Page 69 of The Wife

“They won’t. The only way that would happen is if Jason was somewhere other than my place, and he wasn’t. So your story’s fine.”

“Okay, but Jason really was there with you, right? Every minute?” I pressed a palm against my eyes, wondering if I was getting an actual migraine.

“Yes. Of course. Don’t worry about it. Given Kerry’s history, she probably hooked up with a guy and will turn up later tonight.”

As I hung up, I realized that just as I had grown accustomed to covering for Jason, Colin could be doing the same, especially after what happened between us the day before. Colin was hardly ever home. Had he really stayed at the apartment all night with Jason?

And I thought about Spencer. I had managed to drag him into my lie. If I called him now, they’d say I told him to back up the false alibi.

I tried to imagine what Spencer would do if the police contacted him. If I had to guess, he would tell them he wasn’t saying a word without his mom. It was the way I raised him. I was his person. On the other hand, if he didn’t see the harm—and he wouldn’t, because I had sent him up to that camp so he’d be oblivious about what was happening here—he’d repeat my stupid story about sending Jason out for an avocado. And then what?

I was trying to decide what to do when my phone rang. A 914 area code, Westchester. Spencer’s camp counselor. I steadied my voice. “Hi, Kate. Is everything all right?”

“Spencer’s fine, but I wanted to let you know that he’s been in the infirmary—he managed to get into some poison ivy.”

“Can I talk to him?”

“Yep, I’m sure he’d like that.”

“Hey, kiddo. You doing okay?”

“I want to cut my left arm off, but I’ll probably live. It itches like hell.”

“They gave you something?”

“Some stinky lotion and a Benadryl, but she won’t give me the hard stuff!” He was yelling to make sure Kate heard the last part.

“Good. Hey, Spencer, I need to ask you something, okay? If anyone—anyone at all—asks you about when you called last night, I need you to tell them that you spoke to both me and Dad, okay?”

“Mom, what’s wrong?”

“I just need you to do that for me, okay?” I tried to keep my voice from cracking. I was asking the most honest person I knew to lie.

“Yeah, okay.”

Spencer would do whatever I requested, in part because I never abused the privilege. I saw how other moms barked orders at their kids. I never told Spencer to do anything blindly without explanation, not even to talk to his own father when he was angry at him.

I hung up, ashamed that my son’s loyalty had provided a solution to my problem, but relieved. There had to be a reason for the timing, right? I saw it as a sign that the gods were trying to help.

My final phone call was to Jason’s office. He had told me he had back-to-back client meetings, trying to save some business. He wouldn’t have canceled them.

“Fair Share Strategies, this is Zack.” Jason had forwarded his direct line to Zack’s extension.

“Hey, Zack. It’s Angela.”

“Ah, yes. Jason’s in a meeting, but he told me to interrupt him if you called.”

The brief hold felt like an eternity. I had let these allegations from other women get into my head. When I saw Jason yesterday, I had convinced myself that he was guilty of victimizing not only them, but me. I had even wondered if he had ever really loved me. Now I knew how wrong I had been. He wasn’t perfect, but he wasn’t a predator.

“I’m so glad you called.” I had kicked him out of his own house, and yet he sounded genuinely happy to hear my voice.

“Jason, Kerry Lynch is missing. Please tell me you didn’t do this because of me.”

44

From: Jason Powell

To: [email protected]

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