Page 16 of Perfect Liar

“Yes, quite well. They spent time together in London.”

Eight years earlier, Isabel studied for an entire summer in London.

I dug into my pocket for the sketch and showed him Ethan’s name and number.

“Is this his phone number?”

“It is.”

“Were they close, Will?”

“I wasn’t with them, but my brother behaves like they were quite close.”

I nodded, fighting back tears. I trusted what he said. I trusted him, and that made no sense. Nothing at all made any sense to me. I choked on the silent panic strangling me.

Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

One damn stupid fucking tear rolled down my face.

“Your sister withheld quite a lot. Once I have the beach house locked down, we’ll talk. I’ll tell you what I know.”

I wiped hard at my cheek and then nodded at our driver.

“Who’s this?”

“John, my youngest brother.”

The distraction helped me, so I asked more questions.

“How many brothers do you have?”

“There are four of us.”

“Tell me all the names and their ages.”

The kindness in his eyes showed me he understood.

“John’s seventeen. Thomas is twenty-eight. And Ethan’s thirty-one.”

“And you? How old are you, Will?”

A small smile hit his mouth for just a second.

“Thirty.”

John lifted his eyes to the rearview mirror to get Will’s attention.

I couldn’t believe how much John looked like Will.

Lissie grumbled, shifted her weight, lifted her face to wipe at her tears, and I used my shirt to help her. Clinging to me with both hands, she tipped up her chin to look at me.

I jerked my gaze back to the mirror.

John’s eyes…Lissie’s...my niece had the same beautiful fiery-blue eyes.

Will watched me as I made the comparison.

“When was she born?” he asked.