by Lynda Curnyn
A pain so sharp moved through me I thought I might crumble under the weight of it. Dammit, was that what all this wining and dining was about? Was he trying to make me a player on his team? But then I remembered the team I was on, and fresh anger filled me. “How could you do that to Tom? He was your best friend…”
“Tom.” He laughed bitterly. “If it wasn’t for me, Tom would be nowhere. Who do you think set him up in this business?”
“Tom didn’t need you. He was born into this business.”
“Yeah, well, he’s got you snowed just like he’s snowed everyone else. Tom Landon would have been nothing without Daddy Landon to give him a leg up. But Tom wanted to prove himself when he came to New York. He was Mr. Big Shot boasting about starting up his own company. But he was nobody in New York— nobody. Not until I hooked him up with all my contacts. He owes me.”
“Owes you? What, being a VP in his company wasn’t enough for you, Vince?”
“Not when I was a principal once. I sank a lot of money into Luxe, Sage. Borrowed money. But as soon as Tom got back into Daddy Landon’s heart, he cut me out of the picture. After I gave him everything, he cut me off.”
“Cut you off? He gave you the Chinese operation to run.”
“He didn’t give that to me. He only shipped me off there when he realized that someone had to pay for the deal we had made with the Locusio family.”
My eyes widened. Torn dealing with the mob? “I don’t believe you.”
“Well, believe it, Sage. I may have been the one who took the loan, but somebody had to come up with the other half of the money to get Luxe off the ground. Tom was too proud to go to his father. So I used my contacts, made a little deal, and sank the cash into Luxe. But the business took longer than expected to show a profit, and Joey Locusio is not a patient man. Suddenly, I got the mob on my ass and no one to turn to but Tom. Of course, Tom acted all high-and-mighty. Like he didn’t know where I got all that money from. But he’s not as innocent as he looks. He knew. You think he gave me China out of friendship? No, Sage, that was guilt. After he tucked his tail between his legs and hit up Daddy Landon for the cash, he bought me out. Then he acts like the big hero, shipping me off to China, like he was doing me a fucking favor. Some favor. I lost everything when I went there. My family--
“You lost your wife because you’re a criminal, Vince.” I shivered, remembering Maggie. “And now you’re a murderer.”
It was the wrong thing to say. And perhaps if I had been thinking about it, I might not have said it at all. But I wasn’t thinking. I was so blinded by anger and hurt—for Tom, for Maggie, for Chad, that poor innocent kid—that I didn’t even realize the danger I had put myself in until Vince was suddenly up close and personal, his hands wrapped around my neck.
I struggled against him, my knee going up to his groin. But Vince was quicker, blocking my attempt, his hands tightening on me.
Even as I fought, I felt myself sinking under the weight of him, my eyes moving to his dark gaze as I gasped for air. Still, I moved restlessly beneath him, my hands reaching for his face, his eyes…
For the briefest moment, I believed I might even win this battle, so energized was I by the hatred I glimpsed in his gaze.
Until my head hit the ground.
And darkness closed in on me.
* * *
Chapter Fifty
Zoe
I don’t need to save the whole world. Just my world.
If anything happens to Sage, I swear I’ll never forgive myself,“ I muttered breathlessly, picking up speed once we hit Seabay— Vince’s block.
“Nothing is going to happen to her, Zoe,” Myles said, his voice full of conviction, though he was running just as hard as I was.
I was trying not to imagine the worst. Trying not to think about the fact that Vince had brutally murdered Maggie for discovering what was likely the same scheme Sage had stumbled upon today.
I also tried not to think about what Vince might do to Sage if she even hinted at what she knew.
And there was no way I could bear the thought of Chad, who surely had lost his life simply because he had had the misfortune of being the only witness to Vince’s arrival on Fire Island the night of Maggie’s murder.
I bit back hard on the realization that Vince’s arrogance knew no bounds. He had barely even covered his tracks after doing Chad in.
Which left me with at least one truth I couldn’t deny: Vince was clearly capable of anything at this point.
Dear God, please don’t let him hurt Sage.
Within moments, we were in front of the house. And just as I
began to dart toward the lights that beckoned through the reeds, Myles grabbed my arm, practically wrenching it out of the socket. “Zoe, let me go first.”
I pulled free, ignoring his words as I bolted up the wooden ramp to the front door.
It only took one glance through the screen to realize whose body was pinned beneath Vince’s on the living room floor.
I flew through the door, grabbing the first object large enough to do damage—a vase propped up on a pedestal.
Heart pounding, I drew up quietly behind Vince, nearly biting off my own tongue as I smashed the vase against his head.
He fell to the side immediately. In fact, the effectiveness of my blow surprised me so much I blinked in confusion. But once the fog cleared, I found myself staring down at Sage, who was pale-faced, motionless…
“Oh, God. Sage!” I cried, dropping to my knees and grabbing her arms. I nearly sobbed with relief when her eyes fluttered open.
