The Herd(79)

Hana’s knees buckled and she sank to the floor. A ripping sensation in my chest: What had she…could she…? I kneeled next to her. “Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out. Just tell me what happened.”

She squeezed her eyes shut. My heart beat wildly, a scared creature in a jar. I wanted to hit Pause, stop before I learned whatever awful thing I couldn’t unhear. Snow drummed against the window; the lights flickered once, threatening to go out.

Mikki tiptoed over and sat near us. “We knew this woman, Jinny,” she began, “and she used to sell us drugs. She went missing nine years ago, after she came up here with us. To Beverly. To the Walshes’.”

And they told me, taking turns, words spilling out like wine. I pictured it as they spoke: Jinny’s flail on the slippery pool tiles, blood seeping into the chlorinated water. Gary—a developer, a boss, commanding by definition—calmly instructing them to pack their things and leave.

They finished speaking and the silence hovered like low-hanging clouds. Finally, I shook my head. “And nobody tried to argue? No one called 911?”

“Eleanor told us everything would be fine, and we believed her.” Mikki raised her eyebrows. “She’s very convincing.”

“So you just returned to school like nothing had happened?”

Hana shrugged. “It was horrible. We saw Jinny’s picture on the news and everything, and all the awful pleas from her mother for anyone with information to step forward. But somehow…everyone assumed she’d just run away. And we were all so busy getting ready for finals. I know that sounds…unthinkable, but it’s true.”

Another long silence. Mikki flicked away a tear.

“Did you feel guilty?” I asked.

“Of course we did,” Hana snapped. “We felt terrible. But what could we do? Life goes on. Life got good. We got great jobs, Gleam took off…” She shook her head. “And for eight years, there was nothing. And then I got the first blackmail letter.” She finally finished, recounting what had really happened when she’d rushed to Daniel’s apartment on Saturday. How she’d taken Eleanor’s final blackmail letter home with her and watched it burn to ash, the December 31 deadline at the bottom blazing white and then crumbling into gray.

I crossed my arms. “Isn’t there a paper trail? Connecting you to the blackmail?”

Mikki shook her head. “We all got Bitcoin accounts. It was surprisingly easy.”

“Jesus.” I rubbed my brow. “But now Eleanor is about to miss a payment.”

Hana nodded. “I don’t know what’ll happen on the first, but it can’t be good.”

Something clicked, one of life’s minor mysteries: This was why, after graduation, Hana had dropped everything and moved to L.A. Like Eleanor, like Dad, she’d tried to run.

Mikki cleared her throat. “Cameron told me something. Right when—after we hooked up. You know how guys get. All vulnerable.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “He said he knew about Jinny. All these years. From Gary. I don’t know why or how, but he did.”

“Jesus,” Hana said.

“But I don’t think he’d tell me that if he was the one blackmailing us.” She wiped a tear, smearing it across her cheek. “I told him I didn’t want to talk about it. But he said that last year, he started sort of obsessing over Jinny’s mom. She’s still looking for her daughter, which is incredibly sad. And she’s not doing all that well, she’s struggled with addiction; maybe that made Cameron see her as a kindred spirit.”

Hana’s eyes widened and Mikki looked at her. “He didn’t contact her or anything. I don’t even think he talked to Ted about it. But I guess at Christmas last year, Cameron cornered Eleanor and told her he thought she should come clean. For Jinny’s mom’s sake. And she was like, ‘Fuck no, and if you say a word to anyone, I’ll turn on you so fast. I’ll say you were entirely responsible for Jinny’s death, and people will believe me.’?”

“Eleanor said that? She threatened Cameron?” I shook my head, amazed.

Hana rubbed her temples. “I believe it. She could be…ruthless. It’s part of her brand.”

Mikki nodded. “And then this year, around Thanksgiving, apparently Eleanor told her family about the Herd buyout, and word got around to the Corrigans. And Cameron’s first thought—it sounds so noble, I don’t know if he’s full of shit, but this is what he told me—his first thought was, ‘If Eleanor’s about to become filthy rich, she has to set up a fund in Jinny’s name.’ Somehow help the family that’d fallen apart after we took her away.” When Mikki looked up tears varnished her eyes, but her voice remained steady. “That’s as far as he got when you came by.”

“So you had no idea he was in New York the night Eleanor…went missing?” Killed, murdered, stabbed to death—words I couldn’t utter right now. She shook her head.

Hana wound her hands together. “I saw him the next day.” Mikki and I uttered shocked, guttural noises. “The day after Eleanor disappeared, I mean. Wednesday. I went over to Eleanor’s apartment—I told myself it was just to look for clues, but I was looking for blackmail notes, anything that would tie us to Jinny. I hoped she’d been smart enough to destroy them, but I had to check.”