The Sixes (34 page)

34

A
T JUST AFTER
seven on Friday night, as Phoebe was standing on her porch locking the front door, she heard a car pull up and instinctively she spun around. It was Glenda. Phoebe quickly crossed the yard to greet her.

“Hey,” Phoebe said as Glenda stepped from the car. She was dressed in jeans and wearing almost zero makeup. Phoebe reached out and hugged Glenda with her good arm. “I’m so glad to see you.”

“Did I catch you coming or going?” Glenda asked.

“Going. I was headed down to Tony’s for dinner. Want to come?”

“I just never saw you as a Tony’s girl. But, no, thanks. I need to get home and start organizing. I just dropped by to say hi.”

“How was your trip? Phoebe asked. A week and a half ago, Glenda had resigned from the college and driven up to Boston with Brandon to visit former colleagues and figure out a strategy for herself.

“Okay,” Glenda said. “I thought of jumping off the Prudential building a couple of times, but I guess I’m just not that morose of a chick. At least I got some decent advice while I was there.”

“Are there people other than me who think you shouldn’t have resigned?”

“I appreciate you having my back, Fee, but at some point resigning became a foregone conclusion. Do you remember how I took off that day, saying I was going to see a donor? I didn’t want to lay too much on you at the time, but I actually drove to New York to talk to a lawyer about my situation. Even then he said that because of everything that had happened, I’d be lucky to keep my job, and when the truth about Mark came out, it was like I’d hit the third rail. Better to resign and avoid the extra trauma of being canned.”

“So what’s your plan from here?” Phoebe asked.

“I’m not sure. The good news, according to everybody I’ve spoken to, is that this may not be a career ender as far as academia goes. But I’ll definitely have to look for a job lower down the ladder. Of course, it may be time to think of a career change. Or maybe
I’ll
write a book—
My Life with a Dirty Rotten Liar
.”

“Have you learned any more about what happened with Mark?”

“Not much. It looks like he became involved with Blair last semester. I’m sure he thinks she made a play for him because he’s just so gorgeous and charming, but I bet he was the person in power she targeted for that fifth circle you talked about. It also seems they cooked up the drug thing together. The Sixes were able to build their secret fund, and he was able to pay off his gambling debts. Apparently he’s been at that again for a while.”

“I never thought to ask you. How did you happen to come upon Mark and me that night?”

“As I was coming home from New York, I saw him jumping into his car. He must have just heard your voicemail message. He looked like a man on a serious mission, and I decided to follow him.”

“How are you feeling about him right now?”

“He used young women at my college to deal drugs. He put me and Brandon at risk. He threatened you with a gun. Those aren’t things I’ll ever forgive. But I don’t want to cut Brandon off from him.”

“Does that mean you want to stay around here?”

“Not in the immediate vicinity. Kids are taunting Brandon at school, and I can’t bear being near the college. I’m going to stay with my brother in New Jersey for a few weeks, just to get my bearings, and then I might look for a job in New York. There’s a lot of opportunity there and it’s close enough that Brandon can see Mark while he’s still out on bail.”

“Here’s an idea, then,” Phoebe said. “With the advance for my new book, I won’t need to sublet my apartment after the first of the year, so why don’t you and Brandon stay there for a while? And that way I can come and visit.”

Glenda smiled and said it might be an offer she couldn’t refuse.

“You need any help packing?” Phoebe asked.

“No, the school has graciously let me hire packers. Probably because they want to make sure I’m out in four days. It’s going to be
so
humiliating when the moving truck pulls up.”

“Trust me, Glenda. Your life isn’t going to go according to your original plan, but it will be good again—sooner than you can imagine.”

“Enough about me. How are
you
doing?”

“Almost mended. Any more updates on the Sixes? I’ve heard they’ve rounded more than a few of them up.”

“Yeah. When Blair and Gwen were arrested the first time, the other members kept quiet. But now they’re all worried about being swept up in the drug scandal, so they’re coming forward and throwing each other under the bus.”

“Wow, maybe I can finally toss out my night-light.”

Glenda laughed. “That’s not to say we’ll root out all the bullying and meanness on campus. I’m afraid that’s a sign of the times.”

