She took a few deep breaths, focusing on the fact that Blaire would be there soon, that she had guards at the house. Unfortunately, the last thing anxiety did was accede to logic, but she had to try to calm down. She returned to her bedroom, and when she moved toward the bed, she noticed light spilling from the bathroom doorway. She hadn’t used this bathroom since the mice had been left there, so why would the light be on? She took a deep breath and forced herself to open the door, exhaling when she saw that there were no dead animals waiting for her. There was nothing amiss. Someone had just flicked the light on, that was all. Maybe she had done it herself when she’d come upstairs, distracted as she’d been by the news of her parents’ fight.

She turned it off and went to check on Annabelle, who was safe in bed, asleep. Kate tiptoed over to her and kissed her head, then backed out of the room, nodding to the guard on duty as she did.

As she came down the stairs, she nodded at the man sitting in the front hallway. Was that Jeff or Frank? She was having a hard time keeping them all straight. “Ms. Barrington is coming over shortly.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Can you please go around to all the rooms and double-check that all the windows are locked?”

He gave her a strange look, and then nodded. “Yes, ma’am, the house is secure, but I can check again.”

“Please do. I’ll check the kitchen.”

All of the locks in the kitchen were secure, she discovered with relief. What was up with these nursery rhymes, though? Did they have a deeper meaning? She grabbed her iPad from the counter, went to Google, and typed “Pop Goes the Weasel Meaning.” She clicked through article after article. One theory was that it was about pawning a coat to pay for a drink, another was that it referred to a spinning wheel. The only common thread seemed to be that it referred to the poor. Was it another dig at her for her wealth?

Her head was pounding. She poured herself a glass of water and downed a Valium from the high cabinet next to the sink, trying to shake off the feeling that someone was watching her.

12

Blaire was on the way back to the Four Seasons from Gordon’s when Kate called. By the time she got to the house, Kate looked frantic, dark circles under her eyes.

“Kate, what’s going on? I got here as fast as I could.”

Blaire didn’t miss the large black bruise on Kate’s cheek, but before she could ask about it, Kate grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the stairs.