Rafe sent her a flat look. “My mother runs a bed-and-breakfast. She’s probably one of the best cooks in the world. You should hear her rant about the ‘slop’ they serve at fast food restaurants.”
“Rafe is a killer cook himself.” Bill grinned at his boss.
“I think I remember Kayn saying something about that, years ago.” Ahri smiled and turned her attention to Rafe, curious.
“Oh?” he asked.
“He said he’d have just ordered pizza when you all workedtogether, but you always insisted on whipping something up. He said he’d have been ticked if you weren’t such a good cook.”
“I do make a mean pizza,” Rafe said with a chuckle.
“While you decide where we’re going to eat,” Bill said, rising from the couch, “I’d like to ask Mrs. Meisner some more questions.”
“Just call me Ahri, please.” Her muscles had tensed, and she stretched to ease them.
“All right, Ahri, think back on what your husband said when he left.” Bill pulled out his notebook again. “Can you remember the exact words he used? I’m especially interested in how he phrased it.”
“Zed said it wasn’t safe and asked if I could go to my mother’s.” Ahri started to pace. “He mentioned a couple of times that it wasn’t safe, that people were after him. For nearly a year his work’s been really busy with him assigned more accounts. He said he had to work evenings to stay caught up. I commented about it to his secretary once, and she didn’t know what I was talking about. He was really stressed when I asked him about it, and he blew up.”
“Is this why you were thinking of leaving him?” Rafe asked, his voice soft.
“Six months ago, I wondered if he was having an affair. I reviewed all the transactions in our joint account. I even went through his phone.” Ahri flushed at the memory. “I didn’t find anything. I kept trying to get him to talk with me, to share, but nothing I did worked. It only made him mad.”
“Did he ever hit you?” Bill asked.
“No. I’d have left him for sure if he’d pulled that.” One thing Ahri had learned from watching her mother was never to put up with that kind of treatment. “For a few days before he left, he was super stressed. He said he was working late, for the extra money. I called his office yesterday morning, and they said he quit last week.”
The memory of her mortification knotted her stomach. How could he have emotionally divorced her so thoroughly that she’d not realized it? She rubbed the heel of her palm against the pain in her chest. So many secrets. So many lies.
Rafe reached over and covered her other hand between his. She met his gaze, his blue eyes full of compassion and not judgment. He didn’t say anything, but for some reason the warmth of his touch calmed her.
“What kind of accounts did he have?” Bill asked.
“He was a CPA for a bank. It was a good job and paid a decent wage. I have no idea what he was doing during the day or into the night for a week. He told me he had meetings.” Ahri sighed. “I feel so stupid. He probably wasn’t even lying to me, just going to adifferentkind of meeting.”
“I’ll do some research while we’re at the gaming den,” Bill said. “I’m curious to see if that scorpion is associated with any gangs or other groups. It could just be some middle-aged man wanting to be cool again.”
Ahri wished she could believe that. She wasn’t up to date on current events like she should be. The news outlets just focused on all the ugly stuff. She’d had enough of that in her real life, so she’d avoided depressing news. Some people she knew thought that watching other people going through bad situations made their own seem not so awful, but she’d never felt that way. It just brought her down more.
“You okay to order some dinner or do you really want to go out for fast food?” Rafe asked.
She realized then that his hand was still over hers, and it wasn’t cold anymore. It made her feel comforted. For the first time, she was glad her brother had sent Rafe instead. Kayn would have been ranting and raving about getting justice for her. She didn’t need that right now.
Rafe had always been kind to her when she’d come to Harvard for a visit. They’d talked a lot. One time she’d even thought hemight be interested in her, but she’d decided she’d imagined it. Not that it mattered. The next time she came, she was engaged to Zed, and not long after, she’d heard Rafe had a girlfriend.
“Do they serve hot dogs at your gaming den?” she asked.
“Yes.” He squeezed her hand and let it go. “Comfort food works just fine for me.”
“Well, if you don’t mind,” Bill said, “I’d rather have a steak. I’ll stop at the restaurant when I do my rounds.”
“If we have time, I’m going to take a soak.” Ahri stood.
“Good plan.” Rafe had his laptop open and was already typing away. “I’ll get some work done.”
Ahri glanced over her shoulder at him as she went to her room. Was work all he did? He needed to have a life outside of this business the four friends had created. She wondered what it would have been like to have met him earlier, before she’d gotten serious with Zed.
She shook off the thought. Fatigue was making her loopy. A bubble bath would be just the answer.
