Chapter Sixteen

I arranged to meet Diana the following day at a bistro she recommended in Delray Beach. It was a long drive for me, but I was glad to be out of the house and away from Shoreham. No one would know me in Delray. And no one would recognize me as the wife of the notorious doctor accused of killing his beautiful model girlfriend.

James had gone to work that day, even though he didn’t have any surgeries scheduled.

“I’m not sure any of my patients will even show up for their appointments,” he’d said that morning while he picked at the scrambled eggs I’d made him.

“I’m sure it will be fine. You’re a good doctor, James. Your patients will be loyal.”

I hoped I sounded more confident than I felt.

I was twenty minutes early to the restaurant where I’d arranged to meet Diana. The hostess seated me at a corner booth and took my order for an iced tea. The room was cool and dark, a pleasant change from the blinding sunshine outside. I sipped my tea as I waited, running through every possible reason I could think of for her insisting on this meeting.

She arrived ten minutes late, when I was halfway through my second iced tea and so jittery I could barely sit still. She pulled her sunglasses off and scanned the restaurant, until she finally spotted me. I waved and smiled, but she didn’t smile back. Instead, her expression was serious as she strode toward the booth where I was sitting. Today, she was wearing a sleeveless aqua-blue shift that showed off her toned arms and long tanned legs, and her curly hair was pulled back in a low ponytail.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said, sliding in across the table from me. “Traffic was a killer.” She flinched. “I suppose I shouldn’t be throwing that word around lightly.”

“I was surprised to hear from you,” I said. “I didn’t get the feeling you wanted to talk about any of this again.”

“I don’t,” she said shortly. “I wish to hell it would all just go away. But clearly, it’s not going to.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department dragged me in for an interview yesterday. It lasted five hours. It probably would have gone on longer, but I finally got up and walked out. They just kept asking me the same questions over and over. And they were the same questions they asked me twenty-five years ago.”

“Oh no. I’m so sorry. What did they ask you?”