Her gaze stays eerily steady on me. “Do you remember Sydney Morton?”
Theo’s sister.
I nod.
“She was an attorney. An attorney. Can you imagine?”
“Was?”
Serena shakes her head. “Is.” She scoffs. “My mistake. Is. In Chicago. Did very well for herself, just like you.”
I’m not sure where this is going, but I haven’t missed her return to past tense. I pretend to care. “Keith told me that you have a degree in fashion. I’m sure you’ll be successful, or maybe you already are.”
“It’s not the same for me. I spent eight years as a housewife with no work experience following college. Those bullet points don’t make for a stellar résumé.” A cough seems to catch her off guard; she takes a drink of her tea. Once she’s composed, she says, “Sydney was the first person who asked me why.” Her smile is back. “I wondered if you’d ask, or if you knew. The notes in your cabin…” She shakes her head. “You’re very inquisitive with some interesting theories.”
“You saw my notes?”
“Saw them? I read them.” She places the glass on the table. “My brother-in-law was inquisitive too.”
“Have you visited Keith?”
Serena stands and walks to the railing. Lifting her face, she hums. “This really is beautiful.” She spins toward me. “He never mentioned you.”
He.
Craig.
“You weren’t important to him.”
If she’s trying to upset me, she’s too late. I look her in the eye. “Serena, I was young, and I was wrong.”
Laughter bubbles from her throat. “You’re not blaming him? Everyone else does.”
“I think we were both to blame.”
She stands straighter. “Do you…?” Her agitation grows. “Could I use your bathroom?”
“Of course,” I say, the uncomfortable vibes growing stronger. I stand. “I’ll show you.”
Serena follows me into the living room. Once the bathroom door closes, I rush into the kitchen and remove all Ellis’s pictures from the refrigerator and stuff them into a drawer. My phone pings, and I recall that Liam wanted to send me some news.
Quickly, I hurry to the balcony and open my laptop. After entering my passcode, I pull up his email and open the attachment:
Twenty-seven-year-old attorney founddead in Carol Stream, Illinois. The body of Sydney Morton, originally from Blue Gil, Michigan, was discovered Tuesday night.
My stomach dropsand my words are too low to be audible. “Oh my God, Serena killed Sydney. That’s why she used the past tense.”
I remember a conversation last spring at Walleye Tavern.
“What happened to your sister?”
“She’s like you,” Theo says. “She left for college and never returned.”
Like me...
Liv: “You weren’t the first or the last.”
Mom: “He knew about Theodore’s daughter, about you...”
