Naomi swallows the lump in her throat, biting her lip to distract from the stinging in her eyes. “Yeah, I do, unfortunately.” She stares at the window as she answers, imagining Faye walking toward her, smiling as her blonde hair blows in the breeze. A car drives past and her ghost disappears. “And while I’ve made peace with her death, there are still so many unanswered questions, closure I’ll never get. But I’m hoping I can get it for Jade.”
Emily’s shoulders loosen. She bites her lip, nodding in understanding.
“Do you mind if I take some notes?” Naomi asks, pulling out her notebook and pen.
Emily shrugs. “Sure.”
“So first of all, I’m so sorry for what happened to your sister. And I know it must be really hard to talk about, but can you walk me through everything? What happened…” Naomi opens and closes her mouth, struggling to find the right words without coming across as insensitive. “Were you surprised when you learned they were reopening the investigation into her death after all these years?”
Emily laughs, crossing her arms. “Uh yeah, just a little. Wouldn’t you be?” Naomi’s face flushes, slightly embarrassed at the obvious question. Emily softens. “But I always thought something was off anyway. No one listened to me before, though, said I was just in denial.” She rolls her teary eyes.
“What do you mean by ‘something was off’?” Naomi asks.
“Like, it just didn’t seem right that my sister would die like that, you know?”
Naomi holds her question as Logan walks over with their drinks.
“‘Like that’, as in… overdose?”
Emily swirls her straw, staring intently at her drink. “Jade wasn’t into drugs—not the kind in her system when they found her. I mean, she liked to party, sometimes she would take molly or smoke a little weed, but heroin?” She scoffs. “No.”
Naomi chooses her next words carefully. “Moving to a big city, though… trying to make it in the modeling and music world… two of the most brutal industries… that can cause a lot of stress on anyone and that stuff would have been everywhere. You don’t think she maybe started hanging out with the wrong people? Or that it all became too much for her? It isn’t uncommon for aspiring actors, models, musicians to turn to drugs.” She feels her cheeks redden.
Emily is shaking her head before Naomi can even finish. “No, believe me. I literally visited her like two weeks before she died. And there was no way she died of ‘laced heroin.’” She puts air quotes around the last two words. “She was on a health cleanse, for Christ’s sake. She was so conscious of everything she put into her body.” Emily takes a sip of her soda and laughs. “Well, not everything, I guess.”
Naomi raises an eyebrow.
Once she swallows, Emily dabs the corner of her mouth, a nostalgic grin on her face. “Let’s just say, if Jade had any vice… it wasn’t drugs. But she… I guess you can say she was promiscuous.”
Naomi smirks. “Oh?”
Emily nods as she takes another sip of her drink.
Naomi bites her lip, thinking. “Do you think it’s possible Jade slept with Colton? And Harlow…”
“Killed her in a jealous rage?” Emily interjects. “It’s honestly so ridiculous.” She throws her hands in the air and laughs. “Like, as if Harlow Hayes killed my sister? And then what, staged an overdose to cover it up?” She exhales shakily and dabs her eye with the side of her napkin. “But yeah, maybe Jade finally picked the wrong guy. I guess it’s the best explanation we have…”
Naomi nods, agreeing that the theory Harlow snapped after Colton cheated with Jade is the most plausible. And if Jade was as “adventurous” in the bedroom as Emily said, maybe they made a sex tape.
Video evidence, she thinks, recalling Leo’s tip on what the prosecution had against her.
“Have the police shared any of the evidence with you and your family yet? Video evidence, maybe? Or something else they have against Harlow that ties her to Jade’s death? Because this is the thing that’s stumping me. How they managed to connect it after all these years. Especially since we know the DNA tests haven’t even come back yet…”
“Don’t even get me started on the police,” Emily says angrily. “They’ve just ruined our lives all over again, without even giving us any real details. Our lawyer is pressing them, but all they’re telling us is they have ‘substantial evidence’ against her and we have to wait until the probable cause affidavit is read out at the next hearing.”
It shocks Naomi that even Jade’s family doesn’t know. “Did they mention anything about the connection between Harlow and Jade, or Jade and Colton? Do you know if they ever even met for certain?”
Emily shakes her head. “Nope, nothing. The only concrete connection I’m aware of at all is Sam Brixton. I think he’s Harlow’s and Colton’s manager? The last party Jade went to, the night before she went missing—the night before she died, I guess, based on the autopsy’s findings—was at Sam’s mansion in the Hamptons…”
Naomi freezes, alarm bells going off. “The night before the VMAs… fuck.”
“What?” Emily sits up in her seat, looking concerned.
Naomi fidgets with her fork before explaining the VMAs connection and how she thinks Harlow falling during that performance the night after the party was a reaction to something that upset her.
“I have a friend in the police, and he mentioned that when Jade’s body was found, there might have been bruising around her neck…”
Naomi can tell from Emily’s expression, changing between horror, anger, and despair, that this is news to her.
