Page 28 of The Getaway

He wasn’t wrong. The only reason they lived in the town they lived in was for the schools. Schools it seemed they were never going to need. If they hadn’t moved to one of the most expensive towns in New Jersey for the benefit of a child that was no longer going to be theirs, they could have saved some money for vacations or retirement or, hell, a new car. But now, here they were, childless and house poor, and Marshall was no longer going to receive his inheritance because they’d never had a kid.

“I think I need to sleep,” Marley said. And then tomorrow I will wake up and murder my brother-in-law.

She didn’t understand why he’d done these things, but she sure as hell was going to find out.

“One question. What did the other notes say?” Marshall asked.

Marley hesitated. These things were secrets for a reason. But she’d already talked about this with Suzy and Juliet, and in front of Gemma. If they all knew, they were hardly secrets anymore.

“Mine said Lincoln talked you into giving up on adoption. Juliet’s said . . . actually . . . I don’t know what Juliet’s said. But Josh’s said that Beckham might be Lincoln’s biological child.”

Marshall visibly flinched. “What? No. No way. Lincoln and Juliet?”

Marley nodded, swallowing hard.

“How? When?”

“At some fundraising party, apparently. After he and Hazel were already married.”

Marshall’s expression changed from intrigued and amused to Oh no.

“So good news for your parents! They might have two heirs!”

“Unbelievable.”

“Yeah,” Marley said, shifting position carefully. “I guess that’s why Josh lost it on Lincoln.”

“Wow,” Marshall said. “What the hell is wrong with my brother?”

Marley sighed, then burped, then thought she was going to throw up again, but then it passed.

“And then Sean’s and Suzy’s both said something about Sean being about to lose his job or something?” She leaned back on the pillows, exhausted.

“Lincoln would never let that happen,” Marshall said. “Sean is the greatest yes-man who ever lived. Lincoln wants to do something, Sean finds him the loophole that allows him to do it.”

Marley let this settle for a moment. “You mean, like, illegal things?” Her husband shot her a look, like, Don’t be so naive, Marley. She closed her eyes and wished like anything that she was back home in her own bed, far away from this place and these people and all these revelations.

“Why would someone do this? What is the point? To make us all miserable?” Marley asked.

“Seems to me like the point was to make us all mad at Lincoln,” Marshall said, looking down at his note, held between his two hands.

“Well, good job, then.” Marley shivered. “But why?”

“I don’t know,” Marshall said.

He crumpled the note into a tight ball, then launched it toward the garbage can. It pinged off the rim and fell to the floor. As if embarrassed that he’d missed, he picked it up again and shoved it deep into his pants pocket.

Suddenly, a heaviness overtook Marley. Maybe her adrenaline had finally worn off. Whatever it was, she could barely keep her eyes open.

There was a far-off scream, and Marshall sighed. “We’re going to have to shut this party down. I should go find Lincoln and see what he and Hazel want to do.”

Marley burped again, and a little bile came up in her throat. Marshall lunged for the garbage and held it next to the bed. Grateful, she spit into it.

“Thanks,” she said, leaning back again. “Okay. I would help, but—”

“Don’t even think about it.” Marshall leaned down and planted a firm, soft kiss on her forehead. “I’m going to go get you some ginger ale. You just try to get some sleep. Hopefully everything will make sense in the morning.”

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