Page 50 of The Last Session

The rest of us clapped and yelled. She smiled. “That’s better. I would like to open the ceremony by thanking my ancestors, the proud and ancient line that stretches back through the ages. I thank them for the practices they have given me.” She pulled a pouch out of her bag and walked towards Mikki. “So, we’re going to start with accountability partners.”

“Accountability partners?” Karen echoed.

“Yes.” Moon bounced the pouch in her hands, mixing whatever was inside it. “You are going to check in with your partner. A lot. I’m sure Sol had told you that even though we started off a little slow today, the rest of the time is going to fly by. We’re going to have group sessions, and we’ll also sit down one-on-one with all of you. But in the meantime, we ask that you process as much as you can with your partner. We’ll start with you…”

“I’m Mikki.” She zipped up her leather bomber jacket.

Moon pulled out a small folded piece of paper. She opened it, squinted. “Dawne.”

Dawne waved. “Yay!”

Mikki smiled back, less effusive.

Moon stepped in front of me, glancing up. “Name?”

“Thea.”

“Thea.” Her eyes were a warm amber. She reached into the bag.

Even before she opened the paper, I had a sudden certainty of who it would be.

“Jonah,” she read. He dipped his head in acknowledgment.

OfcourseI’d be paired with Jonah. But maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing. If we were both looking for Catherine, no one would be suspicious if they saw us talking quietly.Processing.

“So, you two.” Moon gestured at Ramit and Karen. “You’ll be together. Okay?”

Karen raised her hand and Ramit slapped it.

“Tonight we are going to connect and set an intention.” Moon gestured. “To connect, you’re going to share something with your accountability partner that you’ve never told anyone before. You won’t need to share this with the rest of the group. Just each other. Okay? You can go sit wherever you want so people can’t overhear.”

Jonah and I dropped into the sand on the opposite side of the fire. He wore a knit ski cap, and his curls escaped from the bottom. I wasn’t sure where to look; he was staring at me intensely. Did he mean to smolder, or was that just his face?

“Still mad?” he asked.

“What?” I said stupidly.

“You ignored me all through dinner.” He frowned. “Someone might notice, by the way.”

“I was just talking to Karen and Mikki. Anyway.” I shook my head; I wasn’t going tobickerwith him. “You never answered my question at the pool. How did you know Catherine was connected with this place?”

“Facial recognition software.”

“From…”

“Facebook.” He shrugged. “Tech is my specialty. I’d scanned before—multiple times—but someone just put up public photos of a retreat they went on last year. Catherine was in several of them.”

A chill went down my spine. “So there’re pictures linking her here. Evidence.”

“Exactly.”

“Can I see them?”

“Of course.” He nodded. “But they’re in a password-protected folder on my laptop.”

“Which is…”

“In New York. I thought it might be a little suspect to bring it along.”

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