Page 138 of This is Why We Lied

Sara was oblivious to what was coming. She strolled onto the Loop, nodding toward cottage five. Paul and Gordon were on opposite ends of the hammock on their front porch. Gordon tossed them a wave. Paul drank straight from a bottle of alcohol.

The door to cottage seven creaked open. Monica came out, squinting in the sunlight. She was wearing a black nightgown and holding a glass of what was probably alcohol, because apparently Sara was right about drinking being the only thing to do up here.

Sara changed her trajectory. She headed toward Monica, asking, “How are you feeling?”

“Better, thank you.” Monica looked down at the glass in her hand. “You were right. This took the edge off.”

“Do you mind if I have a taste?”

Monica looked as surprised as Will felt, but she handed Sara the glass anyway.

He watched her take a sip. She grimaced. “That burns.”

“You get used to it.” Monica gave a sad laugh. “Don’t take drinking advice from me. I need to apologize to both of you for my behavior last night. And this morning. The entire time, really.”

“You have nothing to feel guilty about.” Sara handed back the glass. “At least not as far as we’re concerned.”

Will wasn’t sure about that. He told Monica, “I need to ask you about last night, just before midnight.”

“Did I hear anything?” Monica asked. “I was passed out in the bathtub when the bell started clanging. I thought it was the fire alarm. I couldn’t find Frank.”

Will felt his teeth grit. “Where was he?”

“I guess he was sitting on the back porch, taking a break from my antics. He came through the French doors in a panic.” Monica shook her head with sorrow. “I honestly don’t know why he stays with me.”

Will was more concerned with Frank’s alibi. This was the second time he’d lied. “Where’s Frank now?”

“He went down to the dining hall to find some ginger ale. My stomach’s still not great.”

Will guessed that Frank would bring back word of Chuck’s death, which would bring its own set of problems. “Tell him I need to talk to him.”

Monica nodded, telling Sara, “Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.”

Sara squeezed her hand. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

Will followed Sara back toward the Loop Trail. He was glad that her pace was quicker this time. She wasn’t going on a stroll. Will worked to get a plan straight in his head. He would leave Sara at their cottage, then continue down to the lake. He would check in with Kevin and figure out an approach to Drew and Christopher, because no matter what Keisha said, Drew wasn’t entirely in the clear. He had obviously known about the business. The knife handle had been found in his toilet. He had immediately invoked his rights, which was technically his right, but it was also Will’s right to be suspicious.

The best thing to do was work Christopher and Drew off each other. Kevin could take Drew to the boathouse. The man was probably going to lawyer up again. Will could keep Christopher at the shed. Mercy’s brother wasn’t as sophisticated as Drew. He would be terrified that Drew was talking. Will would put it into his ear that the first rat gets the cheese. Hopefully, Christopher would panic and not realize until it was too late that he should’ve kept his mouth shut.

Will stuck his hand in his pocket. He watched Sara walk ahead of him. He needed to make sure she stayed in the cottage, which meant he was going to have to have a very uncomfortable conversation before they got there.

He said, “You shouldn’t have been in the room with me and Keisha. I was conducting an interview and you threw me off my game.”

Sara glanced up at him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that. You’re right. Let’s talk about it back at the cottage.”

Will hadn’t expected this to be easy, but he took the win. “You need to pack. I want you off this mountain before nightfall.”

“And I want your hand to not get infected, but here we are.”

This was more what he’d been expecting. “Sara—”

“I’ve got some antibiotics at the cottage. We can talk about—”

“My hand is fine.” His hand was killing him. “It’s not just about you being in the room. I told you to stay with Faith and you ran off on your own. What were you doing talking to Keisha by yourself? What if Drew had shown up? Forget about Mercy and Chuck. He has a record of assault.”

She stopped in the middle of the trail. She looked up at him. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, what about you drinking in the middle of the day? Is that something you’re going to start doing?”