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Isabelle had a moment of weakness where she retracted her anger and said, “Fine. Tell me what you can about why I’m in danger.”
Ari’s explanation was filled with vagueness to a degree Isabelle hadn’t realized was possible. “During a sort of…job I did a while back, a…well, a bad guy may have discovered some personal information about me and then he might have started following me. But I never saw a tail. So I don’t have any proof as such.”
“Why would any of that involve me anyway?”
“This happened after a…job in…well, another city. After the job was over, I took some personal time and came to Chicago to find you. It’s possible this man followed me to that swanky hotel where you used to work—”
“Wait. He followed you to my hotel? I never saw you there.”
Ari brushed a strand of hair off her brow, remaining quiet. Was she stalling? She swallowed hard. “I followed you because I wanted to tell you about the interesting personal information I’d only recently learned of. I also wanted to sort of make amends. I was trying to get my nerve up to talk to you.”
“And this personal information, what is it?”
“It’s about Gran and why you got left out of her will.”
Isabelle ignored the unexpected stab of crushing long ago pain that remark delivered. “I don’t care about that anymore.” I try not to.
Ari promptly lifted her arms like a maestro about to conduct a symphony of shit Isabelle didn’t want to hear. “Please let me finish, Iz—I mean, Isabelle.”
“Fine. Talk. But I never saw you in Chicago.”
“I know. I didn’t have the courage to speak to you when the time came. I let you walk past me.”
“I see. Why didn’t you call?”
Ari shrugged. “Same reason I haven’t for years. I expected you wouldn’t welcome me.”
“And the text a few weeks back announcing you were coming to my house here to explain some things?”
Her sister deflated a bit as if she realized all the hurt she’d wittingly or unwittingly delivered even most recently.
“I’m sorry I stood you up. It couldn’t be helped. Something really important came up.”
“Something important always comes up even all these years later. You know I pushed a very good friend of mine out my door to accommodate you.”
Ari leaned forward. “How many times do you want me to say I’m sorry, Isabelle?”
“Zero more times.”
Isabelle wanted to leave the booth. She didn’t want to be lured back into her sister’s life. She’d heard as much as she cared to. She put her hands on the edge of the table to scoot out of the booth, but Ari had stopped her.
“Wait. Please let me explain the rest. The danger part is that whoever followed me inside your hotel possibly saw you leave and thought that I changed clothes and exited the hotel dressed differently.”
“What are you talking about?”
Ari resumed, still talking with her hands. “I was keeping tabs on you, you know, trying to find a good time to get you alone and talk to you about all our personal stuff.”
She paused, lowering her voice. “But I let you walk past me without catching you like I’d originally intended. You left for the day, I lost my courage, and I didn’t follow you.
“It’s possible that the bad guys following me saw you and started following you that night. Perhaps they thought you were me in different clothing when you exited the building. They followed you from then on. At least that’s the theory I’m considering.”
“When was this?”
Ari blinked. “Well, it was about a month or so before you moved here to Montana. It’s possible that they followed you here, thinking it was me on a new…job.”
Isabelle lifted her arms into the air as well. “Are you saying that whatever crap you’re involved in has now leaked over into my life? And now these bad guys think I’m involved all of your shit?”
“Yes. I believe so. I can’t prove it, of course. This is simply some loose talk from some private contacts of mine back in Chicago.”
By this time both of them were waving their arms around at each other. Isabelle had heard enough. “Of course you can’t prove it. But I’ll bet I’m still in danger all the same. And so is everyone in my life, right?”
“Possibly. But I hope not. It’s possible they’ve already discovered you’re not me. Now that I’m here, perhaps they’ll back off and realize there are two of us. Have you noticed any unusual things lately?”
