THE BAD THINGS
It was so obvious. It was almost silly. Stephanie stood in the CVS aisle shaking her head. The shelves were full of baskets, green plastic grass, eggs of every impossible hue and bunnies. Candy bunnies, fluffy stuffed bunnies, chocolate bunnies, some solid some semi and some completely hollow. The rabbit with its prodigious reproductive vigor was a pagan symbol for spring, fecundity, rebirth; the symbol that had been appropriated and laid over the Christian story of Christ’s rebirth and the implied renewal of the soul through faith. Easter. That was the when. Jordan had put rabbit protein in the DNA sample because it would be impossible to miss.
She had a date. A date with her husband on Easter Sunday, just a week away. It was a date she was not going to miss. She just had to figure out the where. The phosphorus had to be the key. Unless Simon had missed something, that was the only other big flag in the sample. She needed to dig, she thought as she pulled up to the house.
Alex’s car was parked out front.
Her heart started to race. Calm down, keep it together.
He was smoking a cigarette. She’d never known him to smoke before. Ever. He ground it out in the street when he saw her car.
“Jesus, Alex, you look terrible. Are you okay?” she said, straining to sound calm. He did look bad. Drawn, exhausted. “Come on in. I have to put this stuff away.” He followed her into the house, looking around warily. As she busied herself putting the groceries away he paced the kitchen, then suddenly grabbed her by the arm and turned her to face him. His eyes were red rimmed and swollen.
“Are you fucking Simon? I need to know.” His voice sounded raw and dry.
“What are you talking about?”
“Let’s cut the bullshit, Stephanie. There isn’t any time. I would have loved to keep everything slow and easy but it’s too late.”
She was scared but she struggled to keep herself cool and affected an expression of utter bewilderment.
“Alex, what are you talking about? You’re freaking me out a little.”
He was close, towering over her, his grip tight on her arm. “I saw you with him. A couple of days ago at Sunny’s. After you left I talked to him. He said you had just run into each other but he was lying. And I could tell he was nervous. Like he knew about us and was afraid to tell me you were seeing each other.”
“Alex, listen to me. Simon is just a good friend. There has never been anything more in our relationship. I felt like I owed him something, an explanation or an apology for all my hysteria around confirming Jordan’s DNA. He was a mensch—he really hooked me up. I know he was up late rushing that through for me. Anyway, I just wanted to get him lunch and let him know how much I appreciated it.” Alex was about to interrupt but she cut him off.
“And yes, I think he is a little intimidated by you. You make him nervous. So I’m not surprised if he got a little flustered.”
He wanted to believe her; she could see it in his face. But he was struggling. And the grip on her arm wasn’t getting any looser.
“What did you mean when you said there wasn’t any time?” she said.
“I was arrested this morning.” Stephanie’s eyed widened. “Someone I used to know was killed and I’m being framed for it.”
“Oh my God,” she gasped. “But that’s ridiculous. You didn’t do anything.” She tried to make it sound more like a statement than a question.
“It doesn’t matter. I think I know who did it and why. If I go to jail, I’m dead. If I don’t, I’m dead.” He laughed, a humorless chuckle. “I’m pretty fucked.”
“But that’s crazy,” she protested. “Go to the police, tell them what’s happening.”
“It won’t make any difference. These people can get to me anywhere. These are powerful people. I did a deal with them a while ago and it went wrong.”
“This is about money?” she cried. “I have money—what do you need?”
That little laugh again. “No, it’s not about the money. I can’t really explain it.” He looked into her eyes. “It’s complicated. I need to disappear, just drop off the grid. And I will. But listen—” he took a deep breath “—I want you to come with me.”
Holding both of her arms now. Desperate.
“Alex, slow down. Please. You’re scaring me. You’re talking crazy. Whatever has happened, you can fix it. I know you can. And you know I care for you but this is all just happening. I need time.”
She flinched as he slammed his open hand on the birch cabinet. She heard the tinkle of bottles inside.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Pleading. “You have to listen to me. There isn’t any more time. I wish there was. This is it. Sometimes you have to take the leap. I’ll make you happy, I promise.” A pause. “I need you, Steph.”
He leaned to kiss her. Behind her she heard the steady drip of what smelled like sesame oil from the cabinet onto the granite countertop. What would he do if she refused? She buried her head in his chest and put her arms around him. Think. Think. His lips brushed her hair. His hands encircled the small of her back, pulling her closer, then sliding inside the waistband of her skirt. She could feel him pressing against her and his heart hammering beneath her cheek. He roughly pushed the skirt down and pulled the cotton aside. His breathing was raw. She felt numb with fear and revulsion, paralyzed. She didn’t think she could stop it now. This man she’d known almost half her life, who was somehow responsible for her husband’s kidnapping or whatever the hell it was, was going to rape her in her own kitchen.
She eyed the knife block by the fridge. She couldn’t. She sank to her knees in front of him.
He tried to pull her back up. She looked up at him. “No, I want to.”
She took him in her mouth. He groaned and leaned back against the island. His fingers lightly twisted in her hair.
Her mind divided in three. While one part performed the motions that she hoped would buy her the time she’d need and another lay curled up in the dark like a little girl with her hands over her eyes waiting for the bad things to go away, a third part of Stephanie’s mind, calm and detached, began to trace the faintest outlines of a plan.