Page 126 of Jack

Penelope’s gaze found Harper’s. “Kyle is dead, isn’t he?”

Harper nodded.

Penelope closed her eyes. “I told him he wasn’t safe. That he needed to go to the police. But he said that he wanted to wait until the podcast dropped so that they wouldn’t suspect him of trying to deflect suspicion from himself. He has evidence from the laptop that will point to Walsh.”

“Until the podcast dropped—why?”

Her friend sat back, folded her arms. “Because in the podcast, I name the suspect.”

“Holden Walsh.”

“Not Holden.”

Jack interjected—“Wait. So you’ve beenin hiding?”

Penelope sighed. “Yes. Of course. Harper, didn’t you get my note?”

“What note?”

“I left it in your jacket, back at the supper club. I figured you’d find it when you came back and found me gone.” Her mouth opened. “Oh no. You didn’t get it.”

“No, I didn’t get it. I was frantic. We both were.”

Jack looked at her, raised an eyebrow.Whatever.

“Why would you do that?” Harper asked.

Penelope did look sorry. “I got a death threat.”

“We heard it,” said Jack. “On your podcast.”

“Oh, not that one. It was an email that said if I released the name of the killer, he’d find me. Ty was going to drive me to Minneapolis. The plan was to stay in Minneapolis, show up for the rehearsal dinner . . .”

“Without telling anyone?”

“No! Of course not. The plan was to leave on Tuesday and then call Boo on Wednesday morning. I was going to tell her I was in Minneapolis for business, but when I met Conrad on Tuesday. . . well, I thought maybe we could hit it off, you know . . . an impulsive getaway. But it didn’t quite go down that way.”

“Seriously?”

“My life was in danger!”

“Then go to the police, for Pete’s sake. Penelope, people were counting on you.”

“To what? Dance? Get my nails done? I planned to be back for the rehearsal, right after the podcast dropped.” She checked her watch. “In about an hour.”

“I called and texted so many times?—”

“My phone got lost somewhere between Ty getting shot and my escape.”

“So, what happened?” Jack said. They’d turned onto the road, heading south for Duck Lake.

“I should never have opened the door to the Uber, but it was Ty, so . . .” She shook her head, the haunted look back. “The man with him had a gun on Ty. I panicked and obeyed. I couldn’t believe it when he shot Ty.” She shook her head, her eyes glossy.

“He’s fighting for his life in ICU.”

She drew in a breath.

“And then what?” Jack said.

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