Were Taylor and Jay two steps ahead of me the whole time? It was only two days ago that I figured out that Lance and Taylor were involved.
“Are you and Lance still together?” Gracie asks.
Mia shrugs again. I see something there. Mia looks ... a little lost. I can’t decide if it’s because of the loss of her boyfriend, the loss of her wealthy new friend group ... or something else. I want to ask her ... the muscle memory of supporting Mia through yet another breakup is kicking in.
But I can’t get sucked into her orbit again. “Okay, I’m glad you’re not hanging out with them anymore,” I say. “I need to warn you ... I suspect Taylor and Lance have something to do with Jay’s disappearance. We’ve already gone to the police. We have a witness.”
She looks at me, blinking. “Who?”
“Jack Gormley. He saw Jay with Lance that night at their yacht club.” My only evidence that Taylor was also involved came from Jay himself, so I don’t mention it.
“Jack.” Mia snorts. “Doubt he was sober enough to remember anything.”
“Heremembersseeing Lance.”
“Lance’s father has a boat at that club. Actually, his whole extended family has boats there. Of course he was at the club that night.”
“We found a motive too.”
Mia crosses her arms in front of her. “So you’re here to get information about Lance?”
I shake my head. “No, actually. I’m looking for Taylor. Do you know where she is?”
Mia shakes her head. “I don’t understand why you’re soobsessedwith Jay Hoque. Is it because I didn’t want to do your little mystery show anymore?”
“No, believe it or not, I’m doing something that has absolutely nothing to do with you. Something bad happened to Jay, and your friends have something to do with it.”
“You didn’t even know him!”
“ButIdid know him,” Gracie says. “He deserves justice.”
Mia narrows her eyes at us. “Lance said he was a dick, anyway. You should have stayed here and done the web series with Taylor and me ... it’s going to be huge. She’s already lined up sponsors.”
I roll my eyes. “No, thank you.”
“So you’re still doing the weird mystery show with your weird new friends? Taylor says true crime is stupid, and people should leave solving shit to the police.”
I smile. “A funny thing happens in a big city, Mia. You were a big fish in Alderville, but there are bigger fish here. And in Alderville, there were no fishes like me, but here in the city, there are lots and lots of fishes like me. I’m not weird here ... I’m just me.”
She snorts. “I don’t understand your whole fish obsession.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Octopuses aren’t fish,” Gracie adds. “They’re cephalopods.”
Mia crosses her arms, clearly annoyed. She’s not used to me talking to her like this.
I sigh. Despite everything, the fact is I’m here because her boyfriend and his sister are my prime suspects in a murder. Mia may not be my favorite person, but I don’t want something bad to happen to her.
“Have you ever heard Taylor say anything ... strange about Jay?”
Mia sighs. “She hated him. She said he didn’t belong with her friends. She even showed me this Instagram account the night I met her that was, like, exposing him for cheating or something.”
“The Birdwatcher,” I say. “Did she say who wrote it?”
“It was anonymous. She said he should drop out of school.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone this?” Gracie asks. “Taylor was bullying him, and then he disappeared.”
