Chapter 56

I STRUGGLE TO STAY awake while I walk the kids to school. I’ve got one eye just about closed, the other trained on Dakota, as I still wonder what’s going through her mind.

Indeed, she wasn’t quite herself yesterday, spending most of the time in her room. Her daddy and I were only talking behind those hedges out in Westport, but the whole vibe of the moment must have seemed a little less than innocent. Eventually, I take Dakota’s hand in mine, and she lets me.

“Hey, Miss Kristin, guess what?” chirps Sean as we march across the street at Madison and 76th. “You were in my dream last night!”

Oh, great…double trouble.

For the last couple of blocks before Preston Academy, I listen to Sean explaining his dream in great detail. Apparently he and I had a picnic on the moon.

“Or was it Mars?” he wonders.

The details are a little fuzzy, but what’s clear is that he has no recollection of my being in his room. Hallelujah. One less thing to worry about.

That leaves only about a dozen others. What’s bumming me out the most, I think, is that after all I went through last night, I wasn’t able to snap a shot of Michael. I was so spooked by nearly getting caught that all I could think about was escaping from the apartment as soon as possible.

“Okay, my angels,” I say, kneeling just outside the gates of Preston Academy. “Have a wonderful day, listen to your teachers, and I’ll be here this afternoon to pick you up.”

“Bye,” says Sean, and he kisses me on the cheek.

“Thanks,” says Dakota. “Just for being nice.”

As always, I watch their mad dash to join their friends and head inside the school. When Sean falls behind, Dakota stops and sticks out her hand, patiently waiting. My heart sighs.

It’s settled. Michael and I are definitely taking them to Disney World for our honeymoon!

I turn and head back toward Fifth Avenue, a different song – finally – playing in my head. “It’s a small world after all…”

Less than a block later, my cell phone rings. What’s this?

Serendipity! It’s Michael. I knew it was only a matter of time before he called.

“I was just thinking of you,” I say.

“Not as much as I’ve been thinking of you, Kris. I’ve missed you so much!”

Before I can say ditto, he apologizes.

“For what?” I ask. “That’s what I should be doing. I’m so sorry for what I did. I’m mortified.”

“No, it was wrong of me to cancel on you. Penley is such a bitch,” he says. “I should’ve never gone out to Westport.”

“That makes two of us.”

We laugh, and he simply couldn’t be any sweeter. It doesn’t take long for me to make the connection to the rotten night he had sleeping with Sean and Dumba in the guest room. If only he knew I saw it all firsthand.

It’s amazing, really. For everything I’ve said and done as part of my Dump Penley campaign, my efforts are no match for Penley herself. At this rate, Michael might even dump her by the Fourth of July.

Independence Day.

What fireworks that would be!

“I’ve got another business dinner this evening,” says Michael, “but I want to make sure we’re together tomorrow night. Anything you want, we’ll do it, okay?”

“You’ve got yourself a date,” I answer.

“God, I’m so lucky to have you.”

“Don’t you forget it!”

We say good-bye, laced with I love you s, and I put my cell phone away. Opening my shoulder bag, I see that the lens cap has fallen off my camera. As I snap it back on, I notice something else.

I loaded a new roll of film before sneaking into Michael and Penley’s apartment last night. Since I didn’t snap a single picture, the shot counter should still read 0.

Only it reads 1.

Chapter 57

MAYBE THE CAMERA JOSTLED in my bag, triggering the shutter. It could happen. Especially these days.

But there’s another possibility…

The thought immediately spins me around. Now I’m walking in the opposite direction.

Out comes my cell phone again, and I call Penley. Actually, I call her answering machine, since I know she’s still at the gym. Not that she’d pick up anyway.

A filling just fell out, I explain. Luckily, my dentist can take me right away. “Don’t worry, I’ll be done in plenty of time to pick up the kids at three.”

That takes care of that. Next stop: my darkroom.

I’ve never burned an entire roll of film for only one picture, but if there’s going to be a first time, this is definitely it.

I have to see 1.

Right before Sean called out last night, I had Michael lined up in my lens. Maybe -just maybe – I managed to get the shot without even knowing it.

The desire to find out takes over, and I’m quickly hailing a cab in lieu of walking. I’m riding another wave of adrenaline, my mind and body oblivious to the fact that I’ve been awake for over twenty-four hours. And counting.

“Keep the change,” I tell the cabbie, dropping seven bucks in his lap as he pulls up to my building. Less than a minute later, I’m alone in my darkroom, the main light out and the door closed. The safety is on and everything is eerily red in the small room.

I’m getting pretty good at speed developing lately, and with this roll of film, I set a new record. My eyes and hands are in complete sync – reaching, pouring, setting, shifting – everything it takes to bring this one picture to life.

What if it’s not Michael?

It could be anything, really. Maybe it’s Penley. Or nothing at all.

A blur, a blob, or complete blackness. Perhaps all I’ve got is a glitch in the camera’s shot counter, and this supposed picture doesn’t even exist.

If that’s the case, I’ll have to be patient. I’ll wait until tomorrow night when Michael and I are together and snap a shot of him then. After all, it’s only another day to wait.

I glare at the processing tank. “Hurry up, you lazy-ass film!”

Then again, I’m not exactly in a patient mood.

I anxiously tap my fingers, waiting for the first sign of an image. Gradually, one appears.

I shift the negative over to the holding bath and lean in for a better view. It’s someone, but I can’t be sure who. So I hurriedly make a print, and that’s when I know.

It’s Michael, all right. I did take a picture of him after all.

And as I look closely at the shot, I see what I didn’t want to see – the same ghosting effect I noticed with Penley.

“Shit. Don’t do this.”

But there’s something else, something even more bizarre.

Scary is more like it. Terrifying!

I immediately plunge a hand into the cold water of the holding bath, grabbing the shot while reaching for my magnifying loupe.

Oh, my God, Michael. What have I done?

He isn’t lying in bed beside Penley. He’s sprawled on the floor of a room I don’t recognize. A place I don’t believe I’ve ever been in my life.

And he looks dead.