Page 29 of The Wife

“That he’d kill me if I told anyone what happened at the hotel that night. Please help me. He’s not the man he pretends to be.”

20

When I got to FSS’s offices, Zack said Jason was out for a run. “Did he know you were coming in?” he asked.

I wanted to tell him it was none of his business, that I could pop into my husband’s office unannounced whenever I felt like it. And, no, I hadn’t called ahead. I was sick of Jason trying to protect me from the truth. I needed to ask him face-to-face why he had lied to me about the police coming to our house the night before. Instead, I said, “Oh, I had to return something at Barney’s, so I figured I’d surprise him. I’ll wait in his office.”

Two young men tried not to stare as I passed them in the hall. Interns. I recognized one as Wilson Stewart. I knew they’d be talking about me the second I was out of earshot.

I didn’t get up from my chair when he walked in. His T-shirt had a V-shaped ring of sweat down to his navel. He was thinner than usual. Why hadn’t I noticed that earlier?

He was still out of breath. “Hey you. Zack said you were here.” He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “Sorry, I’m gross. It’s still May, and it feels like the middle of summer. Don’t tell me global warming’s a hoax.”

“Can you close the door?”

He did as I asked and then turned to face me. “Okay.”

I had expected him to start explaining the second he saw me. He had to know why I was here.

“Just tell me the truth, Jason.”

“Babe, what are you—”

“Don’t insult me. There was no assault on our block last night.”

“Youchecked?”

“No. You don’t get to do that, Jason. You don’t get to lie to your wife and then complain that I was smart enough to figure it out.”

“Jesus, can I at least take a shower first?”

He flinched when the porcelain pencil cup that had been in front of me on the desk—the one that said “World’s Best Dad”—hit the wall two feet to his left. “Damn it, Angela. You on my ass is the last thing I need right now.”

“Why were the police really there, Jason? It’s about Rachel, isn’t it?” I thought again about those interns in the hallway. Did they know more than I did about what had happened between my husband and that girl in this office? “If you don’t tell me what you’re hiding, right now, I swear to god, I am picking up Spencer from school and taking him to my mother’s house. Stop lying to me.”

Jason looked defeated as he walked to his bathroom and grabbed a small white towel. He dropped into the adjacent chair and placed his head in the towel, his elbows propped on his knees.

“They asked me if I knew a woman named Kerry Lynch.”

I was glad he wasn’t looking up at me. I have a terrible poker face. I didn’t want him to know that I was already familiar with the name.

“Why?”

He shook his head back and forth. “It was the same detective who called me about Rachel when I was in Philly. She said a new witness name had come up. She asked if I knew her. I explained that Kerry’s the head of marketing for Oasis, that water company I told you about. I asked why she was asking. She said she wanted to know the nature of our relationship.”

“So what did you say?”

He shrugged. “That I know her from my consulting work.”

I shook my head. “Didn’t you have a meeting with her a few days ago?”

He stared at me blankly. “How did you know that?”

“You told me, remember?”

“I didn’t say her name.”

“It doesn’t matter, Jason. You told me about the meeting when we were talking about that company. When the police came to the house, whatexactlydid they ask you?”

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