Zee leans her arm onto my shoulder, making me stumble under her weight. She’s really drunk. “We broke up after the show.”
“What happened? Are you okay?”
Zee waves a hand through the air. “He’s stupid. It’s fine. I don’t even care. But I wasn’tflirtingwith Sean. We’ve been friends since before I knew Trey. Why’s he got to be like that?”
“Just talk to him, he’ll be okay.”
“No, you know what, I’m done.” She swings around and we run into someone, their drink spilling over my shoulder.
“Okayyy. How about we get some water?”
“That’s the most borrring idea I’ve ever hearrrrd,” she slurs.
My phone vibrates in my bag. “Fine. Hold on, just wait a minute,” I tell Zee as I retrieve it. It’s a text from Amy:It’s happening! The police are reopening the Lila Jones case!
Oh my god. She did it. They reopened the case. That means—maybe DuPont is a suspect. Maybe they found new evidence. I feel a ripple of excitement.
I need to tell someone about this. I try to locate Liam, but I see him on the other side of the party talking to Professor DuPont. A woman clutches DuPont’s arm possessively. She wears a cropped furjacket and silk dress, blond hair swept into a chignon, and there’s a feline quality to her movements. She must have sensed my gaze because suddenly, she turns and looks directly at me, her eyes narrowing. I quickly look away. “Naomi!” Zee is now dancing, or trying to, her bag falling off her shoulder as she pulls me toward the DJ. “Come onnnnn. I lovvvve this song.”
Zee is now halfway to the dance floor and I have no choice but to follow.
I dance next to Zee, thoughts consumed by Amy’s message, keeping an eye on Liam over her shoulder. Zee’s arms flop overhead, her eyes closed as she sways to the music.
“Zee,” I say, and she looks at me blankly. I point her body toward DuPont. “Do you know anything about DuPont’s fiancée?”
She laughs. “Ohhh, her. Some actress, I think? She’s got to be fifteen years younger than him. I heard she dated Timothée Chalamet before he was with Kylie Jenner.”
There’s something captivating about her. I wonder how well she knows her fiancé…and what she’d do if she found out what he did.
—
While Zee isin the bathroom, I find Liam getting another drink at the bar. “Saw you talking to DuPont. That woman is his fiancée, right? What’s she like? Zee said she was an actress?”
“Sara? Yeah…she’s pretty well-known on Broadway, I think. Won a Tony last year.” He glances in their direction. “I’ve met her a few times. She reminds me of my dad’s ex-wife. She’s…intense.” He raises an eyebrow. “I’d keep my distance if I were you.”
“Why?”
“I’ve just seen her get protective around girls like you.”
I’m about to ask him what he means by that when my phone buzzes in my pocket, and I wonder if it’s Amy with more news.
“Who’s that?”
I look up at Liam. I hide my phone instinctively and am about to play it off, but then again…he is in Greystone. His father was too. I wonder if he might know anything that would be useful.
“Hey…did you know that Greystone has ski cabins? Up in New Hampshire? Apparently we can’t use them anymore because something happened to a girl—”
With surprising force, Liam grabs my elbow and yanks me away from the crowd. “Are you insane?”
I tear my elbow out of his grasp. “What?”
He glances over his shoulder. “Why are you asking me about that?”
“Why not?”
He sighs. Lowers his voice. “I’m going to tell you something…but you have to promise not to mention it again, especially not around these people.”
“Fine.”
