Kate sighed. “Something at the reading of the will. It struck me at the time, but I dismissed it.” She was staring at the floor again, miles away, it seemed. Blaire decided not to push her further today, sensing that Kate had said all she wanted on the topic.

Anderson was right about one thing: Kate had good reason to be suspicious of everyone around her. And Blaire was not going to stop until she had eliminated each one of them.

17

When Kate and Simon picked the lot on which they were going to build their dream house, she’d been happy about the seclusion and the expanse of woods that the house backed up to. Now it seemed like the perfect place for a killer to hide. The next morning, she strode with purpose around the house, peering out each window to see if anyone had snuck onto the property and was lurking somewhere in the dense brush. Satisfying herself that all was secure, she began her rounds again, opening every closet door in every room, searching for anyone or anything that might be hiding. She knew the house was surrounded by security, but it made her feel better to actually do something.

Christmas was in two days, and she was dreading it. The loss of her mother was too close to the holidays for Kate to believe she could ever forget the horror now attached to it. The threatening words of the nursery rhymes played over and over in her head, as if on a loop, and the image of those poor brutalized animals was seared into her brain.

She’d declined all the invitations they’d received, even low-key lunch dates with friends, needing to be at home. But when Selby had called to invite them to dinner, she’d caught Kate in a moment of lonesomeness, and she had relented.

Kate was quiet on the drive to Selby and Carter’s. She sat with Simon and Annabelle in the back seat of the black Suburban supplied by the security company and driven by their bodyguard. The doors of the vehicle were apparently reinforced steel, the windows bulletproof. After yesterday, though, she was convinced that all the security in the world wasn’t enough to save her. This person wasn’t coming after her with a gun. Whoever it was would get in close and personal, just like they had with her mother.

Simon and Annabelle chatted the entire way, but Kate only half listened. She was beginning to feel the familiar signs: her pulse quickening, her breathing becoming shallow. This hadn’t been a good idea.

“Simon, we should go home. This was a mistake.”

“Kate, please. Try to relax.” He put a reassuring hand on her arm. “It will do you good to get out a little, to be with good friends.”

“Maybe.” She supposed he could be right.