Page 38 of The Arrangement

“That wouldn’t explain him not answering my calls,” she snipped.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know him well, but I hope he is found safe. He was…very kind to me.” I looked down for the first time, forcing away thoughts of his kindness on our first date. “Again, I’m so sorry about the circumstances. I had no idea about you. I’d never…” I shook my head. “I didn’t want anyone to get hurt—you included.”

Suddenly, I was thinking about what we’d done. What we’d taken from her. What would I do if someone took Peter from me? If the woman he’d dated had caused his death? My lips pressed together until it was painful, and I released them.

“I doubt that,” she said, not bothering to try and hide her disgust with me. “You’re married, too, aren’t you?”

“H-how could you know that?” Realization swept over me. “I’m sorry, how did you even know about me? How did you find me?”

“My husband was a cop, Mrs. Greenburg. Do you think we didn’t look into the women he was seeing? Made sure they seemed normal? Sane?” She studied my expression. “I know all about you.”

“I’m sorry, women? Plural? He was seeing multiple people? And you knew about it?”

“The intricacies of my marriage are none of your concern—”

“Of course not, I would never, I—”

“But what should be your concern is the fact that I’m going to tell the detectives working his case all about you. I’m going to tell them where you live, your children’s names, your husband’s name. We’re going to get to the bottom of this. I wanted to give you a chance to come clean, to tell me the truth without involving the law. If you know where he is and you’re hiding it from me, or if you’ve done something wrong and you’re lying, we’ll figure it out. But not before your life, your children’s lives, are dragged through the hassles of a criminal investigation.”

There was no doubt in her eyes, no sign that she was bluffing. She was going to make sure the truth was found out. She was going to make sure I went down for it.

“Are you sure you don’t have anything you want to tell me?” she asked, reaching for the brown, oversized handbag she’d placed in the seat next to her.

“I’m sorry, I have no idea…” I whispered half-heartedly.

She sighed, standing up. “Well, if you think of anything, you should be sure to tell Detective Chad.” She pulled a card from the bag and laid it down in front of me. “I’m going to give him your contact information tonight.” She turned, grabbing hold of the doorknob without another word.

“Wait,” I cried, standing up. She spun back around, a knowing look in her eyes. “I can’t talk here… I don’t know a lot, but I might know something. I’ll tell you everything I know, but I can’t do it here. This is my place of business. I have customers waiting.”

“My husband is missing,” she argued. “I hardly care about overdraft fees.”

“I understand. I want to help. Please, just… Please. Come to my house this evening. We can talk alone. Me and you. We can discuss everything.” She hesitated, watching me closely with a dubious expression. “I know you don’t know me that well, and I don’t know him that well, but he seems very sweet. I want you to find him.”

She nodded slowly, wary of the offer. “Fine. What time do you get off?”

“Five. I can meet you at my house at six.”

“Fine,” she repeated.

“My address is—”

“I know.” Without allowing me to finish, she pulled the door open and marched out. “I’ll see you at six.”

As I watched her disappear from the lobby, a sharp, ragged breath escaped my lungs, and I clutched my chest. I hurried over to the door, watching her climb into a red Hyundai Santa Fe and realized it matched the description of the car my employees had seen outside the branch Saturday morning.

How long had Illiana De Luca been looking for me?

And what was she planning to do now that she’d found me?

Chapter Twenty-Four

PETER

My job was to get the kids out of the house while Ainsley attempted to talk to the woman who wanted to ruin our lives. Sounds simple enough, right?

My wife wanted to talk to her, to explain a few things. I thought it was dangerous, thought it was reckless to bring someone into our world, to tell her Ainsley had known her husband at all.

Ainsley said we had no choice.