“Very nice to meet you,” Jerrod said, managing to sound as if he meant it. He smiled nervously at Caroline.
“And of course you remember Peggy and Fletcher.” Caroline smiled at Rain. She was wearing jeans and a mauve sweater, both of which were several sizes too small. Her hair still hung in long blond waves past her shoulders, as if she were auditioning for a part on one of those Real Housewives shows. But despite a face-lift that had rendered her once-lovely face almost immobile, her discomfort was obvious. There was a panic in her eyes that no amount of Botox could disguise.
“You probably don’t recognize Michelle,” Caroline told them.
“Oh, my God,” Jerrod said. “Little Michelle.”
“You’re so grown up,” Rain said.
“It happens,” said Michelle.
“And this is Samantha.”
“Samantha, my God,” Jerrod said. “I watched you on TV this afternoon. Could not believe my eyes.”
Rain released a long, deep breath, said nothing.
“I heard you two were separated,” Hunter said.
“We are. Thanks, in part, to you,” Jerrod acknowledged with a grin. “But when the FBI suggests a reunion, one is hard-pressed to say no. Especially when they send a car to pick you up.”
“The FBI?”
“That would be me,” Greg Fisher said, entering from the foyer, where he’d been waiting.
“What’s he doing here?” Steve asked.
“He said he’d like to be here if we ever found out the truth about what happened the night Samantha disappeared. I thought it was only right to oblige.”
“What are you talking about?” Hunter asked. “We don’t know what happened.”
“You remembered something?” Steve asked Samantha.
“Please, everyone,” Caroline directed. “Have a seat.”
Rain squeezed herself in beside Mary, Peggy, and Fletcher on the sofa, while Jerrod helped Greg pull a few chairs in from the dining room. Steve sank back into the chair in which he’d been sitting as Hunter lowered himself into its counterpart and Samantha balanced on one of its wide arms. Only Caroline and Michelle remained standing.
“I still don’t understand what Jerrod and I are doing here,” Rain said.
“I thought it might be helpful to re-create that night,” Caroline told her.
“How can that be helpful?” Steve asked.
“I think we should start with a brief recap of that week,” Caroline went on. “Just to refresh our memories. Make sure we agree on the basic facts. So that we understand exactly how it all played out.”
“How what played out?” Fletcher asked.
“Samantha’s kidnapping.”
There was a moment’s silence.
“This is absurd,” Steve said.
“You all got to Rosarito before us,” Caroline said, ignoring her brother’s remark. “I remember being so surprised to see you. And a little disappointed, if I’m being honest. I’d been hoping to spend more alone time with Hunter, and I was frankly a little shocked by whom he’d chosen to invite. I could understand Peggy and Fletcher. Peggy’s been my best friend since forever. But Jerrod and Rain, well, we weren’t particularly close friends. Of course, I didn’t realize you were sleeping with my husband at the time, Rain…”
“Really? Is this necessary?” Rain glanced toward Hunter, who refused to meet her gaze.
“And as for you and Becky,” Caroline continued, looking at her brother, “well, as I recall, Hunter told me the whole surprise thing had been your idea, that you’d more or less invited yourselves along. But Becky and I hadn’t been close in some time.”
“She was always jealous of you,” Mary said.
“Mother, please,” Steve said. “The poor woman is dead. Can we let her rest in peace?”
“No,” Caroline answered. “I don’t think we can do that.”
Another moment’s silence.
“What are you saying?” Steve asked.
“That our mother is right. Becky was jealous of me. She resented my supposedly stable marriage, my ease at having children, my so-called ‘perfect’ life. And that when the opportunity presented itself…”
“You think she’s the one who took Samantha?” Peggy interrupted. “How is that possible? How could she have pulled that off?”
“Think about it. I lost two keycards that week. I assumed I dropped them or left them lying around, but Becky could easily have taken at least one of them. She had plenty of opportunity. She was with us all the time. And don’t forget, it was a woman who called and canceled the sitter the night Samantha disappeared.”
“This is crazy,” Steve protested. “These are wild suppositions. You have no proof that Becky took your keycard or canceled the sitter. Frankly, I’m astounded at your leaps in logic. You’re the math teacher. Where’s your proof?”
“I have absolute proof that Becky was involved,” Caroline stated.
“What kind of proof could you possibly have?” Disbelieving eyes shot toward Samantha. “Are you saying you remembered something?”
“Not Samantha,” Michelle said. “Me.”
“You?”
“I saw Becky.”