Page 27 of Deception
“I want to come up with ideas that will make Margaret feel like Lane’s there with us. You were good friends with Lane—”
“And you think I should’ve known she was sick, right? Because we weresoclose?”
Leaning back, Lex frowns. “That’s not—”
“No one knew, Lex. No one. Except you. And you didn’t tell us.”
“I promised not to say anything,” she says and shakes her head. “And I don’t think anyone should have known anything. Lane was one of the best when it came to keeping secrets.”
“Unlike me, right?”
Blinking, Lex tries to follow where this is going. “Uh… What?”
“What are you really doing here?”
“I’m asking you to come and join us at the hotel tonight to plan something for Margaret.”
She laughs and shakes her head. “No, it’s not.”
“If that’s not what I’m here for, care to enlighten me?”
“You’re fishing.”
“Pardon?”
Rolling her eyes, Autumn sighs with more dramatic flair than Lex has ever seen before. “You want information.”
“Yeah, I want ideas. I’m not really sure what’s going on right now.”
“You don’t play dumb well, Lex. You forget I know you.”
“Trust me, in this moment, I’m not playing. I really don’t know what we’re talking about.”
She stares hard, studying. It feels as though Lex is being scrutinized from her hair down to her shoes, and it makes Lex shift uncomfortably. How the hell did they get to this place?
“Why do you need my help?”
Am I speaking another language here? What the fuck?
“Because you were close with Lane. We have time, but I wanted to get a head start in case there’s anything that may take a while to set up or book. This gives us time.”
“For Margaret?”
“I’m really confused right now, Autumn.”
“I’m trying to figure out what your ulterior motive is.”
Tilting her head, Lex sighs. “I just want to do something nice for my niece. She’s been through a lot. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping this could move us in the direction of repairingour friendship because we’ve been friends for too long to let a small fight break it apart.”
Jumping up, she walks to the fridge and yanks the door harder than necessary to grab a beer. “Small fight? That’s what you think it was?”
“Autumn—”
“You think you’re better than the rest of us, but you’re not.”
“I never—”
“You may be the one fucking the President now, but you’re not better than the rest of us.”
