“Oh, excuse me. I thought this event was open to the public.” Hank put his hand on his chest in a mocking fashion.

  “Listen, we agreed. Once you got your cash, you would disappear.”

  “Huh. I don’t remember agreeing to that. All I remember is that you said it was a loan I didn’t have to pay back.” Hank looked like a slimy greaseball with his hair slicked back. J.R. was sure it wasn’t from any haircare product. He was still surprised at how much Hank had changed. Then again, so had he.

  As Luna approached the two men, she felt a zap of tension between them. This was going to be juicy.

  “Hey, J.R.. I’m Luna—we met briefly earlier.”

  “Yes, Luna. Elle’s friend.” J.R. wondered whether or not he should introduce the reprobate to her, but before he had a chance to say anything, Hank interrupted.

  “Hey there, pretty lady. I’m Henry Johnson, but most people call me Hank.”

  Luna blinked several times in response. Pretty lady? Were men still allowed to speak like that? “Oh, thank you, er, Hank. I’m Luna Bodman. I’m here with Elle Stillwell, a friend of J.R.’s mother.”

  “Kinda like a reunion, huh? Well, fancy that.” He jerked his thumb at J.R. “He and I are having a kind of reunion, too.”

  “Oh?” Luna’s electromagnetic field was on high alert.

  “Yep. We both attended Briarcliff Academy.”

  Luna thought her hair was going to stand on end. She took a short breath. “Briarcliff?”

  J.R. wanted to hurry the conversation along. “Yes, in Massachusetts.”

  Luna imagined a bright white light surrounding her body. Otherwise, she thought she would faint right there on the spot. “Classmates?” she managed to ask.

  “I guess you could sorta say that,” Hank replied.

  Luna could feel J.R.’s uneasiness. “I’m sorry if I interrupted your conversation.”

  “No. Not at all. I was just about to tell Hank I have to fetch Lindsay before she drinks all the Veuve Clicquot.” He took Luna’s arm and steered her away from the menace. He had to shrug off his anxiety. Hank’s appearance was not what he’d expected, but he wasn’t going to let anything ruin this event for his mother.

  Luna couldn’t help but remark, “How long has it been?”

  “Since?” J.R. asked.

  “Since you and Hank have seen each other.” Luna was determined to get to the bottom of the situation, but she had to be careful.

  “Years. Twenty, I think. He dropped by my office the other day for a few minutes, but we didn’t have much time to talk.”

  “So you invited him here?” Luna thought they were an odd fit. Hank didn’t seem very educated, and also didn’t seem to care that he didn’t fit in. He was crass, if she needed a one-word description.

  “It was one of those situations where you can’t avoid it.” J.R. wasn’t totally lying.

  “I know what you mean.” Luna reached for a glass of champagne. “I imagine you come to these types of things often.”

  “Only if my mother makes me.” He snickered. He felt a sense of relief now that he was twenty-five feet away from the extortionist.

  Lindsay sashayed over to them. “Mother makes you do what, honey bunch?” Lindsay put her arm through his, claiming her territory.

  J.R. chuckled. “Come to these things.”

  “Don’t believe him. He loves, loves, loves the attention.” Spoken like a true bubblehead.

  Luna could understand why J.R. would attract attention. He was a very handsome man. And so was Marshal Gaines, but in a different way. Chris had inherited his mother’s black hair and his father’s azure-colored eyes. He had a slightly exotic look. Rugged. On the other hand, J.R. was a fair-haired, Anglo male who played a lot of tennis.

  Luna tried to make conversation, but she was too worked up to stay still. She had to let Cullen know about Briarcliff. She craned her neck, trying to look above all the dazzling heads. Chi-Chi was a bright blue beacon who stood out from the crowd. Cullen was at her side. Luna tried to give him a ladylike wave, but what she wanted to do was jump up and down and shout, Briarcliff!

  After hastily excusing herself, Luna scurried over as fast as she could make her way through the servers passing hors d’oeuvres, guests, movable walls, easels and pottery. “Cullen, you are not going to believe this.” She was breathless. She looked over both her shoulders, searching for the two men, but didn’t see them anywhere nearby.

