Page 64 of The Getaway

“Marshall, stop!” Hazel said.

He whirled on them, his knuckles already purpling. “What? Am I hurting your precious house?” he snapped.

Suzy’s heart was frantic in her chest. This was not like Marshall at all. She’d never seen him so untethered.

“No. You’re going to hurt yourself,” Hazel said calmly.

Marshall looked down at his hand like he’d forgotten it was there. His fingers trembled. “What if he did it?” he asked.

“What if who did what?” said Grant.

“Josh. He could have snuck in,” Marshall said. “Gone up there. Shoved her over. He could be here right now. Maybe he killed Lincoln, Trevor, and Juliet. Maybe he’s been hiding out here the entire time.”

Suzy looked across the room at Sean. Had Marshall completely lost his mind?

“Marsh, you said Josh was stuck somewhere in a flood,” Sean said gently. “And there’s a tree down across the road, remember? There’s no way he could have gotten back here.”

“He could have lied! He could have been screwing with us this entire time!”

“Marshall, please,” Marley begged through her tears. “Please don’t. I can’t. Not right now.”

Marshall’s gaze went distant and unfocused. He looked down at his hand again and let out a noise that sounded somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “I’m going to go get some ice.”

He walked out of the room, disappearing inside the kitchen, and those he left behind let out a collective breath. Suzy couldn’t take much more of this. Her own hands were shaking as well, and there were scratches on her forearm she didn’t remember getting. She tugged the sleeve of her sweatshirt down to cover them and took a deep breath and tried to steady herself.

Grant shifted his feet. He stepped away from Gemma and went over to the sliders to look out. “Should we . . . What should we do about . . . about the—”

Don’t say body. Please don’t say body.

“About Juliet?” Gemma supplied.

Only then did Daisy and Cole shuffle into the room, Daisy yawning hugely. Suzy hadn’t even realized they were missing. “What’s going on?” Cole asked.

No one said a word. The wind howled. Suzy didn’t want to be the one to say it out loud. If she said it out loud, it would be real. Juliet fell. Juliet is dead.

She knew they were all thinking the same thing. Was it an accident? Was it the wind? Or had she been pushed?

Marley’s tears began to subside. She wiped her face with the backs of her hands. They could hear Marshall blowing his nose in the kitchen and then a few drawers opening and closing. They were still standing like that when they heard the front door open. Suzy and Sean locked eyes across the room again, his What the eff? expression reflecting her thoughts.

“Finally!” Josh’s voice rang out, filling the charged air around them.

“Josh! You’re going to wake everyone up,” another voice whispered.

Suzy’s heart lurched into her throat. Marley looked up.

“No freaking way,” Suzy muttered.

“Why is it so dark in here?”

They heard the futile sounds of switches flipping, and seconds later, Josh strode into the room, pocketing a set of keys. He looked shocked to see them all there and paused uncertainly as they stared at him. He took in the sight of Marley on the chair, all puffy and red, of Suzy’s tearstained face. Marshall returned, sweaty and sniffling. Josh focused on him.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

And then Lily stepped into the room behind him.

33

Gemma