Chapter 10: The Housewarming

I left my daughter with the woman from room four and went to Brooke's party in a borrowed green dress.

Colter drove.

A folder lay on his lap, and he didn't open it.

"Tell me again what you'll do," he said.

"Smile. Thank her for having me."

"And then?"

"Ask one question."

"Only one. A second question gives them a place to hide."

"I know," I said.

He pulled up outside a glass tower with a doorman.

Unit 4B was on the fourth floor.

Brooke opened the door in a white silk dress, with a glass of champagne in her hand.

For one second her face fell, and I saw her look past me for the cameras.

Then she smiled so wide it looked painful.

"Annabel! Everyone, she came!"

Forty people turned around.

I knew some of them.

Women from Dennis's church, and two of Sheldon's partners with their wives, and a couple who had donated to the Fund at my own wedding.

Brooke hugged me, hard, and whispered in my ear.

"You look awful. Did you wear that on purpose?"

"I wore it on purpose," I said.

The apartment had white furniture, white rugs and a long window over the city.

It was a beautiful place.

Brooke's son sat in a playpen by the window, banging a plastic cup.

I walked through the room slowly, and people made way for me, and their eyes slid sideways to the man behind me.

"Is that the formula guy?" a woman whispered.

"He's the driver," I said, without turning around.

Dennis came out of the kitchen in a blue blazer with a tray of crackers.

"There she is! Our girl!"

He hugged me, and he smelled of whiskey.

Carol stood at the kitchen island with a knife and a lemon cake.

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