“Zoe,” she whispered hoarsely, her eyes filling with tears as I cradled her in my arms. I heard Myles behind me and vaguely registered the sound of his voice barking out the address to the police, then slamming down the phone.
But I couldn’t miss the warning he yelled out next. “Look out!”
I swung around, just in time to see Vince struggling to his feet.
Just in time to hear a blast shatter through the room, sending Vince sprawling backward, blood spreading quickly across his chest.
But that was nothing compared to the sight of Tom in the doorway, a gun in his hand, his face ashen as he gazed on the man he’d once called his best friend.
* * *
Epilogue
Zoe
Summer’s over—not a moment too soon.
??? e you guys coming or what? Dinner is on the table!”
I stepped into the kitchen, zipping up the sweatshirt I had slipped on. It was a pretty cold night for October. But then, it was always a little cooler by the shore.
“Coming, Mother,” I said, smiling at the sight of Sage, who stood hovering over the feast she had laid out on the dining room table, an exasperated look on her face.
“Where’s Nick?” she said, ignoring my jab.
“Still on the phone,” I replied, taking the seat opposite her and reaching for the bottle of wine to pour myself a glass. “I think I might have even heard him giggling. Do guys giggle?”
Sage shook her head, but I could see she was fighting a smile. “Only when they’re besotted,” she said, leaning over to stir the serving bowl of pasta she’d placed at the center of the table. “Everything is getting cold,” she continued with a sigh, dropping the spoon and heading over to the kitchen island. I watched as she opened a drawer and reached for the aluminum foil. Then she changed tracks, slamming the drawer shut and stomping out of the kitchen. “Nick, you’d better get your sorry little ass in here!”
I laughed out loud. Which wasn’t an uncommon event for me these days.
My gaze moved to the large windows overlooking the living room, and I shivered as the rain lashed against the glass.
It occurred to me that this was the first weekend it had rained at Kismet since we’d been coming out here.
I guess, in some respects anyway, it wasn’t such a bad summer after all.
Of course, we hadn’t, technically, been out here since that harrowing night at Vince’s hous
e. Mostly because Sage hadn’t been able to bring herself to return to Kismet after all that had happened. I couldn’t blame her. In fact, none of us had come back. Because really, what was the beach without our favorite beach bum and best friend, Sage?
Which was why Nick and I agreed to come immediately when Sage called to say that she wanted to close the house down for Tom. The good news was that Tom’s business was back on track and the charges against him in the shooting death of Vince Trifelli had been ruled justifiable homicide. The bad news was that now that the dust had settled, the loss of his wife was hitting Tom pretty hard. In fact, he had gone down to North Carolina with Francesca to visit his family for a couple of weeks, which was why Sage had offered to come to Kismet and shut down Maggie’s Dream for the season.
At least that’s why she claimed she had come out here. But I had a feeling Sage wanted to put a few demons to rest. And maybe finally even get that fun weekend-at-the-beach with friends she’d been hoping for ever since she had dragged us into this house share.
Okay, so it was October and it was raining. At least I wouldn’t get a sunburn.
“Admit it, Nick. You’re whipped,” Sage said, returning to the kitchen with a somewhat sullen Nick in tow.
“I’m not whipped,” Nick protested. “Francesca and I had business to talk about.”
I saw Sage smile as she plopped herself down in her chair at the head of the table. “Really? Since when do you call your business partner ‘Pookey’?”
Now I was smiling as I watched Nick blush. Pookey? Jesus, I didn’t think he had it in him.
But 1 guess love can do that to you.
“Hey, Sage, I’ll call Francesca whatever she wants as long as she secures us that review in Mojo.”
Yeah, Nick had it pretty bad for Francesca. Not that he’ll ever admit it. At least, not to us. Especially now that Francesca was officially an employee of Revelation. A little condition Tom had made when he agreed to continue to bankroll Nick’s label. I had a feeling Tom wasn’t just trying to secure his upstart daughter a job, but hoping to remain true to his wife’s last wishes. I think he might have even made Nick use some of the ideas from Maggie’s business plan for Revelation.
It amazed me how Nick always managed to land on his feet. Not only had he gotten financial backing, but his sex-kitten-turned-publicity-manager actually had a talent for twisting arms and getting people to pay attention to Nose Dive’s debut CD.
Not that that was so hard to do, now that the single the band had produced from the CD had hit the airwaves.
It was eerie how “Deeper than the Ocean” had taken off like it had, especially in light of the lyrics, which freaked me out. If I hadn’t seen Les pulled from the ocean that night, I would have sworn Maggie had written that song. All those metaphors about dying for love. Then there was that other song he’d penned about a man who kills his wife’s lover. If I didn’t know better, I would swear Maggie was orchestrating the whole song list from the grave.
Not that I believed in that sort of thing.
“When does the review come out?” Sage asked now.
“Two weeks,” Nick said, smiling. “My distributor thinks we’ll sell a minimum of thirty thousand copies. And that’s only a conservative estimate.”
Yep, it was pretty amazing how Nick had pulled out of this one.
