Chapter 17
Naomi pulls up to the Millbrook Diner in Uncle Frankie’s white sedan, twenty minutes before she and Emily Dutton have agreed to meet.
The diner is an old-fashioned structure, adorned with stainless-steel siding and an LED neon sign above the entrance.
It’s in the center of town, with rows of vintage lampposts and perfectly trimmed trees lining the street, their leaves a mix of green, yellow, and orange, giving it a charming aesthetic akin to the setting of a Hallmark movie.
But seeing as she’s there to discuss the murder of one of the town’s former residents, Naomi isn’t charmed, only able to focus on the gray clouds rolling in.
Once seated in a corner booth, her server, Logan, grins widely as he hands her the menu.
He looks like he’s popped out of a children’s book.
Long and lanky, with a wide, friendly smile.
A bell rings and they both turn their attention to the entrance, where the hostess is pointing Emily in their direction.
Emily’s resemblance to Jade is as prominent in person as it is on her profile.
She looks similar to her photos, but on Instagram she’s usually more done-up.
This morning, she’s dressed casually in a pair of white sneakers and a gray sweatsuit that hides her figure.
Her short brown hair is pulled tight into a low bun, slicked back with what looks like a bottle of hairspray, with a full face of heavily contoured makeup that doesn’t seem to match her attire.
Naomi stands as Emily comes over. Logan gives Emily a menu and excuses himself.
“Thank you so much for agreeing to meet with me.” Naomi extends her hand to Emily, who shakes it before taking a seat.
“Yeah, no problem. You were actually the only journalist to reach out, so…”
“Really?” Naomi asks, taken aback.
Emily nods. “Yeah, everyone else seems to care more about getting clicks than the truth. They’re all focused on Colton and Harlow, no one really seems that interested in Jade.”
“Typical.” Naomi grunts in annoyance and shakes her head, before looking Emily in the eye. “Well, I care very much about what happened to Jade.”
Logan interrupts to take their order. A black coffee and pastry for Naomi; a Reuben and Diet Coke for Emily.
Once Logan walks away, Emily leans back and studies Naomi. “Well, I guess you know what it’s like. To lose a sister.”
Naomi swallows the lump in her throat, biting her lip to distract from the stinging in her eyes.
“Yeah, I do, unfortunately.” She stares at the window as she answers, imagining Faye walking toward her, smiling as her blonde hair blows in the breeze.
A car drives past and her ghost disappears.
“And while I’ve made peace with her death, there are still so many unanswered questions, closure I’ll never get. But I’m hoping I can get it for Jade.”
Emily’s shoulders loosen. She bites her lip, nodding in understanding.
“Do you mind if I take some notes?” Naomi asks, pulling out her notebook and pen.
Emily shrugs. “Sure.”
“So first of all, I’m so sorry for what happened to your sister.
And I know it must be really hard to talk about, but can you walk me through everything?
What happened…” Naomi opens and closes her mouth, struggling to find the right words without coming across as insensitive.
“Were you surprised when you learned they were reopening the investigation into her death after all these years?”
Emily laughs, crossing her arms. “Uh yeah, just a little. Wouldn’t you be?” Naomi’s face flushes, slightly embarrassed at the obvious question. Emily softens. “But I always thought something was off anyway. No one listened to me before, though, said I was just in denial.” She rolls her teary eyes.
“What do you mean by ‘something was off’?” Naomi asks.
“Like, it just didn’t seem right that my sister would die like that, you know?”
Naomi holds her question as Logan walks over with their drinks.
“‘Like that’, as in… overdose?”
Emily swirls her straw, staring intently at her drink. “Jade wasn’t into drugs—not the kind in her system when they found her. I mean, she liked to party, sometimes she would take molly or smoke a little weed, but heroin?” She scoffs. “No.”
Naomi chooses her next words carefully. “Moving to a big city, though… trying to make it in the modeling and music world… two of the most brutal industries… that can cause a lot of stress on anyone and that stuff would have been everywhere. You don’t think she maybe started hanging out with the wrong people?
Or that it all became too much for her? It isn’t uncommon for aspiring actors, models, musicians to turn to drugs. ” She feels her cheeks redden.
Emily is shaking her head before Naomi can even finish.
“No, believe me. I literally visited her like two weeks before she died. And there was no way she died of ‘laced heroin.’” She puts air quotes around the last two words.
“She was on a health cleanse, for Christ’s sake.
She was so conscious of everything she put into her body.
” Emily takes a sip of her soda and laughs. “Well, not everything, I guess.”
Naomi raises an eyebrow.
Once she swallows, Emily dabs the corner of her mouth, a nostalgic grin on her face. “Let’s just say, if Jade had any vice… it wasn’t drugs. But she… I guess you can say she was promiscuous.”
Naomi smirks. “Oh?”
Emily nods as she takes another sip of her drink.
