“On top of it, per usual. He just got off the phone with his contact at Homeland.” Unlike his sister, Jake gently lays his coat on the couch armrest. “He doesn’t want us to do anything until Baby Bro gets here.” Jake practically steps over Eve in his eagerness to get to the whisky. “Please tell me you didn’t drink it all, Pinky.”
“Not yet, J.D.” Dani pours another glass and hands it to him. “How was the drive from Newton?”
“Hell.” He downs it in one swallow. Eve makes a mental note to call the car service to take them home. “So many goddam SUVs clogging up these narrow country roads. They allow anyone out here now. Not like it was when we were growing up.”
“You should try it from JP. I could have made it to New York in the time it took me to get here.”
It’s as though Eve isn’t even present. When two or more of Chet’s offspring are gathered, she is invisible. They even have a coded language among themselves, referring to each other by childhood nicknames—J.D. and Pinky and, for Will, Baby Bro. No affectionate monikers for her and Megan, however. Or, come to think of it, Bella.
Jake pushes back the sleeves of his gray pullover to reveal toned forearms and goes to the window overlooking the back forty. He has the jet-black hair and piercing blue eyes of his attractive mother, the discipline and nervous energy of his driven father. Tonight, he is even more antsy than usual, shifting his feet, checking his phone every two seconds, sniffing back a postnasal drip. His restlessness is rubbing off on Eve, who finds herself growing anxious, too.
“Your brother will be here soon, I’m sure,” she says, wishing Jake would chill like Dani, who has her feet up on a divan and eyes closed, pinching her brow, sinking into her marijuana high. Okay, well maybe not exactly like Dani.
“It’s so hot up here,” he says, pulling off the sweater, exposing a maroon Amherst College T-shirt. “It’s like we’re in a yoga studio.”
“Because it is a yoga studio,” Dani says, and sits up. “Now, walk me through what actually happened. What’s the big surprise, and what does it have to do with Baby Bro getting detained at Customs?”
“Jake, can I make a simple request before Will gets here?” Eve says. “Before you fly off the handle, please consider the positives.”
A burst of laughter explodes from the other end of the room, and Dani brings a hand to her mouth, trying to stifle it. “What could possibly be the upside of being trapped in the seventh circle of hell otherwise known as Logan?”
“Shh! Keep your voice down!” Eve puts her finger to her lips. Megan is one room below them prepping for her big Cinderella moment and Eve will not have it ruined by a wicked stepsister. “Have you two even stopped to consider Will’s feelings? Obviously, he’s old enough to know his own mind.”
Jake furrows his brow, as if she’s just spoken gibberish. “Will’s feelings have nothing to do with anything. I’m sorry, Eve, but this really doesn’t involve you.”
“It sure as hell does! This involves my—”
“Um, excuse me, but you still haven’t filled in the blanks and we’re running out of time.” Dani taps her Apple watch.
Gently nudging Eve aside, Jake joins his sister on the divan. “Here’s the deal. Will’s going through Fast Pass at Customs when he hears someone screaming. There’s a Homeland Security agent, some batshit woman, aiming her finger at Bella and calling her a murderer.”
“Bella?” Eve says, the corner of her vision tunneling.
“Murderer?” Dani leaps to her feet, helping herself to more of the scotch. “Get out!”
“According to Arthur, the agent apparently suffered some sort of psychotic breakdown on the job. Turns out, this woman’s sister was murdered or disappeared or whatever eleven years ago at the townie park across from Heron’s Neck, and for some reason at that moment she starts hallucinating that Bella was the one who killed her.”
A fog has descended over Eve. Why would Bella be in the airport at the same time as Will?
“Oh, man. That is so bizarre.” Dani sits and swings her legs over the divan. “What happened to the agent?”
“If Arthur has his way, she’ll never wear a badge again.” Jake checks his phone. “What’s taking them so long?”
Them? Eve scratches her neck under the suddenly itchy sweater. Jake’s right. It is overly warm.
“You talk to Baby Bro?” Dani asks.
“Only briefly. He was pretty shook up.”
“No doubt. I remember that missing waitress.” Dani brings the glass to her lips and hesitates for a moment. “Hard to forget.”
“Geesh. I don’t remember that at all.” Jake presses on his phone, thumbing in the password.
“You would if you saw a photo of her. She was kind of a stringy blonde. Pretty in a Kate Moss, heroinish kind of way. Used to hang out with Will. They might even have had a thing.”
Jake doesn’t look up from scrolling. “Nope. Not at all.”
“Oh, come on. Yes, you do. She was all over Heron’s Neck that summer, either with Will or working for one of Eve’s caterers.”
“Serena,” Eve whispers, rousing from her reverie. “She still works for me sometimes.”
“That’s it,” Dani says. “And didn’t the girl actually work a party for you the night she went missing?”
Eve nods, feeling her head start to pound.
“No shit,” Jake says, though his voice is a monotone as he remains transfixed by the screen. “How did I miss that?”
Dani rolls her eyes. “Because you see only those of your own class, J.D. The servants are out of sight.”
Jake chuckles softly. “Oh, and I suppose you’re one with the people?”
“At least I make half an effort.”
Eve stiffens, memories of that disturbing night unrolling like a carpet. Bella frantically knocking on their door. Chet getting out of bed despite her urging him to stay. His absence stretching on for what felt like hours . . .
“Eve?”
She blinks back to reality to see Dani and Jake staring at her intently. “Hmm?”
“The name of the waitress who went missing,” Dani prods. “It’s on the tip of my tongue.”
Eve recalls the willowy sprite, a delicate creature too ethereal for this plane of existence. As she’d warned Megan over and over, evil preys on girls who are careless. That’s what happened to Kit Ellison.
“It was so long ago. I can’t—” No. An outright denial is too obvious. “I think it was . . . Kate.”
“Kit. Kit Ellison!” Dani snaps her fingers. “See? The kush hasn’t fried my last brain cells after all.”
Jake shrugs. “Still doesn’t ring a bell. Maybe that was the summer I interned at Lazard.”
“Nuh-uh. That was the summer after,” Dani says. “You were definitely on Heron’s Neck. You and Will had a competition going. Who could get laid the most.”
At this, he finally drags his eyes away from the phone screen. “Obviously, I won. Not even a fair fight.”
“Yeah, right.”
Dani and Jake are so fixated on ribbing each other, they have failed to notice how Eve has balled into herself, ruminating. Wasn’t Bella staying in Colombia for Christmas? Will said as much last week when they were finalizing holiday plans. Eve was certain he mentioned something about how she loved celebrating the holiday with the orphans, Three Kings Day or whatever. At any rate, nothing should detract from Megan. This is her moment to shine.