Carolyn shrugged. “Probably.” At least she didn’t appear to be in shock. Jenna tried to think. “Was he drinking?”

Carolyn didn’t answer. Jenna turned to Josh. He looked at his mother and said, “Yes, ma’am. He was.”

“All right. What I should do is walk out of here and call the police and an ambulance from the first pay phone. But you don’t wish me to, and I’ll respect your wishes. You respect mine. You’re spending the night at my place, both of you. Get whatever you need, right now, and let’s go. In the morning, we can deal with this better.”

To her surprise, Carolyn simply nodded and said, “Okay. That’s not a bad idea.”

At her apartment, Jenna doctored her friend’s face as best she could. The wounds were mainly bruises and welts. There seemed to be no broken bones, no cuts that required stitches.

Carolyn talked about Cameron in an oddly matter-of-fact way that troubled Jenna. “He just needs something that he can control, that he can dominate. Unluckily, that happens to be me.”

In the kitchen, Josh and Karim sat exchanging a quiet word now and then—almost like grown men already, their closeness expressed more through silence than through speech.

It was two in the morning before everyone was ready for sleep. Carolyn shared Jenna’s bed; Karim gave his to Josh and took the sofa.

A half hour later, Cameron rang the bell.

“I know my wife’s here, Jenna. Let me talk with her.” “Go home, Cameron.” She kept the chain on the door.

“Jenna, Jenna, please. I know I screwed up. It’s all my fault, I admit it.

Just let me talk with her.”

“It’s really late, Cameron. Go home. Tomorrow, you can talk.” “Jenna, I’ll go down on my knees.” To her horror, he did. “Just let me talk with her.”

“Cameron, if you don’t leave now, I’ll call the police.”

He got to his feet. Something about him made her close the door and lock it.

“Go ahead,” he said loudly. “You call the police. I’ll call my lawyers. And they’ll slap a lawsuit on you so fast your head will spin. How does alienation of affection sound?”

“What are you talking about?” “You and my wife, lady.”

“You know better than that, Cameron.”

“This isn’t France, or Egypt, or wherever the hell you come from. This is my town. You interfere with my life, you’ll regret it.”

Call the police, she told herself, but she hesitated, ashamed of the fear she felt. It was his town, and she wasn’t from France, or from Egypt, either. What would happen if he carried out his threat?

At that moment, Carolyn swept by her with Josh in tow. “Thank you, Jenna, but it’s best that you stay out of this.”

“What are you doing?”