Naomi bites her lip, thinking. “Do you think it’s possible Jade slept with Colton? And Harlow…”
“Killed her in a jealous rage?” Emily interjects.
“It’s honestly so ridiculous.” She throws her hands in the air and laughs.
“Like, as if Harlow Hayes killed my sister? And then what, staged an overdose to cover it up?” She exhales shakily and dabs her eye with the side of her napkin.
“But yeah, maybe Jade finally picked the wrong guy. I guess it’s the best explanation we have… ”
Naomi nods, agreeing that the theory Harlow snapped after Colton cheated with Jade is the most plausible. And if Jade was as “adventurous” in the bedroom as Emily said, maybe they made a sex tape.
Video evidence, she thinks, recalling Leo’s tip on what the prosecution had against her.
“Have the police shared any of the evidence with you and your family yet? Video evidence, maybe? Or something else they have against Harlow that ties her to Jade’s death?
Because this is the thing that’s stumping me.
How they managed to connect it after all these years.
Especially since we know the DNA tests haven’t even come back yet… ”
“Don’t even get me started on the police,” Emily says angrily.
“They’ve just ruined our lives all over again, without even giving us any real details.
Our lawyer is pressing them, but all they’re telling us is they have ‘substantial evidence’ against her and we have to wait until the probable cause affidavit is read out at the next hearing. ”
It shocks Naomi that even Jade’s family doesn’t know. “Did they mention anything about the connection between Harlow and Jade, or Jade and Colton? Do you know if they ever even met for certain?”
Emily shakes her head. “Nope, nothing. The only concrete connection I’m aware of at all is Sam Brixton.
I think he’s Harlow’s and Colton’s manager?
The last party Jade went to, the night before she went missing—the night before she died, I guess, based on the autopsy’s findings—was at Sam’s mansion in the Hamptons… ”
Naomi freezes, alarm bells going off. “The night before the VMAs… fuck.”
“What?” Emily sits up in her seat, looking concerned.
Naomi fidgets with her fork before explaining the VMAs connection and how she thinks Harlow falling during that performance the night after the party was a reaction to something that upset her.
“I have a friend in the police, and he mentioned that when Jade’s body was found, there might have been bruising around her neck…”
Naomi can tell from Emily’s expression, changing between horror, anger, and despair, that this is news to her.
“Can you recall any mention of that on the autopsy?”
“Of bruising? Like she was…” She runs her hand over her throat and then shakes her head, sniffling. “No, not that I remember. And I never saw her body. Closed-casket funeral too, so…” Naomi’s heart thumps, remembering Faye’s closed-casket funeral.
Naomi nods, wondering why this would have been left off the autopsy report if the detective Leo spoke to was so sure about it. They told them to stop looking into it.
A pit forms in Naomi’s stomach as the words “major cover-up” flash across her mind in bright-red letters.
“Is there any way you can send me a copy of Jade’s autopsy? I won’t publish it or anything, I just want to verify a few things.”
Emily hesitates before agreeing. “Yeah, sure. I know it was sent to my email, so I’ll forward it to you.”
“Thanks.”
They both smile at Logan as he sets down their food.
“Are you going to write about the… strangling… thing?” Emily asks once Logan leaves, before taking a bite of her sandwich. Naomi’s relieved she brought this up.
“Is that okay with you?” She prays Emily doesn’t say no, because she’s going to have to run the article either way. “I won’t include any of our conversation here if you don’t want me to, but you can have a comment included if you want. Or not.”
Emily shrugs as she takes another bite, looking at the window as she chews. “Write what you want. Maybe it’ll actually prompt the police to start giving us more information, put some pressure on them.”
“Hopefully.”
“You can include what I said about her not being into drugs. How I always thought something was off.”
“Amazing, thank you,” Naomi responds.
“But nothing about the sex stuff, okay? She’d haunt me forever.” She laughs. “Not that I’d hate that.” She smiles, tears filling her eyes again.
“I know what you mean,” Naomi says, understanding full well.
“If you don’t mind me asking,” Emily says, “what happened to your sister?”
Naomi swallows and takes a sip of her water before answering.
“Well, it’s kind of similar to your story, sadly.
Her name was Faye, she was an aspiring musician too, like Jade.
Died about six months after, in March 2022.
Her body was found not far from our hometown, in Poughkeepsie.
Cause of death was officially listed as drug overdose and/or smoke inhalation.
There was a fire, but she also had a lot of drugs in her system, also ‘laced heroin’, aka fentanyl, hence why she didn’t escape… ”
“Shit,” Emily says, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. “Wonder if you’ll get a phone call next saying she’s another victim of Harlow.”
Naomi laughs awkwardly at the ridiculous thought. But the burn at the back of her throat, the creeping chill on her neck, and the sudden sound of her heartbeat thrashing in her ears makes the notion impossible to ignore.