If Only She'd Loved Him

Chapter 26

Friday 8:45 pm

"I know him? I've met a nut job?" Jean repeated out loud, refusing to believe what the evidence pointed to.

"Takes one to know one," Paul muttered to the air.

Matt clocked him with a pillow from the sofa. "Shut up." Standing, he turned to Jean. "Jean-Genie, it's the only thing that makes sense."

She would have none of it. "Sense?" she sneered, "None of this makes sense! If I know this person that means Megan is in the hands of some total psycho."

"A pre-planning psycho," Paul added unnecessarily. "Come on, think! Who has had an eye on my girlfriend in the past? Who has called here recently? Come on, there has to be someone who hasn't been quite right?"

"Besides you?"

Matt rolled his eyes. Did she always have to say exactly what she felt? Haverson looked ready to kill her. Paul refrained from murder.

"Don't be a bitch," he replied, "just think." Jean bit back her retort as she stared at the worry on his face. She didn't know he was worried that Megan might break his record. If she was really gone, his chances of sex with her were nil and she did that pretzel-sport yoga too, damn! He thought to himself, damn!

Jean let her guilt get to her. Worms gotta crawl, snakes have to slither, and Paul had to bray; he couldn't help being an ass. Didn't mean she had to be one too. Apologies didn't come easily to her but she tried.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm just worried about Megan. I didn't mean to—"

He cut her off with a curt nod. "Forget about it. Just work on remembering that voice. Can't you think of anything? Remember something about it?"

"She's trying, guy," Matt interceded. "Give her a break."

Flustered, Jean sat very still, trying to picture, trying to remember, but nothing came to her. She sighed. "Do that deep voice again, Matt," she instructed.

Matt lowered his voice. "You mean like this?" he asked, closer to baritone than bass.

Jean frowned. She shut her eyes trying to concentrate. "Again. Only this time say, 'Don't do it!' and say it hard."

"Don't do it!"

"Lower, more threatening," she demanded.

"Don't do it!" Matt repeated, trying to sound as menacing as possible. Jean kept her eyes closed and listened, attempting to reconcile the voice she was listening to with the one she'd heard that night. Something was still off. Eyes still closed, she ran her fingers through her hair. "No, it's still not right," she said.

As silently as he could, Paul rose from the sofa. Matt looked at him puzzled, but he signaled him to be quiet. Still silent, he mouthed, "let me try." Matt nodded. Using his normal voice, only about a timbre lower, Paul said harshly "Don't do it!"

"That's it, Matt!" Jean grinned, popping open her eyes. "You've got it!"

Matt shook his head at her. "That wasn't me, that was Paul."

"That was the voice I heard," Jean replied. Eyes slit tight, her look accused Paul without saying a word, but silence brought her no satisfaction. "I knew it!" she cried, almost jumping up and down. "It had to be you. I knew it when you lied that morning. Megan was there in the kitchen with you, wasn't she? I thought that was her giggle. You two have been playing me all along. I am going to give her such a hard time when she gets back. And you," she turned on Matt, "I bet Megan's been in your apartment the whole time, which means you were in on it too! I knew I should have looked upstairs."