I’m tempted to ask if Sonya has reason to be protective of Alexa when it comes to Otis, but he speaks before I can. ‘We’ve never seen eye to eye, ever. If I said something is black, Sonya would say it was white.’
‘Alexa married Otis at a difficult time for Sonya,’ Gabby continues. ‘It was right after her father passed away and her mother got sick. They’re hard things for a person to deal with, especially when the friend you rely on is now spending all their time with someone else. Sonya never forgave Otis for that. You know how it is when you’re friends with someone and they fall in love. You’re left wondering where you fit in the new picture they’re drawing.’
‘Sonya refuses to come to the house because I’m here,’ Otis says. ‘She’ll only see Lex if she treks over to her.’
‘Which Alexa hasn’t been doing because of everything that’s gone on,’ Gabby adds.
I nod, but there’s something about this exchange that’s a little too rehearsed for me to fully believe that Sonya is simply a jealous friend.
‘I’m sure Sonya guilted Lex a lot for that, never stopping to think that not visiting when things were so hard for Lex makes Sonya the bad friend,’ Otis mutters.
As if overhearing her name, Otis’s phone starts ringing again witha call from Sonya. We all look at the illuminated screen, but no one makes a move to answer the call.
Otis groans. ‘I can’t deal with Sonya shouting at me right now.’
‘Maybe she just wants an update,’ I say. ‘She’ll be worried about Alexa, too.’
‘She’s got a funny way of showing it,’ Otis replies as he runs a hand through his hair. ‘I thought I’d do the decent thing and answer earlier. Do you know what Sonya said to me? She said she can’t believe she let Lex marry a murderer.’
The room falls silent. Gabby studies her palms while Otis holds my gaze, letting his disbelief at the accusation shine through. I also suspect he is watching my reaction, waiting to see if my allegiance has changed thanks to everything that was uncovered last night. I maintain composure, even though internally I am screaming.
‘I thought you said the police are treating this as a missing persons case?’ I ask. ‘That’s not the same as murder.’
‘Try telling Sonya that. It’s bad enough that my wife is missing, but to have people talk like there’s no hope of finding her and accuse me of being involved? It’s too much.’
‘Otis, no one thinks you’re involved,’ Gabby soothes, but she can’t look me in the eye when she says this.
‘Why did you lie about Alexa hiding money?’ The question leaves my mouth before I can frame it less bluntly.
Both Gabby and Otis stare at me, but Gabby is more shocked by the question than Otis. ‘I’ve been wondering when one of you would ask me that,’ he replies.
‘Otis, it’s your private business. You don’t have to tell us anything,’ Gabby says, but I don’t agree. Otis accepted our help, yet all the while he kept a big part of the story to himself. Maybe he doesn’t owe us answers, but an explanation as to why he lied would go along way to stopping my nerves from chewing a hole in the lining of my stomach when I’m around him.
‘I didn’t say anything because I knew how it looked. It’s easy to hear that Lex has been hiding money and think she’s left me, but I know my wife. She wouldn’t do that.’
‘Lots of people don’t want to admit their marriage is over,’ I say.
Gabby’s eyes widen at my bluntness. Otis, on the other hand, doesn’t react.
‘I am not one of those people,’ he says. ‘I don’t have to be. Lex and me, we’re in this for life.’
‘But Alexa has been hiding money from you. She leaves this house every few months. You said so yourself.’
‘Janine, yesterday when you told me you wanted to help, you said you knew what grief does to a marriage. Can you honestly tell me you don’t have times when you want to walk away from the person you know is hurting as much as you are, even if only for a few days?’
Otis’s analysis of life after child loss is so piercingly accurate it pains me. I know it, I live it. It’s the reason I’m here, in this pretty village, trying to piece my life back together around the ugliness of what’s happened.
Otis studies me before sitting back in his seat. ‘Wow. You really do know.’
Coiling my fingers together, I nod. ‘Before my husband and I moved here, I went out for some milk. I didn’t come home until three a.m. the next day.’
Gabby’s lips part, but Otis remains neutral like he knows exactly how this story goes.
‘I wasn’t doing anything bad. I just walked. I sat on a bench for a few hours, I think. It’s all a blur, to be honest, but I remember thinking that if I kept moving, I would be too busy to focus onwhat I’d lost. So I walked and I walked, but what happened kept catching up with me.’ I swallow, the pain of admitting the truth closing my throat. ‘Eventually, I went home and saw the search party my husband had arranged. Family, friends, neighbours – you name it, they were looking for me. Kamal had even called the police. Everyone was so worried. They still are. No one seems to understand that I just wanted to walk away for a while. So yes, Otis, I get it, but that doesn’t mean I understand why you lied.’
Otis sighs. ‘I lied because I knew if you heard about the money, you’d think Lex was running from me. You wanted to help, Janine, and I needed you to trust me. I know it’s hard when you don’t know us, but Lex and I are soulmates, aren’t we, Gabs?’
‘Yes,’ Gabby confirms. The response breaks her heart, not that Otis notices.