Ocean Beach (50 page)

Avery, Deirdre, and Nicole spilled out of the dining room smiling and high-fiving as the movie stars strode into the foyer.

“Well done, Kyra!” Nicole called. Deirdre nodded her agreement. Avery opened the door and ushered the couple out.

There were shouts and the pop of flashbulbs outside. The bodyguards snapped to attention.

From the window they watched the two movie stars pull themselves up, put smiles on their faces, and walk arm in arm down the front steps toward the photographers.

They came home from the hospital late the next evening far more subdued than they’d been after the Deranian-Kays’ departure. The ventilator had been removed and Max had been transferred to a regular room. They took turns sitting with him and trying to snag his attention, but he was weak and only awake for short periods. Maddie had the distinct impression that everyone at the hospital, including Max, was waiting for him to die.

Maddie had fallen into a stupor of her own, staring at the photos she’d placed next to Max’s bed. Something about them kept drawing her attention, something that wasn’t quite right. Or maybe it was just that she couldn’t bear to watch Max slipping away.

“I’m glad Dustin…’kay.” His voice was raspy, most likely from the ventilator and lack of use. “Wish Aaron…’kay.”

Maddie scooted forward on the chair and leaned closer to Max. “Are you thirsty?” She held the cup of water and the straw up to his lips. He took a few sips, but she could tell from the look in his eyes that he only did it to please her. She held on to his papery-skinned hand, careful not to squeeze it too hard as she tried to entreat him to hang on.

Back at The Millicent, there was little left to do but worry. The house was finished, the transformation documented. Theoretically, the show was complete and it was time to
move on. Yet all of them lingered. Visiting with Max each day, spending their sunsets at the hospital. The only “good thing” any of them could come up with was the possibility of Max recovering and coming home to take possession of The Millicent.

Madeline fell asleep early and slept deeply; her dreams were unusually vivid. At first they were filled with Daniel Deranian and Dustin on an amusement-park roller coaster, their faces side by side, their smiles and shrieks of joy identical. And then she was with Max and Millie in the days after Aaron disappeared. She felt Millie’s pain and panic; she felt the desolation. Felt the sharp splintering when the new life she was carrying detached itself from her womb and seeped out of her along with the flood of tears. A barrage of faces floated in a briny bubble of what Maddie somehow knew was amniotic fluid.

She heard Max shout and then Pamela Gentry’s face was there, sharp and angry as it shimmered in the light of the chandelier. With a menacing snarl, she landed on The Millicent’s Moroccan tile floor and reached behind her polka-dot bikini to rip the tail from between her legs so that she could throw it at Max and Millie.

Max’s voice sounded in Maddie’s ear.
Pamela Gentry wasn’t a leave-quietly-with-her-tail-tucked-between-her-legs kind of person.
The words reverberated in her head. They were filled with a desperate despair.

At four
A.M.,
she sat straight up in bed, her sweaty pajamas stuck to her body despite the air-conditioning, the sheets twisted around her. Frantic, she raced downstairs to the dining room table, where Deirdre had left the “House” envelope materials and began to paw through the papers and photos. She needed to be careful and not jump to any
conclusions. She tiptoed back upstairs to retrieve Kyra’s laptop, her fingers shaking too badly to even attempt to search for confirmation on her phone’s tiny screen. But even as she told herself to calm down and not get carried away, deep in her heart she knew that the unbelievable had happened. She’d figured out what had happened to Aaron Golden.

A hand shook Avery’s shoulder. She kept her eyes closed and resisted, hoping against hope that whoever it was would give up and go away. She did
not
want to hear the words
rise and shine!

The hand went away and was replaced by the smell of coffee. “Boy, Deirdre, you really play dirty,” she said as her eyes flew open. But when they focused on the coffee cup, the hand holding it belonged to Maddie.

“What’s going on?” Avery asked, taking in the look of excitement on Maddie’s face.

“I need you to wake up!” Maddie said in a rush. “I’ve been waving this cup under your nose forever. I need to talk to you.”

Avery yawned and sat up against the pillows, reaching for the coffee. She took a long, wonderful sip. “Now this is how I’d like to wake up every morning,” she said. “If I ever sign another talent contract, I’m writing in ‘coffee in bed’ every morning.”

“There’s no time for rhapsodizing,” Maddie said quickly, barely taking a moment for a roll of her eyes. “Deirdre’s in the bathroom and Nikki’s awake. Hurry up and come downstairs. But remind Deirdre to bring her phone. I need her to place a call.”

“Isn’t it kind of early for all this?” Avery stared down into her now-empty coffee cup.

“You’re lucky I didn’t wake you up like I wanted to at four
A.M.
,” Maddie replied. “Hurry up and get downstairs.” She’d already turned and headed for the door, the cup in her hand. “I’ll have another cup waiting for you,” she said, holding out the irresistible caffeine carrot.

Avery threw her legs over the side of the bed and sat for a moment yawning. Deirdre came out of the bathroom fully dressed and made up. “We need to head downstairs before Madeline explodes,” she said.

