“Shrimp and rice,” Marcus says. “I’ve made plenty if you want to take some home for the kids.”
“You’re sweet,” she says, suddenly exhausted. She hasn’t thought about dinner and is tempted by Marcus’s offer, but she doesn’t want to impose. “I don’t want to be any bother.”
“It’s no bother.” He pulls out a large Tupperware from a cabinet and begins scooping from a sheet pan. “I always make twice as much as we need, so we’ll have leftovers. Now tell me, what’s going on? Lisa said Scott was missing.”
She tells him an abbreviated version of the story—how Scott didn’t come home and how her client didn’t really live at the house that she claimed to. Aimee leaves out the part about Anton blackmailing Scott, out of a sense of protectiveness for Scott. Whatever Scott has done, she wants to hear his side of the story before she passes judgment. She knows other people will jump to the worst possible conclusion, even friends like Marcus.
“I wonder what’s up with this Cathy woman,” he says. “Do you think Scott is in some kind of danger?”
“I have no idea. I just hope the police can find him soon.” She looks at her watch. “I better give the kids a heads-up that it’s time to go. You know it takes them a while to transition.”
“I’ll do it,” Marcus says. He walks to the basement door, puts two fingers in his mouth, and lets out a shrill whistle. “Benji? Max? Your mom’s here.”
Cries of disappointment come up from the basement.
“This is a five-minute warning,” Marcus calls back and shuts the door.
“The whistle’s a pretty good trick,” Aimee says.
“My mom had an iron triangle she’d ring, and me and my brothers could hear that thing even if we were all the way down at the park.” He opens the fridge and pulls out lettuce and carrots. “I only get to cook dinner on days I work from home. I love to cook. In another life, I’m running my own restaurant.”
“Lucky for Lisa,” Aimee says dryly. Mentally exhausted, she doesn’t want to chitchat. She only wants to go home. “Is Noa down there, too?”
“She’s in my office, curled up with a book. My sister passed along my nephew’s Magic Treehouse collection when he outgrew them, and Noa found them.”
“That’s sweet,” Aimee says. “Is Lisa out?”
“Pilates.” Marcus takes a large knife and chops the head of lettuce. “She came here the other night, you know, Gwen did, pretty drunk. Making all kinds of crazy accusations.”
“Yeah, I’m aware.”
“And you know what about?” Marcus stops chopping and looks at Aimee, one eyebrow raised.
“Yeah.” Aimee nods.
“I wish she would just calm down and talk to us,” he says. “I think Anton’s death is affecting her. I mean, not just in the obvious ways.” He tosses the chopped lettuce into a wooden bowland grabs the carrots. “If she had come and talked to me, I could have told her that Lisa and Anton bumped into each other in Tampa.”
“You knew about that?”
“Sure. Lisa told me as soon as she got back. They went out to some restaurant and got drunk, had fun. Anton was at some conference. She said there were some other writers there, too.”
“I think Gwen might be losing it a bit,” Aimee says, picking her words carefully. She doesn’t want to go into all the details about the secrets Gwen’s been keeping from her. Some of her earlier anger has subsided a bit. She’s not sure how she feels about Gwen right now. “It’s the stress of Anton’s death. Not just a death, but murder.”
On the way home to her house, the boys run ahead but Noa stays by her side. Aimee adjusts the warm Tupperware in her arms, thinking about what Marcus said. She doesn’t know what to believe. It seems crazy that Lisa and Anton might have been having an affair, yet Gwen was so sure. And Gwen was right about one thing—it was odd how upset Lisa got when she heard Noa had been spending time at Cathy’s. But it is impossible to figure out if that was just Lisa being Lisa, or if she might have known what Anton was up to. Aimee would need to ask her in person, to gauge her reaction, in order to know the truth.
“Mommy, Kai said that George and Rafi’s dad was murdered. But you said he died in a car accident.” Her tone is slightly accusatory.
“Well, he was hit by a car. That’s what I said.”
“Kai said there’s a killer on the loose.”
“He said what?” Aimee stops short.
“He said I should put a chair in front of my door so the killer doesn’t get in. But I think he was trying to scare me.”
“He shouldn’t have said that,” Aimee says. “I’ll say something to Lisa.”
“No! Don’t. Please, don’t say anything. Promise?”