Chapter 3
And for eighteen of those twenty days, Savannah Reed had been staying with him at a beachfront rental forty minutes away from the project.
The affair had begun seven months earlier.
At first, Adam had called it harmless.
Savannah worked for one of their vendors.
They had drinks after a conference.
Then lunch.
Then messages.
Then the strange male arithmetic by which a betrayal did not count until somebody admitted what it was.
By the time Marina was eight months pregnant, Adam had become skilled at living inside separate definitions.
He loved his wife.
He was excited about becoming a father.
He was also sleeping with another woman.
He could place all three facts beside one another and somehow persuade himself they did not cancel each other out.
Bernice pushed the notebook closer to him.
“March ninth,” she said.
Adam stared at the page.
He remembered March ninth.
Savannah had wanted to drive to Key Biscayne.
Adam had left his phone in the rental bedroom because she had complained that he was always checking it.
They had eaten grilled fish overlooking the water.
They had walked barefoot after dinner.
His phone had been dead by the time they returned.
He had seen Marina’s calls the next morning.
Five of them.
There had also been a message.
**Please call me. I don’t feel right.**
He had responded at 9:17 a.m.
**Sorry. Crazy night with the team. Everything okay?**
Marina had replied two hours later.
**Bernice took me in. I’m home now.**
Adam had sent a thumbs-up.
He remembered that too.
Something in his stomach shifted.
“What happened?”
“She had a fever,” Bernice said.
“I can read.”
“Then read the next line.”
He did.
**ER evaluation. Possible incision infection. Antibiotics started. Marina shaking badly in car. Nell with me.**
Adam’s fingers tightened around the notebook.
“You took her to the emergency room?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
Bernice stared at him.
“I did.”
Adam opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
She reached into her tote, removed her phone, tapped twice, and placed it on the table.
A message thread sat open.
His number.
**March 9, 6:12 p.m.**
**Adam, this is Bernice. Marina’s fever is 102.2. Her doctor wants her evaluated tonight. Nell is safe with me. Please call as soon as you see this.**
Another message.
**7:44 p.m. We are at the hospital. Marina asked for you twice. Please call.**
And another.