by Stella Hart
“He wasn’t exactly begging,” Alexis said. “You heard him—Deborah’s sickness made him think about things, and now he wants a bigger family so he’ll never be alone.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s just such a strange coincidence.”
“It’s an amazing coincidence,” she said, arching one brow. “I thought it would take weeks or months to worm my way into that house. Now I have an invitation for this Saturday!”
I twisted my fingers on the table, forehead creasing. “I really don’t know about this,” I said, shaking my head. “I still think there was something weird about that call.”
Alexis frowned. “You don’t think Edward knows we’re onto him, do you?”
I lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Maybe.”
“How could he possibly know what we’re doing?” she asked. “Only two other people in the world know that we’re looking into the Golden Circle, and they’re locked in a bunker with no communication devices.”
I nodded slowly. “That’s true.”
Alexis leaned forward, eyes wide and bright with certainty. “Seriously, Nate, it’ll be fine. Sometimes a coincidence is actually just a coincidence.”
“I know. But I want to go to the dinner thing. Just in case.”
“I don’t think you can,” she said. “I mean, it’s Edward’s event, so he’ll probably think I’m rude as hell if I bring you without an invitation. I can’t let that happen. I need everything to go as smoothly as possible.”
“I know, but I don’t want you in that house alone.”
“I won’t be alone. Sascha will be there, remember?”
That didn’t bring me much comfort. From what I knew of Sascha, she was an emotionally-fragile nervous wreck, so I couldn’t picture her doing much to help Alexis if anything went wrong on Saturday night. She seemed like the type of person who’d simply curl into a ball and put her hands over her ears while the world fell apart around her.
Alexis took in the still-apprehensive look on my face, and she let out a short sigh of irritation. “Nate, it’s going to be fine. This is the exact opportunity we were hoping for.”
“I know. I’m not trying to ruin it. I just want to know that you’ll be okay,” I said, lips tipping down at the corners.
“Why don’t you sit outside the house in your car on the night of the party?” she suggested. “If I even get a whiff that something’s wrong, I’ll text you right away, and you can come and help me.”
I nodded slowly. “That could work.”
A small smile curved her lips. “I really think it’ll be fine. Edward doesn’t know a thing,” she said, reaching across the table to lay her hand near mine. “Besides, I know you. You won’t let anything happen to me, will you?”
Her faith in me made my pulse quicken as my throat grew thick with emotion.
I straightened my back and squared my jaw. “No,” I said, taking her hand and squeezing it in mine. "I’ll never let anything happen to you again.”
16
Alexis
“Be honest. How do I look?”
Sascha did a slow spin in front of me. My lips flattened as I took in her appearance. Truthfully, she looked like a nervous wreck. Her hair was slightly mussed at the back, her face was pale, her cardigan was creased, and there were a few spots of blood on the back of her left calf.
I cleared my throat. “Well, it looks like you cut yourself shaving your legs earlier, and your cardigan could use some ironing,” I said, trying to sound as kind and diplomatic as possible.
Sascha looked down at her leg and winced. “Oh my god. I didn’t even feel it,” she muttered. “I’m such a mess.”
She dashed down the hall of our Avalon City apartment and went into the bathroom. I heard water running for a few seconds, and then I heard padding footsteps and rummaging sounds as Sascha headed into her room and went through her closet.
She came back out to the living room in a different cardigan. “How’s this one?”
“Much better.” I reached out to smooth her hair at the back, and then I did a slow twirl of my own. “How about me?”
“You look fine, as always,” she said, rolling her eyes in a good-natured way. She turned to pick up her purse and let out a sigh. “God, I’m so nervous.”
“It’s just dinner,” I said, squeezing her arm. “And maybe a party, if we feel like staying afterwards.”
“I bet I’ll say all the wrong things.”
Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. “Everyone always loves you. I’m the one who opens my big mouth way too often.”