  “Take it easy. What are you so excited about?” Cullen asked.

  “Briarcliff Academy.”

  “What about it?”

  “ J.R. went to school there!” Luna could hardly keep her voice down.

  Cullen jerked his head. “Seriously? How do you know that?”

  “He was talking to some guy, and I walked over to them. I sensed this vibe, and, well, you know what comes next.”

  Cullen rolled his eyes.

  “I walked over and reintroduced myself to J.R., and his friend said they went to school together at Briarcliff Academy. And, yes, before you even ask, it’s in Massachusetts.”

  “Wow.” Cullen was dumbfounded.

  “What are the odds?”

  “I wouldn’t venture to guess.”

  “Do you think we should tell him about the armoire?”

  Cullen hesitated. “I don’t know. What would we say? ‘Hey, you ever heard of someone getting locked in an armoire and carving ‘HELP!’ into the wood?’ That would be a very strange conversation starter.”

  Luna twisted her mouth.

  “Uh-oh. She has that look on her face,” Chi-Chi said, her eyes opened wide.

  “Oh no, you don’t,” Cullen commanded. “We will not bring up anything outside of the reason why we are here.”

  “How do you know the armoire isn’t the reason we are here?” Luna raised her eyebrows.

  “You’re killing me.” Cullen groaned. “How about this—I’ll mention I recently acquired a piece from Briarcliff and go off on a furniture tangent.”

  “Sounds boring,” Luna said.

  “Okay. I’ll mention the armoire, but not the message. It could have been a prank or a hoax. I don’t want to make something out of nothing.”

  “Party pooper.” She turned and went to fetch Chris.

  Chi-Chi looked at Cullen. “You know your sister is not going to let this go until she is satisfied.”

  “I know. I know.” Cullen hung his head.

  “Come. Let’s look at some art.” She took his hand and cleared a path through the throng. It was as if she parted the sea.

  On her way toward Chris, Luna spotted J.R. talking to Hank again. J.R. was staring him down. She wished she knew how to read lips. J.R. looked stern. Hank gave him a crooked smile and moved toward the exit. J.R. froze in place, watching every step Hank took until he left the building. Luna saw J.R.’s shoulders relax once the intruder was gone. Something was definitely up between those two. And it wasn’t an old reunion of school chums, unless you were referring to the type of chum that was bait.

  Luna caught up with Chris and snuggled close to him. “I have to tell you an interesting coincidence.”

  Chris’s knees almost wobbled at the word. Hadn’t he been discussing the phenomenon of coincidence just the night before? “Another one?”

  “What do you mean, another one?”

  “You notice them on a daily basis, don’t you?”

  “This one is very interesting.”

  “Aren’t they all? Until you figure out the connection?”

  “True. But listen. A couple of weeks ago, Cullen got an armoire delivered. It was pretty dilapidated. I got a vibe from it and climbed inside.”

  Chris’s eyes were smiling at her childlike explanation.

  “But then I couldn’t get out!” she exclaimed. “Thank goodness Wylie was wandering back from the dog park and started sniffing the armoire. When I heard him, I told him to go get Cullen!”

  “And he did,” Chris replied with certainty.

  “Yes, he did.” Luna nodded. “But before I got sprung, I felt something in the wood. It was rough and it gave me the willies. So, after I almost fell on the floor, I asked Cullen to grab a flashlight and I made a rubbing. You are not going to believe what it was!”

  “You know I will.” Chris was standing in front of Luna. She had her back to the wall. He placed his arm above her shoulder and leaned in. She could feel his breath against her cheek. She froze. What she wanted to do in the moment was nuzzle his neck.

  He could feel the heat coming from her. “Go on.”

  She wasn’t sure she could. She took a swallow of champagne. “There was a word. Carved into the wood. ‘HELP!’” She looked deep into his eyes.

  Now it was his turn to steady himself. Again. “You said it was a coincidence.” He managed to hold his composure.

  “Yes. We tracked down the origin of the piece. It came from Briarcliff Academy.”

  That almost did him in. “Briarcliff Academy?”

