Page 77 of Dead Man's Hollow

“You okay, sugar?”

Jordana gives a short laugh. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

“I just had to deal with one enraged, delusional man. You had a houseful of worried women and seven kids on your hands.”

“When you put it that way, I guess it makes sense that I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck.”

Maisy jerks her chin toward Amy. “How’s she doing?”

Jordana twists her mouth. “She’s putting up a good front for her kids, but she’s a hot mess.”

It’s to be expected. Within the space of two days, Amy’s learned that her husband slept with her sister in high school, covered up the death of a teenage boy, and abducted and threatened her sister. All marriages have their ups and downs, but these valleys are particularly deep.

“What has she told the kids?”

“Nothing yet. She didn’t want Emilie to overhear and go into a tailspin. Once Chloe’s back at the house, Amy will tell them.” Jordana wrinkles her forehead. “Are we still calling her Chloe? I mean, you said her memory of being Heather’s returned, right?”

“It seems so. She remembers what happened that night, at least. But I think we keep referring to her as Chloe unless and until she tells us otherwise. I mean, she’s been Chloe almost twice as long as she was Heather.”

“Makes sense.” Jordana hesitates, then asks the question Maisy knows she’s been dying to ask all along, “Did you get any audio of the altercation?”

Maisy blows out a breath and gives her a long look. “Girl, do you think I’m some kind of amateur? Of course I did.”

Jordana breaks into a wide grin and she bounces on the balls of her feet. “I can’t wait to get my hands on it.”

“We have a lot of work to do,” Maisy tells her as the Tremblays and Amy approach them.

Tears glisten in Amy’s eyes. “Thank you for rescuing my sister.”

“I don’t know what these two told you, but it was a group effort.” Maisy pauses, then says, “I’m sorry about Rich.”

Amy shakes her head with a grimace. “I feel sick over it, but it’s also a relief to have it all out in the open. You know?”

Maisy does know. “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”

“Who said that?” Amy asks.

“Justice Brandeis.”

Everyone turns to stare at Jordana.

“I used to work at a law firm, remember? And the actual quote is ‘Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.’”

“Amen to that,” Chloe says.

Bastian loops an arm over his wife’s shoulder. “Let’s get out of this accursed place.”

Amy groanswhen she pulls into the driveway and sees Michelle and Lynn sitting on the front porch.

“What’s wrong?” Bastian asks from the back seat.

“Just some unwanted visitors,” she tells him. “I don’t really have the energy for them tonight.”

Beside her, Chloe leans forward to squint through the windshield. “They look familiar. Did we go to high school with them, too?”

“Yes, they were in my grade. Michelle and Lynn.”

Chloe presses her mouth into a thin line. “So, word’s getting around?”