The Side Effects of Marriage

Chapter 14

"Amy told me you ran into her," Layla said, pressing the phone to her ear. She kicked at the floor, the toes of her scuffed flats dragging along the ground as her swivel chair pushed away from the desk. The back of the chair hit the cubicle wall behind her before doing a slow ricochet. "What did you guys talk about?"

"Oh, the usual," Hayden replied. "The weather, taxes, death, politics--"

"I'm serious." It was a lie. Amara hadn't told her that she'd run into Hayden. She'd seen the two of them chatting that morning, and now she was too suspicious to eat her lunch. "What did the two of you even talk about?"

"I asked her if she was the one planting the cameras."

"Wow, I'm sure the U.S. government is glad you no longer work for them, considering your interrogation tactics." She picked at her salad.

"Layla, I bluffed and I caught her in a lie," he said. "She was like a deer in the headlights."

"Most deer don't come with claws," she said. Her sister had plenty more weapons than claws, but she wasn't about to say that.

"I had her cornered, Lay."

"Some animals bolt when they feel trapped."

"She accused me of threatening someone she cares about."

Layla felt her blood run cold. "Who do you think that is?"

"I barely know the woman." A pause. "You know, she did mention something. A drug cartel case that I was working on five years ago."

"Really?" Five years ago was when they'd met. Five years ago was when he'd been investigating that case. Five years ago was when she'd received an anonymous tip about the cartel... "Five years ago, huh?"

"Yeah." He sounded distracted. She heard papers shuffling. "What about it?"

Nothing. Everything. "That's when we met."

"Are you being sentimental?"

"Never," she said, though lately it was far from true. "Why were you talking to Amara?"

"I told you." He sighed, static rustling over the speaker. "I wanted--"

"No. What are your suspicions about her?"

"I think she... a few nights ago, when I was sleeping on the couch, I saw her."

"You saw her?"

"I saw her standing on the sidewalk outside our house, under a streetlight, exchanging something with a stranger."

"You realize how unrealistic that sounds, right?"

"Yes, I'm aware that it's insane to say that coincidentally, our neighbour who keeps invading our lives would just stand outside our house and make some kind of drug deal next to our driveway."

"Thank you." Layla stabbed at a lettuce leaf.

"But it's plausible," he continued. "Just because it sounds crazy doesn't mean it is crazy."

"Occam's razor." she said, popping a crouton into her mouth.

"There is no simple explanation here that would explain everything. She said that she bought rat poison and cameras to keep an eye on the squatters and vermin in her garage for her other property." Hayden sounded inordinately angry. There had to be something more than a suspicious neighbour. There was some kind of paranoia in his tone, some conspiracy theory edge that spoke of crazed internet forums and rabbit holes. "So tell me, what are the missing pieces, Lay?"

"Maybe she's a pathological liar," she said, though it was far from the truth. Layla ate a forkful of salad, grimacing at the overdose of Parmesan cheese that she choked on, practically hacking up a lung.