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‘Up?’ Sophia asked, singsong high, looking down at the baby, both his arms raised. ‘You want up out of the high chair?’

At least Cameron wasn’t still screaming, like this morning.

He changed his mind, lowering his arms, shoving another tiny floret of broccoli into his mouth, mashing it around.

‘Sorry, Jet.’ Sophia ruffled Cameron’s hair. ‘Right in the middle of dinnertime. What were you saying?’

‘How was Pilates this morning?’

Sophia pursed her lips. ‘Um, it was good. Why?’

‘Just checking in with you, sister. Having a chitchat, see how your day’s been.

’ Jet leaned against the doorway, only half in the kitchen.

‘Mine’s been a bit shit, thanks for asking.

Been to the hospital, can’t move my right arm anymore, so that’s an interesting development on top of the whole only-having-three-and-a-half-days-left-to-live thing. But I’m glad Pilates was good.’

Jet crossed the threshold into the room, spotting something on the counter. ‘Stop it,’ she almost laughed. ‘More baking?’ She pointed to the cake on the side, white icing, blue edging. ‘Aren’t you just the perfect housewife?’

‘Oh.’ Sophia handed Cameron a piece of shredded chicken. ‘That’s for Cameron’s best friend, Noah. It’s his first birthday tomorrow, having a little party.’

‘You’re too much, Sophia,’ Jet said darkly, staring down at the cake. ‘Make the rest of us look bad.’

‘Haven’t finished it yet.’ Sophia stepped closer, throwing a dish towel over her shoulder. ‘Need to do the writing.’

Jet nodded. ‘Where’s that going? In the middle, here?’ Jet pointed down at the cake, pretended to write with her finger. ‘ Happy First Birthday Noah. ’ But her finger kept going, an indent in the icing, then a hole, then right the way through, grabbing an entire handful right out the middle.

‘Jet!’ Sophia shrieked. ‘What are you doing? You’ve ruined it!’

‘Just tasting it.’ Jet brought the handful to her mouth, took a huge bite. Cloying and sweet, sticking to her tongue.

Cameron giggled.

‘Jet!’

‘Hold on,’ Jet said, mouth full of cake, stuffing the rest in, chewing. She pulled a face. ‘My god, Sophia. Waaaaay too much salt. What are you trying to do, poison these kids?’

Sophia’s eyes widened, feet rooted to the spot. Had she caught that? Jet hoped she’d caught that.

‘You’ve got icing on your face,’ Sophia said, sharpening the letters, letting them hiss.

‘I know,’ Jet said. ‘And Cameron’s got broccoli on his. Excuse me.’

Jet walked right over to Sophia, too close, looking up into her eyes as she wiped the clumps of cake and icing off on the dish towel, getting some on Sophia’s clothes, sucking the rest off her fingers, wiping again.

‘What has gotten into you?’ Sophia lowered her voice to a whisper.

‘An aneurysm, apparently.’ Jet stepped back. ‘You should listen to what I said about the salt. Can be really dangerous to eat too much, especially for someone who has PKD.’

‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’ Sophia hadn’t moved.

‘Oh, really? No idea?’

‘No.’ Sophia dropped the dish towel into the sink. ‘You can’t just come in here and –’

Jet placed the little yellow capsule down on the counter.

Sophia’s eyes snapped to it.

‘Is this where you’d do it?’ Jet gestured around with one arm.

‘The kitchen? Pour the medicine down the sink, fill each one with salt instead, put them back together. That’s fiddly work.

’ Jet flexed her chin, like she was impressed.

‘One hundred pills in each bottle. No wonder it took you over an hour each time.’

‘I don’t know what you’re –’

‘– Yes, you do. Don’t be boring, Sophia, I don’t have time for it.

’ Jet folded her arms. ‘The doorbell camera has footage of you taking the pills out of the house. Coming back an hour later to put them back, after you’d replaced each one with salt.

You thought no one would figure it out? Fourth of July.

Mom’s birthday. Halloween. It’s been going on at least four months, maybe longer. ’

Sophia pressed her lips together, a tight line.

‘Oh good, no more denials,’ Jet said. ‘Guess we’re being grown-ups now, huh?

’ She wiped her face on her sleeve, more clumps of crystalline icing.

‘Honestly, I thought it was me at first, the one you were poisoning. Got excited, seeing as I’m looking for who murdered me.

But, no, it’s Dad. You’ve been poisoning him for months, Sophia. Killing him.’

Sophia’s mouth opened with a pop of saliva.

‘Don’t be so dramatic, Jet. I wasn’t trying to kill him.’

‘You were poisoning him. Every day. With salt. The man with the dodgy kidneys. They’re starting to fail. He’ll need dialysis or a transplant soon or he’ll die. You did that to him. That sure looks a lot like killing somebody to me –’

‘– Not to kill him.’ Sophia shook her head like the idea was ridiculous, and so was Jet. ‘I was going to stop as soon as … I just wanted him to get a little sicker, just for a little while.’

