Party Crashers

She bit her lip, loath to say the words. "There was a body inside the car...a woman."
    "What? Oh, my God, who?"
    Jolie released a shaky sigh. "No one knows yet."
    "Did they find Gary?"
    "No, just his hat."
    "So they think he's still alive?"
    "I believe so. They seem to think that he stole my car after sending his into the river."
    "Omigod."
    "It gets worse. They think I know something about what happened. That I gave him my car so he could get away." She swallowed a wad of tears, but her voice still wobbled. "A detective told me I could be charged with accessory.'
    "To murder ?"
    "To whatever they charge him with."
    "I can't believe this. Are you going to get a lawyer?"
    She felt faint. "With what?" Her laugh sounded hysterical to her own ears. "My savings is gone from trying to get my business off the ground. I'm already eating into my credit cards. Besides, wouldn't that make me look guilty?"
    "Possibly." Leann sighed. "I should be there for you."
    "Your sister needs you right now."
    "I know, I'm just sorry about the timing of this visit."
    "I'm fine. A little shell-shocked, but fine." Salyers' warning about her safety reverberated in her head, and she looked over her shoulder at the dim, deserted parking garage. "I just keep hoping that Gary will turn up and this will end."
    "What are the police going to do next?"
    "I didn't ask," Jolie admitted. "They're trying to identify the woman."
    "Did they give you a description of her?"
    "Only that she was Caucasian with dark hair."
    "Hm. What kinds of questions did they ask about Gary?"
    "It was just one detective, a woman, and she asked me a lot about Gary's job."
    "What did you tell her?"
    "Not much—like I told you before, Gary was vague about that part of his life." Jolie hesitated. "Leann?"
    "Yeah?"
    "I know you only met Gary a few times, and I know you didn't exactly click with him, but did you ever get the feeling that he was capable of...murder?"
    "He was a little manic maybe, but capable of murder? I just don't know." Leann made a rueful noise. "On the other hand, Jolie, you have to admit that you might be a little gullible where men are concerned."
    She blinked and allowed that painful tidbit to sink in.
    "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."
    "No," Jolie said in a hoarse voice, "it's okay. But I should go. I'll call you soon."
    She disconnected the call and turned off her phone, then focused on the designs on her windshield made from various bugs whose lives had ended suddenly simply because she'd been going in the opposite direction. The randomness of it all was mind-blowing. She was assailed with an overwhelming sense of "float," that her life seemed to be shifting out from under her.
    Maybe Leann was right. Maybe she was gullible where men were concerned...where Gary was concerned. She'd taken his smiles and stories at face value, and when red flags had raised in her mind, she hadn't probed or pushed because...why? Because she felt special that someone like him wanted to be with someone like her and she didn't want to risk breaking the spell?
    Waves of shame rolled over her. Forget what Gary had gotten himself into. What had she gotten herself into?
    She had obviously overestimated Gary's feelings for her—but had she also overestimated her feelings for him? Maybe she intentionally turned a blind eye to the problem areas of their relationship because he had been such a source of moral support for her, he had constantly encouraged her to break out of her shell, to take on the world. Her shyness and aversion to new people and new situations had confounded Gary. Over and over he had said she had the makings of a successful individual—she simply needed to crash through her self-imposed barriers. She had believed him, had started making changes in her life after his disappearance...only now to discover that he'd left her saddled with this unbelievable debacle.
    She inhaled a cleansing breath, then started the car and eased her way out of the parking garage and into traffic. The worst of the rush hour was over, but there were still plenty of cars to weave through from where the Lenox mall was located in Buckhead north to her apartment complex in Roswell. Her route took her over a section of the muddy Chattahoochee River, running high from recent rains. Her throat convulsed as she gazed over the broken, angry surface of the rushing water.
    Shortly after she'd met Gary, Mr. Sanders had put together an outing for the employees of the agency and their families