“Suze?”

I blink at the phone. Does he mean— He doesn’t mean—

“Tarkie?” I begin in slight dread. “What do you—”

“You must have seen us, Becky,” says Tarkie, his voice gruff. “You must have realized things weren’t good between Suze and me. Well, they hit a real low in L.A.”

“It was a stressy time for everyone,” I put in quickly.

“No, it was really bad for us.”

I feel a kind of knotting in my stomach. I’ve never had a conversation like this with Tarkie before. Suze and Tarkie have never gone wrong before. They can’t go wrong. I feel like the world isn’t right if Suze and Tarkie aren’t happy.

“You must have realized,” Tarkie repeats.

“I…well…” I stammer. “I knew you were spending a lot of time with Bryce, but—”

“Yes, and why do you think that was?” Tarkie sounds so forceful, I jump. “I’m sorry,” he backtracks immediately. “I didn’t mean to lose my cool like that.”

Tarkie is such a gentleman. I’ve barely ever heard him even snap before. My head is spinning with worry and distress, and all I can think is: Suze.

“Tarkie, you have to talk to Suze,” I say. “Please. She’s so worried about you, she’s in a total state—”

“I can’t talk to her,” Tarkie interrupts me. “Not right now. Becky, I can’t cope with her. She’s so irrational. She makes accusations, she jumps down my throat….I needed to get away. Your father is wonderful. He’s so balanced.”

“But Suze needs you!”

“I’ll be back. We’ll only be a few days.”

“She needs you now!”

“Well, maybe our marriage needs some time apart!” he practically shouts.

There’s nothing I can say to that. I just stand there, quivering in shock, trying to think of how to turn this conversation around to a better place.

“So…why did you phone?” I say finally.

“I think you should warn Alicia about Bryce. I’ve found out what he’s up to.”

“Oh wow.” My heart starts to beat faster. We’ve all known Bryce was up to no good—but what is it? A cult? A secret organization? Oh God, he’s not a terrorist, is he?

“Bryce has been trying to get money out of me for a while. He talked of his ‘cause,’ but he was secretive as to what exactly this ‘cause’ was.”

My heart lurches. A “cause.” Oh my God, it’s true. I stare at the phone in dread, imagining Bryce yelling instructions at a secret army of followers at a training camp in South America. Or hacking into Google, maybe.

“Now he’s finally revealed the truth,” Tarkie continues. “And his plan is…”

“Yes?” I prompt breathlessly.

“To set up a rival center to Golden Peace.”

“Oh,” I say, after a short silence. “Oh, right.”

I have to confess: I feel just a tad let down. I mean, obviously I’m glad Bryce isn’t a terrorist or cult leader…but still. A new business venture. Bor-ing.

“He’s been collecting a database of former clients of Golden Peace, many of whom were unhappy with their experience,” Tarquin is telling me. “He’s been working on it secretly. Alicia and her husband should watch out. Bryce is going to be extremely aggressive. I’m not the only person he’s targeting for money, so I’m sure he’ll succeed.”