Page 50 of The Getaway

Suzy racked her brain, trying to remember. “Some guy who just got drafted by the Nets?”

“Carmello Van Buren,” Sean and Marshall said in unison.

“Carmello Van Buren was here?” Florence blurted and turned to Vienna. “How did we miss that?”

“Ugh, we could’ve gotten a cameo.” Vienna was annoyed. “He has, like, twenty million followers.”

Sean snapped his fingers and added, “Hazel, you tried to do the Heimlich, but the guy was too big, so you talked Lincoln through it. Dislodged an olive.”

Hazel’s eyes trailed over to the sliders. “He saved his life.”

“I think you both did,” Sean corrected, looking impressed.

“No way.” Vienna shook her head. “I can’t believe we missed that!”

“That was around eleven,” Suzy said. “Right when Lincoln was helping Carmello off the dance floor, my sister texted me, and she’s over in Greece, so I was doing the time zone math. I think he took Carmello up to the house? That was the last time I saw him until he got up on stage and made the announcement.”

“What announcement?” Marley asked.

“The weather started getting really nasty, and he said that he was shutting down the party so people could get home,” Sean answered.

“What time was that?” Marshall asked.

“Midnight,” Grant supplied. “He asked me to go alert the valets that there was going to be a deluge of people and to get ready. And he wasn’t wrong. It was insanity. I actually ended up helping them.”

“So where did Lincoln go after that? Did anyone see where he went after he left the stage?”

People shifted on their feet. Suzy couldn’t remember. She’d been busy obsessively watching Rainn’s feed at that point. The Jersey Shore was flooding. Images of ice cream shops and mini golf courses under water. Wind knocking patio furniture off rooftop decks onto cars in the street. It hadn’t occurred to her to track Lincoln’s movements. Why would it have?

“I was at the front door saying goodbye to our guests,” Hazel said.

“And I started helping the staff take down the umbrellas and tents,” Marshall said. “The wind was getting intense. A few of the other guests pitched in as well.”

“I must have been inside with Beckham,” Juliet said.

Marley and Suzy shared a glance, and Suzy knew they were thinking the same thing. Even though Juliet was the baby’s mother, it wasn’t like her to randomly check on Beckham, especially not in the middle of a party. But who knew? Maybe all the drama with Josh had made her want to stick close to her child.

“I rounded up the girls once the announcement was made, and we went back to the guesthouse,” Gemma said.

“Yeah, we were watching the hurricane footage on YouTube, and Mom was reading,” Florence said. “I think we went to bed around . . . one?” She looked at Vienna for confirmation, and Vienna nodded.

“Yeah. One.”

Silence. Everyone looked at Sean. He seemed to not want to meet anyone’s eyes. Suzy saw something odd pass through Marshall’s expression as he stared at her husband. Something she didn’t like.

“Sean, when was the last time you saw Lincoln?” Hazel asked. “Where were you at midnight?”

“I . . . well . . . to be honest, I was asleep,” Sean said, glancing guiltily at Suzy. “Trevor sold me some good pot, and I smoked a little too much. You know that makes me sleepy.”

Suzy rolled her eyes. Like she was going to be pissed at him in this moment for getting high. They always got high on this trip. It was one of the perks of being away from the kids.

“Wait, Trevor sold you pot? I didn’t know he had a side hustle,” Hazel said.

Sean gave a shrug. “I asked him yesterday if he knew of somewhere local I could buy because I forgot to do it before we left, and he said I could buy from him.”

Suzy bit her tongue to keep from admonishing him for sourcing pot from a stranger. They knew how dangerous that could be. But now was not the time. She was impressed by her self-control. Maybe she was growing.

“Does anyone know where Josh was during all of this?” Marshall asked.