Page 19 of The Getaway

“This is Gemma,” Juliet said. She sucked in a breath and stood up. “She’s here with her husband and their girls.”

“Ah . . . yes. Grant Sutherland, right? That’s your husband? Hollow and Sutherland?” His smirk became more condescending—not an easy feat. “You must be very proud.”

It was all Gemma could do to keep herself from spitting in his face.

“Juliet, I need your help with something,” Gemma said, turning fully, so that Josh was looking at the side of her face. “It’s a woman thing.”

Josh raised his hands. “That’s my cue. I’m gonna go take a shower and get the city off me.”

He maneuvered past Gemma to kiss Juliet on the cheek—the uninjured one—a performative act if Gemma had ever seen one. Juliet gave him a tight smile as he gripped her wrist quickly, and then he was gone, disappearing into the attached bathroom.

“Are you all right?” Gemma asked.

Juliet started to nod, but then her entire face crumpled, and the tears came. Silent, fat, ugly tears. She backed up until her butt hit the bed and then bent forward, pulling the rest of her necklaces off over her head and hair. She tossed them on a bedside table and brought her hand to her mouth, still crying, still quiet as the grave. There was a crumpled blue note card in the center of the bed. A hard knot settled in Gemma’s gut.

She sat down next to Juliet, put one arm around her, and let this relative stranger cry all over her sophisticated black jumpsuit.

9

Marley

“This is unbelievable, Marley. Do you want me to poison Marshall’s drink tonight? Because I will.”

Marley, seated on the edge of Suzy and Sean’s bed with the dog next to her, laughed half-heartedly. She’d just told Suzy what had happened last night with Marshall, and she felt better for having gotten it off her chest. But as Suzy continued to futz with her eye makeup in the bathroom, leaning in toward the mirror so far Marley couldn’t even see her face, she couldn’t help missing Lily. Lily would have rushed back into the bedroom, eyes half done, and hugged her. She would have sat next to her on the bed and held her hand while she told the whole story. Suzy was a good listener, but she wasn’t the cuddly type. Right now, Marley could really use a cuddle. She settled for methodically stroking Wintour’s back instead.

“Where’s Juliet?” she asked.

Suzy finally came to the door of the bathroom, looking party ready in a tight black dress that shoved her breasts toward her neck, her dark hair piled atop her head to accentuate the dangling sapphire-and-diamond earrings tugging her earlobes taut.

“I haven’t seen her since just after lunch. Have you told her yet?” She walked over to the dresser, picked up a few rings, and started shoving them on her fingers. “I bet she has some sort of pharmaceutical-grade stuff we can murder Marshall with.”

Marley laughed again and got up. Dizziness hit her like a freight train, and she closed her eyes, staggering sideways.

“Oh my God!” Suzy lunged forward and grabbed Marley before she could hit the deck. Marley clasped her friend’s cold hand. Her own felt hot and clammy in comparison. “Marls? Are you okay? Speak to me.”

Marley shook her head. Outside she could hear shouted voices, clanging and beeping as the caterers finished their preparations. She breathed in deep and focused on the sounds. Yes, okay, she hadn’t been taking care of herself lately. But this wasn’t just random weakness from hunger. This was new.

“I’m fine,” she said when things felt steady again. “Maybe I didn’t eat enough at lunch. Or it could have been the lobster. It doesn’t always agree with me.”

Just thinking about the mayonnaise-y sandwich brought on a wave of nausea.

“Come on. We’ll find Juliet and get Magdelena to make you some toast or something,” Suzy said. Marley nodded, and together they walked the length of the hall to the stairs leading up to the third floor. Juliet’s room was at the back of the house on the top level, facing the trees. Juliet had claimed the room on their very first trip out here fifteen years ago, arguing it had the best feng shui. Marley’s room was right beneath theirs, though, and after years of trying to sleep under them, she had a feeling they wanted to be removed from as many people as they could so that they could make as much noise in bed as they wanted. They’d inspired more than one memorable night between herself and Marshall, though, so she couldn’t complain.

Along the way, Marley noticed the new artwork Suzy had mentioned at lunch and absently wondered where Lily’s art had ended up. Some of the paintings had been purchased at galleries, but a lot of them had been painted by Lily herself. Marley sincerely hoped Lincoln was storing them to send to Lily once she settled somewhere, because as far as she knew, Lily hadn’t seen them in the months since the divorce was made final. She made a mental note to ask him later.

“Knock, knock! We’re coming in!” Suzy shouted as she shoved open the already ajar door to Juliet’s room.

Marley stopped in her tracks, hit by another wave of dizziness. Juliet was sitting on her bed, hysterically crying, and Gemma, of all people, was comforting her.

“Juliet? Are you all right?” Marley asked, rushing over. She knelt at her friend’s feet in her sequined, ankle-length dress, which, unlike Suzy’s, was flowing enough to allow such things. Suzy just hovered over them, standing straight up and down like a Barbie doll.

“What did you do to her?” Suzy demanded of Gemma. Then her eyes flicked to the bed. From her angle, Marley couldn’t see what had caught Suzy’s eye. “Omigod. Did Josh—”

“She didn’t do anything,” Juliet said, casting a glance toward the bathroom, where Marley could hear there was a shower running. Josh must have arrived while Marley was getting ready. “Can we get out of here?”

Marley nodded and stood, hauling Juliet up. Suzy grabbed something off the bed, crushing it in her fist. Gemma came along, and they rushed back down the stairs to Suzy’s room, where Wintour stood in the middle of the bed. Gemma closed the door behind them, and they formed a tight circle as Juliet wiped under her eyes. Marley noticed that one of Juliet’s gel nail tips was gone, leaving the nail bed jagged and ugly. If there was one thing Juliet always took care of, it was her nails. Tomorrow she’d be dragging them into town trying to find a salon that could match the intricate design on the others.

“What the hell happened?” Suzy asked.