Page 19 of Tapped

This is a treat he only gets when Jeff is gone. And now I know he wasn’t on extended fishing trips. Instead, he was speeding across the Pacific to the Bahamas with a boat full of cocaine. Jeff hates it when Chase crawls in bed with us and always sends him back to bed. He moves in his sleep almost as much as he moves when he’s awake. But tonight, of all nights, I want my son close to me.

Chase’s little face lights up. “Yes! Can I watch TV to go to sleep too?”

“Sure. Why not?” I can’t let on that depriving him of anything he asks for will feel like a knife to the gut.

A knife to the gut…

Shit. I need to quit having thoughts like that.

I take his empty cup and send him on his way. “Teeth, bathroom, and meet me in bed.”

He runs off to his bathroom as if nothing in the world could make him happier than having a sleepover with his mama. I have no clue what I’m going to tell him about Jeff. The only thing I am sure about is it will be a complete lie. I can barely deal with the reality of the position Jeff has put us in, there’s no way a five-year-old can begin to comprehend what his father has done.

What should have been a simple divorce with shared custody has turned into a primetime TV special. They won’t even have to work hard on the headlines, Jeff took care of that all on his own.

Husband runs cocaine in a luxury ocean liner to pay a contract killer to get rid of his wife and son for good.

Love and murder … the only hotter headline is sex. And since there hasn’t been any of that in the last year—and the year before that it was sparse and less than mediocre at best—primetime shows won’t get the trifecta.

I down the last swallow of my cab and set the crystal in the sink to deal with in the morning. It’s late, but I’m not sure any amount of sleep will prepare me for what I’ll have to deal with tomorrow.

Chase is jumping into the king size bed that’s still unmade from where I’m sure Jeff slept this morning. The last two weeks of his presence and attentiveness that set off every red flag and warning bell in my psyche didn’t translate to mornings. He was still asleep when Tonya got here to look after Chase and I left for work.

I flip on the TV to the same channel that distracted Chase when Andrew was managing my crisis. He crawls under the messy covers, and it’s everything I can do to ignore the churning in my stomach. All of a sudden, I want to rip the covers and sheets off the bed and burn the damn mattress that Jeff slept in less than twenty-four hours ago.

Instead, I lean in and press my lips to Chase’s forehead. “Settle in, baby. I’ll be right back.”

He tucks his arm around the long neck of a rumpled brontosaurus, strangles it in the crook of his elbow, and yawns. “Is Dad going to be mad that I’m here if he comes home?”

For the second time today, my eyes sting with tears. “No, baby, he won’t.”

And like a coward, I put off the conversation that his dad won’t ever return to this house if I can help it. I pull the covers under his arms to tuck him in and think of all the things I’m sure Jeff is angry about tonight. I’m sure his son sleeping on his side of the bed isn’t even on his list.

It doesn’t matter how iron clad my security system is or that a guard is sitting outside the house. Chase being out of my sight for even the shortest amount of time is nerve racking. I can’t get ready for bed fast enough.

I’m prepared for more questions since that’s what my inquisitive son is best at, but when I flip off the light to the bathroom and round the corner, I find him fast asleep. With my phone clutched in my fist, I rush out of the bedroom and move through my dark house to the banister that overlooks the two-story entryway. Through the window that reaches the ceiling, I see the SUV with the guard inside parked at the end of my drive.

“Stop freaking out, Evie. Get a grip,” I mutter to myself.

I hurry back to Chase and climb in next to him. He’s hogging the middle of the bed like usual, but I don’t care. I roll into him and pull his back to my front. He shifts against me, but his dead weight settles in an instant.

I check the cameras once more and regret creeps in that we didn’t go to my parents’ house. This isn’t any different than most nights Jeff hasn’t come home over the last year, but tonight is very different. I’m alone. So alone.

In my dark, silent house, nothing feels familiar. Even with my child in my arms, everything is new and foreign and…

Chilling.

My pillow is wet with silent tears, and I wonder how long this will last. How long it will be until the police find the killer Jeff hired.

If this goes on too long, I’ll lose my mind.

6

YOU’RE FIRED

Micah

When I woke up this morning, I never expected this. It’s almost midnight, and I’m so deep in paperwork, it would reach my elbows if it weren’t electronic. And since paperwork is about as appealing as a doctor asking me to turn and cough, it’s safe to say I’ve done the absolute minimum to appease management.

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