The Last Thing He Told Me

I’m careful not to react. How is this happening? How is Avett in jail and Belle trying to sneak off to her former home? And how is Owen nowhere to be found in the middle of it all? Owen who is smart, who often sees the whole picture. Do I really believe he missed so much of this picture?

“Did Belle discuss The Shop with you?” Naomi asks.

“She never said anything to me about Avett’s work,” I say. “Belle wasn’t interested.”

“That mirrors what she said to us.”

“Where is Belle now?”

“At her St. Helena home with her passport in her lawyer’s possession. She’s maintaining her position that she’s shocked to think her husband would be guilty of this wrongdoing,” he says. He pauses. “But in our experience the wife usually knows.”

“Not this wife,” I say.

Naomi chimes in, almost as if I haven’t answered them. “As long as you’re sure,” she says. “Someone has to think of Owen’s daughter.”

“I am.”

“Good,” she says. “Good.”

It sounds like a threat. And I hear what she is pretending not to say. I hear her insinuation that they could take Bailey away. Didn’t I have Grady’s assurance that they wouldn’t?

“We will need to talk to Bailey as well,” O’Mackey says. “W

hen she returns from school today.”

“You will not be talking to her,” I say. “She knows nothing about her father’s whereabouts. She’s to be left alone.”

O’Mackey matches my tone. “I’m afraid that’s not up to you,” he says. “We can set up a time now or we can just show up at your house later this evening.”

“We’ve retained legal counsel,” I say. “If you want to talk to her, you will need to reach out to our lawyer first.”

“And who is your lawyer?” Naomi says.

I say it before I let myself consider the implication of saying it. “Jake Anderson. He’s based in New York.”

“Fine. Have him reach out to us,” she says.

I nod, trying to figure out how to defuse the situation, not wanting to undo whatever Grady promised that morning about Bailey staying put. That is the most important thing.

“Look, I know you’re just doing your jobs,” I say. “But I’m tired and as I already told the U.S. marshal this morning, I don’t have many answers for you.”

“Whoa… whoa. What?” O’Mackey says.

I look at him and the no-longer-smiling Naomi.

“The U.S. marshal who came by to see me this morning,” I say. “We went through this already.”

They look at each other. “What was his name?” O’Mackey asks.

“The U.S. marshal’s name?”

“Yes,” he says. “What was the U.S. marshal’s name?”

Naomi looks at me with her mouth pinched, like the playing field has changed in a way she wasn’t ready for. This is why I decide not to tell the truth.

“I don’t remember,” I say.

“You don’t remember his name?”