Page 80 of Dead Man's Hollow
“No, it won’t.”
They’re silent for a moment, then Amy says, “Did you talk to Jordana today?”
“Yes. I called to say goodbye. My interview airs tomorrow. I’m glad I’ll be on a plane when it goes live. I won’t be so nervous—of course, Bastian will probably play it on a loop when we land.”
“Maisy said she knows how Andre died,” Amy remarks.
“I know. She asked if I wanted to know before the episode airs. I told her no.”
Amy’s surprised. “Why?”
“I don’t think I’m entitled to any special information. I knew him for a few hours. It feels inappropriate to make more of it than that.”
“You performed CPR on him. You tried to save his life,” Amy argues.
Chloe shrugs. “Still.” She changes the subject. “Have you decided whether you want to see Rich?”
“Not yet.” She’s on his visitor list at the jail, but she’s not ready. She dropped the kids off to visit once, but they haven’t asked to return.
“He thought he was protecting me,” Chloe says haltingly.
Amy puts her glass down and gives her sister a fierce look. “Do you think what he did was defensible? Be honest.”
Chloe presses her downturned lips together. “No, of course not. But you have children with him and?—”
“And I’d be sending them the wrong message if I pretended that our marriage isn’t over. Not to mention, hedidabduct you, take you to the woods, and threaten to kill you. That’s a thing that happened.”
Chloe twists her mouth to the side but says nothing.
Amy continues, “Did you know everyone else is cooperating? Brett, Frank and Andy, the girls, everyone. Everyone except for Rich. If he showed some remorse, some understanding of what he did or empathy for Andre’s aunt,maybeI could see a path toward something—forgiveness, possibly friendship. But he hasn’t.”
She nods. “That’s fair.”
Amy gives her head a shake. “Enough about Rich.”
Chloe sips her wine and agreeably changes the subject. “I’m glad our girls connected.”
“Me, too. Ava’s heartbroken that Emilie’s leaving, but I have a feeling they’ll be cross-border besties. Ava’s already asked to switch into French class instead of German next year so they can gossip in two languages.”
Chloe laughs, and Amy seals this moment in her memory.
ChapterForty-Four
The dining roomtable is buried under mountains of paper. Half-empty cups of coffee, sweet tea, and no-longer fizzy water litter the remaining space. Maisy’s dirty hair is piled on the top of her head in a loose bun. She reaches for the nearest glass, eyes its contents with suspicion, and decides to get a fresh drink.
As she walks past Jordana on her way to the kitchen, she takes a sniff.
“Did you just smell me?”
“You smell how I look,” Maisy informs her. “As soon as the episode is in the can, we’re cleaning the dining room and then ourselves. This state is unacceptable.”
“This state is crunch time,” Jordana counters. “You should see the conference rooms at the law firm when they have a big filing. They look way worse than this.”
“Even so.”
Jordana jabs a button on her laptop and pulls her headphones off her head. “Anyway, we’re done.”
“We’re done?”
