ORDINARILY, I would love having an unexpected day off. I might go for a run, or go to my favorite massage place in Quincy. Or maybe get a manicure. Something about getting a manicure always lifts my spirits.
I don’t feel much in the mood for a manicure right now. Detective Santoro would probably use it against me. She’s able to afford a manicure. She’s obviously embezzling money.
God, haven’t they ever heard of Groupon?
So instead, after taking care of a few quick errands, I spend the entire day on my couch, listlessly flipping between the channels. I mostly end up watching reruns of old sitcoms I’ve already seen a dozen times before. I’m just killing time before Caleb comes by after work. He’ll make me feel better.
In the late afternoon, my phone rings. My first thought is that it’s Caleb, maybe on his way over early. But then when I look down, “Mom” is flashing on the screen. Great.
But I don’t have anything better to do, so I snatch up the phone. “Hello?”
“Natalie!” Again, she’s shouting into the phone at the top of her lungs. I only hope she’s not in public. “I heard they found that girl from your company! That she’s dead!”
“Yeah,” I mutter. “I know…”
“Do you know what the newspapers are saying?” she says. I’m not sure I want to know, but she’s definitely going to tell me. “They’re saying people at your company bullied her. Did you bully her, Natalie?”
“No! My God, Mom…”
“You should be kind to people who aren’t as popular as you are, Natalie.” Even though I’m thirty, my mother still loves to lecture me. “Even though she’s not as pretty as you are or as well-liked, you could still be nice to her.”
“I was nice to her!” “Obviously not.”
What is the world coming to when even my own mother thinks I’m a big old bully? “I wouldn’t bully someone, Mom.”
“Well, obviously you would.” She sniffs. “You have. Remember how you and that friend of yours, Tara, used to… you know…”
What does it take to get your mother to realize that you’re not a high school cheerleader anymore? “I was nice to Dawn. I swear it.”
“I know you, Natalie. I know what you can be like. Don’t you remember when…”
As my mother drones on, I hear a beep in my ear. I pull the phone away
—Caleb is calling. Thank God. “Mom, I have to go.” “Why? Where do you have to go?”
“I’ve got another call. Something for work.” I’m not about to tell her about Caleb. Not now, when everything seems so tenuous.
She grumbles a bit, but I’m not listening. I end the call and switch over to Caleb. He hasn’t called a moment too soon.
“Tell me you’re on your way over here,” I say. “Natalie, we have to talk.”
Oh no. Again? This is not leading anywhere good. “What? Why?”
“Look…” He heaves a long sigh. “That detective came to see me again…”
I can see where this is leading, and I don’t like it. “Caleb…”
“He kept pushing me.” He sounds anguished. “He kept asking me if I was sure I was with you the whole night. He kept talking about the penalty for lying to a police officer. That guy is scary.”
“Please tell me you didn’t…”
“I had to tell him the truth, Nat.” His voice cracks. “I told him that I left at 9:30. I’m so sorry.”
I want to reach through the phone and strangle him with my bare hands. “How could you do that to me? Do you know how this is going to look?”
“I’m sorry—I really am. But what was I supposed to do? Lie to a cop?”
“You already did it once. It’s not like he was going to find out.”
“He could have found out!” He’s just short of shouting. “I live in an apartment building. I’ve got a bunch of neighbors on my own floor. I saw somebody in the elevator on my way up. He could’ve easily found out I was lying.”
“He never would’ve found out.”
“You don’t know that. I could have gotten in a lot of trouble. Honestly, you shouldn’t have asked me to do it in the first place. It wasn’t right.”
I’m squeezing the phone so tightly, I’m shocked that it doesn’t crack in my hand. “You could’ve at least given me a heads-up. That detective already has it in for me. If you had told me, I could have told him first, at least. Instead of looking like a liar.”
He’s quiet for a moment on the other line. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I promise you, I wasn’t planning to tell him. He just… he got it out of me.”
As furious as I am with Caleb right now, I believe him. I know how persuasive and frightening Santoro can be. I can imagine Caleb cracking under the pressure. Especially since he didn’t feel great about lying in the first place. He’s right—I never should have asked him.
But in my defense, I thought he was utterly infatuated with me. Now I’m not so sure. And I had no idea how weak he is.
“I’m so sorry,” he says for what seems like the millionth useless time. “I mean, this hurts me too. I don’t have an alibi either now.”
Right, but so what? Santoro doesn’t think he’s the killer. That honor has been bestowed onto me and me alone.
“Do you still want me to come over?” he asks in a small voice. “Please don’t. I’d rather be alone.”
I don’t actually want to be alone, but I don’t even want to look at Caleb right now. My chest aches, and it hits me that the person I want to see most in the world right now is Seth, but then I remember he hates me.
It’s amazing how quickly I’ve become isolated from my entire social network. My boyfriend has betrayed me. My former lover thinks I’m a thief. And even my best friend was looking at me funny.
“I’ll come to the 5K tomorrow,” he says. A peace offering. “I’ve got my T-shirt all laid out on my dresser.”
“Fine.”
“I’m sorry, Nat.” Every time he says it, it’s a knife in my heart. “But I’m sure this will all blow over. I mean, you didn’t do anything wrong. How
could you have? That detective is just giving you a hard time.” “Yeah…”
Except there’s something more going on. I haven’t told Caleb about that ceramic turtle I found in my laundry hamper, and after he snitched on me to the detective, there’s no way I would consider it. But there’s a reason Santoro keeps hounding me. I don’t know what it is, but somebody has it in for me. I just don’t know who. Or why.
The doorbell rings, and I almost jump out of my skin. Even from the sofa, I can see the red and blue lights flashing behind the front door.
Oh no.
“Caleb,” I gasp. “I’ve got to go.” “Are you sure you’re all right?” “I… I’m fine. I have to go.”
Before he can answer, I end the call. I rise from the sofa, facing the lights of the police vehicle. Except it’s not just the one light on top of the detective’s car. It’s more than that. There are a bunch of police cars outside my house.
Something terrible is about to happen.
