“Maybe the clocks and times are for each of us. Julia’s is the one closest to midnight, seconds ticking by too slowly.”

“Was it you who sent those texts?” I blurt out.

Jack leans forward and I can see myself reflected in his sunglasses. “What are you talking about?”

I wish he’d take the damned sunglasses off. His confusion sounds genuine, but if I could see his eyes would I see amusement instead? I can’t even show him the texts I’m accusing him of sending.

Jack tilts his head. “You look tired, Tess. Max was filling us in on the strain you’re under—losing your job and everything. You really should get some sleep.”

I stiffen. Max told him? He told the others as well?

“I remember last time you were this stressed. It wasn’t long before the wedding, was it? Poor Sean. I suppose he was lucky not to lose an eye.”

“Oh, fuck off,” I shout, and march off into the house. He’s right—every clock is telling a different time. I get my phone out to check the correct time, but the battery has died. Without it, I’m lost. It’s midnight and four a.m. and noon and eleven thirty all at once. Jack follows me in and laughs when he sees me holding the clock in the living room. I put it down and flip him the bird.

“You’re back,” I say, rushing over to Dad as he walks in the door. He looks exhausted, gray and haggard.

“Is Julia okay?” he asks.

“She’s fine. I’ve been sitting with her. I didn’t tell her where you were.”

“Thank you,” he says. “I was going to come straight back but I needed some time alone before I came home to Julia. God, I need a drink.”

I follow him to the kitchen. He gets a beer from the fridge. He sits down and pours it with a shaking hand.

“How was it? Did you tell them…?”

“I didn’t lie, if that’s what you’re asking. I told them the truth—that he came around looking for trouble. That I hit him and he left and I didn’t see him again. They kept asking the same things over and over.”

“But they let you go. That’s good, right?”

“They don’t have any reason to arrest me yet, but I don’t think I’m off their list.” He looks up at me. “They asked me about you also—how well you knew him. I told them I don’t think you knew him at all. That’s the truth, isn’t it, Tess?”

I take his empty bottle and turn away to put it in the recycling bin. “That’s right. I barely knew him.”

“They were insinuating that you and Bella both knew him, that both of you spent time with him that I didn’t know about.”