Footsteps sounded out in the hallway, followed by a knock on the door. It opened and Nicole poked her head in. “Come on,” she said. “Maddie’s started sending texts and it isn’t pretty.” She squinted down at her phone. “Any idea what ‘Wnpin chicnw’ means?”

“No.” Avery moved to the dresser. “But tell her I’ll be down in a minute.” She pulled on the first clothes she came across then went into the bathroom to wash her face, brush her teeth, and pull a comb through her hair.

In the kitchen she found them all assembled around the kitchen table. As promised, a steaming mug of coffee sat at the empty place. A granola bar sat beside it.

Maddie handed Deirdre her cell phone. “I want you to call Chicago. I have a question I want to ask Jacob Madsen.”

“What?” Deirdre looked at her phone and then at
Maddie. “I think you need to explain what’s got you all worked up before we call anyone. Besides, it’s only, what, seven
A.M.
in Chicago. I only have his office number. I seriously doubt anyone’s there yet.”

“What’s going on, Mom?” Kyra asked.

Avery looked at Madeline, who was practically levitating with excitement. “Just take a deep breath,” she said. “We don’t want you hyperventilating. Tell us why you’re so worked up.”

Madeline nodded. “Yes, yes, of course. Sorry. It’s just…well, I woke up at four this morning and all of the sudden I just knew…” She slowed herself down. “I mean I thought I knew.” She paused, drew a deep breath, then said, “Let me lay it all out for you and you tell me if I’m crazy or not.”

When they’d all agreed, Maddie picked up the sheet with Pamela Gentry Madsen’s obituary and the photo of her son, Ethan Madsen. “When I first saw this photo of Ethan Madsen, all I thought was that he didn’t look much like his mother. But then I spent all those days sitting with Max at the hospital and looking at the age progression of Aaron Golden—who looked so much like his father—and something just kept kind of niggling at the back of my mind. About four o’clock this morning I realized that the person Ethan Madsen looked most like was Aaron Golden’s age-progressed picture.”

There was a silence.

“But that’s…” Avery’s voice trailed off, as if she was unable to find the right word.

“I know,” Maddie said. “It seemed ridiculous. I mean, how could that happen? Unless Max and Pamela had something going on. But Max told me the day the chandelier went up that Pamela had come on to him and that he’d
said no. And that before he had to say anything about it, Millie fired Pamela.”

“Because the wife isn’t always the last to know,” Nicole said thoughtfully.

“Max also told me that Pamela Gentry was not a leave-quietly-with-her-tail-tucked-between-her-legs kind of person,” Maddie said. “And I don’t think she did.”

Maddie paused for breath and, Avery thought, to let them catch up. Maddie had been stewing over this since four
A.M.
; some of them were still waiting for the caffeine to kick in.

“I don’t think Pamela left town until she’d gotten her revenge by taking the thing that mattered most to Max and Millie.”

“Jesus,” Deirdre said.

“Yeah,” Maddie replied. “I pulled up the computer copy of the age progression Giraldi had done. And I found a better shot of Ethan Madsen on the design firm’s website, and, well, it took me a while, but I finally managed to put them side by side on the screen and they looked uncannily alike.” She passed Kyra’s laptop, with the split screen around the table.

Avery peered closely. The resemblance was marked.

Madeline clicked the mouse a few times. “This is a photo of Martin Madsen, Pamela’s husband.” She set the screen in the middle of the table and turned it so that everyone could see. “Ethan doesn’t look any more like his father than he looks like his mother.”

She paused and let that one sink in. Then she pulled up a shot of Max and Millie. A few more keystrokes and there was a split screen of them next to Ethan.

Avery looked carefully at Ethan Madsen and then at Max and Millie.

“Ethan Madsen looks like Max,” Deirdre said.

“With Millie’s eyes and coloring,” Nicole added.

“Yes,” Maddie agreed. “That’s exactly what I thought.”

“I don’t know what’s more amazing,” Avery said, trying to lighten the moment. “All of this information or the fact that someone who can’t text was able to figure all of this out on a computer.”

There were a few smiles but no laughter as everyone focused on taking it all in.

“So after I finished freaking out and pacing and barely stopping myself from waking you all up, I Googled a couple of baby-name websites,” Maddie continued. “And look at this.”

She showed them the two sites she’d bookmarked. “You remember how Max told us that Aaron meant ‘strong’? Well, so does Ethan. And both names have Hebrew origins.”

“Wow,” Avery said.

“And Pamela would have had total access to Max and Millie’s house, not only as their friend but as their designer,” Deirdre said. “I mean I always have copies of my client’s house keys because you’re in and out all the time to take care of things. And she would have known their schedule. It would have just been a matter of watching and waiting for the right time.”

“And she’d been here so much over the years, none of the neighbors would have thought anything at all of seeing her car here,” Kyra said. “They certainly wouldn’t have mentioned it to the police.”

“It all fits,” Maddie said. “The puzzle pieces started slamming together in a way I never imagined.” She looked at them, unable to contain her excitement. “I guess I just need you to tell me that I haven’t gone completely around the bend and started jumping to bizarre conclusions.”