What We Saw at Night - By Jacquelyn Mitchard Page 0,50
the second “murder” scene.
But no. Of course I hadn’t. Besides, what accounted for … everything else? And how could I have had a hallucination of someone I’d never seen before?
“Listen,” Dr. Andrew said. “I’ll have you see Dr. Bonnie Sommers Olson for your gynecological care, instead of Gina. She’s just as nice. I’ll set it up for next week, okay?” He lowered his voice. “You are going to confide in your mother, though.”
I nodded. “Absolutely.”
As soon as he left, I texted Rob and Juliet.
2Nite The Cabin, 10.
“I KNOW WHO he is,” I told Juliet that night. “Not just that he exists. I met him.”
She stood with her back to me in the clearing in front of the deserted cabin, watching two loons crisscross the flat lake. The very arrogance of her pose, her tiny shrug, seemed to dismiss me. So what? Big deal! Rob’s Jeep came bumping up the track and he parked next to my mother’s minivan. He swung out quickly and kissed me hard.
“So it’s official,” Juliet said. “You two, I mean.”
“Yes,” Rob said for the both of us. “What, are you pissed?”
“No.”
“Juliet, you told me that’s all you ever really wanted.” He squeezed my hand. “For Allie and me to be happy together. Let’s just get this all out in the open, okay?”
“Yes!” she exclaimed, her voice harsh. “I did! Congratulations!”
I swallowed, not wanting to think about the conversation that Juliet and Rob must have had about me. “Juliet, please just answer me. Answer all of us. We all owe each other that much, right?”
“Answer what?” she asked.
“Why are you involved with somebody who is first, married, and second, a doctor—”
“A doctor?” she interrupted. I could see that Juliet was honestly baffled, which only frightened me more. “Who’s a doctor?”
“I was at the clinic today for my checkup. I saw him. I saw the blond streak on the back of his head. He was wearing a white coat. His name is Tim. Tim Tabor, Dr. Andrew’s oldest son … not that I’m telling you anything you don’t know.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know Tim Tabor.” She hesitated. “I know Dr. Andrew has a son, or two or three, and that one is a doctor.”
Rob let me go. He sat down hard on the ground, thrashed with bewilderment. “What the hell is going on here?”
“Juliet,” I said. “Pull the band of your jeans down.”
Her eyes glittered in the night. “You’re the one sleeping with Rob, dude. Not me. I only bare skin for—”
“She has a tat,” I interrupted. “Two initials right above her hip bone. And I know it has something to do with this guy.”
“You say,” Juliet whispered and smirked.
“What are you so scared of, Juliet?” Rob demanded.
“Show me.”
“Rob, come on.”
“Show me!” he shouted, jumping to his feet. “I know you’re lying, and I know Allie is telling the truth! I’ve seen the tattoo, Juliet! You think I haven’t? Enough! I’ve seen the initials G.T. in weird calligraphy. I’m sick of protecting you. It’s the world that ought to be afraid of you, Juliet, not the other way around.”
“If you only knew, Rob,” Juliet said. “I wish I could scare the world.” She turned her back to us again.
“Forget it,” Rob muttered. “Let’s just get out of here.” He reached for me, but I stepped towards her.
Juliet waved me off. She let out a deep, long sigh. “I promise I will find out what’s happened,” she said, her old, defeated persona taking over. “I can’t tell you more than I know. I have never met Tim Tabor, and I swear to God on that. The guy you saw at the Fire Festival, who was driving the car that night, is a friend.”
“A friend?” I said.
“He’s not bad. He’s made some bad decisions.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “You sound like an abused wife. Next, you’ll say that I don’t understand him the way you do.”
“You don’t! But this has gone way further than I thought it would. I wanted to scare him a little, let him know that I was on to him. I knew he was seeing other women.” Juliet spoke as if she were talking to herself.
“But the guy’s, like … old,” Rob said.
Juliet stomped from the cover of the trees out into the moonlight. It splashed down around her body like spilled silver. “So what? Don’t you ever just want to shake up our lives? Scream? Grab someone by the throat? Make people see us? Does it matter who sees us? When they