Meg had left for the day and I walked outside.
Agent Kenneth waited for me. His long trench coat was laughable.
“Good evening, Elliot.”
“Hi.”
We walked in silence to our usual bench. I sat next to him. I made sure to keep a wide gap between us.
He flicked the power button on the recorder he used to capture our conversations. I considered them interrogations, but he made sure to remind me I was a willing participant in the investigation. It didn’t feel that way. It was either this or federal charges. My license to practice law was in jeopardy. My residency. Everything I had worked toward hinged on these meetings.
“Let’s get back to where we left off yesterday.”
“Ok.” I waited for him to give more of a prompt. I didn’t volunteer information.
“You mentioned that West took a trip to Germany.”
“Yes. At least that’s what he told me. Who knows where he really went.”
“Assuming he did go to Germany. What can you tell me about the trip?”
And this was when the haze settled in over my eyes. I didn’t know what was real and what was fabricated. The more I talked to the agent, the more I doubted every conversation I had with Vaughn. The more I doubted the stories. The dates. The closeness we shared. I couldn’t tell anymore if any of it was real.
“He didn’t say much about it.” I tried to think. I heard about Germany the night we first slept together. The night I gave in to every impulse.
“Come on. He had to say something. You know how this works. I’m putting a big puzzle together. You are responsible for the pieces.”
I glared at the agent. “He was gone a week. He said he didn’t have time to make phone calls.”
“What else?”
I stared at a couple holding hands. They walked from the café deeper into campus.
“He had to go unexpectedly. And when he got there he thought it was only going to be for two days, but it turned into a longer trip. He had to push back our first date.”
“Hmm.”
“Does that mean something to you?” I asked. “Is he in Germany now?”
“I’m the one asking questions, not answering.”
I crossed my arms. “I don’t have anything else.”
In the past weeks I hadn’t been given any information on Vaughn. I didn’t know where he was. And there was no way to know. I had never been to his apartment. I had never seen his office. And of course that made complete sense to me now. Neither were real. There was a reason we always slept at my place. He was waiting for Greer, and he never wanted me to have a glimpse of his life. He had prepared for this moment.
“Are you sure? Did he say what city? How long it took him to get there? Anything like that?”
I rolled my eyes. “He did bring me a gift.”
“He did?”
“A box of liquor-filled chocolates. It was sort of an apology gift.”
“That’s a new one.”
“They were actually really good.” It was a childish reaction to defend the gift.
“No, I mean the gift. I don’t remember him doing that before.”