“When did it start?” I asked gently.
“About six months ago. I’d never socialized with either him or Kelly, but he and I went to the same gym. We had afucking smoothie together after a workout and one thing led to another. How rich is that?”
“How did you learn there was someone else?”
“Remember me telling you that I was supposed to have company that Monday I was in the Adirondacks? That was Doug. Originally we were going to meet on Sunday—he’d signed up for this three-day professional workshop or conference-thingy in Lake Placid, so he had an excuse to go up there—but at the last minute I had to change to Monday. He said he’d keep his hotel room Sunday night because if he started switching the plan around, it might raise a red flag with Kelly.
“Once I was already up at the cabin, he totally blew me off, said his whiny daughter was having a meltdown over school stuff and he had to bag the entire trip to Lake Placid. But after I was back in town and started reading everything about Shannon’s disappearance, I saw a quote from Kelly about needing Shannon’s help because Doug was out of town Sunday night. That’s when I first smelled a rat.”
“You figured he must have been with someone else that evening?”
“Exactly. When I finally reached him on the phone and called him on it, he rushed over to my house with a totally lame explanation, like I was an idiot. So the next day I followed him. After going to church with Kelly, he drove home, switched cars, and drove up to the Breezy Point for a couple of hours. About twenty minutes after he left, I saw the blonde sashay out of the room.”
“You started following her after that?”
“Yeah, I wanted to know what her story was since I could tell by her plates that she wasn’t local. Doug was here earlier today, and I was hoping he’d come back tonight so I could finally confront the two of them together.”
“How did you and Doug end up down by the lake?”
“It’s a long, boring story.”
“I’ve got time.”
“After the blonde bolted, I was about to take off when I noticed Doug’s BMW show up. But he parked it across the road, in the lot for the taxidermist, and he sat for a while as if he was casing the place.”
I could now make a good guess as to what had transpired. Lisa had grown antsy waiting for my arrival and split. Doug, having finally heard Lisa’s voice mail about the stalker, had sped over here, but gutless and yellow-bellied, he pulled in across the street to assess the situation from a safe distance.
“He eventually crossed the road and let himself into the room,” J.J. continued. “When he came out a minute later, I saw him tiptoe around to the back—probably wondering where she was. I followed him.”
“He hadn’t noticed your SUV so close to the motel?”
“I don’t think he ever realized it was mine—everybody drives an SUV up here—and I kept my head down. You should have seen the look on his face after he saw me on the path.”
She exhaled loudly and slapped her hands on her face.
“Look, I need to go home and pour myself a glass of wine. Plus, if hedidcall the police, I don’t want to be here when they show. Let ’em come find me.”
For a moment I thought Flinty Girl might be back, ready to kick ass and take names.
“I need to repeat myself, J.J. You have two kids. Don’t jeopardize everything by getting into it with Doug again.”
“I won’t, I won’t. I’m done with him.”
“One more question. Do you think Shannon had any idea you were carrying on with her brother-in-law?”
She pinched her lips together and nodded. “Yeah, maybe.”
“Why?”
“Remember when I talked to you that first time and I told you about my call to Shan, how she was on the phone?”
“You mean about her voice sounding odd?”
“Yeah. I started to think a little more about it. I’d called that day to say I was definitely going to the cabin and now that I know Kelly told her that Doug was in Lake Placid, I wonder if she put two and two together. Even in the weeks before, I think she sensed I might be seeing someone on the sly. That was the thing with Shan. She had a way of reading people.”
“Is that why you played it down the next time we spoke?”
“Yeah, I certainly wasn’t going to confess my new theory toyou.”
