Free Forgotten Girls, The by Alexa Steele Page A

afterthought. Fangsy ran over to Bella and jumped up on the couch beside
her.
    “Good puppy,” Bella soothed as she
petted him. The dog quieted down. Jenna just rolled her eyes.
    Moments later Doug entered the room
behind Flora, who carried a silver tray with bottles of Poland Spring water, Pellegrino,
and club soda. Jenna grabbed a bottle of Pellegrino off the tray without
looking at Flora and sat quietly, sipping out of a straw, subdued and far away.
Gone was the gracious hostess. Now she sat sulking.
    Doug hardly made eye contact with
anyone. He wore dark blue jeans, a gray cable-knit sweater, and brown suede
J.P. Tod’s. At six feet tall, with cropped dark brown hair and green eyes, he
was not only well put together but had cachet and swag. He was extremely tan,
as though he had just returned from an island vacation, and was curt to Bella
and Mack when they introduced themselves. When Bella began to ask questions
about Joslyn and the events of the night before, Jenna spoke up first.
    “I saw Jos in the restroom at
about, oh, I don’t know, toward the end of the night. She was drunk. She
slurred her words and lost balance. It was actually kind of embarrassing,” Jenna
whispered in a conspiratorial kind of way, as though she knew she was talking
behind her back but just couldn’t help herself.
    She claimed she told Jos to wait
in the bathroom while she went to look for Doug so he could drive her home but,
by the time she returned, Jos was gone.
    “How long did it take for you to get
back to the bathroom?” asked Bella.
    Jenna smiled, which Bella found
inappropriate. And disturbing.
    “I really couldn’t say. I was a
little tipsy myself,” she giggled.
    “Would you say five minutes?
Longer?” Bella prodded, wondering what was so funny.
    “Maybe ten-fifteen minutes,” Jenna
replied, shaking her head as though she was entirely unsure. “Simply guessing.”
    “So long?” Bella sounded
surprised.
    “I couldn’t find Doug anywhere,”
Jenna explained. “He was in the corner talking to Pete and Miles. It was pretty
crowded. By the time I got back she was gone.”
    Bella made a note to talk to Pete
and Miles.
    “Where did you think she had
gone?” Bella inquired curiously.
    Jenna twirled her hair and
responded, “I wouldn’t know, really. She was just gone.” She snapped her
fingers and shook her head. “Sooooo unbelievable, really…just so sad.”
    Doug raised his head for a brief
look at his wife then looked away.
    “Did you try to find her?” Bella
was trying to elicit a satisfying answer, but that was proving extremely
difficult.
    “I didn’t see her anywhere,” she
replied.
    “OK,” said Bella. “Did you look
for her?”
    “Kind of. I mean, I didn’t search
the grounds,” she answered defensively.
    The room was silent. Doug stared
down at the floor.
    Bella didn’t like this woman at all.
Jenna looked back and forth at the three of them and, sounding far off, not as
though she really cared, added:
    “It was late, she was gone. I
don’t know. I was tired. I just wanted to go home.”
    “Had Jamie asked you to take Joslyn
home?”
    Bella looked away from Jenna when
she asked this and directed the question to Doug.
    “Yes, he did,” Doug replied, looking
a little guilty. “But Jenna couldn’t find her. We assumed she had gotten a ride
with someone else.”
    “It sounds like your wife didn’t
look too hard.” Bella sounded a bit sarcastic and she knew it. She was
irritated and it showed.
    “I thought she did, I mean she
did, she just couldn’t find her,” Doug said nervously.
    “I did look for her. I did. I
swear. I mean, I didn’t look in every nook and cranny. I didn’t walk down to
the marina, for god’s sakes. Why would I think she would ever go down there?”
    “Were you worried about her?”
Bella wasn’t feeling the love.
    Jenna leaned forward and took her
Pellegrino off the coffee table and sipped it, slowly. Steadily and quietly she
returned it to its position,