Page 49 of The Note

Her pulse quickened with each ring. What was she doing? Why did she need to be like this? Why couldn’t she bring herself to trust her own friends? She was about to hang up when a woman answered. “This is Arianna.”

Kelsey had wondered if the number would lead to a handyman or property manager, but it was the owner. “Hi, Arianna. This is Kelsey Ellis. I’m renting your house in Springs.”

“Is there a problem at the house?”

“No, it’s absolutely lovely. Thank you. Sorry to bother you, but I’m trying to track down a receiptfor the rental because it’s tax-deductible for me, but I can’t find it and I know I’ll forget all about it once I’m home. Can you remind me when I put the deposit down?”

May waited in silence while the owner went to log into her account.It doesn’t matter,she told herself.Whether Kelsey rented this house three weeks ago when she said she found it, or six months ago, it doesn’t matter. That cop has your imagination going wild.

“I’ve got it right here. It was April 18. You paid in full. Do you want me to email it to you?”

“Oh no, please,” May said. “You’ve done enough.” Kelsey had rented the house more than two months before inviting them.

“Wait, you said your name’s Kelsey? That’s not what I have. Am I looking at the wrong records?”

May pictured Kelsey plucking the rental instructions letter from the refrigerator.Who the fuck is Callie?

“Oh right,” May said, as if realizing something she should have known all along. “Duh, that’s why I can’t find the charge. My friend Callie’s the one who booked it and then I Venmo’d her my part. Is it under a 959 area code?”

“Yep. Callie Martin. Mystery solved.”

30

There you are.” Lauren was standing over the Solo Stove on the back deck, poking at a wayward log until it fell into place, sending the flames a foot high. “We were just wondering whether we should check on you.”

“What’s wrong?” Kelsey asked. Even after years in the courtroom, May had never mastered her poker face. She realized she had practically been glaring at Kelsey.

“I need to talk to you.”Talk to you about how everything you’ve told us since you confessed about the note—no, ever since you invited us on this trip—has been bullshit.

“Okay. You’re kind of freaking me out right now.”

Fuck it. Why should May have to confront her in private, adding yet another layer of secrecy to this entire trip? Lauren needed to know the truth, too.

“Who’s Callie Martin?”

Kelsey opened her mouth, but no words came out.

“What is actually happening right now?” Lauren asked.

“That letter on the fridge from the homeowner? Addressed to Callie? Kelsey rented the house under a fake name. And she rented it three months ago.”

“It’s just a name I use,” Kelsey said. “One Google search of Kelsey Ellis and up come all the articles about Luke’s murder. It’s just easier to use a fake name. Why does it matter?”

“It must or that detective wouldn’t have been asking me all about the house and how long we’d been planning the trip. You didn’t invite us until three weeks ago. And I reread the texts, Kelsey. After you floated the idea, I was saying we should stay at a hotel instead of a rental. You said you wanted the privacy of a house, then you said you had found one. You definitely didn’t make it sound like it was already a done deal months earlier.”

Nate held up a palm. “Whoa, you guys. I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding.”

“And you can stop acting like this involves you in any way,” May snapped.

“Okay,” Nate said, pressing his lips together. “I forgot how good you could be at telling me to shut up. Fair enough, but you guys are friends. Can we lower the temp a little?”

May’s inner thermometer was only beginning to heat up. “Friends don’t set you up to be grilled by the police two different times. Kelsey, first you didn’t tell us you left that note. Then it turns out the guy was someone we used to know. And the way you reacted when you found out he was dead?”

New pieces of the puzzle were sliding into place with every sentence May spoke. Even when the white car had stolen their parking spot, Kelsey had been uncharacteristically patient, begging Lauren and May not to call any attention to them and insisting her good parking karma would save the day. Then, when they went for drinks, she had wanted the chair on the sidewalk facing away from the street. At the time, May thought Kelsey didn’t want to be recognized, but she realized now that she hadn’t wanted to be recognized by David Smith.

“You knew him, didn’t you? Were you dating him? That’s why you left the note, right? Not because of the parking spot. But because he was cheating on you with that woman he was with.”

Kelsey’s bottom lip started to quiver. “Please don’t hate me. I’m so sorry.”

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