Angie snatched away the bag of Oxy. ‘Take a shower, Dale. Marcus was right. You reek of piss.’
‘Why don’t you lick it off me?’
Angie could hear him laughing as she walked away.
THURSDAY, 10:22 AM
Angie pushed an empty cart through the Kroger, looking for Jo. The store was too clean. Her eyes hurt from the fluorescent lights. Everything was aggressively tidy. The last time Angie had been in an actual grocery store, she was with Will. Domesticity was his only fetish. He bought things in bulk, always the same brands with the same logos because he was too stupid to read about anything that might be new or better. Angie loathed domesticity. She had gotten bored with the whole process, sneaking crap into his cart: some root beer, then peach sorbet, then a different kind of butter, and five minutes later, he was freaking out like the robot from Lost in Space.
Sara probably did all of his shopping now. Ironed his shirts. Made his dinner. Tucked him into bed at night. Changed his diaper.
Angie pushed her way through the deli and spotted her daughter in the produce section. Jo held a peach in her hand, testing it for softness. There was a distant look in her eyes. Maybe she was thinking about her plan to escape from her husband. That was why Jo had shown Marcus the video. She thought he would take care of her, make all the bad things go away. What she didn’t understand was that Marcus Rippy wasn’t going to jeopardize any part of his life to help Jo.
Even if he wanted to, Kip wouldn’t let him.
The video was their only leverage. Angie had to copy the file off Jo’s phone before the police scooped her up. She didn’t trust the backup iPad, even turned off and locked in a motel safe. Sam Vera was too good at his job, and Angie wasn’t willing to roll the dice with Jo’s life.
Dale wasn’t a fortune-teller, but he understood how these things worked. Jo was an uncertainty. People hated uncertainty, especially when money was involved. It would only be a matter of time before Marcus got paranoid and Kip got desperate. Laslo had stabbed a man to death in Boston. There was other dirty work she knew about in Atlanta. His job was to keep the trains running on time. Angie didn’t see him having any qualms about neutralizing Jo. Which meant there wasn’t much time left for her daughter to get away.
‘Let me call my mother.’
Angie felt her stomach flip. Jo was talking to her. She was standing ten feet away. She held a peach in her hand. Her voice was raised just loud enough to carry.
Jo said, ‘My son is at school. Let me call my mother before you take me.’
Angie looked around, making sure no one could hear them. ‘What are—’
‘I know Reuben has you following me.’ Jo put down the peach. ‘I saw you at the Starbucks. You were at my son’s school last month.’
‘It’s not what you think.’
Jo was trying to sound like she wasn’t afraid, but the muscles in her neck stood out with tension. ‘I won’t come willingly unless you let me take care of my son.’ Her composure started to break. She was clearly terrified. ‘Please. He’s Reuben’s boy, too.’
Angie felt a sharp pain in her chest, a physical response to the helplessness that her daughter was obviously experiencing. ‘Your husband didn’t send me. I’m here to help you get away.’
Jo laughed.
‘I’m serious.’
‘Fuck off, woman. Don’t waste my time.’ She pushed her shopping cart to the next aisle. She tore off a produce bag and started loading it with oranges.
Angie said, ‘You’re in danger.’
‘No shit.’
‘Marcus went to Kip about the video.’
Jo laughed again. ‘You think I didn’t figure something like that happened? The laptop crashed this morning. Won’t even boot up. Everything on my phone got erased.’ She opened her purse. She took out her phone. She offered it to Angie. ‘You want it? Take it. I don’t even have pictures of my boy anymore.’
Angie slapped her hand away. ‘Listen to me. I’m trying to help you.’
‘You can’t help me.’ Jo turned around. She pushed her cart over to the juice section.
Angie followed her. ‘You’re going to be arrested.’
Jo looked confused, then angry. ‘For what?’
‘They planted Oxy in your car.’ Angie left out the part where she’d been the one to do it. ‘The cops are going to be waiting outside when you leave. They’re going to keep you in jail for two days.’
‘But—’ Jo had the look that Angie had seen before when rich, entitled people found out they were going to have to bend to the law. ‘I didn’t do anything.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Angie told her. ‘They have it all planned out. They want to teach you a lesson.’ Angie gave her a moment to let reality sink in. ‘You’ll get out of jail Saturday night, you’ll go to LaDonna’s party with Fig on Sunday night, then Monday morning, you’ll go to rehab.’
‘I won’t be able to walk Monday morning.’
‘Reuben’s knee will be in a brace.’ Angie felt the words rush into her mouth like water. She had to make Jo believe that she could keep her safe. ‘He’ll be effectively crippled.’
‘You think that matters?’ She shook her head again. ‘You can’t outrun a bullet to the back.’
‘The press will be everywhere. If he hits you, they’ll see it.’
‘If he leaves a mark.’
Angie struggled to convince her. ‘You tell him if he touches you, you’ll go out into the yard and take off your clothes and let the photographers record exactly what he’s done.’
‘What photographers?’ She looked even more panicked. ‘Reuben doesn’t like the press.’
‘They’ll be following you the minute you get out of jail.’
‘Oh God.’ Jo put her hand to her neck. Her breathing was shallow. ‘Marcus told Reuben I met with him. Alone.’
‘No. Reuben doesn’t know about the motel, the video, any of that.’ Angie watched the relief pass through Jo’s body like a muscle relaxer. ‘Marcus took the problem to Kip. This is how Kip’s handling it.’
Tears filled Jo’s eyes. She was clearly terrified. ‘Do you know what my husband’s going to do to me for bringing attention down on him?’
Angie couldn’t stand her distress anymore. ‘I’m going to help you get away.’
‘What?’ Jo sounded disgusted. ‘Are you crazy?’
‘I’m going to help you,’ Angie repeated, and she realized that she had never spoken truer words in her life. She had abandoned Jo once before, but she was going to do everything she could today, right now, to guide her daughter to safety.
She said, ‘Let me help you.’
‘Fuck off, lady.’ Jo turned furious, the same as you would expect from any trapped animal. ‘You ambush me at the grocery store and tell me you’re my savior, and I’m supposed to believe you, risk my life for you, risk my son’s life for you? Where do you get off, bitch? Who the hell do you think you are?’
Angie didn’t have the words to tell her. I’m your mother. I’m the teenager who didn’t want to raise you. I’m the woman who abandoned you.
‘I’m a friend,’ Angie said.
‘Do you know what happened to the last friend who tried to help me? He ended up in the hospital. Probably won’t ever walk again.’
‘Do you know what happened to the last woman who threatened Marcus Rippy?’
Jo looked away. If she didn’t know, she had a good idea. The despair was back, the helplessness. ‘Why would you risk your life to help a stranger?’
‘I had a daughter who was in your situation.’
‘Had,’ Jo repeated. ‘She got killed?’
‘Yes,’ Angie said, because she knew that’s how most of these stories ended. ‘She was killed because I didn’t help her. I’m not going to let that happen again.’
‘Jesus.’ Jo saw through the lie. ‘You think you can get me on your side, make me trust you? I’ve seen you at One-Ten. If you’re not working for Reuben, you’re working for Kip Kilpatrick.’