Page 104 of My Sister is Going to Kill Me

“Taking over from your sister? Did she know?”

“No.”

The word hung in the air, neither one of them choosing to poke the wasp nest of sibling betrayal.

“Stefan said he’d bring the documents to finalize the leadership transition on this trip,” Devon said. “These pages”—she pointed to the stack on her left—“are all about that. But these other ones”—she indicated the papers to her right—“are something else.”

“What?”

“It’s odd. This is a vendor contract Babette canceled a few weeks ago,” Devon said, touching the papers on her right. “A waste management company we were working with to dispose of excess material generated in the production of CareFree.”

“Was there a problem with the vendor?”

“Not to my knowledge,” Devon said. “ADD Inc. specializes in startups that use unusual ingredients in research and development. We didn’t have any issues with them in the lab. As far as I knew, they showed up on time and took reasonable precautions with the more volatile material.”

“Volatile? You mean, the psychotropic elements? The—”

“Scopolamine, yes,” Devon said. “It’s a controlled substance, and the CareFree waste is hyperconcentrated. We can’t just throw it out or pour it down the drain. The waste has to be managed by professionals.”

The information was moving too fast for Liv. She scanned the papers for bold type, capital letters, something she could understand. “ATTENTION TO DETAIL DISPOSAL INC.,” Liv read. “Babette canceled this?”

Devon nodded. “Maybe a month ago. I don’t know why.”

“Did she often get involved with vendors on the science side?”

“Babette had her fingers in every little thing. Sometimes for a brilliant reason. Sometimes just the flavor of the day. When she wanted something different—poof. It changed.”

Liv could hear Devon’s bitterness, even now, after everything that had happened.

“You and Charlie were hoping to run the business differently,” Liv said.

“We will,” Devon said. “And we’ll do it in her memory.”

Was it possible this was always Charlie and Devon’s plan—to get rid of their sister and take over? It didn’t make sense that a scientist as analytical as Devon would speak so carelessly if she had in fact orchestrated Babette’s murder. But maybe it was like what Liv was learning with her stack of lies: The more you believed your own tall tales, the more true they became for you.

All kinds of people were capable of self-deception. It wasn’t just losers deluding themselves with personal mantras and lottery tickets. The most visionary people she knew lived deep in the belly of beliefs that ran counter to common sense. They had to. They saw things other people didn’t. Sometimes their intense commitment to a dream enabled them to do things no one thought possible. Other times, their obsessions blinded them to how far from reality they were traveling. The difficulty was assessing when they were right and when they were lying to themselves.

Which was Devon? Right about her sister’s shortcomings as CEO? Or so deluded by that belief that she’d go to any length to take over the company?

“Why would Stefan bring a canceled waste contract with him to the Grand Canyon?” Liv asked.

“No clue. As far as I know, Stefan wasn’t even aware ADD Inc. existed.” Devon looked downriver, then shook her head. “Charlie might know more. He processed all the final contracts.”

Liv slid the papers back into the folder.

“Let me keep that,” Devon said.

“Why?”

“Because you’re right. It doesn’t make sense that Stefan brought this down here. If I have more time to look at it, maybe I can figure it out.”

Liv didn’t like it. If the papers held important information Devon wanted to hide, it would be easy for her to stash them out of sight or simply toss the folder into the river.

But Liv also knew there was no way she’d uncover the import of the contract on her own. If the management of CareFree’s waste material was germane to the murders, her best bet was to hope Devon could figure out why. That, and that the woman wouldn’t lie to her about it. Liv was discovering just how easy—and useful—deceit could be.

Chapter Forty-Four

By late morning, the heat, nonstop paddling, and exclusive diet of caffeinated energy bars had worked Mandy into a buzzing, uncomfortable silence. Her plan wasn’t working. She hadn’t stopped the raft, her dad hadn’t launched a grand rescue plan, and she was no closer to knowing who killed Babette and Stefan. Maybe the mysterious Lady was Devon, who wanted control of the company. Or Fiona, who seemed to have a deep hatred for all things Babette. Or maybe . . .