“She needs good friends.” I eyed her carefully. Jess looked pale. “How are you?”
“I’ve been dealing with morning sickness, although I curse whoever named it that because it happens at any time of day. I’m feeling okay today, though. Ish.” Jess lifted a rolled-up newspaper. “Have you seen this?”
I shook my head, my heart thumping with trepidation.
I thought I already knew what was in there.
“Drinks?” I asked everyone as they sat in the armchairs and on the sofa, already diving into the sandwiches.
“We’ll get those later.” Bailey gestured to an empty chair. “Sit, sit. There is news afoot.”
“What’s going on?” Ivy took a bite of a canapé and moaned. “Oh my God,” she said around a mouthful.
Dahlia chuckled. “Yeah, Em’s lunches are the best.”
“Yeah, you’re not kidding. Emery, why aren’t you catering? My God. These are better than what I had at glitzy LA parties.”
“If you don’t stop complimenting her, she’ll burst into flames,” Dahlia teased.
I shot her a mock disgruntled look.
“Okay, people, yes, Em can make a mean canapé … can we concentrate?” Bailey gestured to Jessica. “Paper.”
Jess opened and flattened it on the table.
Across the front page of the Hartwell County Chronicle were two photographs: one of Rebecca, the other of Stu. The headline read “MURDER ON HART’S BOARDWALK.”
“Well, that’s dramatic,” I murmured.
“Dramatic.” Bailey shifted forward in her seat. “Rebecca Devlin was raped nearly five years ago and Stu Devlin, trying to protect his sister, murdered the guy. She confessed to helping Stu bury the body and murder weapon. The guy was wanted for rape in multiple counties.”
“It gets even more complicated.” Jess sighed. “This stays between us.”
The girls all nodded eagerly.
“Jack came to see Cooper.”
I held my breath.
“He told Cooper everything. Including the fact that Ian Devlin knew about this.” She gestured to the paper. “But they lied to Jack. They told him that Rebecca had killed Caruthers before he could rape her, that they covered it up and if Jack didn’t fall in line, Ian would tell the police what Rebecca had done. And they’d lie and say it was Jack who’d helped her, not Stu.”
“Holy shit,” Dahlia breathed. “I shouldn’t know this. If Michael knew, he’d have to arrest Jack for failing to notify the police about the crime.”
Jess’s eyes widened. “Oh, Dahlia … I—”
“You can’t tell Michael.” The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them. They flinched at the near hysteria in my tone. “You’d have to tell him I knew too.”
“WHAT?”
I flinched.
Oh hell.
What had I just done?
“You knew?” Bailey said in between gaping at me like an oxygen-deprived fish. “How did you know?”
I couldn’t believe I’d just blurted that out. What on earth was I thinking? I flushed hot and covered my eyes with my hand. “Oh, flea shit on a dog turd.”
“Did she just say what I think she said?” Bailey whispered, shocked laughter in her voice.
“Emery?” Jess rested her hand on my arm.
I peeked at her through my fingers. “I’ve known for a year,” I whispered.
Silence fell over the table.
“Okay. Sisterhood comes first,” Dahlia announced. “Anything said in this room stays in this room.”
“That’s not fair to you,” Ivy said. “Michael is your man. You shouldn’t have to keep things from him.”
“Although to play devil’s advocate, clearly Michael kept this”—Bailey nodded to the paper—“from you. You didn’t know about any of this before the news article, and it says in it that Michael is heading the investigation.”
Dahlia contemplated this. “True. I mean, I knew something was up because he was distracted and told me he had an interesting case at work … but he didn’t give me the details. But if you’d prefer me to leave, I can.”
“You’re not leaving.” Bailey shook her head. “Unless you want to.”
Dahlia’s gaze came to me. “I’ll stay. It’s not like Jack or Emery were involved in the actual murder. And clearly Jack was being blackmailed, so …”
Everyone looked at me.
“I’ll tell you after Jess finishes telling us about Jack and Cooper.”
I wanted to know if Cooper had forgiven him.
“Right.” Jess sighed. “Ian blackmailed Jack. That’s why he gave up his business. And apparently, Cooper kept pushing Jack for the truth. Jack didn’t want Coop to know because he didn’t want him to be burdened with that knowledge. He was in a bad way.” Jess frowned. “A really bad way and obviously not thinking straight. That’s what I reminded Cooper. Anyway, Jack told Cooper that Dana was coming on to Jack before all this went down—”
“It’s true,” I interjected without thinking.
They all gawked at me in confusion.
Dammit. I was just blurting out all my secrets these days!
“I … uh … Jack and I spoke about it back then. He needed reassurance that telling Cooper was the right thing to do.”
“You and Jack talked to each other?” Bailey threw up her hands. “What is going on? Am I in an alternate universe?”