write off the possibility that he really did know her as paranoia. Staying away from him had been Shea doing her part to not tempt fate. She couldn’t have been doing more at that moment to avoid all humans. She couldn’t have come any closer to being a recluse than she’d been that week. Why, oh why, was the universe punishing her like this?
“I knew I recognized you,” he said self-righteously, punctuating his proclamation with a slap of his palm to the table. “I didn’t know Keenan had a place up here.” He motioned to himself in introduction. “Don Packard. I think we might’ve met at one of Baron’s things…”
Shea nodded dumbly, too paralyzed with panic and surprise to make small talk about how they probably had air kissed at one of the tiresome parties Keenan had dragged her to on Baron McIntyre’s yacht. For a split second, the notion flashed in her head that she had yet to answer anything and that now was her last chance to keep up the ruse.
“I’m so sorry…” she shook her head, as if shaking out fog, still not sure what she would say until the instant she said it. “I’m in a bit of a different head space here. Of course. I should have recognized you before.”
But as soon as she did speak, she knew how she had to play it. Because the other split-second flash in her consciousness came from the idea that had terrified her when Cliff had uttered it in front of the EDC. It had made no sense to even consider when circumstances had been different. But it was one she could absolutely execute on now.
“How long has Keenan had the place?”
Shea gritted her teeth and smiled against Don’s assumption—that anything she might be doing in Sapling was tied to Keenan, and to some house that Don was so sure that Keenan owned.
“Actually, a friend’s letting me borrow his place. He owns one of the Hamren estates up on Elk Hill.”
“You know, John Hamren’s a family friend…” Don slid into the seat across from her, half a beer still in hand. His face sported that same smug smile, and from the looks of it, he’d had a pretty wet lunch. “We’re the reason why he built in this town. My dad was the one who commissioned all of the houses.”
Shea hadn’t forgotten how to keep her eyes focused and interested rather than rolling like they always wanted to when forced to listen to people like him.
“Wow—I should’ve picked up on that a while ago.” Shea played her best version of simpering and dumb. “Donovan Packard is your father?”
The truth was, Shea had never heard of either of the two Donovan Packards in her New York circles and she still didn’t explicitly remember meeting Jr. on Baron’s yacht. It was probable that Don Sr. simply didn’t run with Keenan’s crowd. Between the fact that Keenan had never mentioned Don Jr. enough for him to stick out in Shea’s mind, and the fact that Don Jr. seemed to be kissing her ass now, meant that Keenan outranked Don Jr. somehow, and that the latter wanted in to Keenan’s clique.
Don Jr. shrugged a bit smugly. “The old guy’s still kicking. But he’s turned over most of the portfolio to me. That’s what I’m doing up here.”
Bingo.
Shea shook her head and smiled playfully. “You’re like Keenan. Always working. God forbid you take a little time for R and R…”
“Has Keenan been up?” Don Jr. asked. “I’ll bet he’d love this place. You should give him a call. Tell him to fly out this weekend. I’m working on a project that I think he’d really like.”
Shea raised a conspiratorial eyebrow. “You know how he gets. If he doesn’t get in on the ground floor, he doesn’t do the deal. Wait…” Shea held up a finger, pulled out her phone and began tapping on her phone screen. “I’m gonna text him right now.”
But instead of texting Keenan, she keyed in her unlock code, lowered the volume and navigated to the voice memo function, then keyed in a title for what she was about to record: “Conversation with Don Jr. at Gator’s.” She pressed the red button as if she were pressing send then rested the phone in her hand. She had also angled her palm in such a way that seemed casual, but that made it impossible for Don Jr. to see the screen.
“So tell me about your project,” Shea bubbled. “Is it another