“There was a lot of tension within that group of women. Would you agree with that?” He raises his chin.
“I think tension is putting it lightly.” I lean forward, placing my elbows on the table.
“How would you put it?”
“Well, one of them ended up dead.” I crinkle up my face.
“And who do you think did it?” He leans forward, matching my posture.
“The way these women treated each other, I think it could have been any one of them.”
His forehead rises, creating a row of deep parallel ridges. “Any one of them? It seemed some of them were getting along.”
“Are any of us ever truly getting along, Detective Sanford?”
“Aren’t we?” He raises an eyebrow, cocking his head slightly to the left as though he were offended.
“Surface level, yes, of course. But I don’t know what’s going on in your head and you don’t know what’s going on in mine.”
“So, you’re saying that some of these women were pretending to get along?”
“I think these women were pretending to be a lot of things.”
Detective Frank Sanford pauses for a moment before jotting down a few more notes. “Did you know about the affair?” he asks.
I let out a laugh. “Which one?”
10
Karen
After closing on a multimillion-dollar home, I decided to go for a run through town. Exercise was the only healthy way to rid myself of that rush that came with achieving something exceptional. Most people would turn to indulgence in alcohol, food, an expensive gift, but I liked to run it off. It kept me going, in motion. It made sure I didn’t stagnante.
Buckhead is what you’d expect out of a wealthy town. The streets were lined with expensive boutiques and designer stores. There were splashes of greenery everywhere—trees, bushes, flower beds. You can tell when you’re in a wealthy city . . . look for the green. It’s expensive to maintain when everything around it is concrete. People were quick to move to the side as I ran the sidewalk on Peach Street. This was the South, after all—still a place of chivalry and good manners, if only on the surface. I was on mile four when I spotted Olivia up ahead. She swayed her hips and walked with purpose. Her face was pinched together, so even from a block away, I could tell she was mad. I knew she wouldn’t move aside, and I almost crossed the street to avoid her. When she spotted me, I watched her face soften, but she had a new look . . . determination. I didn’t want to deal with her. I was still upset about what she had done to Shannon. Unseating her was cruel. We hadn’t told Shannon yet. I wanted to, but not before the gala. She needed to focus on that. We had all agreed we would tell her at the meeting following the gala. So far, Olivia and the rest of the committee had kept their word.
I stopped right in front of her, pulled out one of my AirPods, and immediately began stretching my quads and calves.
“Do you know what just happened?” she practically shouted.
I shook my head.
“I just got into a huge fight with Shannon at the salon, and Jenny took her side. Oh, and Crystal was there too.” She folded her arms in front of her chest and tapped her foot quickly on the ground as if she were impatiently waiting for me to come to her aid.
“Did you tell Shannon about her chairwoman position?”
“Of course not. I’m a woman of my word,” she said, lifting her chin.
“Then what happened?” I feigned interest.
I didn’t care about the Shannon and Olivia fight. I knew Olivia had it out for her. I was happy to hear Jenny shut that drama down. Good for her. I was only curious about the interaction between Shannon and Crystal. Shannon was my friend, and I could see Crystal being my friend too, and I thought maybe there was a chance they could one day get along, maybe even be pals—but then again, this was Buckhead.
“Shannon was being a total b-i-t-c-h to Crystal.” She literally spelled out the word. “I called her out, and then Jenny had the audacity to kick me out. Who the hell does she think she is?”
“Well, it is her salon,” I said. Olivia could be pretty unreasonable and if it got to the point that Jenny had to kick her out, then I assumed Olivia was being a monster. I took some deep breaths, regaining control from the run.
“I don’t give a damn if it’s her salon. Without me, she’d be nothing. You know that, Karen. I made her.”
I had never seen her this mad before. Olivia wasn’t used to people standing up to her, and I don’t think she’d ever been kicked out of anywhere her entire privileged life. I tilted my head. It was more like a half nod. Olivia liked to pretend she was God in that salon, but she had been an angel investor and she did bring a lot of clients to the salon, including myself. But that was years ago, and Jenny had made it what it is now.
“I have half a nerve to cancel my membership and get everyone else to cancel too,” she said with a huff.
Before I could say anything, Olivia spoke again.
“Obviously, I won’t do that.” She waved her hand in a dismissive way. “But I expect an apology out of her.”
Once again, I said nothing. I just stood there stretching out my arms and checking the time and stats on my Apple Watch. Olivia was the type of person that could have an entire conversation with herself and not even notice you hadn’t spoken.
“Well, I just wanted to warn you how wicked Shannon is being. You’d do well not to associate yourself with her.”
“Thanks for the heads-up. I have to get going.” I put my AirPod back in. “Mark will be home soon,” I said as I jogged away.
“Oh yes. Tell him I said hi.” She smiled and waved her fingers at me as she continued strutting down the street.
I ran up the driveway of our oversized redbrick Tudor home. It was homey yet large, yet relatively modest compared to our second home in Miami, where Mark’s other plastic surgery office was located. He left Sunday nights and returned typically on Wednesdays, so he could do three days in the Miami office and two in Atlanta. Although, this week he was back Thursday afternoon due to more appointments in Miami than Atlanta.
I walked right through the front door and found him sleeping on the couch. Mark and I had been married for over a decade but together for nineteen years. We fell in love in college, and I accompanied him when he got into medical school at Johns Hopkins. His feet were hanging off the couch thanks to his six-two stature. His light-brown hair was out of place, and the bags under his eyes were heavy. He worked too hard. I had hoped when we moved down south he’d live life at a slower pace, but he was still that overworked yuppie from New England. We were both still those people. I had my real estate company, and he had his plastic surgery offices. I knew we both needed to slow down. I leaned down and kissed his forehead. His eyes instantly shot open.
“Sorry, babe, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
He pulled me into him and kissed my lips.
“No need to apologize,” he said. Mark and I hadn’t been intimate in a while, so the kiss was a nice surprise. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I loved Mark, but lately, I never wanted to make love to him. I assumed my hormones were out of whack or I was too stressed for sex. I had reminded myself again to go to the doctor. I pulled him up from the couch.
“How did it go today?” he asked.
“I closed on that house on Foxcroft,” I said with a smile.
“That’s amazing, Karen. Congrats!” He gave me another peck on the lips. “Where’s Riley?” he added.
“He’s doing an overnight sleepover with some of the neighbor kids.”
I thought Mark was asking where Riley was because he wanted to make love to celebrate. The thought of it made me nervous, and I had no idea why.
“On a Thursday?”
“I know, but he begged me and gave me that cute little pouty face.” I smiled.
I wrapped my arms around Mark, and he winced.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Think I pulled something at the gym. I’m going to take a hot shower.”