Page 11 of Pretty Secrets

My ears perk up. “A meeting? Do you know with who?”

Holly shakes her head, frowning. “She didn’t say. She was running around like a crazy woman trying to get everything done. The party seemed really important to her. She organized all of our generous gift bags. I was worried we were going to have to give them back since we didn’t really do anything, but no one said anything. It was such a shock to watch everything unfold.” Her voice breaks, and her eyes glaze over. “I’ve never been around a dead body before. When they pulled her out of the river—” She cuts herself off and looks over apologetically. “They broke everyone up, then organized boats to take everyone off the island that didn’t have to be there. We had just enough time to return to the dressing room to get our things before we were whisked away with threats reminding us of the NDAs we’d all signed.”

A creepy-crawly sensation skitters up my spine. “Were the police there when you left?” I wait for her answer, even though I already know what it’s going to be. The rich men in my world operate under different rules than the rest of the world. Dilute the scandal before it begins is one of their mantras.

She shakes her head. “No. The next morning, my friends and I saw it on the news, so we think they just wanted to spare us the nightmare of all of that. Hours of questioning and….” She shivers.

“Not fucking likely,” I breathe out, keeping my voice low. They weren’t caring about anything but themselves.

“So, the police never questioned you?” Oliver asks. “Not even after a few days?”

“No. To my knowledge, they don’t even know we were there. Which is fine. I couldn’t tell them anything new, anyway. The poor girl drowned. It was tragic.” Her gaze flicks to me. “I’m so sorry that happened to her…and you. They said she couldn’t swim.”

A dazed feeling takes over as I remember the newsreels, the anchor announcing the tragic death of the Astor heiress who couldn’t swim. They made her sound like an idiot for being in the fast-moving river at night without a personal flotation device. Before I can reply, Oliver puts on the schmooze again and miraculously convinces her that she should get back to work. Afterward, he leads her out of the café while I digest everything she’s said.

When he returns, he sits and turns toward me. “You’ve got that cute wrinkle between your eyes.”

“I’m thinking,” I tell him. He lets me do just that, and after a couple of minutes, I finally speak up. “A few things. One, why the hell was Dee hiring women for the Knights’ entertainment? That sounds like the last thing she would do. Two, who did she get into a fight with? Three, who did she have a meeting with? Four, if one more fucking person tries to tell me Dee drowned because she couldn’t swim, I’m going to scream.”

“Well, she couldn’t swim,” Oliver offers.

I glare at him. I’ve never slapped him before, but there’s a first time for everything. “There’s a difference between wouldn’t and couldn’t. Everyone acts like she got in the water and then couldn’t swim to save herself. The problem with that is, she wouldn’t have gotten in the water at all, Oliver,” I grind out, my voice rising. “She didn’t do it. She wouldn’t have. If she was going to do it at all, she would’ve waded into the Mediterranean off a sandy beach, not jump into cold river water with retaining walls that no one can just climb out of. For fuck’s sake.”

“Okay, okay,” Oliver comforts, reaching out his hand to place it on my knee.

“I know my sister,” I growl.

“I know,” he says. “I’m sorry.” Sighing, he picks up his drink and takes a sip. After giving it a disparaging look, he peers back at me. “Have you spoken to Keegan? He had to have been there,andhe’s a Knight. If anyone would know exactly what was going on that day, it would be him.”

Hearing my sister’s forced fiancé’s name makes me cringe. I am not Keegan Forbes’ biggest fan. He treated my sister like shit, and after she died, he never came around. Some fiancé he was. He couldn’t care less that she’s even gone, I bet.

“I know that look says fuck Keegan Forbes, but he’s important in all of this. If you want, we could try to talk to another Knight, but—”

“No, I know,” I groan. “I’m putting it off. We don’t exactly see eye to eye, and I’ve heard fuck all about him. He’s supposed to be a senior this year, but apparently follow through isn’t his biggest asset.”

“He’ll be here,” Oliver says confidently. “The Forbeses won’t accept anything less.”

He’s right. Even if Keegan doesn’t want to be, his dad would never let him get away with not showing up. “I can’t promise I won’t kick his ass the first time I see him.”

“I’ll get my mobile ready.”

I smile at Oliver’s wink and then run my hands through my hair. Keegan’s been a glaring blind spot when it comes to Dee. Last I knew, they were fighting, but she always had a propensity to forgive him that I never understood. To me, Keegan is the epitome of what I hate in this society. The words privileged, rich, and monster come to mind. His silence after the fact says a lot, too. Not even a phone call. Not even a drop-in visit.

He was suspiciously absent at the funeral, too. His parents were there, standing off the right shoulder of my father, but Keegan wasn’t.

I’m not going to lie that the thought hadn’t crossed my mind that he did it. Maybe he didn’t want to be tied down to her and saw no other way out. Maybe she pissed him off, and he just overreacted. And this mystery guy she had a fight with? Maybe a boyfriend? I can’t even list the number of times I told her to forget about Keegan and get herself someone else. Maybe she finally took my advice and it meant the end for her.

“I know it’s going to suck, but I think the next thing we do is track Keegan down and ask him questions.”

“We’ll have to be strategic,” I offer. “If he didn’t care for Dee at all, he won’t help us.”

Oliver turns his head, his gaze narrowing. “What are you thinking?”

“Nothing.”

“No, you think he might have done it, don’t you?”

I shrug. Like Dee, I remember the Keegan Forbes from when we were kids. He was nothing like the guy he is now. I don’t know what the fuck happened, but for whatever reason, Delilah thought she could find the guy he used to be. In my opinion, people don’t change. They only grow into their true colors. “Or he might know who did. If it’s either of those possibilities, he won’t be forthcoming with answers. The Knights are tight-knit….” Which is why they’ve never been dragged out into the open. Shit doesn’t stick to them, even though I’m almost certain of a few times when they should’ve been exposed.

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