The corners of her lips turned up in a teasing smile. “Yeah, I guess that’s true.”
“Wow, thanks,” I said, arching a brow as laughter bubbled up my throat.
It felt amazing to be back in the apartment like this, hanging out with my sister and joking around as if nothing had ever happened. As if I hadn’t undergone two separate abductions, captivity, and torture over the last several weeks. As if I hadn’t discovered that my estranged family was more than likely responsible for a multigenerational organ trafficking scheme.
“Should we go?” Sascha asked, glancing at her watch.
I nodded and picked up my purse. As we headed out of the apartment, I checked my phone to see if Nate had contacted me. He had. He’d sent a message about ten minutes ago, letting me know that he was parked right outside the Paxton estate, near a thick patch of shrubbery. From his vantage point, he could see the gate, part of the driveway, and one side of the house.
So far, he hadn’t seen anything untoward—just catering staff arriving and household staff carrying balloons, flowers, and other decorations inside for tonight’s birthday party.
I slipped my phone back into my bag, straightened my shoulders, and took a deep breath. I had a feeling tonight was going to go off without a hitch.
Edward had no idea what I was up to, and it would be easy for me to slip away from the party at some point and poke around the mansion. Everyone would be too distracted by the celebration to notice that I was gone, and even if they did, I could just say that I was new to the house and simply got lost while looking for a bathroom. I could use the same excuse if anyone happened to see me wandering around upstairs.
“You’re driving, right?” Sascha asked when we reached the street outside the apartment. “I want to drink tonight. I think I’ll need it.”
I nodded and fished around in my purse, searching for my keys. “Yeah, I can drive.”
I needed to stay as sober as possible tonight, so the only drink I was going to have was whatever Edward and Deborah served at the pre-party dinner, just to be polite. It would probably be wine, and I could easily take a few sips of that without getting drunk.
I finally located my car keys and held them up. “Let’s go.”
The moon emerged from behind a cloud and shone silver on the water as Sascha and I headed down the coastal highway toward the Paxton estate, which was nestled on a parcel of land halfway between the city and Arcadia Bay. Sascha leaned back in the passenger seat, putting her long legs up on the dash. “Look at that view,” she said with a dreamy sigh. “It’s so pretty.”
I glanced over at her. “You’re not supposed to do that, you know,” I said, raising a brow. “If we crash, your legs will shatter.”
She looked at me with a wicked grin. “Don’t crash, then.”
I let out a short snort of annoyance crossed with amusement and turned back to face the road. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my sister still looking at me with that same mischievous grin. “You know, a little birdie told me something recently,” she said in a smug tone.
“Yeah?”
“Apparently you have a boyfriend.”
My heart skipped a beat. “What?”
“When Edward called to invite me to this dinner thing, he told me he ran into you somewhere, and you were with a guy. He said his name is Nate, and you introduced him as your boyfriend.”
“Oh.” Shit.
Sascha gently po
ked my right arm. “Why didn’t you tell me you were seeing someone?” she asked.
Her tone was lighthearted, but I detected a note of hurt in there as well. We used to tell each other everything, so it must’ve come as quite a shock for her to hear about Nate from our estranged grandfather instead of me.
I gripped the steering wheel tighter and swallowed thickly as I tried to think of a response. “It’s just… new. Very new,” I ended up saying. “And he’s quite private. So we decided not to say anything just yet.”
I hated lying to my sister, but what else could I say in this situation? There was no way I could tell her the truth about Nate. She’d lose her mind.
She nodded, seemingly satisfied by my answer. “Well, I’m glad you’re dating someone. It’s a good distraction.”
“From what?”
“All that stuff you’ve been doing with Dad’s case.” She paused and sniffed. “No offense, but you’ve always been a little obsessed with it.”
“I’m still doing it,” I said, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice. “Nate’s actually helping with it.”
Sascha swung her legs off the dash and sat up straight. “What?” she said, eyes flashing with astonishment. “You told him about Dad? About us?”
