“Did Alex leave your side at any moment?” he asks.
I feel tempted to leave this meeting once and for all, but it’s better just to go along with his interrogation for now. “No, he was with me the entire time,” I answer, unable to keep my annoyance out of my tone.
“Was there someone else you knew at the party?” he keeps asking.
“Not that I’m aware of, no.”
Yet Eric doesn’t seem convinced, so he leans forward, getting closer to me. “I’m giving you immunity because I’m trusting you,” he reminds me, his tone steady and almost threatening. “But don’t try to outsmart me because I can take it away just as fast.”
My patience with him is running low, but I’m trying to keep my temper in check regardless of his lack of manners. As I come to think of it, I understand now why Emma had a few issues with him when he went to interview her at her house. “I’m not behind any of this,” I repeat once more. “I’m telling you the truth.”
We keep looking in each other’s eyes for a few more seconds, until Eric finally blinks, and leans back against his armchair. “If you say so.” Then silence ensues as he ponders something through. “Did Alex move back into the condo yet?”
His question catches me completely off guard and the truth is I have got no idea. “Um, I don’t know exactly.”
“If he did, ask him who was blackmailing my friend.”
“That’s absurd,” I snap, throwing all civility out of the window. “He doesn’t talk to me, he literally hates me.” I blow out a deep breath laced with frustration, and then say, “Look, I know you are going through a lot of stress because of the trial preparation, but my husband doesn’t trust me. He knows perfectly well I’m taping our conversations so there’s no way he’d tell me who was behind the blackmailing of your friend.”
“It is worth a try,” he answers nearly gritting between teeth.
I shake my head at how absurd his demand is, but in any case, I’m gonna do it for the sake of fulfilling our agreement. “Fine,” I hiss. “I will try to talk to him.”
“Good,” he says before standing up. “I truly appreciate the collaboration, Petra.”
After leaving Eric’s office, I take my iPhone and text Zach to come and pick me up. To my greatest surprise though, I find a new unread message from Emma: I imagine you wanna talk about Venice, huh?
This was in reply to an SMS I had sent her the previous night, asking if she was back home.
Only if you want to. But yeah, I send in return as I step outside of the building.
Then looking around, I find my driver waiting for me at the curb, and as I approach the car, Zach opens the rear door and I get inside.
A few minutes later, a new message pops up: Alright, come over.
Immediately, I instruct Zach to change destinations and to drop me off at Emma’s house instead. He hesitates for a split second, but finally complies.
I haven’t seen Emma since the funeral but back then she most likely had already booked her trip to Venice, and yet, she didn’t bother to say a word to me about it.
I wonder in which state I’ll find her now that I know the truth; will she tell me the full story or will she just leave me in the dark––or even worse, lie to me?
After a forty minute drive, Zach finally pulls onto her estate and parks in front of her entrance. There’s no one at the door to welcome me though. Not even the maid or the butler and I find it quite weird. I can only assume Emma’s busy doing something inside. I leave the car, instructing Zach to wait for me, head to the door, and press the doorbell, waiting outside for someone to meet me. Finally, I hear footsteps approaching and the door cracks open.
To my surprise, it’s Emma herself who stands in front of me. Her face isn’t very welcoming though, and she doesn’t even invite me inside. I can’t help but wonder why.
“Hey,” I greet with a genuine smile. “Are you okay?”
“I’m good, yeah,” she answers back, like she’s holding a grudge against me or something. “I imagine you came here to talk?” she asks, leaning against the doorway and folding her arms over her chest.
She seems very defensive, but I can’t understand why. “Well, yeah, after seeing you participate in that initiation ceremony, I’d like to know why my best friend kept me in the dark.”
“I see…” she nods, looking away for a moment. “Are you recording us?”
Wow. I see news runs fast. I didn’t tell Emma I was taping conversations for the trial, so it must have been either Alex or his sister who told her. “I’m not,” I say sincerely. “You aren’t a suspect anyway so you’re good.”
Despite my answer, Emma frowns at me, and seems to be even more confused. “Because if I were one, you’d be pretending to be my friend and tape our conversations without my knowledge?”
Her question leaves me a bit on the fence, and I’m not really sure what to tell her. “Well, if you had killed my mom, I wouldn’t be very pleased, and I’d want to know the truth.”
She shakes her head, annoyed at my honest answer. “Alex told you he is innocent,” she retorts. “Why are you still doing this to him?”
Her reaction catches me totally off guard. I can’t believe how protective she is of him! Is it because she is having an affair with his sister or what? “How can you be a hundred percent sure?” I ask her.
“So you don’t believe him?” she replies instead, her expression deeply astonished, like she’s putting herself in his shoes. “Fuck, what happened to you?”
“To me?” Now she’s really out of her mind! “Nothing; if I’m doing what I’m doing it’s because of my husband’s constant lies and secrets. That’s all.”
“Why didn’t you tell me anything about the deal you made with Eric?”
Oh, so that’s why she’s mad at me.
“I can’t believe you kept such a secret from me.”
“Because it’s completely confidential. I can’t talk about it with anyone,” I say, my tone getting louder.
“You know that it was Eric who told him, right? He doesn’t give a shit that the whole world knows you’re gonna testify against your husband.”
This is something I didn’t know, actually. I knew Alex had found out about my cooperation with Eric, but I didn’t know it was Eric himself who had told him. I heave a long sigh and tell her the truth. “I didn’t know, no.”
Emma looks genuinely surprised that I wasn’t aware of it, and after some pondering, she asks, “Do you regret siding against him?”
“I don’t know,” I answer as sincerely as I can. “Alex lied to me about my mom. He constantly told me he didn’t know where she was and yet he knew.” Emma remains on her guard, but I can finally see her face softening a bit. She must be thinking if I can do that to my own husband, then I can also do the same to her. “I love him but it's because of his lies and secrets that I had to side with Eric.” And seeing how she isn’t reacting, I add, “I’m sorry if I kept it to myself.”