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Opal

Opal stood in the front bay window, half-hidden behind a curtain, watching Marina and her brood walk out of sight. She counted to a hundred, making sure that they weren’t going to come back for a forgotten binkie or whatever mysterious thing children couldn’t live without.

Then she bolted the front door and went straight down to the cellar to break rules two and six.

The yelling and pounding started as soon as she opened the hidden panel. Zander had always been such a drama queen. She couldn’t make out all the words between the kicks and punches at the door, but she definitely recognized “bitch” and something that sounded like “yummy pears.”

That couldn’t be right. She paused and listened.

Gummi Bears? Good work, Marina .

She unfastened the head-height hatch in the door but stood to one side so that she couldn’t be seen. What she did let him see was a bottle containing the one thing that she knew Zander wanted most in the world right now, other than freedom and maybe a shower: a protein shake.

His hand emerged and snatched it.

“Finally,” he said through the hatch. She heard him unscrew the top and there was a pause as he drank. “Listen, Marina, I think we got off on the wrong foot earlier. And I can tell that you feel the same way, too. Thank you for the shake, baby. I knew you’d do something so wonderful and nice for me. I had a feeling. Neither one of us meant what we said, did we? This is all a big misunderstanding. I’m crazy about you, you know that. Whatever’s made you upset, we can work it out.”

“Somehow, I don’t think so,” said Opal, and sidestepped so her face was visible in the hatchway. She grinned at him. The expression on Zander’s face was priceless: like a man reaching to tickle a baby in a crib only to be confronted by a furious king cobra.

“You—what are you—”

“Happy anniversary,” she said. Though technically, their anniversary was tomorrow.

To give Zander credit, he recovered quickly. He always had.

“Why are you here?” he demanded.

“To gloat, mostly. I’ve wanted to see you imprisoned for a long time.”

“You can’t lie to me. We both know that neither one of us wants me to go to jail.” He paused. “How do you know about Marina?”

“Let’s say that I follow her on Instagram.”

He groaned. “You told her to push me down the fucking stairs? I should have known that you were behind this.”

“I’m not, actually. Marina decided to push you all on her own. Not that I blame her.” Opal came a little closer, though not close enough for Zander to reach through the hatch and grab her.

Zander was not looking his best. He had dark circles under his eyes, a bit of dried blood on his forehead. His carefully styled hair was in disarray. Still, though: “You’ve had some work done on your face,” she said.

“You’re one to talk.”

“Well. It’s a requirement of the business. You’ve been a naughty boy, Zander.”

“What are you upset about? Because I’ve started dating again? I never pegged you as the crazy jealous type. You always said you were different from all the other women.”

“I know your grift. And while we’re on the topic, where’s my money?”

“Our money.”

“My money.”

“You never would’ve had it without me.”

“You give yourself too much credit,” Opal said. “Let’s face it: you were never any good at this.”

“And yet, here you are, asking me where your money is.”

“And yet, here you are, in a well-furnished hole in the ground. You should be ashamed of yourself, frankly. A love rat? A Tinder swindler? A romance scammer? It’s low-hanging fruit. The sort of thing they make Netflix documentaries about.”

“All I’m doing is going on some dates.”

“Uh-huh. And I’m Minnie Mouse.”

“If you’re besties with Marina, why don’t you ask her how much money I’ve taken from her? I’ve treated her to meals, bought her flowers, given her gifts. I’ve kept her very satisfied.”

“Oh, please.”

“She should feel lucky. Let’s face it, she’s pushed three kids out of there.”

“Stop being a pig.”

“Just stating facts.” He took a swig of his protein shake and sat down on the bed, crossing one leg over another, doing his best impression of being debonair. God, once she’d fallen for it too. “Anyway, none of what I’m doing is against the law.”

“What about your fiancée?”

He looked marginally less debonair. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The little bunny rabbit. The rich librarian.”

Zander uncrossed his legs.

“Listen,” he said. “I’ve got to make a living, just like anyone. But you...this is kidnapping. And assault. What are you planning to do? Are you going to kill me? Because you think you’re clever, but you’re not that clever. You will never get away with that on your own.”

She waved her hand. “No. You’re an utter shit, but none of us want you on our consciences. You’ll be out of here in twenty-four hours, max.”

“Why not now?”

“Because I’m enjoying seeing you helpless, and also because Marina and Lilah need to work through some emotions. Right now they’re scared of you going to the police.”

“I won’t.”

“It’s easy for you to say that. Before you knew I was involved, you had no reason not to. But now you know that if you go to the police, I will too.”

A silence.

“You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I would. Seeing you behind bars would be almost worth it. But I don’t think I’ll need to. You don’t want to destroy yourself any more than I want to destroy myself. So you’ll keep quiet about your little basement vacation.”

“What do you want? Why are you helping them? I know you, and it’s not out of altruism.”

“I wanted to ruin your plans. And I wanted you to know that I’m watching you.” She came closer, so that all he could see through the hatch was her face. “But I’m warning you: when you get out of here, leave Marina and Lilah alone.”

“Forget that I asked. I know exactly what you want from them.”

“My life, my business. Stay away if you know what’s good for you.”

Zander laughed. “I don’t think you’ll get it. They’ll turn against you sooner rather than later. Women always do, especially when it comes to men.”