we should keep out of it. Just clear out completely and let Drew do his thing.”
“Listen, we can find out things that Drew can’t,” Megan said. “This case has to be solved for your cousin’s sake and your whole family.”
“Why? No one is crying about Whit Fairfield being dead, Megan. He wasn’t a good person. I’m not saying I’m glad he was murdered or anything, but I’m not broken up about it either.”
“It has to be solved because I know how people are,” Megan said. “And you do too. If the police can’t prove who killed Whit Fairfield, then everyone will just assume the most obvious suspect did it and the police couldn’t find enough evidence to arrest him.”
Katherine said, “And right now…”
“Right now Nico is the most obvious suspect.” Toni groaned. “Okay, you’re right. Count me in.”
Glenn was going to kill her.
Chapter 9
On Sunday afternoon Toni put on her only dress, fixed her short hair in loose curls with a tailored headband, and added a dab of makeup before she drove her vintage Mustang out of the vineyard and up the hill to Moonstone Cove Country Club.
It was hard not to tug at her dress. She hadn’t worn one since the last Lanza cousin wedding, which had been in Santa Maria, and it felt more like a costume than an actual item of clothing.
In a way, it was a costume. They were going into the foreign environment of “ladies who lunch” on Megan’s invite in order to see if they could gather more info on Marissa Dusi and why Whit Fairfield had hooked up with her. Since the country club had a dress code for Sunday brunch, Toni had donned her costume.
They also wanted to gather more gossip about Fairfield’s murder, and there was no better place to overhear gossip than the country club.
The winding driveway leading to the country club was lined by olive trees and the rolling lawns of the golf course. The main building sat on a hill overlooking the ocean, and Toni had to admit the view was stunning.
She pulled into the lot and found a spot under a cedar to park her car. The club’s parking lot was filled with a wide variety of luxury cars that screamed “conspicuous consumption” and very little taste. She recognized more than one customer by their license plate.
Megan was waiting near the front of the building, looking at her phone.
“Hey.”
The blond woman looked up and blinked. “You’re wearing a dress.”
“I am. Isn’t that the dress code?”
“Dress, skirt, or dress slacks. Collars for the men. I usually wear a dress. It’s the easiest.”
“Since I don’t own slacks and leather pants probably aren’t considered dressy enough, I figured the outfit I wore to my cousin Marie’s wedding would have to do.”
“You look nice!” Megan cocked her head. “Weird, but nice.”
“I think that’s what Marie said too.” She leaned against the railing and stared at the view. “I didn’t know you were a member here.”
“It’s become a point of contention in the divorce.” Megan smirked. “As of right now, we’re both still on the member roll. I don’t particularly want the membership, but I also know Rodney does because all this” —she waved a hand in a general circle— “is his thing.”
“So it’s leverage.”
“Absofuckinglutely.” The corner of her perfectly painted red lip turned up. “I gave up a thriving business to support that man on our move out here. He’s going to work for every penny he gets out of our marriage.”
Toni watched Megan from behind her sunglasses. The devastated woman who’d walked in on her husband cheating was long gone. All Toni saw in Megan anymore—at least relative to her ex-husband—was a ruthless businesswoman.
“I genuinely feel sorry for any man who has to negotiate with you.”
Megan glanced around. “When we’re not here, I’ll let you in on the latest, but the last thing I want is anyone around here getting the slightest clue about my personal business.” She waved at a carefully coiffed older woman walking into the club. “Mrs. Sharp, how are you? Your hair is stunning. Did you just have it done?”
“I certainly did.”
“It’s just darling. And I heard about your granddaughter getting engaged. How sweet is that? Are y’all excited? You must be.”
“We are—he’s a lovely young man…”
As they waited for Katherine and the brunch crowd began to roll into the country club, Toni watched Megan playing her part of the rich, well-connected divorcée. She could tell that the older women especially were charmed by Megan’s Southern