Page 110 of High Society

“No.”

“You’ve never been to her home?”

“I only met her the once.”

The detective eyes him steadily. “And where were you later that same evening?”

“At home.”

“Alone?”

“Until Holly came over, yes,” Aaron says, feeling his guts clench. “To wake me up and tell me about JJ.”

“All right.” Rivers stands up from his chair, and Aaron follows suit. “Oh, one last thing, Dr. Laing. You didn’t happen to speak to either Elaine Golding or Dr. Liisa Koskinen, did you?”

“No.” And then, remembering that the detective was the one who originally told Holly about Liisa’s phone call, Aaron volunteers, “Apparently, Dr. Koskinen tried to call my office a few days ago. But I didn’t even know that until Holly told me days later.”

“Why do you think Dr. Koskinen was looking for you?”

Aaron remembers the hypothesis he shared with Holly: how Liisa might have been deliberately trying to create a traceable record back to him, to implicate him in some way. But to recount it now might sound like overcompensation. All he says is “I have no idea whatsoever, Detective. She never did reach me.”

Rivers extends his hand. “Thank you for your time, Dr. Laing.”

Aaron hopes his palm isn’t sweating as he meets the other man’s firm handshake. “Feel free to reach out anytime, if I can be of more help.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Rivers says, turning for the door.

“Detective,” Aaron calls out to his back.

“Yes?” he says without turning around.

“I never told my wife about my conversation with JJ. I thought it would… upset her too much.”

“Hmmm.”

“Does she happen to already know?”

“I’m not at liberty to share that. Ethically speaking, and all.”

CHAPTER 55

Holly returns to the office just after lunch. She instructs Tanya that if Aaron shows up at the office she’s not to let him in. “And if he insists, Tanya, please call 911.”

Her assistant blanches with fear, practically vibrating in her seat.

But as the afternoon wears on, there is no sign of Aaron. He even stops phoning and texting. Holly suspects that Detective Rivers must have already spoken to him.

She manages to plod through her schedule, but Aaron is at the forefront of her thoughts and suspicions. The evidence against him is impossible to ignore or to explain away. He threatened JJ on the day she died. And Holly no longer buys his explanation that Liisa’s phone call to his office, on the day of her disappearance, was a mere coincidence. If Aaron had been willing to confront JJ, why wouldn’t he have done the same with Liisa or even Elaine? And just how far had he taken it?

Aaron must have intervened out of some twisted sense of protectiveness over her, but it doesn’t make the act any less egregious. Whatever he did, he did for himself. To subjugate her to his wants and needs. He has always known how to capitalize on her vulnerability. And his plan has already begun to pay dividends. Holly thinks, shamefully, of how easily she ended up back in his bed, despite her determination to move on with her life after their latest separation.

Why does she keep doing that? Why is she so weak?

At five p.m., Tanya heads home, reluctant to leave Holly alone. Holly stays behind to finish charting. But she can’t stop reflecting on her marriage.

What business do I have treating clients when I’ve been blind to the manipulation of my own husband? What else have I gotten wrong?

Another intrusive mental image of that stretch of highway where her father died pops into her mind. They’ve been recurring all afternoon. And again, she has to fight off the urge to go visit the crash site. Why now of all times? Why is Aaron’s duplicity—his unimaginable betrayal of our trust—triggering all these thoughts of my dad?