Page 25 of The Liar's Wife

Fat tears fell down my cheeks as I waited for his return text. I needed to pump. I needed to eat. I needed to wash my face and change my clothes. I put the car in drive and pulledout of the parking lot, heading across town to deal with the shambles that appeared to be all that remained of my life.

I parkedthe car and stepped into the building with determination. I would hear Ben out, but I wouldn’t back down. What he’d done was wrong. What he’d allowed Kat to do was beyond wrong. I wouldn’t forgive him for it. If he wanted to be with her—if he wanted to leave me—I wouldn’t beg him to stay, but he had to know I wouldn’t walk away with my tail tucked. I’d fight for custody. Fight against alimony.

As I climbed the stairs, a sick thought filled my mind. Now that Ben was home full time, what if he could get custody more easily? What if I’d set him up to receive alimony without even realizing it? Women did it all the time in divorces, didn’t they? It may be no different here.

I shoved the thought out of my head. It wasn’t going to happen like that. Ty was the best of the best, and I had him on my side of this. Whoever Ben hired wouldn’t be nearly as good as who I had on my side.

I approached the door and put my hand on the knob, twisting it carefully. It was locked. I lowered my brows, knocking. Why was it locked?

After a moment, I groaned and dug through my purse, locating my keys and unlocking the door.

“Ben?”

The first thing I noticed was the silence. It was deafening when I was so used to hearing life coming from the apartment. Gray fussing. Ben tapping his feet. Ben laughing. Gray cooing. There was nothing this time.

“Ben?” I called again, keeping my voice low, though a worried feeling had settled low in my stomach.Something is wrong.

I walked down the hall with caution, my footsteps the only sound I could hear. The humidity from an impending storm had settled into the apartment in such a short time, and a bead of sweat gathered on my upper lip. “Ben? Where are you?” I called once more as I stepped into the bedroom. The room, like the rest of the apartment, was empty and silent. My husband and son were nowhere to be found.

I pulled out my phone and clicked on his name from my recent calls list. It didn’t ring.

“Hey, it’s Ben. Leave me a message, and I’ll get back to you.”

The line beeped, and I hung up.Where is he?

I walked back into the living room, searching the place for any sign of a note from him explaining his disappearance. When I’d left Kat’s house, he was gone. It wasn’t possible that he hadn’t made it home yet if this was where he was headed.

There were no papers, no notes, nothing out of place. The stroller still sat against the wall, so despite the fact that the rain wasn’t here yet, it was doubtful that he’d taken him on a walk. I had a sinking feeling of dread that I couldn’t explain. Everything in me screamed that something was very wrong.

I opened the apartment door, locking it behind me and jogging down the stairs. I glanced out at the street, thankful that the rain had held off. I searched the street, looking for signs of his car to no avail, then turned the corner to head around the building. I looked throughout the small parking lot and inside the underground parking garage, hurrying through each level in search of the silver Mazda. It wasn’t there. He wasn’t there.

Once I’d reached the last level of the garage, I turned back around. I walked up the sidewalk back to my apartment slowly, watching for his car, just hoping it would appear.

Where are you, Ben?

I had such a bad feeling. But how could I explain it? And what was I supposed to do with it, anyway? How was I supposed to fix it? How was I going to find them? I called my office first, on a whim.

“Thank you for calling Cumberland Design, Palmer Lewis’ office. How may I help you?”

“Howie, it’s me,” I said, letting out a huff.

“Palmer? Hey! Are you still in Spring Hill?”

I shook my head, though he couldn’t see me. “No. I…” I had no reason to lie to him, but I needed to. Howie had more than earned my trust, but I couldn’t explain to him everything that was going on. I didn’t have the energy. “I just dropped by the apartment to eat lunch. Listen, Ben and Gray didn’t happen to come there, did they?”

He paused. “You mean today? I haven’t seen them. Were they supposed to?” His voice grew faint, and I could tell he was leaning away from the receiver, careening his neck around the office to get a good look. I could picture it well.

“No, I just…they aren’t here, and he’s not answering his phone.” I chewed my bottom lip. “They’ll turn up. I just wanted to make sure I hadn’t missed him.”

“They aren’t here, but if they do show up, I’ll have him call you.”

“Thanks, Howie,” I said.

“Will you be back in—”

I’d already lowered my phone, and I couldn’t bear to worry about the answer to that question. There was still so much unknown. I needed to call someone else—but who?

I didn’t have the phone numbers of any of the men he used to work with. I could call the store, but why would they be there? I clicked on his name again, but still, it went straight to voicemail. Had his phone died? Worse, had he turned it off?