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“There’s no point,” Mark said. “It only matters that you understand where I’m coming from. Mina, I’ve seen you. You barely got through your hearings last week. It’s not like you. Showing up at Roy’s doorstep at night. Then going after Corrine Egan? You had to have taken her personal information from a confidential file. That’s a problem for me, Mina. You’re an agent of this office.”

“The two of you are accusing me of what? Losing my mind?”

“You need to understand,” Roy said. “Corrine is within her rights to file for a personal protection order against you. This puts me in an untenable position. I can’t ethically try to talk her out of it.”

“And I can’t ethically refuse to act when I see an officer of the court, under my supervision, behaving the way you are. So let me make this crystal clear. You need to take a leave of absence. You need to get help. Sort out whatever you need to in your marriage. That’s your business. But when it impacts your work for the county, then it’s my business,” Mark said.

“And when you do something that could be considered a crime, it becomes my business. If you’d had this altercation with Corrine in Lasalle Harbor, do you realize the position that would have put me in?” Roy asked.

I shook my head. Breaking into a cold sweat, I rose. “I can’t believe this. Of either of you. They’re lying to you. Both of them. It’s both of them. Corrine and Lock. They’re trying to destroy me.”

By the looks on their faces, I knew they didn’t believe me. I could barely breathe.

“Go home, Mina,” Roy said. “Take the time Mark’s giving you. Get some rest. Hit pause.”

I staggered toward the door. How could Lock do this to me? How could he hurt me so deeply? Try to destroy my career? And to communicate with Mark behind my back. Lock was a stranger to me. Or even worse.

I grabbed my bag from my office and raced down to the parking lot. I couldn’t go home. I couldn’t be at Lock’s house. Not when I knew Corrine had come and gone from there as she pleased. Not when I couldn’t trust Lock anymore.

My heart shattered into a thousand pieces. Somehow, I’d known this was coming. I’d been trying to run from it for almost four days now.

As I climbed into my car, I pulled out my phone. I needed to hear it from him. My call to Lock went straight to voicemail once again. I tried texting instead.

What are you doing? You talked to Mark behind my back? Call me. Now.

I watched as my text was delivered. A moment later, it showed read. I felt bile rise in my throat as three gray dots wavered beneath my message.

Almost a full minute went by. The dots disappeared.

THIRTY-NINE

As I stared at that phone screen, then out my windshield, I realized I had no idea where to go. I pulled up my browser and typed in the Seagull’s Nest. It was the closest decent hotel besides the Bayview. Mark was right about one thing. I needed some time to clear my head and figure out my next move. I barely knew what I wanted anymore.

I called the hotel and asked to book a room for the night.

“You’re in luck,” the receptionist said. “We have one king room left. There was a cancellation. That’s really rare in peak season.”

“Maybe the planets are finally aligning for me,” I joked. I pulled out my credit card and gave her the number. I could hear her typing.

“Let me put you on hold for one second,” she said.

I listened to canned, warped music for a full minute before she came back on. “I’m sorry. Mrs. Manning?”

“Yes.”

“Um… I’m getting an alert that the card was reported stolen.”

My head started to buzz. “That’s not true. I’m holding it.”

“Hmm. Well, if you have it, maybe you could call the number on the back. Actually, if you were here at the desk, I’d have to confiscate the card. Do you have a different card you could use?”

“Sure,” I said, pulling out another one. I gave her the number. A moment later, she said the exact same thing. My card had been reported stolen.

It felt like I had a boulder sitting on my chest. Had Lock done this too?

“I’m really sorry,” the receptionist said. “I’m afraid I can’t reserve a room for you if you don’t have a valid credit card.”

It felt like the world had tilted on its axis. Both credit cards were reported stolen? This wasn’t a mistake. It was sabotage. I clicked off the call while the girl was in mid-sentence.