Page 24 of The Engagement Party

Talk about missing the point.Unless the nonsense was on purpose. “Tell me what’s going on in that supposedly beautiful mind of yours. You know none of what’s happening makes any sense, right?”

He stood up and stared at her. Didn’t make a move or try to quiet her pulsing nerves. She wanted to write his flat reaction off as some sort of defense mechanism, but this was who he was. He viewed himself as stable and dependable. To her, he came off as unemotional and indifferent.

A dead body should produce a reaction. Maybe not screaming but a noise of some sort. “Well?”

“Mitch wouldn’t kill anyone.”

Not what she expected but she did have a response for that one. “Wrong. You heard him say he wanted the dead guy dead.”

She hadn’t dreamed that part. The sound of Mitch’s voice played over and over in her head. He didn’t doubt his ability to take another life, and neither did she. Chalk it up to a dysfunctional upbringing, a hideous monster of a mother, or a general lack of affection. The end result was the same. Mitch was odd. As far as she could tell the best thing about him was Sierra, and he failed to recognize what he had there or how she evened him out.

“That wasn’t...” Will made a strangled sound. “I don’t have an explanation for the car, but Mitch wouldn’t lure Tyler here and put us all at risk.”

She secretly hoped some stellar, unassailable argument would pop out of Will’s mouth next, but he didn’t continue until she glared at him.

“Even if Mitch did plan ahead once he knew the address for our party and put the wrecked car on the island, he couldn’t go out to the garage and kill a guy without us knowing.”

Not nearly as stellar as she’d hoped. Engaging in timeline subterfuge didn’t convince her at all. “Very rational.”

“I mean, sure, we split up to get settled in our rooms and that sort of thing, but Sierra was with him. You can’t believe she’s in on this.” Will’s voice became more animated. “Right? Why would she?”

Ruthie welcomed the reaction. Any reaction. “He could have killed this Tyler guy earlier then dumped the car here for the big unveiling today.”

Will rolled his eyes. Stared at the ceiling. Generally, pulled out every male frustration gesture guaranteed to piss her off.

He delivered one last sigh. “Listen to what you’re saying, hon.”

“The name is Ruthie.”

He ignored her and trampled right over the reminder about her hatred for pet names. “If he wanted to kill Tyler, then why not do it back at home and bury the body? Mitch is on construction sites all the time and could hide any number of crimes. Putting a body where someone would find it, where he’s temporarily staying, points the finger right at him.”

A little too dismissive but not wrong, so she rolled with it. “Who would want to frame Mitch? Could all of this, the notes specifically, have something to do with Emily?”

“What?” Will shifted his feet. Took small steps without going anywhere. Not pacing, exactly, but only because there wasn’t a lot of room between the kitchen island and the stove to move. “Why would you ask that?”

Nervous. That was new. He usually pivoted away from conversations that required him to feel something. This time he let the anxiety creep in and overtake him.

Her plan for this weekend had been all but obliterated by the need to survive it, but she hadn’t forgotten her original goals. “Think about those notes. They suggest someone in this house is hiding something very big.”

“They don’t mention Emily.”

He’d switched to denial. Not the first time he’d done that since they’d known each other. Every time she’d broached the topic of Emily, he threw up an emotional stop sign. She hadn’t made one inch of progress on that front.

Now wasn’t the best time but this fake engagement would never progress to an unwanted marriage, so she had to take her shots when she could. “I know you don’t like talking about her, but—”

Any thought of diving into the subject vanished at the sound of the side door opening. Cassie and Alex came in from their outside search. A second later heavy footsteps pounded on the stairs. Sierra jogged down with Mitch lumbering behind her.

“Photos.” Sierra sounded out of breath. Her eyes were huge and haunted. “Maybe a hundred of them. They were plastered all over the third floor.”

Sierra dropped at least a dozen pictures on the kitchen island. Spread them out to investigate further. They all gathered around, but Ruthie didn’t need to lean in close. She knew whatthe photos were, or more accurately, who was in them. Emily. Young Emily. Emily closer to the time of her death. All Emily.

Will’s head shot up and he pinned Ruthie with his gaze. “How did you know all of this was about Emily?”

Not all but some. “I didn’t.”

But Ruthie could tell he didn’t believe her.

Maybe he really was as smart as people said.

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