I twist around to face Jack. “I should have—”
“No,” he says, his tone soft but absolute. “That information serves no purpose. You kept your pay. You were not at the bar. The end, Mia.”
“But others will tell him.”
“The only others who will talk were at the bar and are far more worried about themselves right now than you.”
“Yes, but—”
“No, Mia. Again, I say,the end.” He stands. “Let’s get back to work.”
Chapter Eighty-Two
The library closes at six that evening, and Jack and I wrap up the paperwork on floor three. “You want to come over?” I ask. “Jess is coming by, but there will be pizza, much better than what we had at lunch.”
“I told my sister we’d go to dinner since I’m skipping the wedding tomorrow. And the party, by the way. I’m not sure I told you that or not.”
“I’d still like you to come, Jack.”
“I’ll cover here and let you leave early. We have piles of paperwork for both floors to catch up on. I might just order dinner here tomorrow night and do it all. I wish I could do that tonight, but apparently Akia dying has freaked out my sister. She wants to see me.”
I’m reminded of what my father said this morning and speak my own version now. “Life is short. Take care of those you love.”
“Yes, it is,” he says. “And that’s why I’m driving you home.”
It’s fifteen minutes later when he pulls into the driveway of the bookstore and then folds me into a big hug. “You didn’t kill Akia,” he says when he pulls back and meets my stare. “Don’t go trying to convince people otherwise, especially the police.”
If he only knew the truth,I think. If he only knew about Adam. I don’t know if I’ve ever wanted to tell him as much as I do now, but I also don’t know that there was ever a worse time to do so, either. Instead, I bite my tongue, nod, and slide out of my seat, shutting him inside hiscar and watching him drive away. Only then do I enter the building, and at this point the bookstore is closed for the evening, but it will be open bright and early tomorrow. I hurry up the side stairs, halting abruptly when I reach my loft level only to discover a small, jewelry-size box sitting in front of my door with a red ribbon. My stomach twists in knots. Adam is no longer silent.
I pick up the box and open my door. Once I’m inside, I sit down on a stool at the kitchen island and stare at the box, unsure what to expect. Does he know I dropped off that envelope to Mike? Is this some kind of punishment or warning? Oh God, is this something that tells me Mike is dead? With my heart beating like a drum, I rip off the ribbon and tear off the lid. I blink at the sparkling diamond necklace resting on black velvet but refuse to admire it, mentally rejecting the gift, all his gifts. Underneath I discover the cards I placed in the ceiling tiles. “Oh my God,” I whisper.
My cellphone rings, and I know without even looking that this is Adam calling, even without the alert from my earbuds. I hit the answer button, the earbuds allowing his voice to sound closer and more intimate as he says, “Hello, Mia.”
“Hello, Adam,” I reply.
“Do you like the gifts I gave you?”
“The necklace is beautiful,” I say tightly, but I have not missed the plural reference in the question. I’m just not sure what to make of it yet.
“Wear it tomorrow night,” he orders. “I’ll be close. Watching you.”
Did I tell him about tomorrow night? I don’t think I ever told him. “How do you know about tomorrow night?” I ask cautiously.
“Why would you miss Jess’s awards ceremony?” He doesn’t give me time to answer, not that it’s really a question. “What about the other gift?”
Does he mean the cards or killing Akia? It doesn’t matter, I decide. My answer is the same. “I want you to stop giving me gifts.Please.”
“I told you. Talk to me. That’s how you earn your independence, Mia.”
“I was handling it,” I say, not able to say Akia’s name aloud. “My boss is out sick. You have to give me time to make things happen.”
“You mean you were waiting on your security blanket to return. You do like your security blankets. That’s becoming a problem for me, or, more importantly, you.”
“She’s not a security blanket. She’s my boss.”
“So is Neil.”
The buzzer goes off on my door. “That’s Jess. She’s bringing dresses over for me to try on for tomorrow night’s event.”
