gave him a dispirited wave and walked around the side of the house to the street.

Sybil Sonnier walked into Waters’s office wearing a Black Watch skirt and a forest-green blouse. He had buzzed her the way he normally would, and she stood waiting as though expecting a request for photocopies. He wasn’t sure how to begin. He’d never gotten to know Sybil very well, and her mood had not been the best for some time. As the silence dragged on, her dark Cajun eyes widened, and she gave him a look like Am I in trouble?

“Is this about my work?” she asked finally, making Waters realize he’d been sitting there like a department store mannequin.

“Not exactly.”

He motioned her to the oxblood chair across from his desk. She folded her skirt over her knees and sat primly on the edge of the seat. Looking at her shapely calves, Waters knew his partner would not have been able to resist at least trying with her. But Sybil was no schoolgirl. She was twenty-eight and divorced, and Waters had seen her angry enough times to know she could handle herself.

“It’s actually a personal matter,” he said. “Do you mind if I ask you a few personal questions?”

Her cheeks pinked, but she shook her head.

“I’m worried about Cole,” he said, and waited for a reaction.

“I am too,” she said.

“May I ask why?”

“I think he’s in trouble. Bad trouble.”

“Do you have any idea what kind?”

“Money trouble.” Sybil looked suddenly self-conscious, or perhaps she was just being cautious. She might think her job was at stake. She was paid much better than most assistants in town, mostly for her discretion in business matters.

“What makes you say that?”

“I spend half my time telling his creditors he’s working lawsuits in Memphis or New Orleans.”

This shocked Waters. “I’m sorry, Sybil. I didn’t know you were having to cover for him to that extent.”

She shrugged. “I figured it went with the job.”

“It doesn’t. Though I’m sure Cole appreciates it.”

She closed up then, with a hard tightening of the skin around her lips and eyes.

“I didn’t mean to suggest-”

“I know,” she cut in. “But that’s what this is about, isn’t it? You want to know if I’m sleeping with him.”

Waters started to deny it, then gave up. “Sybil, if you’re having a relationship with Cole, it’s unprofessional and dangerous for the company. But you’re both adults, and that kind of danger is the least of our problems right now.”

“I know.”

“You do?”

She nodded, and something seemed to come loose inside her. “I’m really scared, John. I think he owes some Vegas loan sharks. I’m from South Louisiana, and I know what they do to you when you don’t pay your debts.”

“I can tell you really care about him. I care about him too. May I just ask you what I need to?”

“Go ahead.”

“Are you having sex with him?”

She averted her eyes for a moment. “Not now,” she said finally. “But I was. Until about a month ago.”

Until just before I saw Eve at the soccer field, Waters thought. “What ended it?”

“I’m not really sure. I think it may be the trouble he’s in. I don’t think he’s sleeping with anyone else.”

Penn’s theory came back to him like a knife in the belly. “Let’s change the subject for a second. Has my wife called up here for Cole lately? Or in the past few months? Or has he called her?”

Sybil looked as if something had suddenly occurred to her. “Do you think he’s having an affair with Mrs. Waters?”

“No, no. This has to do with money.”

“Oh.” She sniffed, then looked at the ceiling as she thought back. “No, I don’t think so. Wait-your wife did call for him once or twice in the past month. I just didn’t think anything of it at the time.”

“How many times did they talk, do you think?”

“Three, maybe? Four at the most.”

“Do you know what they talked about? Did you ever listen in?”

“No!”

“Did they have any other contact that you know of?”

“No.”

Waters made a mental note to request Lily’s cell phone records. “Sybil, what do you think about Cole?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Your bottom-line opinion, as a woman. Is he a good guy? A bad guy? What?”

She sighed and looked at the floor. Clearly she had spent a good deal of time pondering this question. “I’m really mad at him right now. Sometimes I think I hate him. But deep down, I think he’s a good man. I wouldn’t have slept with him if I didn’t think that. Will he ever leave his wife for me? I doubt it. But he has a good heart.”

Until this week, Waters would have agreed with her assessment. “Do you think he’d ever betray me, Sybil?”

“How? Like, do I think he’d sleep with your wife?”