Page 56 of The Anniversary Party

“Don’t pretend that you and Leeza and Tessa haven’t been talking about our, uh, problems,” he shot back.

“That’s different.”

“No, it’s really not,” Paul jumped to his friend’s defense.

“Stay out of this,” Leeza warned him in an undertone.

“I needed to talk to someone,” Chance said. “Things have been so strained between us. And this weekend wasn’t helping.”

Bethany frowned. “So you thought you’d ask a man-whore for marital advice?” She grimaced and turned toward Joy. “Uh, no offense.”

Joy blinked at her but didn’t respond.

“Yeah, bro. Why didn’t you come to me?” Paul asked.

Leeza stared at him, wide-eyed. “What if you didn’t make everything about you?”

Tempers were flaring, tensions were rising, and Leo wasn’t getting answers. “Enough!” He used his Dad voice, and, as if by magic, the squabbling ceased. “Thank you. So, Chance, you went to Grady’s room to talk about your problems with Bethany?”

“I did.” Chance’s tone was defensive, just this side of a whine. “But he was keyed up, pacing around the room. Said it wasn’t a good time.”

“This was right after he spoke with Rex?”

“As far as I know. And like I said, I’d just seen Rex grab his arm earlier. So I figured they’d gotten into it. I said we could talk later.”

“What happened then?”

“I headed back downstairs. Paul was coming in the front door. He looked like the abominable freaking snowman. I helped him carry the cocktail stuff out to the kitchen. We were having a few beers, and then we heard the girls start screaming.”

Leo cocked his head and studied Chance. Something about his story didn’t line up. Sasha frowned and scribbled a note on her pad. Before Leo could pull her aside to ask her what she was thinking, there was a loud knock at the door.

CHAPTER21

Aroostine slid open the pocket doors; Bodhi stepped into the library, looked around the room, and caught Leo’s eye. Sasha focused on Chance but caught Bodhi’s gesture in her peripheral vision as he motioned for Leo to join him in the hallway. She briefly caught Leo’s eye and nodded to let him know she’d take over. He flashed her a grateful smile and followed Bodhi out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Meanwhile, Chance was mouthing something in a desperate bid to catch someone’s attention. From where she stood, he seemed to be trying to signal either Paul or Bethany.

“Chance,” she said, drawing his gaze back to her. “I need to ask you a personal question.”

His face tightened.

She went on. “It’s not exactly a secret to anyone that you and Bethany aren’t getting along. All your friends noticed. For that matter,wenoticed. I mean, we switched accommodations with your group, in part because you and your wife refuse to sleep in the same bed.”

“That was all her,” he exclaimed.

“Regardless of whose decision it was, you two have been fighting since you got here—actually, to hear your friends tell it, you started arguing before you even got here.”

Bethany wheeled around to glare at her friends. “Really? You’ve been talking to her about us? Talk about an invasion of privacy.”

“We’ve been trying to get a sense of the interpersonal dynamics,” Sasha explained in an effort to calm Bethany. “It’s not as if we’re mining for gossip. Believe me, I have no particular interest in digging into anyone’s secrets. But now a man is—no, two men are—dead. We need to know what’s going on between you and your husband.”

Bethany was unmoved. “No, you don’t. Maybe if Chance were dead, you’d have a reason to ask me why he’s pissing me off. But, as you can see, he’s alive and well.”

Sasha exchanged a wide-eyed look with Naya. This woman was ice cold.

“Is it possible that one of you wanted to come this weekend and the other didn’t?” she pressed.

Bethany pressed her lips together and didn’t answer.

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