The box of his mom’s papers was next to Mack’s desk, and he took his dad’s letter from it. He studied the desperation in the wordsnever, ever. Desperation never got you anywhere, Mack knew. He felt pretty desperate right now, yet all he was doing was treading water, winding himself up. He took out the photograph of the old-time prairie family, presumably some of his relatives. They looked like all pioneers did: dusty and miserable. But also stoic, resolute, watchful. Mack propped the picture up on his desk.
There was no use in panicking now, he told himself. Unless Hailey dragged him—which was looking unlikely—he wasn’t going to the police. And he wasn’t going to the bank. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to burn down any old buildings or take orders from some strange company. He would stay the course, and it would all shake out: his job, the house, this money.
Even, with a bit of luck and a lot of patience, his marriage.
24.
Hailey
Hailey had overordered on the turkey. It took up most of the trunk of the Cherokee and it would never fit in the oven, but that was alaterproblem. Thenowproblem was that it was almost sixty-five degrees outside, and she had no choice but to leave this bird in the car while she met Rebekah. The Whole Foods parking lot had already been a logjam at 9:00 a.m.; to go on the way home was unthinkable. All she could do was pray that this act of desperation didn’t give her entire family food poisoning.
It had taken a lot to get Rebekah to agree to see her. Hailey had promised to remove her name from the litigation the firm was starting against her husband, something she had yet to run by the other partners. She’d also lured her former client there with the carrot of a plan about how Rebekah might move forward out of her situation, how she might untangle herself from David. In actuality, that plan was just about as solid as the walls in Hailey’s basement.
Hailey had admitted to nothing, and if Rebekah had proof of her night with David, she hadn’t revealed it yet. The café Rebekah had chosen, Milk & Honey on Superior, was bright and eerily empty on the Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving: half of Cleveland was home opening up cans of Libby’s, and the other half were on the road or in an airport.
Rebekah sat alone at a table in the corner. She had calmed down considerably since their last meeting and kept a faint smile on her face while Hailey put her order in. Anyone might have mistaken them for friends, Hailey realized, until the barista was safely out of earshot.
“So what do you want?”
Hailey was grateful for this slash straight through the bullshit. “I need some information. About your ex-husband.”
“I’d say you know all about my ex-husband.”
There was real droop to Rebekah’s face now; her eyes were dull and tired, and yet somehow still jumpy with the restlessness that Hailey had always found so irritating. Still, in Hailey’s expert opinion this did not look like a woman reveling in the certainty of her convictions.
“I think it’s important that you know I never slept with him.” This felt sotrueas it came out of Hailey’s mouth. “He’s just trying to use that accusation to get at you, and we need to figure out a way through it.”
“I thought we had figured out a way through it,” Rebekah said, her eyes fixed on Hailey. “Me and Davidhad figured out a way through it. But he fucks me over every time. You too, apparently.” She took a deep breath and blew it out across the frothy coffee that had just been put down in front of her. “I know you never believed me about how bad he is. I know what you think: I’m a gold digger, I trapped some rich guy, why can’t I just shut up and get divorced like a nice little girl so you can make your money?”
She didn’t seem to want a response. After a long sip of her coffee, she continued.
“You know he did have affairs. Even if you all didn’t find any evidence. He left me at home with two little kids, all alone in this crappy city where I don’t know anyone and where he didn’t even want to live. I mean, he’s in New York, in Paris—everywhere, and I’m here!”
Hailey tried her best to look sympathetic, but she was mostly focused on not remembering David’s eyes over the rim of his fancy cocktail glass, or the feel of his hands on her back in the elevator, or the weight of him on top of her.
“And I could have lived with that, you know?” Rebekah went on. “Except I couldn’t pay for anything. David controlled every fucking cent. I had more money working front of house at Houston’s than I ever did as his wife. He wanted receipts for everything I bought, and he told me how I should look, where I should buy groceries, what color I should paint my fucking fingernails. My fingernails! As if he didn’t already have control over half this city!” This time Rebekah sloshed her coffee onto the table. Hailey passed her a napkin, but she used it to wipe her eyes instead.
“He also told our children—from the age of two, by the way—that Mommy was a bimbo. He told our friends that I was psychotic, that I did drugs. He put video cameras everywhere—for safety, he said—and then he’d call me at night and tell me what I’d done wrong that day. Itdidmake me psychotic, so eventually he was right.”
Rebekah folded the napkin into smaller and smaller squares. The shiny puffiness of her face looked different in this light—swollen and tender.
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“I did tell you. You just didn’t listen.”
Hailey felt blood rush to her cheeks. She had heard Rebekah complaining about not having enough money. She had heard Rebekah complaining that her husband was sneaky and domineering. But Rebekah was right: she had not listened. Instead, she had jumped right into the hands, literally and figuratively, of someone who got a thrill out of controlling people with his money. Who was now, she was certain, trying to control her.
It was too late for apologies. “Listen, the only way we’re going to get at David—and I’ve always thought this—is through his finances. Have you ever heard of a company called Sunshine Enterprises?”
“No.”
“Think really carefully. Ever seen any statements with a sun logo on it? Ever heard him mention it?”
“No.” Rebekah’s irritation was obvious. “This is why you asked me here?”
“We’ve been getting payments from a bank in Liberia that I think could be from him. And some threatening letters.”Threateningmight have been a stretch, butweirddidn’t feel like a strong enough word.
Rebekah laughed. “You’ve got to hand it to him. Only David would go threatening a bunch of lawyers. But I seriously doubt he’d send money.”
