Chapter 5
Thepolicewantedtotalk toMomabout Easton’s death? What about the murderer standing on the other side of the room?
The club erupted in a flurry of whispers, throwing me back to the many times as a child when we’d been teased and gossiped about. I exhaled sharply and curled my hands into fists, hoping my cheeks weren’t as red as they felt. I was used to my family getting caught up in minor embarrassing situations—it seemed to be a magic all its own for my sisters and Mom—but this was something else. How could the police think Mom was capableof murder? And why? My family and I had never even met the victim from my Portent.
I pushed my way through the rest of the people separating me from Mom and stopped by her side. “What’s going on?”
“We’d like to bring Mrs. Bennet to the station to ask her a few questions,” said the second policeman whose face looked too young for the badge he wore.
“Why?” I put my hands on my hips in my best Maxine impersonation. She didn’t take crap from anyone.
“I’m afraid we can’t provide any details at this time.” The first officer smoothed his mustache.
“We have a right to know.” My chest was tight, and the candles over the dance floor were suddenly much too bright. The whispers grew louder, and my cheeks burned hotter.
“It’s okay, Lizzy. I’m sure this is all a misunderstanding.” Mom patted my arm, though her hand shook slightly.
How dare they make her feel afraid. She might’ve been silly and embarrassing, but she wasmysilly and embarrassing Mom.
“We understand your concern, but we have to do our job, miss.” The baby-faced man put a hand on Mom’s shoulder. “You can check with the public information officer later, if you’d like.”
“Oh, rest assured. That’s exactly what I’ll do.” I glared at him.
“I’ll be home before you know it, Lizzy.” Mom gave me a wan smile. “Take care of your sisters while I’m gone, and make sure that Jane gets Charles’s number!”
And then she and the police officers were gone.
I glared at Darcy, who stood on the other side of the room, caught up in conversation with Charles. This washisfault. A knot of indignation coiled in my stomach, pulled tighter by my frustration.
“Lizzy.” Jane’s voice was more subdued than normal. She and Charlotte had already gathered Kitty, Lydia, and Mary. With all of us together, the crowd’s conversation grew even more pointed.
The club returned to normal, as if someone unpaused the scene, but an undercurrent of gossip and suspicion hummed beneath the beat of the music.
“Who is Easton Hancock?” someone on my left asked.
“Doyou think she killed him?” another person whispered.
Lydia wrapped her arms around herself, reminding me that I had other things to take care of right now. Although every instinct urged me to go to the station and get to the bottom of this, my priority tonight needed to be my sisters.
“Come on.” I swallowed hard and schooled my expression, then ushered everyone outside, stepping around piles of sodden leaves that clung to the sidewalk in damp clusters. The sour smell of decayed foliage hung in the air.
A wind blew by, rustling the leaves and tugging at my bun with invisible fingers until a few strands came loose. With everything that was happening, I felt as undone as my hair, but I fought to keep it together.
“I’m so sorry.” Charlotte’s worried gaze passed over my sisters. Mary clutched her book to her chest, her eyes wide, and Kitty had an arm wrapped around Lydia, although it was impossible to tell who was supporting whom. Jane walked at the end of the line, her face pale but her shoulders straight. That was how it always was. Me charging ahead, Jane in the back, and our sisters safely between us.
“Is there anything I can do?” Charlotte’s question pulled me back to the present.
I shook my head, trying to maintain my composure when so many of the others looked like they would shatter with the slightest touch. “I don’t think so, but I doubt Jane and I will be home tonight.” My gaze darted to my sisters again. “We should probably stay at my parents’ house.”
Charlotte grabbed my hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “Text me if you need anything.”
“Thanks.” I gave her a faint smile, then led my sisters to my Honda. Knowing how crazy parking could be at Club Meryton, Jane had offered to have us pick the others up from the house—a fact I was grateful for now.
My phone buzzed with a message from Riley asking how tonight was going. I sent him a quick message letting him know it hadn’t turned out at all like I’d expected, and I’d tell him about it later, then I shoved it back into my bag.
On the way home, my headlights barely pierced the heavy mist that had crept from the seaside cliffs to curl around the buildings. I drove slowly down MainStreet, my tires bouncing over the cobblestones. The group of decorated scarecrows along the shops looked like hunched shapes in the fog.
Had Darcy framed Mom? Maybe the real reason he’d told Charles not to get involved was because he was planning on further ruining our reputation.
