Free The Rich and the Dead by Liv Spector Page B

asked glibly. “No matter. I think you can find something in the clubhouse. Nothing for me, thanks. Find me later, ’kay?”
    In an instant, Effie had turned her back on Lila and was air-kissing a tall man with a waxed mustache.
    Lila quickly walked into the clubhouse, then ducked out another door, and headed toward the beach, down the steps, and onto the sand, where she ditched the strappy sandals that had been torturing her feet. Several young children were making sand castles with their nannies. A group of toned women were doing sun salutations in the afternoon’s burning light. She saw Scott walk away from the crowds, Meredith following closely behind him. Keeping her distance, Lila trailed them. The couple walked behind a large cluster of palm trees and escaped Lila’s gaze. As she got a bit closer, she heard them shouting.
    â€œGet the hell away from me,” Scott yelled. Meredith said something in response, but the crash of the ocean waves and her lowered tone made it impossible to hear. Lila stood very still, her ears straining, her feet burning on the hot sand.
    â€œI don’t even know who you are anymore. It’s nothing but secrets with you,” Scott said.
    Meredith gave another inaudible reply.
    â€œTrust you? How dare you ask me that? Trust between us died when you picked them over me.” The roar of Scott’s voice grew louder until, too late, Lila realized he was walking back toward her. He abruptly turned the corner and rushed past Lila, once again running away from his wife. Luckily, he was in too much of a drunken rage to realize that Lila was there, but his sober wife was much more observant. The moment she laid eyes on the young woman just standing there on the beach, a wicked smile spread across her face.
    â€œEnjoying the show, Camilla?”
    â€œExcuse me?” Lila asked.
    â€œPlaying dumb only works on the boys. I know better,” Meredith said over her shoulder, as she walked back toward the clubhouse.
    Needing to put her burning feet in the water and to absorb what she’d just heard, Lila went into the ocean up to her ankles, holding up her designer dress to avoid ruining it.
    Them over me, Scott had said.
    From the sound of it, Scott did know about the Janus Society. Lila was right. He had lied to her during the investigation. She had never understood how a husband, no matter how distant, could be unaware of such large sums of money being donated every year. And, more important, why was the society such a secret in the first place? During all the years she spent hunting the Star Island killer, that was the one question she could never come close to answering. She was convinced that the moment she figured out the mystery at the core of the society, she would figure out who the killer was.
    If Scott had lied to her about the Janus Society, what else had he lied about? Certainly his so-called devastation after Meredith’s death. Given what Lila had overheard, he seemed nothing like a man who would mourn his wife. This was a man who wanted his wife gone. By the time Lila returned, Effie was halfway into her second Red Bull vodka, and flirting with a handsome Australian bartender. Her blue eyes were unfocused and shining. When she saw Lila, she slipped an arm around her waist. “I’m broiling up here. Let’s go sit by the pool. I’ll be the tour guide and you’ll be the tourist.”
    When they reached the pool area, Effie let out a shriek at the sight of a man lying in what she loudly claimed was “her” spot.
    â€œGoddamn Russian!” she cried. “How many times have I told you to keep the fuck out of my chair?” The man opened his eyes, slowly blinking. He had a fleshy face with disproportionately full lips and incredibly bushy eyebrows sarcastically hanging above his sunken eyes. He was one of the most unattractive men Lila had ever laid eyes on.
    â€œIs this not a free country?” the man said in