Zanne surveyed the party, a hell of her own creation with rings of torment she’d have to cross to reach the main house. In the first circle, grown adults made fools of themselves playing games meant for children. Kathy Jahan climbed gingerly into a bumper car and then tiptoed out again, finding no delicate way to sit in her short skirt. The co-executive producers of Marina del Mayhem pumped their way around the track like Laurel and Hardy. In the next circle, the Stablers’ guests queued up at the bars to get their Moscow mules served in baby bottles cast in hand-hammered copper. The staff had special-ordered the bottles six months ago, before the theme was even solid—a fifty-thousand-dollar bet that paid off, but might not have. And who would care if it hadn’t? At worst, they would have shoved another tower of boxes into one of the many storage units they rented; at best, Holly would get her show-stopping conversation piece. In the next ring of fire, the guests on the terrace giggled to the opening hook of “Hit Me Baby One More Time” as they took turns suckling each other. They eeked as Bill snaked past with Curious Mabel on his shoulder, stopping to retrieve each fedora the monkey snatched. All around, yellow-suited servers jostled past bearing trays of white wine and mini bites. For the life of her, Zanne couldn’t think why she’d wanted Gaby to come. This party was a huge success, and it was awful. Only Marty had the right idea, standing in his shirtsleeves under the shade of the giraffe, steering clear of the allegory while sipping an old-fashioned in a plain glass.

Fuck this, Zanne thought. She took the cottage path to the main house instead, where she found Jane in the solarium, finishing up a call.

“On my way,” Jane said to the person on the other end of the line. She hung up, then told Zanne, “Serafina Clark just arrived.”

“Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” Zanne said, and then she paused. She didn’t want to make things worse for Caitlyn Alvarez than she already had. On the other hand, if the Stablers were blindsided by Serafina’s reporting, it wouldn’t matter how many feats Zanne had pulled off today—the monkey, the fedoras, the baby bottles, the oncologist for Nikole, or the promotion. She had to tell Jane what was going on, sisterhood or not.

“A reporter from On Set called me this afternoon, asking for comment on Caitlyn Alvarez.”

“Okay, now I’m getting concerned. She cornered Holly at the marina today, too. What’s the deal with Caitlyn? Is there something I should know?”