“Let me see if I can reschedule for later today. I can be back in two hours. Less if the traffic’s light.”
“Sofia has dance class at two.”
“Since when?” I asked.
“Today. Makeyla moved out and Sofia’s devastated. Apparently, the two were quite close. Tim signed her up for dance class, hoping she’ll make a new friend.”
“After dance class then.” That would be better anyway since it would give me time to shower and change. My shirt both looked and smelled like it had been slept in.
“No, MJ has a basketball game at three-thirty.”
“How do you know all this?” My head still felt fuzzy but none of this made any sense.
“MJ,” she said. “He asked if I could take them today since he couldn’t reach you.”
I hung my head. “I’m so sorry. I would never ask you to do that. Let me call MJ.”
“I already told him yes. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the kids.”
Since when did she want to see the kids? She knew I still saw them regularly, and although she always asked how they were doing, she’d never suggested getting together with them. “But Maria will be there too. Are you sure you want to be there for that?”
“I’d like to meet her,” Aunt Maddy said. “I need to run but we’ll talk later.”
She hung up before I could respond. I placed Jake’s phone on the coffee table and closed my eyes. I could easily fall back asleep if I let myself. Then Jake’s voice boomed, “What was that about?”
My eyes flashed open and for the first time since Jonah died I looked at Jake and didn’t immediately think of Jonah. Now my first thought was this man drugged me. “I need to go,” I said and stood up.
“You want some food first?” Jake asked as he followed me to the front door. “I can make you toast.”
“You’ve done enough, thanks.”
When I reached for the doorknob Jake stretched his arm out over my head, pinning the door shut. “Grace, I need that flash drive.”
I turned around and stared up at him. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“It’s important. I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t.”
“I couldn’t give it to you even if I wanted to.” And I definitely did not want to. “I don’t have it on me.”
“I know. It’s in your safe deposit box. You told me last night,” he answered my question before I could ask. “I can drive up next week and we can go to the bank together. You need to delete the file off your laptop too. Or better yet, trash the laptop. You didn’t upload it to the cloud, did you?”
“I can’t believe you think I would help you after what you did.”
“You wouldn’t just be helping me; you’d be helping yourself too. It’s not safe for you to have that file.”
I briefly entertained arguing the point with him, then opted for a simple, “Fuck you.”
As soon as I arrived home I got in the shower and stayed there until my fingers pruned. But no matter how long I let the hot water wash over me, I still felt dirty. It wasn’t just because I’d vomited and slept in my clothes. It was Jake who made me feel that way. I knew he hadn’t taken advantage of me physically, but I still felt used.
After I showered, I took more acetaminophen and crawled into bed. But I turned the ringer up on my phone and left it on the nightstand so I would hear it if Aunt Maddy called.
It wasn’t the phone that woke me.
Chapter 36
I woke to the incessant chime of my new doorbell, the one Daniel had installed for me before we’d broken up. It was synched to an app on my phone connected to the doorbell’s camera. I tapped the phone and was surprised to see Brian Sullivan standing on my front porch.
I answered from the comfort of my bed. “Brian, what are you doing here?”
“Hi, Grace, can I come in?”
“This really isn’t the best time,” I said, pulling the covers up to my chin even though I knew Brian couldn’t see me. The camera only worked one way. “Can I call you next week?”
“No, I really need to talk to you now.”
I might have still said no if he didn’t look so agitated. His eyes kept darting around and his face, which was always a bit flushed, seemed pinker and sweatier than usual. “Okay, give me a minute.”
He gave the camera a tight smile. “Thanks, Grace.”
I pulled on sweatpants and a clean T-shirt and hurried downstairs. “What’s up, Brian?” I asked, locking the door behind him. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“No, no, I’m fine,” he said, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. “Sorry to bother you again but it’s important. Jonah had a home office, didn’t he?”
“Yes, but he rarely worked from home.” Which Brian should know since Jonah’s office was next to his and he saw him there every weekday.
Brian glanced at the staircase, correctly assuming Jonah’s office was upstairs. “May I take a look?”
“Why do you want to see Jonah’s office?”
