A twenty-pound turkey waiting in the refrigerator.
Patricia stood in the doorway admiring everything.
“You see?” she said. “This is what happens when everyone does their part.”
Claire looked at her.
“Yes.”
Then Patricia went upstairs.
Ethan stayed behind.
“You behaved yourself,” he said.
Claire said nothing.
He crouched beside the chain.
“Tomorrow will be perfect if you keep it that way.”
Claire finally looked directly at him.
“Ethan?”
“What?”
“Did you ever love me?”
He stared at her for a moment.
Then he laughed.
“Don't start this again.”
He walked away.
That was when Claire pressed the emergency button hidden beneath her phone case.
Nothing happened immediately.
And that was exactly what she wanted.
At 7:12 the next morning, the first guests arrived.
At 7:30, Patricia's charity friends were filling the living room.
At 8:00, Ethan's law partners arrived.
At 8:15, someone raised a glass to “family.”
Patricia beamed.
She had won.
Or so she thought.
Then every phone in the house chimed at once.
Claire looked up from the kitchen.
A message had been sent to every guest.
Not from her.
From an address they all recognized.
The Dublin Police Department.