  Luna was getting something from Chris. A shift in his energy. Like the night before. “What is it?”

  “What is what?”

  “Please don’t play that game with me.” Luna’s expression became serious. “Something has been on your mind since we got here.” She softened her look. “Sorry. It’s my radar.”

  He lifted her chin. “Don’t apologize. I don’t want any secrets between us. Okay?”

  Luna was overjoyed that he had finally expressed something that could help define their relationship. Trust. A big thing.

  “Okay. Me neither. So? What is it?”

  “What I mean is, there are some things I can’t talk about because they’re official business.”

  “I’m official. Sometimes.” She made a pouty mouth.

  He smiled. “That’s true. But not necessarily tonight. Okay?” He brushed her cheek with his thumb. “I promise I will tell you what I can when I can.”

  Luna filled her lungs with air. “Pinkie swear?”

  He held up his other hand. “Pinkie swear.”

  The next couple of hours moved quickly. Camille received many accolades for the opportunities and support she’d provided to the female artists, and the women in turn received high praise for being brave enough to put their souls on display.

  Those in Camille’s dinner party took different cars to the restaurant. A table for twelve was set in the rear of the main dining room, which boasted the old mahogany bar from the famed Maxwell’s Plum. The walls were covered in art by actor Robert De Niro’s father, Robert Sr. There were place cards on each plate. Camille was seated at one end of the table, Chad at the other. She’d tried to mix up the group in order to foster lively conversation.

  Platters of appetizers lined the long, wooden table, including a charcuterie board, assorted cheeses and salmon rillettes. A server came around the table with a bottle of red and a bottle of white wine. Camille didn’t want to lollygag with cocktails, so she had ordered the wine ahead of time. Actually, Keith had ordered the wine. Camille appreciated everything Keith had helped her accomplish and had invited him to attend the dinner.

  “Had I known, I would have ordered a more expensive vintage!” he’d exclaimed.

  She adored his sassiness.

  Once everyone’s glass was filled, Chad stood. “To Camille. The bravest, most loyal, most compassionate woman I have had the privilege and pleasure to know.”

  Lots of clinking glasses and words of praise resounded.

  “Hear! Hear!”

  “Salud!”

  “Bravo!”

  Then Chad turned to Elle. “And to the woman whose keen perception helped to make it happen, Elle Stillwell.”

  More clinking and cheering. A conversation started about that auspicious night in Newport.

  J.R. looked at his mother. Then he looked at his wife. They say men marry women like their mothers. He thought for several minutes. Family wealth was the only thing the two women had in common. Despite her affluence, J.R.’s mother was raised to be kind, considerate, thoughtful and generous in spirit as well as with her money. She was refined. Lindsay? True, she gave away a lot of things, but only after she no longer had any use for them. She had no outside interests to speak of and she did no volunteering whatsoever. It dawned on him that she suffered from what a lot of people suffered from: myopia, as in “my.” My world. He could provide a list of reasons why he’d married her, and it had seemed like a good idea at the time. He realized his thoughts had seeped into the shadows since Henry “Hank” Johnson had reappeared. It occurred to him that he might be having feelings of guilt. Questioning his principles. How curious. He leaned back in his chair, observing the dinner guests chatting back and forth. Lindsay was touting the latest skin cream she’d purchased at Bergdorf Goodman earlier that afternoon after having lunch at Palette.

  “You know, they specialize in plant-based food,” she droned on.

  J.R.’s thoughts meandered. A new trend. Not a terrible one, but let’s see how long it lasts. I wonder what she’ll order for dinner tonight.

  “Do you have any vegan dishes?” Lindsay batted her eyelashes at the waiter, who appeared to be dazed and confused. The Tribeca Grill was not known for its veggie burgers. They weren’t on the menu either.

  “Madame, we have pasta,” the server said.

  “Is it gluten free?” Lindsey asked.

  And there it is. J.R. sighed. Yes, everyone knows you are hip to what is in vogue.

  The waiter replied, “We can accommodate you.”

  “Thank you. I need another minute.” Lindsey stuck her head back behind her menu.

