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With a start, Cora remembered what the captain had told her. “I’m so sorry to hear about your mom being sick.”
Alice cocked her head, frowning.
“Captain told us you were going to be taking care of her for a while,” Cora added softly.
Alice closed her eyes and began shaking her head.
“It’s so great that your mom has you there to help,” Cora continued, giving Alice a chance to pull herself together. “I hope she feels better soon.”
Alice had dropped her chin into her chest, bending slightly at the waist. To Cora’s dismay, her shoulders began to shake. Poor woman. Her mother must really be sick, or had she already passed away?
A wave of sympathy swept over Cora, and she wanted to comfort her. Alice wasn’t a touchy-feely person—at least, not with women—but Cora reached out to pat her on the back, anyway.
“Ha!” Alice jerked her head up with a gasp, her mouth stretched into a wide grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes. She was...laughing? “He told you my mom was sick?” She wiped a hand over her mouth, then turned abruptly and grabbed a bottle of wine from the shelf. “Of course he did. Figures Boyd would say that, the lying dog.”
Cora’s mouth fell open in surprise. “I’m not sure I follow.”
Alice spun around, pointing at her with the neck of the bottle. “Let me tell you something, Courtney.”
“Cora.” Jeez, they’d met over a dozen times. The woman should know her name by now.
“Right.” Alice jammed a hand on her hip. “You want to know what’s really going on? Here’s a hard, cold fact for you, Detective. Men are pigs. All men. No matter how good they seem in the beginning, or how much they shower you with compliments and promises and—” Alice stopped abruptly, her pretty face suddenly scrunching into a sneer as she studied Cora from head to toe. “Is ityou?”
Cora glanced around, wondering how much Alice had been drinking. Did she drive herself there? If so, Cora was going to have to call her a ride because she couldn’t let Alice drive herself home like this. “I’m Cora, Alice,” she said patiently. “From the Providence Falls Police Station?”
“I know who you are,” Alice said angrily. “Are you the one having an affair with my husband?”
Cora jerked back in shock. “Good God, no.Captain Thompson?Are you serious?”
Alice continued sneering, then rolled her eyes in dismissal. “Whatever. You know what? I don’t even care if you’re sleeping with him.”
“I am absolutelynothaving an affair with the captain,” Cora insisted. “Let me make that very clear.” She could go on and say that she found the captain to be extremely unattractive, both physically and in his utterly joyless attitude about life in general, but she didn’t want to insult Alice. She’d married him, after all. The captain was good at his job, but Cora could never be in a relationship with someone so stoic and jaded. He was like one of those cantankerous uncles who got invited to Thanksgiving dinner even though nobody really wanted to talk to them. A romantic relationship with Captain Thompson? Cora barely suppressed a shudder. Just,no.
“I’ve spent ten years with that jerk,” Alice said, grabbing two more bottles off the shelf. “And in all the time we’ve been married, he never once took me on a fancy vacation. Did you know that? No trips to Fiji like he promised when we were dating. No summer house in the Hamptons like I used to dream about. It’s always ‘Not this year, Alice’ and ‘That’s too expensive, Alice’ and ‘You should know better than to ask, Alice.’” She was getting louder, and Cora barely resisted the urge to shush her. “But he’s a liar. He made promises to me about what our life would be like, and it went from pie in the sky to mud in my eye.” She let out a harsh laugh. “And here I am, ten years older with nothing but a closet full of clothes I have to buy on credit cards behind his back because he says it’s—” she made air quotes with her hands “—frivolous spending. But then what do you suppose I find when I’m going through his stuff?” She was growing angry again, spittle flying from her mouth like a hissing cobra. “A ritzy necklace in one of those velvet boxes. You know, like from those bigwig jewelry stores? But it’s not for me.Not for me,” she emphasized bitterly. Then her voice cracked, and the rest of her words came tumbling out in jagged pieces. “That’s what he said. ‘It’s not for you, Alice.’”
Cora’s heart ached for the dejected woman. She clearly believed her husband was having an affair, though Cora couldn’t imagine the captain having time to cheat on his wife. He always seemed so stressed out, but maybe this was one of the contributing factors. Maybe he really was seeing someone behind her back. Alice was now openly weeping, and Cora searched for something to say. Anything to ease her suffering. “Alice, I’m—”
“There you are, hon,” an older woman said, ambling up to Alice.
Alice quickly swiped at her tears and straightened her spine.
The woman was shaped a bit like a teapot, with gray hair, navy stretch pants, and a flowery tunic top. She had a bedazzled denim purse slung over her shoulder and a slushy drink in her hand. “I’ve been waiting in the car, but it’s too hot even with the windows rolled down, and you know that air conditioner’s broken. You coming, or what?”
“I’ll be right there, Mom.”
“Mom?” Cora watched the older woman leave. She didn’t look sick at all.
“Yup. That was my mom,” Alice said in a bitter, singsong voice. “Alive and well. So now you know the truth, Courtney. I left my cheating husband and I’m back to cornflake casseroles andJeopardy!marathons with my mom. Ain’t life grand?”
Before Cora could answer, Alice walked away.
16
LIAM TRUDGE INTO his bedroom on Saturday evening, kicking his shoes off and flopping onto the bed with a groan. He’d spent the past twenty-four hours scouring the town for Finn with no luck, and time was running out. He felt like he was trapped inside an hourglass, and every second that passed was a falling grain of sand threatening to bury him. In just a handful of days, the month was going to end. And what did he have to show for it?
Angel jumped onto the bed, snuggling in beside him.
“Nothing, that’s what,” he told the purring cat. Not even the angels were helping him anymore. What he needed was a sign. Some last vestige of hope to keep him going. Otherwise, if he was only going to fail, what was the point of trying anymore? He was so tired of fighting this uphill battle, and nothing he did ever seemed to work in his favor.
