Chapter Forty-Three Petra
Chapter Forty-Three
PETRA
While the other girls were enjoying free time, I slip out for a cigarette. Below me, Holly Stone, and her so-called assistant are arriving back at the house. I’ve had time to check out Adrianna’s new goth bridesmaid, and confirmed she worked for Simone’s law firm.
But her assistant speaks too well and had far too much decorum to be a PA. Not to mention, she doesn’t seem to have assigned him a single task since we landed. Not so much as a glass of water.
Now they think no one is watching, it’s even more obvious. Everything about how they relate to one another speaks of equals. Friends. Maybe even something more.
Slowly, I dial a number on my cell, sucking thoughtfully on my cigarette, turning everything over. Holly Stone. Simone.
After the court case, I thought I’d never see her again. But when Adrianna was kidnapped, Leopold was smart enough to figure there was some connection to his daughter being snatched, and our old school. He set about getting close to Simone to find out more.
What happened next, I should have expected, but didn’t.
Georgia sent me a formal invitation to the Plaza, ahead of the wedding demo the following day. The theme was ‘bridal sleepover’. One of Georgia Kensington’s clever publicity stunts, with a big reveal of Adrianna’s secret bridesmaid list to the press.
Weird now, to think that was the last time we saw Simone alive.
The idea was we’d all arrive singly in pre-decided designer PJs and negligees, and react with shock and delight as each successive bridesmaid was revealed. Naturally, I’d been asked to show up second to last, to capture the drama of Ophelia and Silky’s horrified reactions.
I sauntered into the room, relishing their discomfort.
I’d expected Ophelia to be in the line-up, since her make-up business had taken off. Silky was a surprise, though not completely.
But the joke was on me. As I took my place for pictures next to the other girls, the final bridesmaid walked in.
‘Simone Walters,’ announced Adrianna, beaming her camera-ready smile, ‘will be my head bridesmaid.’
A ripple of shock had gone through all of us. We all knew head bridesmaid was Leopold’s choice. Why had he picked her?
If I hadn’t have been so blindsided myself, I might have enjoyed watching Silky and Ophelia attempt to hide their horror.
It was common knowledge that Simone wanted to cover Adrianna’s kidnap for Wrongly Accused.
‘We need a lawyer to determine the prenup,’ Georgia explained to the girls. ‘The issue of Elysium’s ownership is complicated.’
‘But property isn’t Simone’s area of law,’ said Ophelia, looking betrayed. I wondered if Adrianna had hinted she would be head bridesmaid. We all knew Georgia couldn’t do it – she can’t pose for a picture to save her life.
The evening had passed in a blur, as I struggled with all the questions and emotions of being in the same room as Simone.
We staged pictures with bowls of popcorn, and had a fake pillow fight.
When the photographers left, we all excused ourselves to our rooms along the same corridor.
Simone grabbed my wrist as I pressed my gold key card to the door.
‘Bunny.’
‘It’s Petra now,’ I snapped. ‘I’m nothing like the girl you knew at school.’
‘I hate what happened between us,’ she said quietly.
I shook my head in disbelief. ‘You had ten years to apologize. Why are you here, Simone?’ It was still strange. Saying her name aloud after all the years apart.
She’d glanced back along the hotel corridor.
‘Penance,’ she said.
My stomach lurched. ‘What?’ It came out as a whisper. As a grown-woman, Simone was tiny, to my model height. But somehow, I still saw her as the bigger, older girl.
‘Why would you owe Adrianna Kensington penance?’
She shook her head, frowning. ‘Bunny. Don’t you see? The kidnap. Silky’s court case. It’s all connected.’
The call to my editor, Max, connects, breaking my thoughts.
‘Petra? What’s up?’
‘I think I found the NYPD undercover.’
‘OK.’
‘He’s with the new bridesmaid. Pretending to work as her PA. She must be in on it too.’
‘Did they find anything yet?’
‘I don’t know.’ I raise my camera and take a snap of Holly and her assistant. Then zoom in. They both seem to be looking at … my heart skips. A birthday invitation. I remember seeing those Tiffany blue cards like it was yesterday. I never got one. Leopold had to make a call to get me on the list.
‘Maybe,’ I correct myself. ‘It looks like they might have been searching the island. Found something.’
‘Watch and find out.’
I nod, wondering how to use this information to my best advantage. Wouldn’t Leopold be interested to know there’s an NYPD undercover? And I was the one to point him out?
Either way, I need to get that invitation.