‘Why the fuck –’

‘– So that he’d realize it was time to retire, time to take his health seriously.’

‘Seriously?’ Jet snapped, stealing Sophia’s word, changing it.

‘Oh, come on, Jet, I thought we were being grown-ups.’ Sophia sniffed.

‘We all know he was supposed to have retired by now. It’s been two years since he said he would.

Luke has been waiting for so long. I was just trying to …

speed that process along. Give Scott a little push, make him finally let go of the company.

I was not trying to kill him,’ she spat the word.

‘Ah, sure,’ Jet laughed, deep and empty. ‘Poisoning someone so they retire early is completely different from poisoning someone so they die early. One is definitely morally justified, Sophia, you’re right. I shouldn’t have questioned your fucking principles.’

‘Shut up, Jet. We all do what we have to do.’

Jet clutched her right arm at the elbow, edged her way toward another question, studying Sophia’s eyes for a reaction. ‘And you think Dad is going to leave Mason Construction to Luke?’

‘Yes, of course he will, eventually,’ Sophia said, no change in her eyes.

Jet’s heart kicked up, reacting instead. Sophia must not have known about Dad’s plan to sell the company to Nell Jankowski. And did that mean Sophia no longer had a motive to bash Jet’s head in with a hammer? Killing one Mason, but not the other?

Sophia was still talking. ‘He just has to retire first. He wants to, your dad, he’s tired, he’s ready. I’m not just doing this for me. This is for all of us.’

‘Yeah, you’re such a fucking saint, Sophia. Thank god you married into the family.’

‘You’re so ungrateful, Jet. Always have been. That’s why you never got anywhere.’

‘Oh, and you went somewhere?’ Jet rounded on her. ‘’Cause it looks to me like the only place you went is my brother’s bed.’

‘Ah, she finally says it.’

‘Says what?’

Sophia flashed her eyes. ‘I’ve always known you were unhappy that I married Luke!’

‘I’m more unhappy that you’ve been slowly murdering my dad so you and Luke can take his company, actually!’

A muscle twitched in Sophia’s jaw. ‘Luke has worked really hard. The company came close to going under last year, and Luke is the one who turned everything around. He deserves this!’ Her voice faltered, came back weaker. ‘Why do you hate me so much, Jet?’

Jet widened her eyes, gestured to the small yellow pill.

‘No,’ Sophia sniffed. ‘Before this. Before Luke. What did I ever do to you?’

‘Are you joking?’ Jet got stronger as Sophia weakened, shrank back.

‘You abandoned me, Sophia. I used to think of you as a sister; we spent every day together. Then I go away to college, and everything is scary and new and I don’t really belong, and I needed you and you stopped answering! You weren’t there!’

Sophia shook her head. ‘Funny,’ she said.

‘’Cause that’s not how I remember it. You’re the one who stopped responding to me, Jet.

I didn’t have anybody when you left Woodstock.

You were my everything, and then you were gone, so focused on Dartmouth, on trying to be Emily, that you forgot to be yourself. ’

That stung, Jet felt it behind the eyes. ‘No!’ she barked. ‘You never met Emily. You don’t get to talk about her like you know anything. You stopped responding first.’

‘I remember it differently.’

‘You remember it wrong!’

‘Fine!’ Sophia snapped, coming back. ‘You can hate me as much as you want, but I did this for Luke. I’d do anything for him, for the people I care about.’

‘Poisoning your father-in-law seems a step too far, if you ask me,’ Jet said. ‘Why couldn’t you just wait until Dad was ready to retire?’

‘Luke can’t wait,’ Sophia said, tensing like she’d accidentally said too much.

‘Why?’ Jet stepped closer. ‘Why can’t Luke wait? Has he done something?’

‘No, no, no,’ Sophia said, two no s too many. ‘He’s just waited too long already, that’s all.’

‘Sophia,’ Jet growled. ‘Tell me.’

‘There’s nothing to tell!’

‘Where were you when I was being murdered?’ She stepped forward again, squishing a piece of cake into the floor. ‘10:46 p.m. on Halloween. I know you and Luke weren’t here together, like you said. One of you was out. Was it you? Was it him?’

Sophia blinked. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking ab–’

‘– Not this again,’ Jet cut her off. ‘Yes, you do. You lied to me. You texted Luke, saying Call me at 10:52 that night. Look, go get your phone, if you want to keep playing dumb. One of you was not in the house like you said. Was it you, Sophia? Where were you?’

Sophia blinked. ‘I was here,’ she said, voice deflating.

‘So it was Luke?’ Jet pressed. ‘Luke went somewhere?’

‘No.’

‘Sophia, tell me!’

‘I can’t tell you anything! Luke was here with me!’

‘You’re lying!’

‘I’m not!’

‘What about those cuts on his hands?’ Jet pressed even harder. ‘Did he come home with those?’

‘Luke didn’t leave home!’

‘Oh, fuck off, Sophia.’

‘Not everything is about you, Jet,’ she shouted. ‘The world doesn’t revolve around you, you know!’