“All right,” David said. “I guess we know now which one you’re fucking. Everything here looks just fabulous.” He lifted a foot, and with one push the table went over, plates breaking, ice skittering into the chicory. Tyler had to jerk Claire back to keep her from getting hit by the falling debris.

“How did you find me?” Sydney asked, to get him to look at her, not Claire. If he kept that up, Tyler was going to do something about it and get shot too. She glanced at Henry. Evanelle had taken a blue crocheted scarf out of her tote bag and was pressing it to his shoulder. There was blood everywhere.

“I found you with these, you stupid bitch.” He held up a stack of photos. One mistake. One of many mistakes. She’d done everything to deserve this, but Henry hadn’t. Claire hadn’t. Maybe she should try to run, give the others time to call for help. Or grab an icicle-size piece of glass from the broken dishes on the ground and try to stab him. She thought she was getting stronger here, but he could still terrify her into submission. She didn’t have the courage to stand up to him then, and she didn’t know how to now.

David was carelessly leafing through the photos. “This one in particular was of great help. No More Bascom! North Carolina Stinks!” He held up the photograph of her mother at the Alamo. The tree shrugged, as if recognizing Lorelei. He tossed the photos at Sydney as she backed away from him, away from the table and everyone she loved there.

“Do you realize how you made me look? I brought Tom home from L.A. Imagine my surprise when you and Bay weren’t there.” Her fingertips had gone numb with that news. Tom was his college buddy and business partner in L.A. Looking foolish in front of him had driven David to find her with a gun. He hated to look foolish. She knew that. She knew that over every inch of her body. “Stop backing away, Cindy. I know what you’re doing. You don’t want me,” he turned and faced Claire, “to notice her. And who might you be?”

“I’m Claire,” she said fiercely. “Sydney’s sister.”

“Sydney,” he laughed, shaking his head. “I still can’t get over that. Sister, hmm? You’re taller, more sturdy. You don’t look like you’d break as easily. You’re not quite as pretty, I think, but you have bigger tits. But you’re probably just as stupid or you would have known not to take in what was mine.”

Tyler stepped in front of Claire, and David never turned down a fight. He took a step toward Tyler, but Sydney said, “Don’t!”