“But there’ll always be the kids who rise above it, too. I was thinking the other day how this has all been so much about power. The Sixes wanted to exert their power over everyone else, just like Fortuna did. And the only way you fight them is to find some power in yourself. I was upset at first when I found out how entrenched Lily was in the group, but she was compensating for a loss in her own life. And though she knew Blair would probably come after her, she did ultimately decide to break free.”

“You were always afraid you didn’t help her that day. But maybe something you said really did. Helped her find that power.”

Phoebe shrugged. “I hope,” she said. “But of course I’ll never know.”

After Glenda left, Phoebe drove down to Tony’s. There was a parking spot directly in front of the building on Bridge Street; as she stepped onto the sparkly sidewalk, Phoebe could smell the river in the crisp evening air. It had been just over a month since she’d stood there the night Lily had been reported missing, and yet in some ways it seemed like a year ago.

Taking a deep breath, she entered the restaurant. There were two guys at the bar tonight—a big, beefy dude at the very end, watching a ball game with his trucker hat tipped back on his head, and close to the door, Duncan Shaw. She knew he’d be there. She’d overheard Jan mention to someone that she and Miles were trying to lure Duncan out tonight, but he was having dinner alone at Tony’s.

“Hello, Phoebe,” he said when he turned and saw her. He looked startled. She’d set eyes on him only once since she’d been out of the hospital, from across the quad late one afternoon, but she was pretty sure he hadn’t noticed her.

“Would—would you mind if I sat down for a minute?” she asked. There was a half-empty espresso cup in front of him, as well as the bill for dinner—with his credit card and the receipt lying on top. She had just managed to catch him.

“Sure, go ahead,” he said neutrally. He scooted his stool over just a hair to make it easier for her to climb onto the one next to him. “Tony’s off tonight, by the way. Family wedding this weekend.”

“Actually, it wasn’t him I was hoping to see,” she said. “A spy told me you were going to be here.”

“Ahh.” He seemed to work the comment over in his mind. “How are you doing, anyway? I hope Glenda told you I called a couple of times to see how you were.”

“Yes, she did, thanks,” Phoebe said.

“It must have been awful,” Duncan said, studying her. “I’m sure there were moments when you felt like you were reliving the nightmare you’d gone through in boarding school.”

“Yes,” she said softly. “Though maybe in the end that helped me. I had to drag it out in the open and finally try to deal with it.”

“And did you? Find a way to deal with it?”

“I think so. Mostly by acknowledging how big an effect it really had on me. Not just the abduction and the day I spent trapped in the crawl space, but the months of being ostracized and bullied. For years I’d tried to put it behind me and pretend I hadn’t allowed it to have any lasting impact. But that was a lie. Of course, I wish I could have seen the light without so many people being hurt at the same time.”

“I heard that the board accepted Glenda’s resignation. How’s she doing?”

“It’s been tough, but I know she won’t let this undo her.”

“I had the sense you weren’t crazy about Mark. But did you ever suspect he might be capable of what he did?”

The news about Mark’s involvement in a drug ring had been all over the campus and town. But only Phoebe and Glenda knew about his connection to Fortuna.

“I don’t think Mark is inherently an evil person,” Phoebe said quietly. “But Glenda’s success ate at him more than I ever realized.”

The bartender, who’d been in the back, moseyed over and scooped up Duncan’s credit card. When he asked if Phoebe wanted anything, she ordered a glass of red wine.

“So with Glenda on her way out of Lyle, where does that leave you?” Duncan asked after the bartender had wandered off.

“I’m going to finish out the semester, of course, but I’m not going to teach next year. It would feel like a betrayal with Glenda gone.”

“You’ll head back to New York then?”

“Actually, I’m going to stick around town through the spring,” she replied. “I’ve decided to write a book about what happened to me. Part true-crime story—I’ve always liked writers like Anne Rule and Bailey Weggins—but also part memoir.”

“That’s terrific,” Duncan said. His response seemed genuine to her. “So no celebrity book then?”

“Nope. The Johnny Depps of the world can sleep a little easier. Actually, I think I’ve been sick of the whole celebrity genre longer than I realized. That may be why I wasn’t paying enough attention to what the researcher on my last book was doing.” Phoebe smiled. “Oh, and don’t worry. The memoir part will focus mostly on what happened in boarding school. I won’t be delving into any romantic details from my life now.”

“Ahh, so my fifteen minutes of fame will have to be postponed,” Duncan said. He smiled at her, but to her dismay he quickly signed the receipt and slipped his card into his wallet.

