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ALYSON WATCHED JOHN’S expression carefully as she waited for him to speak. She had just filled him in on the long history of her relationship with Daniel, and he appeared to be taking it better than she expected. Even when they were married, she had kept her imaginary friend to herself for fear that he would think she had lost her mind.
After a long stretch of silence, John spoke. “I don’t believe it,” he said. “How long?”
“Seven years, around there.” She could see him doing the math in his head.
“We split up six years ago.”
“Yes,” she agreed.
“So you saw him while we were married?” He looked calm, but something in his voice seemed off to her.
“Correct.”
“You’re such a hypocrite.” The harshness of his response had taken her by surprise.
“Excuse me?” She knew keeping secrets from him while they were married was wrong, but his reaction seemed deeper than that.
“You left me because of one kiss, all the while you were cheating on me emotionally with a man you’re not even sure exists.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. She couldn’t believe he would dredge up the past and compare it to her dreams of Daniel. As far as she was concerned, she wasn’t the cheater in their relationship.
“It wasn’t like that,” she said, pursing her lips.
“What did you talk about?”
“Just stuff,” she told him, shifting her gaze away and rubbing her arm. “It’s none of your business.” She didn’t want to give him any specifics because it would do nothing to settle his anger.
“When was the last time you and I ever just talked about stuff?”
She didn’t have an answer. Seeing John again was hard enough, but having to talk to him about Daniel and what he meant to her was near impossible. John’s anger hadn’t helped that, and so she shut down, refusing to speak another word on the subject.
“You’re unbelievable,” he spat, turning his back on her.
His phone rang before he could make his retreat into the church, and he answered it before the second ring. He’d recognized the number and knew why this person was calling and what it meant for the case. He listened to the voice, absorbing the new information. When the call was complete, he hung up the phone and walked off toward his car. He signaled for Walter to follow him. He had every intention of leaving Alyson with no explanation, but he hesitated before climbing into the vehicle.
“You coming?” he called to her, before taking his place behind the wheel.