“You mean they’ll kill me.”
“I can keep you safe, but only if you play along. Please, Jack.”
She’d never looked at me like this before, as if she were at the hands of my mercy instead of the other way around. What was that—vulnerability? I didn’t know Evelyn was acquainted with the concept.
“Please,” she said again, softly.
Evelyn lowered her arm, opening a pathway to the street. She was letting me make the decision to trust her or not. It was an impossible choice. She was a killer, and killers needed to atone for their sins. But she was also my best friend.
“Fine,” I said. “But we’re done.”
When I skirted out of the alcove, she made no motion to stop me.
At the Saint Angel, my mind went blank as I booked the earliest flight out of Chicago and asked Janine to assign me a different room away from Evelyn. I could not think about my best friend’s betrayal, or the little control I had over my emotions would fail. While I waited in the lobby for Janine to switch my room, Marie and Ned appeared from the nearby restaurant.
“There she is!” Marie hugged me tightly. “Are you ready for the rehearsal dinner tonight?”
I blinked. “That’s tonight?”
“Of course, silly. The wedding is tomorrow.” She rolled her eyes as she rested her head on Ned’s shoulder. “Isn’t Evelyn keeping you up to date with everything? Actually, don’t answer that. She’s been a terribly inconsistent maid of honor.”
Ned whispered in Marie’s ear and tapped his watch. She kissed him swiftly before he waved an awkward goodbye to both of us and left the hotel.
“He’s having an afternoon with his best man,” she explained to me. “Since he didn’t want a bachelor party. Said he didn’t need to celebrate his last night of freedom because he doesn’t consider being married to me a trap.” She beamed and sighed. “Isn’t he lovely?”
“Yeah, he’s great,” I said. “Marie, I’m so sorry about this, but I won’t be able to make it to the wedding tomorrow.”
Her face fell. “What do you mean? Why not?”
Your sister’s a murderer.
“Something came up. I have to go back to London.”
“No!” she wailed, hanging onto my arm. “Jack, you can’t! What’s one more day here in the States?”
“You won’t miss me,” I promised. “I’m not even in the wedding.”
“Evelyn will miss you,” she countered. “If you leave, she’ll be pouting all day, and we’ll never get any good photos. Please, you can’t go.”
“I’m sorry. I already booked my plane ticket.”
Marie nodded solemnly and let go of my arm. “All right, then. If that’s how you feel. We’ll miss you.”
Janine handed me a new keycard over the counter. “Here you go, Miss Frye. You’re in room twelve-thirty now. Do you need someone to help you move your things?”
“No, I can handle it. Thanks, Janine.”
Marie trailed me to the elevators. “You’re switching rooms? Why?”
“Getting tired of sharing a bed. Evelyn snores.”
“No, she doesn’t.” She didn’t push the button for the fourteenth floor, riding up with me to the twelfth instead. “I know what’s going on.”
“You do?”
“You and Evelyn had another fight.” She clicked her tongue and winked. “She’s told me what it’s like when the two of you disagree. You pick at each other like an old married couple! Is that why you’re leaving?”
“No, I—”
She clapped my shoulder, stopping me from getting off on the right floor. I stuck my foot in the door to keep the elevator from automatically closing.
“Let me talk to Evelyn,” she said. “I’ll sort this out.”
“Nothing you do can fix this,” I replied shortly. “Sorry, Marie.”
I shook off her hand and stepped out, not looking back as the elevator slid shut behind me.
Obligation alone convinced me to attend the rehearsal dinner. I couldn’t get the look on Marie’s face from that afternoon out of my head, and since my flight back to London didn’t leave until tomorrow morning, I had no excuse to miss the dinner.
Once I was dressed, I went out to the corridor and pressed the call button for the elevator. When the doors opened, I found myself face to face with Evelyn. She wore a beautiful silvery blue suit that accented her eyes. I could not make myself step forward.
“I’ll take the next one,” I said.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Jack. We’re going to the same place.”
With a gulp, I stepped into the elevator. Evelyn moved aside to make room for me. I pressed the button for the lobby, though it was already lit up.
Evelyn cleared her throat. “I saw you moved rooms. That was quick.”
“I’d rather not share with a murderer.”
She cast her eyes toward her Oxford shoes. “I guess I deserve that. But Jack—”
The elevator dinged and stopped at the fourth floor. As a random couple got on, I stepped out.
“I’ll take the stairs,” I said.
The tension grew taut as the rehearsal dinner progressed. Though I was not in the wedding, Marie had placed me at the same table with Evelyn and the rest of the bridesmaids. One seat—Angelica’s—remained empty.
Determined to ignore Evelyn, since my stomach turned every time I looked at her, I struck up conversations with the bridesmaids at every possible opportunity. Fortunately, they were good company and kept me busy enough to avoid my ex-best friend. At every lull in the socializations, Evelyn attempted to talk to me.
“Bacon-wrapped scallops,” she said first, popping the hors d’oeuvres into her mouth. “Who woulda thunk? You like these, Jack?”
I did not reply. A half hour later:
“Is it just me or does Penelope look even more supercilious today? I swear the angle of her nose has tilted upward.”
I pointedly turned away from Evelyn’s chair.
The family made speeches. Ned toasted his bride and her family. His best man got up to deliver a delightful list of Ned’s faults, to which the room responded with raucous laughter. Ned himself turned a deep shade of red and sank so low in his chair that I
