Page 47 of Paranoid

God, why would Mercedes corner her with everyone else around? Even Lila and Billy Dee in the dining room had turned to look at the small group near the couch. “Nothing to say.”

Mercedes wasn’t buying it. “Oh, come on. You were accused—”

“Look,” Rachel said sharply, cutting her off. “I don’t want to talk about what happened to Luke. Okay?”

Mercedes asked, “Can I quote you on that?”

“No!”

“Jesus, Mercedes, give it a rest, would ya?” Nate said. “Have a little respect. This isn’t the time or place.”

“There is no time or place with Rachel,” Mercedes pointed out, bristling.

Lila touched Mercedes’s arm. “Come on, Mercy, let it go for now. It’s a tough day for those of us close to Luke anyway, and now, with what happened to Violet, everyone’s . . . they’re just not themselves. You and Rachel can figure this out another time.”

Mercedes’s eyes flashed. “I’ve got tomorrow open. Or Sunday before noon. Work for you?” she asked Rachel, putting her on the spot.

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t you?”

“I keep a calendar at home.”

Mercedes glared at her. “You have a calendar on your phone or iPad or whatever. You’re a techie.”

Rachel stood her ground. “I am and I do, but I can’t give you an answer right now.”

Mercy wasn’t about to give up. “Then—”

“For the love of God, didn’t you hear Lila?” Nate threw up a hand, his drink sloshing over the rim of his glass. He didn’t care, just glared, flush faced, at Mercedes. “Violet’s been killed, damn it. So stop. Just stop!”

“Stay out of it,” Mercedes warned.

“Let’s all take a breath.” Lila stepped between them. “Sort it out later. We’ve got work to do.” Then she noticed her son was still loading up and lingering at the buffet. “Isn’t that enough?” she asked.

Lucas looked up, caught her eye, and mumbled a quick, “Yeah,” before heading back upstairs.

When Rachel looked back at Mercedes, the petite woman was still eyeing her intently. Back in high school, Mercedes Jennings had been one of the rare girls who hadn’t fallen for Luke Hollander, a girl who had called him out for being a phony. Now, she finally said, “Okay, Lila and Nate are right. This isn’t the time and we do have work to do. I’ll call you and we’ll set it up.”

Rachel waved her off, but Mercedes couldn’t stop.

“So check and see if Monday works for you, Rachel. We can meet at the office or I’ll come to your house. That might be better. I’ll bring a photographer. Name the time.”

“Monday doesn’t work,” Rachel said quickly.

“You don’t know that,” Mercedes objected.

“Back it up!” Nate’s face was flushed with fury. “You need to learn that no means no.”

Brit was suddenly on her feet, closing up her laptop. “I can’t handle this. Can’t concentrate. It just feels wrong tonight with everything that’s going on.”

“But we have to,” Lila insisted.

“I can’t. Being here, talking about high school with Violet . . . I’m outta here.”

“No, no. Brit, listen. Try to put your grief aside, will ya?” Lila was getting pissed. “Violet would have wanted us to—”

“Bullshit!” Mercedes said. “Violet wanted no part of this reunion. You said so yourself.”