“There are only three,” Gemma said, pulling Harper from her thoughts.

“What?” Harper looked over to see Penn, Thea, and Lexi walking down the street.

It was pouring rain, but they didn’t have any jackets on and didn’t seem to mind. If it had been anybody else, she would’ve offered them a ride, but she purposely sped up as she drove past them.

“There’s only three.” Gemma turned to her sister. “What happened to the fourth one?”

“I don’t know.” Harper shook her head. “Maybe she’s sick.”

“Nah, I don’t think so.” Gemma rested her head on the seat and leaned back. “What was her name?”

“Arista, I think,” Harper said. She’d heard their names from Marcy, who’d heard them from Pearl, who usually was pretty accurate when it came to town gossip.

“Arista,” Gemma repeated. “What a stupid name.”

“I’m sure plenty of people think our names are stupid,” Harper pointed out. “It’s not nice to make fun of something people can’t control.”

“I’m not making fun of her. I’m just saying.” Gemma turned around to watch the diminishing figures of the three girls. “Do you think they killed her?”

“Don’t say things like that,” Harper said, although the idea had actually crossed her mind. “That’s how rumors get started.”

“I’m not spreading a rumor.” Gemma rolled her eyes. “I’m asking you what you think.”

“Of course I don’t think they killed her.” Harper hoped she sounded more convinced than she felt. “She’s probably sick or she went back home or something. I’m sure everything is fine.”

“But there is something off with those girls,” Gemma said reflectively, more to herself than to Harper. “There’s something not quite right.”

“They’re just pretty girls. That’s all.”

“But nobody knows where they came from,” Gemma insisted.

“It’s tourist season. Nobody knows where anybody’s from.” Harper rounded a corner and turned to her sister, meaning to admonish her for feeding the gossip.

“Watch out!” Gemma screamed, and Harper slammed on the brakes just in time to stop herself from driving over Penn and Thea.

For a minute neither Harper nor Gemma said anything, not that Harper could hear anything over the pounding of her own heart. Penn and Thea just stood directly in front of the Sable, staring through the windshield at them.

When Lexi knocked on the window next to Gemma, they yelped in surprise. Gemma glanced back at Harper, as if unsure what to do.

“Roll down the window,” Harper said hurriedly, and Gemma complied. She leaned forward and forced a smile at Lexi. “Sorry about that. We didn’t see you there.”

“It’s no problem.” Lexi smiled broadly, oblivious to the rain pouring down her blond hair. “We were just looking for directions.”

“Directions?” Harper asked.

“Yeah, we got a little lost, and we wanted to go back to the bay.” Lexi leaned her slender arms on the car and looked down at Gemma. “You know how to get down to the bay, don’t you? We always see you there.”