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One by one, all the other women were paraded in to watch her.
We learned our lesson well.
Quartz never refused to eat after that.
And Quartz is another of the women who never made it off the island.
We also learned that the women who made trouble disappeared.
God, I don’t want to be thinking about this, not while I’m eating with Katelyn.
On her finger sparkles what must be at least a two-carat diamond.
“So you’re engaged,” I say.
“Yes. To the son of a billionaire no less.”
“So not Luke from the restaurant?”
“One and the same, actually. It’s a long story.”
“I want to hear every bit of it. And then I’ve got a lot to tell you as well.”
“His real name is Lucifer Charles Ashton the third. He doesn’t have the best background. In fact he’s lucky that he’s out walking. He was a— I guess I don’t know what he was technically. Just really high-up in the LA drug world.”
I nod. This much I already know from Buck.
“But he’s a recovering alcoholic, and he got an immunity deal from the Feds. Buck knows all about it. He nearly gave his life for me, Aspen.” She bites her lower lip. “I was in love with him before then, but after? I knew he was my forever.”
Can people really change? I don’t ask Katelyn this question. I don’t want to put her on the spot or make her doubt her fiancé.
I’m really asking it of myself.
“I want you to meet him. But I totally understand that you just wanted it to be us today.”
“Yeah. Thanks for that. I want to meet him as well. But there’s some other stuff I want to talk to you about today. About why I’m here.”
“To find out who did this to you.”
“Yes. I’m pretty sure it was someone on my volleyball team. I want to figure out why. And I want to know who.”
Katelyn smiles and sighs. “None of that will change anything.”
“You sound just like Buck. I know that, Katelyn. I know it in the deepest recesses of my soul. But I still want to know. I feel like I need to know for closure.”
“All right. What can I do to help?”
Before I can answer, our server comes with menus. “I’m so sorry to keep you waiting. Would you like something to drink?”
“Water’s fine for me,” Katelyn says.
“Yes, water would be great.” I smile. Then I open my menu.
“I’ll get that right away for you,” she says to me.
“Thank you.” I glance at my menu.
It’s funny. I grew up in Colorado, and there’s this great place for fish tacos in downtown Denver. Fish tacos in Colorado? Totally strange, but boy are they delicious.
But now? I don’t eat seafood. Still… Part of me wants to try these fish tacos that are spectacular, according to Katelyn’s fiancé.
“Chicken tacos for me,” Katelyn says. “Luke brought me here a few days ago, raving about everything. He was right about the chicken tacos.”
“There’s this part of me that wants to try the fish tacos,” I say. “I almost feel like… I almost feel like that if I try these fish tacos, and I’m able to stomach them, I can get through anything.”
Katelyn smiles. “You know what? You should order them then. The worst thing that can happen is they make you gag, and then you order something else.”
Our server returns, and I close my menu. “Fish tacos for me.”
“And chicken for me,” Katelyn says.
The server sets my water in front of me. “I’ll get those right out for you. Did you want to order any appetizers?”
“Nothing for me,” Katelyn says.
“Me neither. Thanks.”
And for some reason, just ordering fish tacos makes me feel like I can take on the world.
I don’t even have to eat the damned things.
“So how can I help you?” Katelyn asks.
“I’m not sure yet. I’m going to go see one of my former teammates this afternoon. She’s a teacher at West Beverly Hills high school.”
“So she no longer plays?”
“Apparently not. Her name is Gloria Delgado.”
“That name sounds familiar to me.”
“It’s possible I mentioned her when we were on the island.”
“No, I don’t think that’s it. We didn’t really talk on the island.”
“That’s true. She was my backup on the team.”
“That doesn’t ring a bell. I’m not sure why her name sounds familiar. Maybe it’ll come to me.”
“Buck has a theory that Gloria might be behind my situation. After all, she had the most to gain. She took my spot on the team.”
“But you don’t seem to agree with Buck.”
“I see his logic for sure. She did have the most to gain. But if you knew Gloria… She was so sweet and so nice. A totally devout Catholic.”
“What else can you tell me about her?”
“She was a lesbian. She was dating one of the other girls on the team. Taylor Wallace.”
“A devout Catholic and a lesbian?”