“It’s fine. He won’t tell anyone.”
Her eyes narrowed into a glare. “You said you basically just met this guy. That it was very new,” she said, putting the last two words in air quotes. “Why would you tell him anything at all?”
I sighed and lifted a palm from the steering wheel. “I didn’t actually tell him. He guessed.”
“Oh.” Sascha slumped back in her seat, seemingly mollified. “How?”
“He recognized me from when we were kids. Apparently he was at Dad’s arraignment hearing.”
“Right. And he’s really not going to tell anyone?”
“No. Like I said, he’s helping me with my investigation,” I said. “He thinks Dad was innocent.”
“Why?”
“Long story,” I said, knowing I couldn’t get into any of the details without telling her literally everything that had happened over the last few weeks. “But we’re actually making some headway.”
“Really?”
I turned to briefly glance at her again. “You can’t tell anyone about this. Especially anyone at the party tonight. Okay?”
“Okay. I wasn’t going to, anyway,” she replied. The note of hurt had crept back into her voice. “You know you can trust me.”
I nodded slowly. “All right, well, like I said before, Nate has been really helpful. He has a ton of useful connections,” I said. I took a deep breath before continuing. “We think we might be onto something big. If we’re right, it wouldn’t just vindicate Dad and solve the 2009 murders—it would solve the new murders, too.”
Sascha’s eyes widened. “You mean the whole copycat thing?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow. That’s crazy.” She shook her head and leaned back again. “It’s great, though. If you really solve it, I mean. It’ll make your whole career.”
“It’s not about making my career.”
She lifted a palm. “I know. I just meant…” She trailed off and hesitated. “Obviously, it would be amazing if you could prove that Dad was innocent all along. But it would help you with your whole journalism thing, too, and that’s what he always wanted for you. Remember? He always thought you’d follow in his footsteps.”
A tiny smile tilted the corners of my lips. “Yeah. You’re right.”
She leaned forward to inspect her lipstick in the sun visor mirror. “Things are finally looking up for us, aren’t they?” she said after a few moments of silence. “You have a new boyfriend and you’re going to solve a bunch of murders together, and on top of that, we’re finally going to have grandparents. It’s awesome.”
I nodded and kept my gaze firmly trained on the road ahead. I couldn’t look at Sascha. I felt too guilty. She was so excited about the prospect of having a relationship with the Paxtons, and she had absolutely no idea that it was all going to come crashing down when Nate and I outed them as depraved criminals.
It was going to devastate her, and there was nothing I could do about it.
“I told you this would happen, didn’t I?” she went on.
“What?”
“That they’d come around and want to see us again. The Paxtons, I mean,” she replied. “I kept telling you to believe, didn’t I?”
I nodded. “Yup. You did.”
“Well, I take full credit for everything that’s happening now.” She put her fingertips on her temples. “I totally manifested it.”
She stuck her tongue out at me, and I couldn’t help but smile again despite my dark mood. “You seem a lot less nervous now,” I said.
She nodded. “Yeah, I feel much better. You were right earlier,” she replied. “It’s just a birthday dinner. What could possibly go wrong?”
“Exactly. Just be yourself, and it’ll be fine,” I said. Guilt started needling at my guts again as soon as the words were out of my mouth. There was a hell of a lot that could go wrong tonight, but Sascha couldn’t know that. It was too risky.
She smiled. “You know, if tonight goes well, and we start seeing our grandparents regularly, they might introduce us to our aunt and uncle one day,” she said. “They have kids. Our cousins.”
“Yeah, Edward told me.”
“How amazing would it be to have a big family like that?” she said, eyes sparkling. “It’s so exciting.”
I swallowed hard. “Yeah, it’d be nice,” I murmured. “Just don’t get your hopes up too much.”
Her brows dipped in a frown. “Why are you being so negative?”
