Page 68 of The Scarab's Game

Jenn’s brow furrowed deeper, conflict playing out on her face. She’d been so adamant about defending Dante, but now?

Gently, I said, “The scarab was stolen, Jenn, and now they’re selling it.”

“This says the painting…” She looked up from my phone, her face hardening again. “Back up and tell me what’s going on with Noah.”

So much for the diversion.

Chapter 24

Jenn

Emmett sighed,running his nails over his short beard. His eyes, usually warm and inviting like melted chocolate, held a wariness that made me want to shake him. “We found out in April. He showed up out of the blue while we were overseas.”

“And why did no one tell me?” I demanded, anger burning in my gut. “I’m supposed to be Scarlett’s best friend.”

Rav put a hand on my back and dipped his head. “Nothing that happens here changes how much she cares about you.”

He was always so freaking calm and reasonable. I wanted to be mad! But no one else was rising to the occasion.

“Scarlett was in shock,” Emmett explained, his voice irritatingly soft. “She was devastated and lost. And you know how she gets when she’s upset.”

I scoffed, crossing my arms. “I’d say she normally clams up because I think that’s what you’re going for, but she hasn’t acted like anything was wrong. In April, she…” The anger in my stomach settled into a slow roll. “April is when Malcolm showed up. He knows, too, doesn’t he? A man she only just met knows that her formerly dead fiancé is actually alive, months before I do?”

Emmett nodded slowly.

“And…” I flung a hand toward Drew. “The newbie? He knew?”

Everyone looked at Emmett, who said nothing more than “Yes.”

I shrugged away from Rav’s attempt at comfort and took a few steps to the garden’s edge, where the wall overlooked the yacht club. The sun glinting across the Mediterranean seemed garish and fake, like my relationship with my apparent best friend. Everything felt wrong, like I’d entered some bizarre alternate reality.

Scarlett went through that without me.I leaned against the short wall, watching small boats motor in and out of the port.Am I such a terrible friend she couldn’t confide in me?

Emmett came up next to me. He touched my arm, and I sidestepped away from him.

“I was there when Scarlett buried Noah’s ashes.” The memory of that day, the grief and finality of it all, flashed through my mind. Scarlettdidget quiet when things went wrong, but I’d thought it was because she’d lost him. “Whose ashes were they?”

“It was just ash. Not a person.” Emmett folded his arms and turned to face me, one hip resting against the wall. His words were barely audible over the distant sounds of the marina—the creaking of boats, the clink of rigging, the muffled voices.

“I was by her side every day after he died.” Or didn’t die? “I don’t understand.”

“We haven’t been able to piece everything together.” He took a deep breath, glancing at his team, who’d given us space, then back at me. “But the truth is, Noah was in a car alone while we were working overseas. He was driving too fast and went off the road into a river. It was a long way down from a high bridge. So when we couldn’t find the car, and there was no trace of him, through police or hospitals, we all assumed he was dead.”

I shook my head. None of this made sense. “So why concoct the whole story? Why didn’t Scarlett tell me what happened? Why bring ashes home and bury them?”

“We’ll have to talk to Scarlett about why she made the decisions she did,” Emmett said. “Maybe she wanted to pretend there was no chance, rather than spending a lifetime hoping she might see him again someday. And if everyone around her believed the same thing, I think that made it easier for her.”

“Easier? She kept all his clothes.” How many times had I told her to pack them up, instead of wearing his shirts when she was alone? “Why’s he on Massimo’s yacht? And why didn’t he come home with Scarlett in April?”

She’d brought Malcolm home instead.

Emmett’s jaw tightened. “He’s working with an organization called the Fenix Group. Thieves who steal antiquities from around the world.”

“And Noah…” I looked down at my hands, flexing them against the rough stone. How was any of this true? “You think Dante’s involved. That’s why you didn’t want me going near him.”

They should have been questions. But everything was clicking into place now.

At the same time, nothing made any sense in my world.