Page 26 of Between the Lines

“This was a good idea,” she said.

Ollie smiled, eyes on Milo as he bounded ahead again. “I was hoping you’d think so.”

They walked a little farther, the beach widening ahead of them. Milo surged forward after a seagull, then circled back to join them, satisfied he’d kept his people safe from another potential attacker.

Maude was mid-sentence, about to comment on the hospital coffee, when she saw the flash of color up ahead.

Two women walking toward them along the firmer sand near the waterline. One of them in hot pink.

Maude’s attention snagged, the way it always did when her brain recognized a pattern before she consciously understood what it was. One of the women was unmistakable even at a distance. Wide arm movements. Big hair. Flashy sunglasses. And the hot pink one-shoulder swimsuit.

Gigi.

Maude felt her pace slow by half a step. Ollie didn’t notice yet. Milo obviously didn’t—he was busy trying to decide if the seagulls were regrouping for a second attack.

“You see those two coming toward us?” she said.

Ollie followed the line of her glance and squinted. He gave a little nod. “I recognize one of them,” he said. Then, after a beat, “And the other one?”

Maude didn’t answer right away.

The woman walking beside Gigi was slimmer, dressed in an ivory and gold tankini, a crocheted coverup overtop. Her stride was unhurried. She didn’t gesture or talk much. She kept her eyes moving, taking in the shoreline, the houses, the people ahead of them.

Then it clicked.

Maude had seen that face before. Not in person, but with longer hair in a slightly filtered Facebook profile photo. Then again in those event shots. She recognized that smile that felt like it was full of fake warmth.

Darcy Lane.

Everything in Maude sat up and took notice.

“Someone you know?” Ollie asked quietly.

“Yes,” Maude said. She kept her voice level, even as her attention sharpened. “Unfortunately.”

Gigi spotted them then and lifted her arm in an enthusiastic wave, smiling wide enough to be seen from space.

“Maude!” she called, her voice carrying easily over the sound of the waves. “Well, if this isn’t a small world.”

Darcy lifted her head to look, finally paying attention to what Gigi was saying. She made eye contact with Maude.

As Darcy drew closer, Maude thought the other woman looked exactly like her photos but also not at all like them. Same face, same careful smile. Different energy. A hint of cold curiosity sparked in her eyes, something just this side of calculating. And her smile had appeared a second too late, like she had to remind herself to do it.

Milo chose that moment to pull forward again, forcing Maude to step closer to Ollie as they slowed to a stop. Gigi was talking, the way she always did, but Maude barely heard her.

All her attention was on Darcy.

So this was the woman who’d confronted Paige at the fitness center. The woman Maude had been researching, only to find bits and pieces. The woman Cece was hoping to interview in the name of information gathering.

Darcy’s gaze flicked briefly to Milo, then to Ollie, then back to Maude, polite interest firmly in place.

“Hello, there,” Darcy said, her voice smooth and measured. “You must be friends of Gigi’s? We just met ourselves.”

Maude gave a small nod, her expression neutral. “We know her.” And now, Maude thought, we know you a little better, too.

“Maude,” Gigi said, swinging an arm toward Darcy. “Have you met Darcy yet? She’s new to the Colony. We just ran into each other a few days ago and decided to walk together.”

“Darcy Lane,” Darcy said, offering her hand.