“I can’t. I want to—I know I’ve—it’s important—” Tessa starts and stops, trying to compose a thought. We don’t have time for this. It’s 10:02. We can’t be late for April. Later than we already are.
“I’ll go,” I say. “It’s probably better if we don’t ambush her, anyway. Wait here. I’ll be back soon.”
I don’t give her a chance to respond before I’m off.
There are several people waiting in line for the Ferris wheel. It’s hard to tell where the groups delineate. No one seems to be alone. A car swooshes down the curve of a roller coaster behind the Ferris wheel. Beneath the yellow tracks, one woman waits, scanning the crowd until her attention stops on me.
“April?” I cautiously approach her, which causes her to hug her purse to her side. “Don’t be scared.”
These words have never reassured anyone. They do little to calm April now. She regards me with large eyes, shockingly green. Something about her is familiar. I can’t put my finger on what movie I’ve seen her in. She continues to watch me, wary yet hopeful. Whatever role Regina discussed with her, she wants it badly enough to find out whether I can offer it instead.
“I just want to talk.” My words are the lines of pedophiles, kidnappers, creeps. I shrug, hoping for once to appear as the harmless old lady I otherwise detest. “I’m Regina’s mother. She asked me to meet you. She said I should talk to you about the part.”
I’m taking a gamble, calling it apart, since April had mentioned it as anopportunityin her text. I assume this is about Regina’s movie. What other opportunity could my daughter have had to offer?
“I knew this was too good to be true.” She starts to walk away.
“Wait.” I race to keep up. “I’m sorry, I’m—” I hesitate. “Regina’s dead.” Her expression is pure horror. “I need to know what happened to her. Please.”
She studies me. Whatever she sees hardens her face. “You have some nerve. Are you even Reggie’s mother? Never mind, I don’t want to know. Just leave me alone. You and Reggie should be ashamed of yourselves, taking advantage of innocent people.”
She clutches her purse tighter as she scurries, then sprints away, as fearful as prey. Her slender frame disappears into the crowd. I don’t chase after her. The roller coaster races down the track again, rumbling through my immobilized body as my hair stands upright around my head. If April’s prey, that makes me and my daughter predators.
Oh, Regina, what did you get yourself into?
Chapter Twenty-Two
Tessa
“Barb. Barb,” I mutter, wheeling Jasper’s stroller back and forth across the wood planks as I watch the boardwalk where Barb disappeared to meet April. I let her walk away without telling her I can no longer be a part of this investigation. I’m letting her return thinking we’re still in this together.
My phone vibrates in my pocket. I assume it’s Barb, asking me to come meet April. As soon as I read Gabe’s name, I know something’s wrong.
Gabe starts talking all at once, his sentences braiding into each other, their strands impossible to follow. “Oh, Tessa. Shit. I can’t believe—I’m freaking out—I don’t understand how—”
My first thought is Jasper, and the baby. My first thought is always the children, even though they’re always with me.
“Slow down,” I say. “Tell me what happened.”
“When I got to work, Aram’s car was already in his spot. It was a little strange. Sometimes he’s here early, though. He’s got tinted windows.” This seems irrelevant, but I let Gabe meander toward whatever he needs to tell me. “Only he wasn’t inside the clinic. He never showed up. Then Lara’s calling, asking if we’ve seen him. He didn’t come home last night, and—”
The wheels on Jasper’s stroller clunk to a stop. He delights at the impact, kicks his legs, eager for more. The crowd around us blurs. I know what’s happened before Gabe tells me that Aram’s dead.
I steady myself against the handles of Jasper’s stroller, trying to catch my breath.
“I’ll be right there,” I tell Gabe.
Barb wanders back in a daze, her shoulders slumped. She begins to tell me how terrified April was, that Regina was in some kind of trouble. I can’t focus.
“I need to go. Something happened with one of Gabe’s employees.” I grab the handles and start to push Jasper, his stroller rattling along the pier. Barb keeps pace, asking what happened. “One of his colleagues, he’s dead. I need—”
Jasper reaches for Barb, hindered by the stroller’s safety belt. “Bar. Bar.”
It distracts us momentarily, forces us to stop and take notice. I didn’t realize he knew her name, how much she’s become a part of his life.
“Actually, can you watch him?” I don’t have time to consider the implications of what I’ve just asked her. My son has already seen too much death. Plus, there’s no one else who can babysit. Claire was the one to find Marisol, and even if I had hired her, I would let Claire keep our nanny. It’s a meager penance for the mistake I made. But it does mean that I’ve just traversed a line with Barb I won’t be able to retreat from so easily. “I won’t be more than an hour.”
Barb’s face grows serious, as though I’ve asked her to be responsible for national secrets. “Go.”