“Sorry. I’m not trying to be negative. I just meant… I’m not sure about our aunt and uncle. Edward made it sound like they aren’t very close anymore,” I said, hoping she’d buy the excuse for my suddenly-sour attitude.
She nodded slowly and settled back in her seat. “Oh, right. Who knows, though? Maybe they’ll still want to meet us.”
I forced another smile. “Yeah. Maybe.”
We arrived at the Paxton estate a few minutes later. The large gate was lit by lamps on top of stone pillars, and more lamps along the short driveway illuminated the property all the way up to the house.
It was a magnificent white three-story mansion, built in a classical Grecian style with columns, pediments, arches, and Palladian windows. A majestic marble fountain lay outside the main entrance, shooting glittering streams of water into the air.
“Now I’m nervous all over again,” Sascha muttered, clutching my arm as we stepped past the fountain.
I squeezed her arm. “It’s okay. Just breathe.”
We walked up to the huge wooden double doors in the portico and pressed on the doorbell. A maid dressed in black and white answered a moment later. “Sascha and Alexis Livingston?” she asked, smiling politely.
I nodded. “That’s us.”
She stepped aside and let us into the foyer. “Please, follow me.”
The interior of the mansion was just as impressive as the exterior. Chandeliers and lights in golden sconces lit the large space, and the walls were adorned with beautiful paintings.
The maid led us into a spacious dining room with a long table covered in a delicate white cloth. Edward appeared a moment later, through another doorway. “Hello, girls. Sorry I’m a little late,” he said as he headed over to us. “I was helping the staff set up the decorations in the ballroom, and time got away from me.”
“It’s okay. We only just got here,” I said, letting him shake my hand. “Happy birthday.”
He smiled warmly. “Thank you, Alexis, and happy birthday to you for tomorrow. There’s a nice big cake waiting for the two of us in the ballroom,” he said with a wink. He turned his attention to Sascha. “Sascha, did you see the Monet in the foyer? I had a feeling you’d like it.”
“Yes. It’s beautiful.”
“You’ll pro
bably like this one, too,” he said, leading her over to a painting that hung over an accent table. “I’m glad to have someone else around who appreciates art. Deborah doesn’t care for it.”
I glanced over at the dining table and noticed it was only set for three. “Where is she?” I asked.
Edward turned his head over his shoulder to look at me. “Sorry, I should’ve told you earlier,” he said. “She still isn’t feeling better yet, so she won’t be joining us for dinner. Her cold is really lingering.”
Sascha’s face fell. “Oh. That sucks.”
“Yes, it won’t be easy entertaining all the party guests later without her around,” he said with a sigh. “She’s the social butterfly of the two of us. But it should be easier with you two here, if you choose to stay.”
“I think we will. I love parties,” Sascha said, smiling again.
Edward returned her smile. “I’m glad to hear it. By the way, we can go up and say hello to your grandmother after dinner, if you want. Just don’t get too close. I’d hate for you to catch her cold.”
“That sounds good. Saying hi, I mean. Not the cold,” I replied.
Edward dipped his head in acknowledgement. Then he gestured to the dining table. “Let’s sit down,” he said. “I hope you’re both hungry.”
We nodded enthusiastically and followed him. He sat at the head of the table, and I sat on his left. Sascha sat on his right, directly across from me.
Two maids appeared in the room a moment later, carrying silver trays laden with heavenly-smelling food. They dished it up for us, working quickly and quietly.
“I had the cook use dairy-free products for that sauce, Sascha. I hope it tastes all right,” Edward said, pointing to a china sauce boat that one of the maids had deposited near her plate. Then he pointed to another sauce boat on the other side of the table. “That one is for us, Alexis. A proper bearnaise.”
“Wow. Thank you,” Sascha said. “It all smells amazing.”
“I hope it tastes amazing, too,” he replied, lifting a brow. “The cook is new, so this is actually the first time I’m trying his food.”