Page 403 of The Sinner: James

“I don’t think this thing is working for you,” she says, swinging past people, slicing her way down the busy streets of New York.

“Writing?”

“Uh-huh. You get too anxious, sitting alone in a room… writing.”

“I have to finish this book.”

“Finish it and take a break. Get out. Travel. Go visit James.”

“Visit James??”

“Yeah. Why the hell not? I get it that you don’t want to follow him around like a lost puppy, but you should visit him once in a while. See what he’s up to.”

I laugh.

“Are you saying I should show up unannounced?” I ask, a grin tilting my lips.

Her chuckle fills my ears.

“I don’t know about that. It’s up to you. I wouldn’t do it. I, um... think? But I would go see him. How long has it been since you saw him last time?”

“Three weeks.”

“That’s a lot of time.”

“I’m not flying to Asia just to see him. No fucking way.”

“Didn’t you say he’d travel to Europe now that Ed comes home?”

“Yes. Next week.”

“There. Where is he staying?”

“The same place. Hotel de Paris Monte Carlo.”

“Perfect. You should go there, and if you find those two men we spotted three weeks ago, make sure you let them know I’m still thinking about them,” she says, pushing the door open to one of New York’s finest gym clubs.

Her footsteps echo in a hallway.

She swings past the reception area before entering the locker room.

“What do you think?” she asks.

“Huh?”

“About my idea?”

“Um... I’ll think about it.”

“If you don’t want to fly to Europe, come here. There’s a music festival in Central Park this weekend, and we can spend some time over there and go shopping afterward. Eat out at a nice restaurant,” she says, shedding her work clothes and pulling on her athletic gear.

“I could do that,” I say, musing.

“Good. I’ll cancel all my dates,” she says so seriously I almost believe her for a second.

But then she laughs.

“I wanted to see if you were paying attention to me.”

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