Page 67 of The Lake Escape
Julia
Everyone settled back at their respective homes after dinner, except for Taylor and Erika, who hadn’t yet returned from the movie. Julia was restless; she found the walls of her usually comforting lake house strangely confining. She could use a friend to talk to and promised herself she’d check on David—no time like the present.
Izzy directed Julia to the second floor, where she could see David sitting, looking handsome in shorts and a short-sleeved button-down shirt that revealed his gold chain. It had once belonged to his father, so she understood why he always wore it, but she had never liked the look. It reminded her of a sleazy street thug in a gangster movie.
He lounged on a cushy deck chair, soaking up the soft jazz music wafting from hidden speakers. The deck was lit in blue, colors that David could change using an app on his phone, a feature he’d bragged about at dinner that first night.
She found nothing appealing about the nightclub aesthetic or the house in general. But in Julia’s mind, David wasn’t as harsh and uninviting as his home. Sure, this place was pretentious, and David could be the same. He was forever trying to be bigger than his britches—he’d had champagne wishes and caviar dreams even back when they lived off beer and fast food. But Julia told herself that just because David could be a pompous jerk at times, that didn’t make him a killer.
“Mind if I join you?” she asked.
David gestured with his tumbler toward the empty chair beside him. “By all means,” he said. He sipped his whiskey as if there was nowhere in the world he’d rather be, but Julia knew him well enough to see through his false front. His eyes were weighty with worry. There was a nervous edge to him, like a man waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Izzy let me in. She’s tucking the kids into bed. She’s so good with them. You’re lucky to have her.”
“She’s a keeper,” he said, but Julia wasn’t convinced he was being sincere.
Either way, she was done with the pleasantries. “I’m sorry for everything that’s going on, David. I know it hasn’t been easy.”
“You think? I’d say it’s absolutelyfucked.Do you have any idea how bad this looks for me, Julia?”
“Right now I’d say it looks a whole lot worse for Fiona.”
David brushed this off quickly and returned the focus to himself. “Oh, come on now. I’m sure she took off. I just can’t believe she’d do this to me. My cheating girlfriend intentionally goes missing, and now I’m a person of interest in her disappearance,” he said.
“Isn’t there someone you can call, David? Anyone in her life she may have mentioned?”
He frowned with regret. “She was always cagey about her family, so I didn’t press it. Thought I was being polite… and I don’t know her friends. We were in that new phase of a relationship—you know, when all you want is to be alone together. I don’t know who to call. The police will have to figure that out.”
“Speaking of which, maybe you should let the police look around the house? It might help. I was talking to Rick earlier, and he—”
She stopped before saying too much. David’s cold stare filled in the blanks.
“He thinks I did something to her, doesn’t he?”
Julia cleared her throat uncomfortably. “He didn’t say that, not exactly.”
David laughed under his breath. “He doesn’t have to. I know what he’s thinking. Maybe you are, too. Is that why you’re here, Julia? To accuse me? To grill me? Are you wearing a wire?”
“A—a what?”
“A wire. Didn’t you watch old cop shows? Did Baker put you up to it? Wouldn’t put it past her.”
“No, nothing like that,” said Julia. “I just came to check on you. I’m concerned, that’s all.”
“Maybe I should frisk you before we talk.”
Julia returned an uneasy laugh, trying to make light of his comment. “I’m not wearing a wire,” she said.
“Who said I’d be looking for a wire?”
He sent a coy smile, his tone shifting, hunger sparking in his eyes. It gave Julia a surprising tingle in her chest. She laughed him off again.
“Oh my god, David. You have a mental illness, you know that? This is serious business we’re talking about. People are getting suspicious because you’re not cooperating fully with the police.”
David brushed it off. “And what about you?” he asked. “Do you think I had something to do with that woman’s disappearance?”
The words stung—so harsh the way he saidthat woman,as if she was nothing to him.
