Into the Dark

29

San Marino, California

Claire stood in her bathrobe and stared into the mirror for nearly two minutes after her shower, brushing her hair while fighting tears.

She and Robert had made love last night but it was passionless and clinical, bordering on awful.

Something’s wrong between us. Robert’s changed. Something’s different. Or is it me? Maybe I’m reacting to the new injections?

I have to stop this. It’s nuts.

Look at the positives, she told herself while dressing. I love Robert and I know he loves me. We’re closer than ever to starting a family. Maybe I’m pregnant now. Why am I so uneasy about Robert?

What has he done? Seriously, what has he done?

I have no proof he’s done anything wrong. So I overheard a bit of a phone conversation out of context, found an old photo, so what? Maybe I misread his post-traumatic stress as something else? My qualms about him having feelings for his ex-wife are based on nothing concrete. I should push them aside.

The doorbell rang. Claire heard Robert pay the pizza delivery kid. She savored the aroma as she went to the kitchen.

They passed the time eating and making small talk about her garden plans, while avoiding prickly subjects like the nursery or selling the cabin. They both had things to do that evening. Claire needed to review files. Robert had to go to the Van Nuys airport for a pilots’ meeting about a new plane the company was acquiring.

“I might be out quite late,” he said as they cleared the table.

Afterward, when Claire heard the side door open and close, Robert’s departure left her with a pang of regret. He was a good-hearted man, who would risk his life for strangers. He’d always been kind and protective. Rather than analyzing him, Claire needed to focus on her patients.

After tidying up in the kitchen, she went to work in her home office, reviewing and updating her patient notes. All of her patients had worrisome cases, but the patient Claire felt the most concern for was Amber.

It had been about two weeks since Amber’s estranged husband, Eric, had assaulted her and threatened Claire in the office parking lot. Amber had since resumed living alone in the house in Alhambra. But Claire was still wary of Eric, having experienced his wrath firsthand that day. As Claire reread Amber’s file, she slid her small silver cross back and forth on her necklace chain.

Claire did not like the fact that after the attack Eric had violated the court’s no-contact order by writing to Amber and pleading for reconciliation; something Amber had considered, despite Claire’s advice to the contrary. Claire was concerned. Eric was a dangerous, manipulative man and Amber seemed to be weakening. Claire consulted the calendar. Amber’s next session was coming up soon. Good, Claire thought, there were a number of areas they needed to address.

Claire’s cell phone rang. The caller’s number was blocked.

“Hey, Claire.”

She’d recognized Julie’s voice.

“Hey, there.”

“Sorry, it’s been ages,” Julie said. “We’ve been swamped. So how are you?”

“Oh, you know, the same old-except I’ve just started the treatment.”

“I see.”

The silence that passed underscored where they’d left matters-with the understanding that Claire was going to wait on her treatment until Julie had taken care of Claire’s request she check out Robert’s phone history.

“I couldn’t put it off,” Claire said. “It’s timed to my cycle and my doctor would’ve had questions, then there’s the cost.”

“It’s okay, I know,” Julie said. “Congratulations. My fingers are crossed for you. I called to let you know that I did not forget my assignment. I looked into the phone numbers like you asked.”

“And?”

“I didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. All pretty innocuous stuff, nothing tied to Cynthia that I could see.”

A tiny wave of relief rippled through Claire.

“I guess this confirms that I was being silly.”

“I did discover something.”

“What do you mean?”

“In trying to find Cynthia’s surname, I had a search done of California’s divorce records. Nothing surfaced for her, nothing at all. In fact, there’s no record of Robert Bowen’s divorce in the State.”

“Oh, well, that’s not surprising. I think he was married in Montana, or someplace like that. Before we met he’d lived in a lot of different places.”

“Yeah, I remembered you telling me. So, seeing this as a challenge I had a search done nationwide of all court records, thinking surely we’d find Robert and Cynthia’s papers.”

“And?”

“Nothing. It’s quite the mystery, very odd. I was thinking that if you might be able to somehow get a bit more info, like where they were living at the time of the divorce, or where they were married then I could…”

Claire went deaf to what Julie was saying. She felt the earth shift under her, resurrecting her doubts. How could this be? How could I be married to him and not know something so basic?

“Claire? Did you hear me?”

“Sorry.”

“You and Robert were married in Mexico, so you both had to supply divorce decrees, remember?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll work with our contacts in Mexico and see if I can get information on Cynthia from the documentation Robert would’ve provided the Mexican authorities, okay?”

Silence passed.

“Hello? Claire?”

“Yes, sorry.”

“So, do you want me to keep looking into this?”

Claire’s mouth had gone dry and she licked her lips and swallowed.

“Yes.”