Mrs. Crawley stared at her, swaying like one of the blown-up animals.
“Danika,” Bill said, stepping forward and stretching his arms out like a referee. He looked to his wife, then to Augie, his face twisting in confusion. “Danika, what is she talking about? What in God’s name is going on?”
Augie used the distraction of Bill as a chance to escape, grateful to spot Leah behind her. Leah reached out, grabbing her hand, pulling Augie toward her.
Bill and Danika were now in the center of the crowd.
“What did she mean, ‘ex-husband’?” Bill narrowed his eyes; his white shirt billowed in the breeze. “You were never married.”
Before Danika could speak, Wyatt Greene stepped forward, too.
“Danika,” Wyatt interrupted, his voice focused. “Was that true? You knew Lyle?”
It went quiet as a new look of horror fell over Mrs. Crawley, like a sudden shift in weather. She reached to touch her necklace. The amber pendant. Her eyes filled.
“Please, tell me,” Wyatt said, his tone still measured.
“What the hell is going on?” Bill threw up his hands.
Mrs. Crawley looked to Bill, back to Wyatt.
She heaved in a breath. “Oh, what does it even matter anymore,” she finally cried, leaning back as if howling. She straightened as her eyes grew wetter, redder. “You two, you’re full of your own secrets, your own lies.” She pointed back and forth between Bill and Wyatt.
“Danika.” Bill moved toward her quickly. “Stop,” he warned.
“You think I don’t know?” She looked out to the crowd, searching. “My best buddy Josh Mike told me everything... everything you’vebeen lying about. How you lost all that money. Ourhouses. How you’ve been fucking Wyatt Greene in Briar Ridge for God knows how long.”
Augie stiffened. Next to her, Leah raised a hand to her mouth.
Bill and Wyatt turned ashen.
And then, out of nowhere, Joshua Mike split the group and started running down the stairs in his flamingo-pink suit.
Mrs. Crawley was the first to call his name. “Oh, don’t you dare leave,” she cried.
“Hey,” Joshua Mike yelled while stumbling down the steps, clearly drunk. “I don’t want any part of this!” He raised his hands up over his head, taking more unsteady steps down the stairs. “You all leave me out of it! Whatever this is—you are all insane!”
Despite his words, Augie registered an unfamiliar look on his face: fear.
Chat started racing down the stairs, chasing after him. A second later, Bill followed.
Bill moved faster than Augie thought possible—fueled by something unnatural—because he quickly surpassed Chat and grabbed Joshua Mike’s lapels just as Josh reached for the pool gate.
Joshua Mike tripped, falling to his knees, but Bill didn’t stop there. He dragged Josh Mike back to his feet and whipped him around.
“How could you tell her? You swore.” His face contorted with anger—grief.
Before Joshua Mike could speak, Bill pulled back his fist and punched him square in the face—once, twice, and then over and over and over.
Augie couldn’t watch as blood burst to the ground. She turned in to Leah’s hot shoulder, barely looking up until the sounds of screams and sirens filled the air.
30
Augie and Leah drove home in silence. They were in shock, all the drama and confusion of the night spinning knots inside their brains. They’d left the Club as fast as possible; Augie hadn’t even gone to her locker for her bag. They’d beelined straight for Leah’s car.
Augie was again grateful her mom was gone and that they wouldn’t need to explain themselves yet. Neither she nor Leah knew where to start.
Regardless, as soon as they changed and settled on the couch—enclosed in the dim lights of the living room, everything from Leah’s shoebox spread out onto the coffee table—Augie told Leah all she’d learned from Chat: how Trey had been hockey friends with Lyle, how he’d been at The Manor that night but left early with Danika, how Trey thought Joshua Mike had been the one driving the boat—but couldn’t prove it.
