Page 42

Washington, DC’s Trip Day

Security is stowing Zoe’s luggage in the car when my phone vibrates with an incoming message.

Beau: “I have news. Call me. It’s urgent.”

The call doesn’t even have time to connect before my phone rings with another incoming call.

Odin.

What the hell? The two at the same time can only mean one thing: they have located Mike Howard.

“I found him,” my cousin says as soon as I pick up.

“Really? And where’s the motherfucker?”

“Dead. Car accident. Poetic justice or not, the car caught fire.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“I’m not a coroner, , but the forensics says so, so why doubt it?”

“Where did it happen?”

“Mexico. He crossed the border. Probably trying to get away. It’s a road accident, it seems. Lost control and fell off a cliff. End of the line.”

“Too quick for what he deserved.”

“Yeah, I know.”

I’m sure the crime Howard committed, burning down Zoe’s parents’ house, is a sore point for my cousin—as he lost his entire family in a fire: parents and baby sister.

“I can keep checking. I’ll try by other means to find out if it was really him.”

“What other means?” I find his suggestion odd.

“Again with the playing the big brother.”

“I can’t help it. Don’t get in trouble because of me. I can check if it was Howard without you exposing yourself to danger.”

“You know I would never expose myself. Erasing tracks is my specialty, but I don’t want to interfere. If you really want to solve everything yourself . . .”

“You’ve already done a lot, bringing me this.”

“It’s okay. Take care, .”

He hangs up, and when I’m ready to complete the call to Beau, as I’m now sure it’s Mike he wants to talk about, Zoe shows up. I think she notices something in my expression because a little wrinkle in the middle of her forehead replaces her smile.

“What happened? Is it my parents?” She looks terrified.

“No. They’re fine, but we have to talk. Your ex-husband is dead.”

“What?”

“A car accident in Mexico. The car caught fire.”

“Are you sure it was him?”

No, I’m not, but I won’t tell her that. If Howard is still on this planet, it won’t be for long, anyway.

Before I answer, she continues. “I’m not sorry. I hope he suffered,” she says, surprising me. “Because of what he did, my parents’ lives were destroyed. Their history, their memories. He hurt Bia thinking it was me.”

“He almost killed you too,” I growl, feeling the same hate for the bastard as when I saw her in that hospital room .

My phone rings; I know it’s Beau. Maybe wanting to break the same news as Odin.

“I have to answer it,” I say and walk away because I have no idea how the conversation will go.

“What part of ‘urgent’ don’t you understand?”

“I was talking to my cousin, then Zoe. He told me Mike Howard is dead.”

“What?”

“Wait, isn’t that what you were going to tell me?”

“No, but it seems your news is better than mine. Was it him?”

“I don’t know. What do you think?”

“Well, I don’t believe it, perhaps because, like you, I’m skeptical by nature. But by tomorrow morning, I’ll know. Now, let’s get down to business. Whether he’s dead or alive, your girl will be rid of the bastard sooner than you think.”

“I don’t understand.”

“When he married your Zoe, the professor had already been married to someone for over ten years. He’s a bigamist, , which means his second marriage, which turns out to be to your girl, is invalid.”

“I thought nothing else we’d find about him would surprise me, but the bastard managed to outdo himself.”

“It’s a win-win. Any good lawyer will be able to resolve the annulment... I don’t even know if that’s the correct term because how can you annul what never existed? Anyway, any good lawyer will be able to resolve that quickly.”

“I’ll contact my lawyers later today.”

“I’ll give you some advice for free. You said you’re not sure if he really died. Let your Zoe think so. If Howard is still walking this vale of tears, it won’t be for long.”

“I had already considered that. I don’t want to involve her in my plans.”

“Exactly. When we find him burned to death in a car, it will sound like heaven.”

“You’ve got that look again, like you want to say something but are holding back. Did you regret the trip?”

“What? No.”

“Look, if you’ve changed your mind about me meeting your family...”

“You should know by now that no one forces me to do what I don’t want to do, Zoe.”

“Okay, so what’s wrong, ? This guessing game makes me anxious. I’m already nervous about meeting your parents, and your expression doesn’t help.”

I take her hand, which was resting on her thigh, and bring it to my lips, giving it a light kiss. “It has nothing to do with the trip. I still want you to meet my family.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

“I’m thinking of how to tell you something.”

“Is it about Mike? If you’re worried about how I’m feeling about his death, don’t worry. I won’t lose five minutes of sleep over this. I’m not sure what happened, , but I’ve already decided that I’m going to save my tears for those who deserve them. Dead or alive, I will never forgive him for what he did to my family. How could he have the gall, knowing my mother has cancer, how hard she’s been fighting to survive, to burn down the house with both of them inside? I mean, I understand that, in his crazy head, he wanted revenge. But my parents? No, you won’t see me mourn his death.”

“It has nothing to do with the jerk’s death.” I take a detour off the road. I see in the rearview mirror that the two cars with our bodyguards do the same. I turn off the engine and look at her. “Your marriage to Mike was invalid.”

“What?”

I’ll never win an award for diplomacy, so I dump it all at once. “It’s not in me to sit idly waiting for the police to discover his whereabouts. I asked a friend to go after him. ”

“Wasn’t he the one who broke the news of Mike’s death?”

“No, that was my cousin. Anyway, my friend found out that Mike had a wife already, which makes your marriage invalid. And there’s more,” I continue, because it doesn’t make any sense to keep the rest of the information. “You wouldn’t have thought of checking your bank account with all this shit going on lately, but he cleaned it out, as well as the stocks you had invested.”