“Yep.” Aidan seemed pleased with himself—I couldn’t tell if that was because he’d gotten answers or because the explanationdovetailed with his own work. “Cleo’s trying to make a difference. And I think she wants to do it on her own.”
“Why would being a part of an environmental groupcosther two thousand dollars?”
“Come on, Kat, activism isn’t free.” He leaned back a bit and crossed his arms. “You should know that by now.”
I thought about the stairs I’d seen Cleo descend. Was it possible there’d been some kind of environmental meeting going on down there?
“It doesn’t seem at all suspicious to you that out of the blue Cleo suddenly happens to be involved in anenvironmentalgroup?”
“Suspicious?” he asked. “What, because it’s somethingIcare about? Kat, seriously, that’s …” He shook his head. “You honestly think Cleo isthatcalculating?”
“She wasdealingdrugs, Aidan.”
He sighed dramatically. “I’m sorry, Kat, but I really think this is sad. That you have so little faith in your own daughter. I mean, given where you came from, it’s understandable you have trust issues. But have you ever thought about maybe seeing someone yourself? I mean, we sent Cleo to a therapist …”
My hands were balled into fists so tight, I was sure my fingernails were going to draw blood. Wordlessly, I rose from the couch.
“Where are you going?” Aidan asked.
“I’m leaving.”
“You can’t leave. We need to talk about the money.”
“No,” I said, calmly. “Wedon’t need to talk about money. You want to talk about the money, and I need to leave.”
“I’ve spoken to a lawyer, Kat,” Aidan said as I reached for the doorknob. “I’m going to file.”
Bastard.I turned back. “We’re waiting until the end of the school year. It’s only another month. We agreed.”
“No,” he said. His tone was icy now. “Youdecreed.And I’ve been reasonable. The least you can do is treat me fairly. I don’twant to have our lives ripped apart in court, Kat. But I’m also not going to sit by while you take advantage of me.”
“Don’t do this,” I said, struggling to keep my tone even. “Don’t.” It sounded like a threat. It felt like one.
“Or what, Kat?” he asked with an angry laugh. “Or what? You’ve already left me.”
Or I’ll kill you.It was just in my head.
“Don’t do it, Aidan,” I said one last time before opening the door. “Or you’ll regret it.”
As I reached the top of the West Village stairs I’d seen Cleo descend on Christopher Street a day ago, my mind was still racing. What if my past was unearthed in the midst of some lengthy divorce proceeding? Aidan’s lawyer would surely try to dig up all the dirt he could on me, and with enough effort, he could strike gold. The more I’d thought about it, the clearer it seemed that my mystery texter had to be the person who had helped Daitch the night of the murder. Male, I was pretty sure, remembering the way Daitch spoke to that person, and I had my theories about who it was, of course. It would simply be a matter of Aidan’s lawyer tracking him down and finding out his price, and I’d be done for.
My phone rang and the sight of Mark’s name on my caller ID jolted me back to the here and now. I had a job. A consuming one, with lots of clients clamoring for my attention. I’d been juggling calls and buying myself time for the last twenty-four hours. Mark had left a message early this morning, before I’d visited Advantage’s office—I’d been so distracted that I hadn’t even listened to it yet. I thought about sending the new call to voice mail, but it wasn’t like Mark to hound me without a good reason.
“Sorry, I’ve been tied up on another matter,” I lied. One advantage of my “don’t ask, don’t tell” arrangement with Mark was that he really never knew how I made use of my time. Also, almost all of what I did—clandestine interviews, private meetings—wasconducted outside the office and far from prying eyes. “If this is about Vivienne, I assure you that I—”
“It’s not about Vivienne.” Mark sounded uncharacteristically stressed. “Will you be in … tonight?”
From his tone, this didn’t exactly sound optional.
“I’ll be there by five at the latest,” I said, as if this had always been my plan. “I’ll go straight to your office.”
“Thanks, Kat,” he said. “And I do apologize for the fire drill. But you know better than anyone how these things can be. Just want to be able to assure the powers that be that we’ve taken this new matter in hand. And this situation is … a bit unusual. You should vet it before we agree.”
Mark was always adamant that I had veto power over any of my projects. Naturally, my default position was yes—to keep the clients happy and thereby keep Mark happy. I had refused only once, a situation involving a COO who’d been caught with an underage prostitute. He claimed that he didn’t know she was underage, but looking at her, that was hardly believable. I wanted no part of it, and Mark had declined without hesitation. As it happened, the client huffed off, taking his corporate business with him.
“You know I always appreciate that,” I said to Mark. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
As I put my phone in my bag, a horn blasted nearby. A huge eighteen-wheeler was trying to squeak past a double-parked black sedan. Squinting at it, I could make out the outlines of two figures inside the car. Figures that could have been looking right at me. When I took a step forward, the engine turned on and the car accelerated past me before I could read the license plate.