“I guess we should have a toast then,” Sage said, lifting her glass. “To Nick’s first successful CD—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Nick said. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I mean, yeah, it looks like Revelation has a hit on its hands, but I don’t want to jinx things by celebrating too soon.” He picked up his glass anyway. “Besides, we have something else to toast.”
“Oh?” I said, glancing at Nick as I picked up my glass.
He smiled, holding his glass up high. “To being at the beach with my best buds,” he said.
Sage laughed as she clinked her glass into ours. “Nick, I didn’t know you cared.”
Oh, he cared, all right, I thought, smiling as I drank deep. I think I spent more time trying to calm Nick’s nerves after he realized how close we had come to losing Sage. But that may have been because Sage wouldn’t let anyone coddle her, not even her best friends.
In fact, up until last week, when Sage had called to ask us if we would join her at the beach this weekend, she had been pretty reticent about what had gone down the last time we were in Kismet. “I think it will be good for me to be out there. You know, after everything,” she had said on the phone.
I couldn’t agree more. In fact, I realized she looked more relaxed tonight than I had seen her in the past few months. Her face had lost that guarded look.
And I knew I wasn’t imagining it when, after we had all heaped our plates with food, she finally brought up the “V” word. Well, sort of.
“So Tom finally hired a new VP of manufacturing,” she said, her gaze on her fork as she fiddled with the food on her plate.
“Is that right?” I said, studying her expression.
She nodded.
“So are you happy with Tom’s choice?” Nick asked, his eyes on her.
Her gaze flicked up over both of us, then she dropped her fork on her plate with a clatter. “Okay, cut the bullshit.”
Nick and I exchanged a look.“Umm, what bullshit would that be, Sage?” Nick asked.
She sighed. “You guys have to stop treating me like some kind of fragile little doll every time we even come near the subject of… of Vince.”
“We do not!” Nick and I chorused.
“Oh yes, you do,” Sage insisted.“Not that I’ve really let you guys bring up the subject,” she relented. She blew out a breath. “Listen, I’m okay. Really. It’s not the first time I’ve fallen for the wrong guy.“ Then she smiled thinly.”Of course, I usually manage to steer clear of sociopaths.“
“Sage, there was no way you could have known—” I began.
“I know. I know, Zoe. Trust me. 1 haven’t spent six weeks talking to a shrink without finally understanding that I’m not to blame for nearly getting myself killed.”
My eyes widened and I glanced at Nick, realizing that Sage’s having sought professional help was news to him, too.
For a moment, I’ll admit, I felt sad knowing that Sage needed more than even her best friends could give her. But I was relieved, at least, that she was getting help.
Now she reached out, grabbing my hand and Nick’s in each of hers. “Thanks for coming out this weekend,” she said, looking at us before her gaze moved over the living room, pausing on the large windows that practically let the overcast sky and windswept beach into the room. “I was a little afraid he might have ruined Kismet for me.” She smiled. “But I’m glad to be back.”
Then, before we could descend completely into sappiness, she released our hands. “C’mon, eat. I didn’t slave all night over a hot stove to watch my efforts congeal on your plates.”
I chuckled when I saw Nick obediently shovel another piece of meat into his mouth and I followed suit with a forkful of pasta.
Sage, however, ignored her own directive, her gaze growing pensive.“! don’t know what bothers me more. The fact that Vince actually believed I might turn a blind eye to his betrayal simply because I was sleeping with him. Or the fact that I nearly fell for all that romantic bullshit he laid on me.”
“There’s no way you could have known what was really going on in that head of his. Maggie hadn’t known,” I said.“I mean, even I liked him at first.”
“Well, you know I never liked that guy,” Nick said a little too smugly.
I saw Sage struggling not to club Nick over that comment. But at least she was smiling.“I suppose you’re going to tell us now that you knew Zoe and Myles would get back together, too.”
“Hey, I always liked Myles,” Nick said, winking at me. Then he frowned. “How come he didn’t come out this weekend?”
“Are you kidding me?” I replied. “He’s been swamped with work. I think he's spending t
he weekend reviewing his new caseload. Not that he isn't enjoying every minute of it.” I smiled as I did whenever I thought of Myles, who had finally realized what was good for him. Like that job he had taken with the Manhattan D.A.'s office.
And me, of course.
I looked at Sage, “Besides, this weekend at the beach was just for us, anyway.”
Sage smiled wider, raising her galss once more. “Then perhaps we should have another toast.”
Nick and I raised our glasses.
“To friendship,” Sage said her eyes growing a bit misty. “I don't know what I'd do without you guys.”
I smiled, feeling a little misty-eyed myself.
Because the truth was, I didn't know what I'd do without my best buds.
And I hoped I never had to find out.
“I love you guys,” I said, “yu know that, right?”
“Love you too,” Sage said.
Even Nick had to confess that that we were “okay for a couple of broads.”
And the truth was we were okay.
In fact, we were more than okay.
And there was no better feeling on earth.
* * * *
