Page 124 of Vacation Friends

He grunted. “I’m going to want those notes. Also, I’ll need to see if I can trace this phone number. I assume you don’t recognize it?”

“I don’t.”

“So now my question is: Did someone want you out here so you could watch Nico or Josh die? Or for some other reason?”

Maddie’s heart beat harder as he voiced the question out loud—a question she’d also been asking herself.

“And why did Josh take his time getting to the hot tub?” she asked quietly. “He usually walks faster than he did.”

“That’s a great question.”

She glanced down the pathway to where Josh now stood talking to some of his colleagues.

How was he connected to all of this?

Maddie wasn’t sure, but she was determined to find out.

CHAPTER

FIFTY-SEVEN

THEN

It was hard to believe that four months had gone by since Cecilia and Garrick had begun to see each other. In so many ways it seemed like a dream come true. Yet in other ways, it did not.

Cecilia stared at the white stick in her hand, waiting another moment.

Then two pink lines appeared.

Her heart felt as if it might stop.

That couldn’t be right. She couldn’t be pregnant.

She’d bought more than one test, so she grabbed another one, ripped the package open, and tried again.

But this pregnancy test showed the same result.

Panic raced through her.

What was she going to do? How was Garrick going to feel? He’d always said he wanted to wait a while before having kids. And he was so busy . . . how would he squeeze a baby into his schedule? It would be one more thing to stress him out.

She had to tell him though. He had to know. It was only right.

Her hands trembled as she looked at herself in the mirror.

She tried to picture how Garrick might react. But she wasn’t sure.

She needed to talk to him. She needed to hear his reassurance.

This wasn’t about him. It was about her.

He would need to operate on her timing now.

She grabbed her phone and tried to call him. She didn’t care if he fussed at her. They had to talk.

But he didn’t answer.

He’d mentioned he had a meeting tonight. Maybe it would be over soon. Then they could talk.

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