She gave him a feeble shake. “But you don’t want me signing any book deals in the near future?”

His tone hardened. “The Acid Man is history. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” she said, and she understood that she was history as well.

“But I did stop him,” she said aloud, back in the present, as she stretched out on the couch. It was easier on her guts to lie down, especially after she ate. But there was not much she could do on the couch except read. When she was completely bored, she sometimes went online. But talking in chat rooms was like masturbation. She always felt empty afterward.

Her new screen name was AcidQueen666.

Maybe she was losing her mind.

“Call me,” she told the phone. “Please call me.”

He did not hear. The phone did not ring.

Kelly stood and grabbed her keys and went out.

There was only one destination. It was sad how sick she felt driving up the street to her old place. The feeling of being the outsider returned stronger than ever. Parking a hundred yards down the block, she stared at her house and wondered if the Accord out front belonged to Claire. Maybe Tony had bought it for her; it looked new. It was half past nine—they should not be in bed already. She felt she could stand talking to Tony if he wasn’t just coming from the warm clutches of her arms.

“This is a mistake,” Kelly muttered as she got out of the car and slowly walked toward the house. Tony was the source of her pain and he was the only one who could ease her pain. But intruding on him like this without warning would lead to more harm than good. Yet she kept walking—her loneliness would not let her stop. Knocking on the door and waiting for him to answer, she felt like an ant staring up at a shoe.

He opened the door and peeked outside. Not yet ten o’clock and he was in his bathrobe—looked like it was all he was wearing. “I didn’t know you were coming,” he said.

“I was in the neighborhood.”

“Kelly,” he began.

“May I come in?”

He glanced over his shoulder. “Now is not a good time.”

“Oh.” There were not a lot of places to go after that. She tried to go there anyway. “Can’t Claire wait in the other room while we talk?”

“I don’t think that would be fair to her.”

Kelly swallowed. “What about what’s fair to me? I was your wife, you know, the mother of your child. I still am in case you’ve forgotten. Can’t you spare a minute?”

“It won’t be a minute.”

“Damnit, Tony!”

He paused. “Wait here.” He closed the door on her face.