Page 49 of The Getaway

Juliet turned and bolted from the room.

“Juliet, stop!” someone shouted.

Suzy didn’t know who. It might have even been her. But it didn’t matter because when they all got back to the great room, Juliet was bent over double in the middle of the space, dry heaving. The twins had both jumped up from the couch, and Suzy went right over to them to take Wintour out of Vienna’s arms. Vienna barely noticed. She was too busy whipping out her cell phone.

“Don’t!” Suzy said, sharply slicing a finger in Vienna’s direction. “Put it away. Now.”

Vienna, shockingly, did as she was told.

“Juliet?” Marley said gently.

She stood up straight and turned to face them, her eyes wild. “I don’t know how that got there,” she said shrilly. “I didn’t even wear those necklaces last night. I took them off when I changed, remember?”

Juliet looked from Suzy to Marley, eyes wide, desperation etched across her face. Suzy tried to think back. She knew Juliet had been wearing a short fringe-covered dress last night but had no idea about her jewelry. Though her beads wouldn’t have gone with the dress, that was for sure. She probably had taken them off. So what? Lincoln had snuck into Juliet’s room and stolen her rainbow beads? That was unlikely.

“Then how would my husband have gotten his hands on them? And why would he ever have been anywhere near them?” Hazel demanded.

“I don’t . . . What exactly are you accusing me of?” Juliet asked.

It was a fair question. Were they talking about sex or murder here? Suzy took a step closer to Juliet and put her hand on her friend’s back, holding Wintour in the crook of her other arm. “If Juliet says she doesn’t know how the beads got there, then she doesn’t know how the beads got there.”

“The hell she doesn’t.” Hazel advanced on Juliet, basically shoving Marley out of the way, and stared Juliet down. Hazel was tall and powerful and young. At least eight years younger than the rest of them. According to Marley, who had attended a spin class with her once, she worked out at Orange Fitness daily, an acolyte of one of their tougher boot camp classes. She probably could have crushed Juliet—a casual yogi who preferred Shavasana to all other poses—with her bare hands.

“Whoa, let’s everyone calm down.” Marshall got in between Juliet and Hazel, his hands up in a calming gesture. “I think it’s about time we try to create a timeline of last night. See if we can figure out who was the last person to see Lincoln. Alive.”

Suzy adjusted Wintour in her arms and looked around. For once, a rational suggestion. Not surprising it was Marshall who had come up with it. He was always the most rational one among them, whether they were partying in the city, snorkeling in Aruba, or ordering pizza in Jersey. He knew when to cut people off, what time of day the fish would be out, and exactly how many pies to order to avoid too many leftovers.

“And Trevor,” Hazel said. “Let’s not forget about him.”

“Candice was the last person to see Trevor. He said he was going to go check on the construction equipment, and when she found him, he was already dead,” Marley said.

“Does anyone know what time that was?” Sean asked. “Where we all were when it happened?”

There was a beat of silence as everyone looked around, waiting for an answer. A low rumble of thunder filled the room. “I’ll ask her, once she’s had time to rest,” Marley said finally.

Marshall nodded. “Okay, so for now we focus on Lincoln.”

“The last time I saw him was after Hazel got knocked out. After the fight,” Marley began, looking at her husband. “Then you took me upstairs, and we talked, and I passed out. What time was that?”

“That was around ten thirty,” Marshall said. “I remember because I checked my watch right before I came inside and saw you on the floor with Hazel. And then, when I came back downstairs, Hazel and Lincoln were gone.”

“We were at the bar in the tent,” Hazel said. “A bunch of people from accounting were doing shots, and Lincoln wanted to join them.”

“I thought you said Lincoln was sober,” Gemma said to Marshall.

Marshall lifted his shoulders. “He seemed totally lucid when he was shutting the party down and getting everyone into their cars, right, Grant?”

“Seemed like it to me too,” Grant said.

“You did shots right after losing consciousness?” Suzy asked Hazel, incredulous.

“Oh my God, I said the people from accounting were doing shots,” Hazel corrected them. “Not me and Lincoln. He was just cheering them on.”

Suzy placed Wintour on a free chair and raised her hands. “Okay, okay! Got it. Was that before or after that guy almost choked on the dance floor?”

Hazel’s eyes widened as if she hadn’t remembered that bit. “Before!”

“Wait, who almost choked on the dance floor?” Grant asked.