“I know you’re just about to leave, so I won’t hold you up,” Phoebe said hurriedly. “But the reason I stopped by was to tell you how sorry I am about what I said to you that day by the Grove. It was awful, and I hope you can accept my apology.”

Duncan looked off for a second, his deep brown eyes betraying no hint of how he would answer. He returned his gaze to her and shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

“That sounds a bit tentative,” Phoebe said.

He exhaled a little, making a frustrated sound, and turned both hands palm side up.

“Well, it’s not like you stepped on my
toe
, Phoebe. You suggested that I might have murdered Lily Mack. There’s a bit more of an ouch factor with something like that.”

She winced as he said the words. “I know,” she said. “Again, I’m sorry. I—I’d begun to feel like everything was closing in on me then. And I just wasn’t thinking straight.”

Duncan’s body seemed to relax. “Apology accepted, okay?”

“Thank you,” she said.

He slid from the stool. Just behind him was a row of pegs, and he tugged his coat off one of them.

“Are you going to be okay getting back to campus?” he asked. She didn’t allow herself to feel excited by the comment. The words suggested an invitation for a ride, but his tone had been totally perfunctory.

“Yes, I have my car,” she said. “I’ll have a bite to eat and then head home.”

“Well, enjoy. Good night.”

“Actually,” Phoebe said as he turned to go, “there’s one more thing I’d like to say. Do you have an extra minute?”

“Okay,” he said after a second’s hesitation. To her relief, he didn’t appear annoyed. He leaned against the bar, looking at her.

“Like I said, I’ve had a chance to really think about my life lately,” Phoebe said. “And I see now how much I always tended to hold back—you know—in personal situations. Maybe that’s why I liked writing about celebrities—I could observe them and dig around about them, but I could keep my distance, too. My former boyfriend called recently and told me I suffered from a failure to get my feet wet emotionally.”

Duncan didn’t say anything, just studied her. She could tell he was wondering where she was going with all this. Phoebe grabbed another breath.

“That day by the woods, you told me that you thought we had something special, and I did, too,” she said. “But at the same time I think I was looking for an excuse to pull back, and that’s why I let myself doubt you. It was a stupid mistake, and I regret it terribly. I know you’ll find this crazy—really crazy. But I’m hoping you’ll give me another chance.”

She saw his eyes widen. He hadn’t seen this coming.

He took a deep breath, held it, and looked off toward the dining room, searching, she assumed, for a response.

“I—I just don’t know what to say,” he said. “It just seemed over that day.”

“Don’t tell me you’re dating Val now,” she said, trying to be playful. She cringed inside at her clunky attempt at humor, but Duncan actually chuckled.

“No,” he said. “I’m not dating anyone. Believe it or not, this has been hard for me, too, Phoebe.”

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” Phoebe said. She felt a surge of guilt but at the same time wondered: if their split had really troubled him, there might still be something there. “You don’t have to give me an answer tonight, but will you just think about what I asked?”

He held her eyes, parting his lips just a little.

“All right,” he said after a couple of seconds. “I’ll think about it.”

He said good-bye and slipped out of the restaurant. The waiter finally returned with her wine. She took a long sip, set the glass down, and smiled. Duncan may not have given her an answer, but he’d done something that left her hopeful: he had nodded his head unconsciously when he’d spoken. And Phoebe knew—from so many years observing people while she interviewed them—that that was what people did when, without knowing it yet, they planned to say yes.

Acknowledgments

Some terrific people took time out of their demanding jobs to help me in the research for
The Sixes
, and I am very indebted to them: Jonathan Birbeck, Esq., chief deputy district attorney, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania; Cheryl Brown, associate vice chancellor, University of California at Davis; Barbara Butcher, chief of staff, New York City Medical Examiner; Dr. Chet Lerner, chief, Section of Infectious Diseases, New York Downtown Hospital; Dr. Mark Howell, psychotherapist; Dr. Jill Murray, psychotherapist and author; author Sheila Weller; Kenneth Wagner, Ph.D., CLM, water resources manager.

Thank you as well to Kathy Schneider for all her encouragement and support; Sandy Dijkstra for her awesome agenting; Sally Kim for being such a terrific editor; and Maya Ziv for her fabulous eleventh-hour guidance; and Rachel Elinsky for her continuous awesome work on the PR front.