“Of course, James. Whatever you need.”
My phone buzzes in my hand with another message:
Drinks?
Jane again! Christ. I turn off my screen, grab my backpack, and head out onto Water Street, gut bubbling. Why didn’t I think of this? Where would Jake go if he’d somehow managed to … Fuck, I don’t even want to think about it. I trot down the sidewalk toward the waterfront. This is probably a waste of time, but she usually takes her lunch to the park. However, when I get there, there’s no sign of her. I curse myself fifty times over. I could have come out sooner. I’m wasting time here. I stand in the incongruous afternoon sunshine, breathing heavily, and fire off another message:
Please text me back. I’m worried about you.
If it was Jake, where would he take her? I don’t know any of Jake’s hangouts except her mom’s apartment. Did he blackmail her to go up thereby using her mom? When I’m at the corner, I hesitate, and my phone rings suddenly in my hand.
Thank God.
But a head of brown hair flashes across my screen.Jane again!What the fuck? Of all the times … but maybe there’s some problem.
“Hey, Jane.”
“James,” her voice is a rough croak. She sounds agonized.
“What’s up? Are you okay?” Who knew ex-girlfriends could turn into such a pile of trouble, but perhaps that’s just Jane.
“It’s important I meet you for a drink after work today.”
Important?“Are you downtown?”
“Yes. I had to come into the office. They sent a cab for me.”
So much for needing me to look after her. “I can’t do it. There’s …”
“I want to apologize to you,” she rushes on. “I had no idea that …” She trails off.
I stop walking. “No idea about what?”
“I can’t explain over the phone. Can we meet up?”
“I can’t. I’m just on my way out to find Sadie.” Now why did I tell her that?
“Sadie! Every time I talk to you, it’s Sadie this and Sadie that. She’s your fucking employee, James! She’s the one who told me.”
Jane talked to Sadie? “Told you what?”
“That you tried to jump off the roof of our building!”
My heart somersaults in my chest.What?I bend over my knees and try to suck in a breath, but it just makes me lightheaded.
“James, are you there?” Jane says in my ear.
My body is hot like I’m being boiled in oil. Sadie wouldn’t tell Jane any such thing. Sadie knew how mortified I was. She’s not the kind of person to tell a soul, least of all Jane. I don’t feel that way about Jane now. I’m not that person anymore.
“I’msosorry, James. I had no idea that you …”
Maybe Jane found out another way—our doorman could have mentioned something. My eyes narrow. “When did you talk to Sadie?” I say, talking over her.
“What?”
“When did you see Sadie and have this conversation, Jane?”
“Well … around midday, I guess.” The insistent tone in her voice peters out into something much more reluctant.
