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Max followed her, frustrated. “You know, this was always the problem in our marriage. I never knew where I stood with you. One minute you’re hot and the next you’re cold.”
“I am not the one who left, Max.”
Max looked at her, cinching the robe tighter. “Are you going to tell me last night wasn’t beautiful? That it didn’t feel…right? And I mean, you got dressed up for me. When I suggested I wanted to see the place, you invited me up. You want to tell me it meant nothing?”
She sighed and faced her ex-husband. “No, I won’t deny that when I saw that look in your eyes—that wanting—it kindled a lot of old feelings. Yes, I wanted to be with you, I wanted you to make love to me.”
“And it was great, wasn’t it? I’m not just fooling myself, am I?”
She turned from him. “It was everything I remembered. The passion, the way you touched me—”
He moved close and wrapped his arms around her. “I’d like to do that again—”
“The problem is, today in the light, I’m remembering all the stuff that pushed us apart. It’s all still there, Max.” She slipped out of his grasp. “I’m taking a shower.”
“I can wash your back,” Max suggested.
“Actually, I would like you to be gone before I’m done,” she insisted. “I know your number if I want to get in touch.”
She headed into the bathroom. Max followed several steps behind to find the door shut in his face.
6. Zig-Zag
Pro was at her desk as she went over a printout. It was a list of the emails from Albert Floss’s laptop. The NYPD cyber unit had gone through the machine and printed all of the senders and recipients by heading, though it didn’t contain the text of the email. She could ask for any specific one from the list now that they had access to his email accounts.
“Anything good?” Chu asked as he looked over her shoulder.
“A friend suggested to look for the person who was trying to buy that ‘Prism’ illusion.”
“By any chance, was the friend your father?”
“Yeah, and at first I told him to get lost. However, once I began to think about it, it seemed to make sense.”
“Good thinking,” Chu said and pointed at several entries that listed ‘mmarvell’ as the sender. “We did track down the emails your father sent and they are a bit damning.”
“How do you mean?”
“On one, he suggested he knew how to hide a body in ways no one could ever find it. This was among other threatening hints if Floss didn’t sell him back his illusion plans.”
“Doesn’t help him look innocent,” Pro said.
“Hard to believe the magic business is so cutthroat.”
She turned in the chair to look at her partner. “Not at all. My father had to be incredibly secretive when he created an effect. He would limit how many people were involved in building it. He often did prototypes himself, just to make sure no one else knew what he was working on. He really is an innovator.”
“Sounds like you’re proud of him.”
“What? No!” Pro grimaced, embarrassed. “I’m just aware of what he’s done. It’s important to our case.”
“So you saw him. Did you visit him?”
Pro’s jaw set. “He was at my mother’s.”
“Really?” Chu said with a r
aised eyebrow.
She exhaled loudly. “He spent the night.”
