The good news felt terrible. And the bad news was about to come bubbling to the surface like noxious gas rising from the bottom of a murky lake.
Aidan had been lying on his bunk, staring at the ceiling, reviewing in his head every moment he’d spent with Caroline. He was looking for treachery—and finding all too much of it. He’d assumed that he was the one who’d pursued her. He had it in his mind that she was above him, that he’d struggled to win her attention, that his charms had prevailed against all odds, that she gave in to her feelings for the guy from the wrong side of the tracks because she couldn’t help herself.
He saw now that the truth was the opposite. From the first moment they met on the beach, it was Caroline who pursued him. She arranged for them to meet at her party. She came into the Red Anchor—twice—looking for him. She must’ve played drunk—had she drunk all the vodka tonics he poured for her?—in order to get him to drive her home. Once she had him in her house, she used a “tour” as a pretext to get him to her bedroom. To her bed. After that, he was lost. He would have agreed to anything she asked, no matter how extreme. Although he didn’t, thank God. He had some moral boundaries. Almost immediately, Caroline—what was that legal word Lisa had used?—solicited him to kill her husband. And Aidan said no. So she was forced to kill Jason herself, but she made sure to set him up to take the fall. She acted afraid, so he promised to protect her. He followed Stark around. He put himself out there for anyone to see. Then she invited him to her home on the night of the murder, drugged him, shot her husband, and planted evidence of the crime in Aidan’s truck. Aidan had delivered himself up like a sheep to slaughter. He was that gullible.
Now Aidan lay on his bunk, listening to his cellmate grunt as he did push-ups, trying to make sense of the disaster that was his life. He’d walked into a trap, and the door had swung shut behind him with a resounding clank. The cell smelled of sweat and urine from the toilet in the corner. The cellmate didn’t speak to him and was in for armed robbery. Aidan didn’t share Lisa Walters’s optimism that the prosecution would agree to his innocence. He’d rot here forever, worrying that his cellmate would strangle him in his sleep. Wishing for that, even, to be put out of his misery. Things had never gone his way. Why would they start now?
The guard came up to the cell door and unlocked it, which could only mean one thing. It was visiting hours.
“Callahan. Visitor,” the guard said.
“I saw my lawyer already.”
“It’s not your lawyer. It’s a family member. Let’s go.”
Family. Tommy? Aidan scrambled down from the top bunk and presented his hands for the manacles. In light of everything that he’d learned this morning, he saw yet again how stupid he’d been to reject his brother’s advice. The only person in his life who’d ever really looked out for him was Tommy. He walked down the long echoing corridor, his chains clanking, ready to throw himself on his brother’s mercy. Ready to fight for his own future, if only for Tommy’s sake.
But it was Kelly.
He sat down across from her. She took his hands. They both had tears in their eyes. Kelly, from seeing him in his prison blues, his eyes hollow and haunted. Aidan, from seeing how her familiar, pretty face had aged in the space of a single week. He could only imagine what Tommy looked like, and he couldn’t stand it.
“Swear to God, Kel. I didn’t do it. You’ve got to tell him,” Aidan said, choking up.
“I don’t want to talk about that. It’s not why I’m here. I’m here for Tom.”
“Yes. Can you tell him I love him? And that I’m innocent? This lawyer is going to prove it, and I can’t thank you guys enough for paying for her.”
“I’m here to tell you we can’t pay for that anymore. I’m sorry, but we have legal troubles of our own now. Didn’t the lawyer tell you?”
“Tell me what? What is it?”
The bad news. It must be truly bad, if Lisa couldn’t bring herself to tell him.
“Tom got suspended. He’s under investigation. The old lady next door heard the burglar alarm going that night. She looked out and saw you and Tom. She saw him let you go, Aidan, and she reported him to the state police. He’s going to lose his job.”
“My God. No. I’ll tell them—”
“Tell them what? You can’t say it’s not true, because it is true. You know how I know? Tom can’t sleep at night. That’s why he hasn’t been to see you. He can’t look you in the eye. He believes it’s his fault for letting you go. If only he’d had the guts to lock you up for burglary, you wouldn’t be in for murder now. Tom thinks he ruined your life. Hah, can you believe that? My saint of a husband, always seeing the best in his screwup of a brother.”
Aidan felt like he might vomit. Of all the things that had happened, Tommy taking this fall for him, blaming himself for Aidan’s stupidity, was the worst of all. It was more than he could bear. He had to change this, to make this not happen to Tommy, because of him.
“You must hate me,” he said, and instantly knew it was a stupid thing to say.
So self-pitying. He wasn’t a whiner. He needed to fix this.
“I wish I hated you,” Kelly said. “It would be easier. I love you, and so does Tommy. This is wrecking him. I fear for his health.”
“I’ll fix it. I promise.”
“You can’t fix this, because you are the problem. There’s something wrong with you, Aidan. Bad luck, bad judgment. Call it what you like. Disaster follows you. You destroyed your own life, and now you’re ruining ours, too. I don’t see that changing at this point. Do you?”