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“At a much more manageable level, but yes.” She didn’t notice until Meredith got in the car. Once the direct line to the scent cut off, the connection hit Elisa. She’d smelled it before and she knew exactly when.
“Does that mean she got a key to our house from Josh?”
Elisa tried to hide the shiver that ran through her. It shook her from head to foot. “She could have taken it without him knowing, though I know he has a new key.”
Harris nodded. “He asked me for a second one.”
Interesting he never mentioned that until now. “Why?”
“He gave me what I thought was a reasonable answer, but now I see it as a half-assed explanation about leaving his at work one day. He said it dawned on him it made sense to have two. Just in case.”
That new alarm system better have an anti-Josh program. “When?”
“I can’t remember. Before we met Rachel.” Harris swore under his breath. “I’m going to kill him for lying to me.”
They finally agreed on something about Josh.
Chapter Forty-Five
Perpetual play had to get dull at some point. Not yet, but the sensation rumbled in the background. No matter how tempting it was to rage on, if only for a bit longer, the downsides began to pile up. The opportunity for mistakes increased. The joy of savoring might become obvious.
The solution? Action. As immediate as possible.
With the final piece accomplished—put into motion but not yet triggered—there was no valid reason to wait other than the game had become addictive. A habit. That was the biggest clue that the time had come for a big finish.
No more acting. No more tolerating.
All of the planning and waiting came down to this. One last punishing blow. A final slice that would leave blood pooling on the floor.
Literally.
This wouldn’t be quick. No, this demanded the slow drip as a life sputtered out of existence. A show. An ending fitting in size and scope to all the work and sacrifice that had gone into creating the moment.
It would get wild before the end. A full-blown, crazy-ass,no one was safeaffair.
Accusations. Worries. Pain.
But was there ever enough pain? If everything went as predicted, yes. This time there would be enough to make all the work worth it.
Chapter Forty-Six
Elisa almost celebrated Harris getting back on his regular work schedule the next day. He’d tried to call Josh last night and talk about Meredith. Even asked to come over but Josh said he had something special planned with Rachel and they’d talk later.
That answer satisfied Harris, for now, but it had the opposite effect on Elisa. It touched off mind-numbing panic that had her up and pacing the downstairs long after the rest of the household had gone to sleep. She tried several times to reach Rachel. Elisa didn’t relax until Rachel finally texted back to say everything was fine and offered to stop by with Josh tomorrow. It was the one time Elisa welcomed a visit.
The confrontation with Meredith, all the lying, and Rachel’s doubts set off a countdown inside Elisa. She couldn’t fight the sensation of a timer going off. She knew things were about to explode in some destructive way, and she needed to get ahead of it.
Still dizzy and exhausted, she set up a meeting with Shelby. Maybe if they talked through strategy and whatever Shelbyhad discovered about the line of women in Josh’s life, Elisa could have some peace. Some sense that Rachel was safe for at least a little while longer.
She made Shelby promise there’d be no talk about the shooting. Elisa couldn’t handle one more stressful topic. She felt stomped on and empty. She also needed more time to talk with Harris about lawyers and lawsuits. More time to explain why she was using their money to investigate his brother.
An hour after Harris and Nathan left the house, Elisa sat in Shelby’s familiar conference room. Elisa sipped on a cup of tea. She’d taken a pill this morning for anxiety and felt a jolt of panic when she saw how close she was to the bottom of the bottle.
Getting back to the therapist so she could get a new prescription amounted to theone more thingher mind refused to deal with right now.
Shelby came into the room and slid into the seat across from Elisa. “Good morning.”
“Sorry for the emergency call.”
