“OK. Sit tight,” she said. “Detective Lloyd and I are retracing Mr. Abadi’s steps from that night. We’re hoping security cameras along the nearby streets will offer some clues.”
“What about his phone? Can’t you track his movements on that?”
“Your husband had location services turned off. We can still find the information, but it’ll take longer.”
“You’ll let me know if you learn anything?” I asked.
“Absolutely.”
Thanking her, I hung up and stared out the window, watching the postal truck come to a stop in front of my house. After the letter carrier drove away, I went out to get the mail, barely noticing the chill, my mind focused on Ali’s last hours. Where would he have gone at eleven o’clock on a work night?
“Amira? Um . . . Mrs. Abadi?”
Someone came up behind me. I didn’t immediately place the voice. I turned from the mailbox and found myself staring at Fake Jake.
“Oh my God.” My heart spasmed. The cops said Bill Warren wasn’t supposed to be back until tomorrow. I glanced toward the house to see if I could make a run for safety, but my front door seemed a million miles away. As didBintiand the pepper spray Nasser gave me. All my vigilance since the break-ins, getting a dog and my insistence on alwayshaving the pepper spray with me, meant nothing now that this man had caught me alone and unprepared.
I backed away. “What do you want?”
“I don’t want to scare you.” He held out his arms in front of him, palms down, trying to placate me.
“Then get the hell away from me.” I glanced down the empty street. It was midafternoon. The neighborhood was quiet, but someone was bound to come walking by with their dog or on their afternoon run.
“I’ll call the police,” I warned him. An empty threat because my phone was in the house, along with my pepper spray.
“I’ve already called the cops,” Bill Warren said. “I have an appointment to talk with some detectives later this afternoon. But I owe it to you to tell you the truth first. You’ve been through enough.”
“Why did you lie about being Jake Barnes?” I backed up in the direction of the house as I spoke.
“I figured you’d give Ali’s computer to Jake Barnes, no questions asked. But you might hesitate to hand it over to someone you’ve never heard of.”
He wasn’t wrong. “Why did you want my husband’s computer?”
The man looked down before meeting my gaze. “Because I’ve done things I’m not proud of.”
“Oh my God.” I felt the blood rush from my head. “You drugged Ali.”
“What? Ali was drugged?” Shock stamped his face. “I had nothing to do with that. I would never.”
“What was on Ali’s computer that was so important that you were willing to lie to his grieving widow to get it?”
He took a long breath. “Ali and I worked together on an engagement. He was the manager on the project. As the senior, I reported to him.”
“And?” I kept inching backward toward the house.
“I made a serious mistake on a final report for the client. One that could cost me my job.”
Up the street, Claudia appeared with her dog on a leash coming back from a walk. I waved to make sure she saw me. Just in case I needed help. She waved back, her curious gaze falling on Fake Jake.
“What does your mistake have to do with Ali’s computer?” I asked him.
“I wanted to delete our chat history and any emails that implicated me in the mistake. I swear I only wanted to read Ali’s business emails to see if he’d told any of the higher-ups at the firm about my error.”
Barking erupted from inside the house;Bintiwas at a downstairs window watching us.
“And?” I pressed. “Had he?”
“No. That’s why I went by Waterman’s, to ask him, to beg him, to give me more time. He said he needed to tell the partners, that he couldn’t wait any longer. But then the accident happened.”
