Hope it works indeed.
Josh needed some time. Time to get away, to get on the road, to get the hell out of Dodge.
He broke down the burner phone. Took out the battery, buried it in the weeds. Took out the SIM card, crushed it under his heel against a rock, put it in his pocket. Repeated the process with his own phone, destroying it completely.
Started off, in the dark.
He knew exactly where he needed to go.
CHAPTER 66
Josh
Today
Josh watched his wife’s reaction as he told her the story. She winced a few times but stayed silent and still, listening without interrupting.
She was quiet and reserved, holding back. This was not going the way he wanted. He’d expected a few flashes of anger, but he’d truly thought Aubrey would be so happy to see him that she’d rush into his arms and never want to let go again. She wasn’t jumping in his arms. Instead, she was keeping her distance, on guard and afraid.
God, she looked just like she did when she was ten, and he was twelve, and he made her that valentine. She’d looked at it with the wariness of a cat about to bolt before its tail was pulled.
“Did you know about the investigation? The trial? They arrested me, Josh.”
“Not at the time. I made it to Nags Head. Kevin and Janie’s place. They went to Barbados on their honeymoon, I knew it would be deserted. And I knew where they left the key. I hid out there, and healed. The cut was worse than I intended. I got a fever. I nearly died.”
That wasn’t the whole truth. He had been aware, of everything. He’d been worried sick when she was arrested, but he knew she couldn’t be found guilty. He’d been so careful. He just couldn’t return to Nashville unless it was absolutely necessary. If she’d been found guilty, he would have turned himself in. But she hadn’t. So he didn’t. But he didn’t think telling her that was going to make much of a difference. He hadn’t played the hero. He wasn’t sure why not.
“You shot Allen. You thought you killed him?”
“I had no choice.”
“How much money did you get away with?”
“Almost two million dollars. I knew it would buy me some time.”
“So how did you get to Nags Head?”
“Walked and hitched. Guy in an eighteen-wheeler picked me up outside of town. I was lucky he never came forward. Everything was predicated on luck. It could have fallen apart anytime.”
“Right.” She was quiet for a minute. “How’d you get the phone into my house? The police had me under surveillance.”
“Loose surveillance. They followed Tyler when he left yesterday. I snuck in.”
“Huh. Why didn’t you just take the bag with you?”
“I heard your car. I panicked. I should have stayed, should have shown myself. I went out the window before the cops got back. I wanted you to leave with me then, but Chase . . .” He spit out his brother’s name.
She laughed a little. “All this time, Josh. You could have reached out. You could have told me. You could have trusted me. I’m the only one you could truly trust.”
“I do trust you. That’s why I’m telling you now, Aubrey. The whole night went wrong, from the very beginning. Nothing went according to plan. This is not what I wanted. This is not what I’d planned on.”
“You seem to have made the best of it.” Aubrey swept her arm out. “Living in style, plastic surgeries.”
“I’ve been working on how to get us out of this mess, Aubrey.”
“Oh. Okay.” She stared out to sea for a few moments. When she looked at him again, her face was shadowed. “Why exactly did you come back, Josh?”
He reached for her hand. She didn’t resist. “I came back for you, Aubrey. Now that I’ve been declared legally dead, we can start over. Fresh. You have the insurance settlement. We’ll pull the money from the account the moment it hits, transfer it to mine. I know how to do it so no one will know—that’s part of what I’ve been working on. With that money, and what I’ve got left, we have enough to last us the rest of our lives. You don’t have to work, ever again. We can move to South America, live in paradise, swim, make love, read, dance. Have babies. Anything we want to do.”
“So long as we don’t ever come back.”
“Well, travel isn’t completely out of the question, though it’s dangerous. We’d have to get you some work done, and—”
“Did you know about Chase being your brother?”
Her tone made him wince. “I didn’t until Meghan found the birth certificate.”
“You were watching her, too?”
“I’ve been watching all of you. I’ve seen it all.” He couldn’t contain the anger in his voice, the hurt. He’d promised himself he wouldn’t, couldn’t blame her. But he did; it poured out. “I know all about you and Chase. How you fucked him that night. You’d just met him, Aubrey. You didn’t know him at all.”
She looked at him sadly. “You’re one to talk, Josh. I didn’t know you at all, either.”