Page 32 of The Liar's Wife
“Well, you should look at it and get back with me, okay? We’re working on tracing where the payments ended up, but I just wanted you to be aware. You may want to contact your bank about closing the account…” She trailed off. “Also, when we were looking through your account, I noticed a charge yesterday at around two to the Stovesand Marina. Have any idea what that was about?”
I closed my eyes. The marina? We hadn’t been there since we found out we were expecting Gray. I pictured the early days of our relationship, Ben taking me out in the little red rowboat from his childhood. My earliest memories of falling in love with him are filled with salty air, tanned skin, and cool water. “No. I have…no idea. He did rent a slip there for a while, for his boat. But we haven’t been there since before Gray was born. Does that mean he was there?”
“It could’ve been an online purchase. We’re working on figuring it out. So, is Ben a big water guy? Does he sail? Does he still keep his boat there?”
“He likes to boat, sure. I mean, he had a rowboat from his childhood. It was…it was tiny. He sold it when we found out about Gray because he couldn’t justify the cost. We’d never have taken Gray on it. Could we have found his trail?”
“We’re still looking into everything. One more question.”
“Okay…”
“We contacted your property manager about getting video surveillance from your apartment building. He mentioned that you guys just had an attempted break-in. When I looked you up, it looks like he was right. Two days before Ben disappeared. Is there a reason you didn’t mention it?”
I swallowed. “I’d forgotten, to be honest. Things have just been so crazy…it was the last thing on my mind.”
“Information like this could be very important to your case. We need to make sure you aren’t omitting details like these.”
“Do you think they’re related? The break-in and their disappearance? Do you really think someone could’ve taken them?”
She was quick to reply. “I don’t want you to panic. We’ll know more when we get the surveillance footage from your landlord today.”
“Surveillance footage? But…there won’t be any. Ben said the cameras here don’t work.”
I could hear her typing something, but she stopped at my last remark. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Ben said after the break-in that he contacted our super and he said the cameras don’t work. That’s why the police couldn’t get the footage after the break-in.”
“Palmer…” She hesitated. “Ben never contacted your super. I just spoke with him myself. We have the footage from the day of the attempted break-in, and no one entered the building or left during the time Ben said the attempt happened. There was no one suspicious around the building that day at all. The report says our officers called and relayed that information to Ben. He didn’t tell you any of this?”
I touched my fingers to my chin, my voice breathless. “No…”
“Hm. Well, we’re getting the footage within the hour, so we should know soon when or if Ben came home yesterday after you saw him last. I just wanted to ask you some questions in case there was an obvious explanation to some of the things that seem to be bugging me. I’ll be in touch as we learn more, okay?”
I nodded, though she couldn’t see me, and I felt Dannika’s gaze burning into me. She squeezed my arm from the side, giving me gentle encouragement.
“Of course. Th-thank you.”
As I ended the call, I looked over at Dannika, who seemed to sense the concern. “What did she say?”
I blinked rapidly, staring off into the distance as I processed all I’d learned. “They think Ben used our card at the marina yesterday…and…there’s money missing from our accounts. A lot of money. He lied to me about someone trying to break in. He said he checked with our super, said there was no footage… He lied about so much, Dannika.”
Dannika’s jaw tightened. “So what do they think? Was he planning to disappear all along?”
She didn’t say and, until that moment, it hadn’t occurred to me. If Ben was planning to disappear, why would he take Gray, too? What was he planning to do?
Sickness washed over me, and I shoved the door of the car open, spewing vomit onto the pavement. How could I have trusted him?
Chapter Eighteen
Back at home, I scrolled through my online banking from my laptop, looking over the transactions I’d missed over and over again. One thousand dollars, once a month. I’d never noticed. As quickly as money came into the account, Ben had drained it. The savings I’d been so worried about halving with him was running lower than I’d imagined. I thought he’d been putting money into it each month, but from the looks of it, the only money he was moving was going out.
I’d moved past self-deprecating. No longer was I blaming myself, but instead, I was filled with fury for what he’d done. How he’d tricked me. What he’d let me believe.
Dannika had hesitantly left to eat dinner with Ty and the kids, trying to convince me to come along, but I couldn’t do it. I didn’t know how to function when my child was missing. I didn’t know what I was allowed to think, what I was allowed to feel. I couldn’t help being numb to it all. It was the safest option. Happiness was far away, like a distant memory. Anger was predominant.
I opened up Kat’s Instagram, searching through her recent posts. To my surprise, she hadn’t posted anything new since the day she rated the cheesecake. I searched through her posts. It was rare there weren’t at least two posts a day, but now she’d gone several days without any new content. It was as if she’d fallen off the face of the planet, much like my husband. Much like my son.
Where are you, Ben?