  The waiter went around the table and took everyone else’s order. He returned to Lindsay, who ultimately ordered the crab cake.

  A crab is not a plant, J.R. mused. She probably flunked biology. He smirked to himself as Luna caught his eye. She grinned. She knew exactly what he was thinking.

  As dinner was winding down, Luna became anxious as to when Cullen would bring up the armoire and Briarcliff. She began to give him what he referred to as “The LDS.” It stood for “The Luna Death Stare.” He could feel her eyes burning a hole in the back of his head. He turned slowly. Sure enough. How does she do that?

  Her eyes widened. “And?”

  He didn’t have to ask what she was referring to.

  “And now. Or I’ll start the conversation,” she half-threatened.

  Cullen waited for a break in the conversation before he leaned toward J.R. “Luna tells me you went to Briarcliff Academy.”

  “You know of it?” J.R. was feeling squeamish again.

  “Not really, but I recently purchased an old armoire that came from there.”

  J.R. went pale. “Say again?” He thought maybe he was hearing things.

  “Briarcliff.”

  J.R. cleared his throat. “You don’t say. Now that it is a coincidence.” He hoped that would end the conversation. But it didn’t.

  Chris almost fell off his chair at the same time. That word “coincidence” brought Luna smack-dab into the middle of the conversation.

  “Don’t you find coincidences fascinating?” Luna was getting excited and began to rattle off a few quotes, including one by Einstein. That, too, made Chris extremely uneasy. He knew he would have to tell her. What he’d learned. But obviously later.

  Luna was being cagey about the armoire. She felt J.R. had something to do with it, but this surely wasn’t the time to bring it up directly. She had another idea. “Why don’t you give me your business card and we’ll send you a photo after Cullen turns it into a masterpiece?”

  J.R. kept his cool. “Yeah. Sure. That would be interesting.”

  Luna wondered if he remembered carving the words into the wood. But maybe it wasn’t him. Or maybe it was. She carefully took the card from J.R. and placed it deftly in her handbag.

  Dinner wrapped up with an assortment of desserts, including the restaurant’s famous chocolate cake, New York-style cheesecake and a Tahitian crème brûlée. Everyone bid the others adieu, promising to meet up the next day, whenever their agendas allowed. On the short ride back to the hotel, Luna sat silently clutching her purse. Chris could tell she was concocting something in her head.

  “Go on,” he urged her. “Spit it out.”

  She looked at him. “What are you talking about?”

  “What is going on in your head?” Chris encouraged her.

  “I think you should dust this for fingerprints.” She opened her purse and let him glance inside.

  “You want me to dust his business card for fingerprints? Why?”

  “Because I think he has something to do with that armoire.”

  Chris knew things were coming to a head. He would have to explain the kidnapping case to Luna so she wouldn’t go off like a gun half-cocked. “Can we please talk about this later?”

  “Yes, Marshal,” she said smugly.

  Within minutes they were back at the hotel. Ordinarily, they would stop for a nightcap, but it had been a long evening and they all had had their fair share of alcoholic beverages. When they reached their floor, Chris took out his key and hesitated. He was waiting for Chi-Chi and Cullen to say good night. But that would mean he wouldn’t be able to have a private conversation with Luna. Then he thought about Elle. He wondered if she knew anything about the kidnapping. He thought she must, considering how close she was to Camille. He turned to Chi-Chi and Cullen and said, “I have to go over a few things with Elle and Luna.” He looked at Elle, who had a very confused expression on her face. “Elle? Would you mind if we came into your room?”

  “Not at all. Please.” She gave Luna a questioning look.

  Luna frowned slightly in response as Elle opened her hotel room door. They all said good night to Chi-Chi and Cullen before going inside.

  Elle looked at Chris. “Is everything all right?”

  Luna stood with her hands folded across her chest.

  “Please. Sit down,” Chris said and gestured. Elle took a seat on the divan, Luna in a side chair. “When you mentioned Camille’s name, it rang a bell, but I couldn’t remember why.” He turned to Luna. “And you, Miss Smarty-Pants, kept bothering me about something bothering me. Well, here it is. Elle, do you remember when J.R. was abducted?”