I was silent, as were the others. Slowly, we raised our eyes one by one, looking around at each other.
And suddenly I was terrified, because it dawned on me that, as Selena had been insisting since Isabel disappeared, we didn’t know her that well. I had no idea what she was capable of, or what she planned to do to us, these women who’d played a crucial role in her husband’s betrayal of her and of their marriage.
“I’m sure you all have a lot of questions,” Isabel said. “We’ll get to all of them. But let’s have a toast first. This is still a moms’ night, after all.” We all stood silently, unsure of whether she was serious, but she waited for us to congregate around her to raise our glasses. “Cheers to new friends and new beginnings,” she declared pensively. “And of course, to our precious babies, for whom we would do anything. Anything.” We all clinked, but as our glasses touched, a sense of dread built within me as I wondered what “new beginnings” would entail, on Isabel’s terms, as well as what exactly was contained within that second “anything.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Thursday, October 8
Kira broke the silence. “So, have you been here the whole week?” I almost laughed. The question sounded way too casual, given the severity of the situation. But I supposed it was as good a place as any to start.
Isabel nodded. “Vanessa rented this place for me, and I haven’t seen a soul all week. My great-aunt had a cottage in Montauk when I was growing up, and I used to come out during the summers. Montauk is so quiet, especially in the fall; it’s the kind of place where if you want to be left alone, you can be. People here tend not to ask a lot of questions. I knew I could disappear here. Of course, I’ve been worried sick about Naomi and missing her like crazy. It’s not like it’s been a vacation. But this is all for her, in the long run, after all.”
I felt more confused than ever. “What about all the blood?” I ventured. “You’re not hurt? We thought you were dead.”
“Yes, well, that’s how it needed to look. Like something really, really bad had happened to me. Vanessa helped me with the blood; we drew and saved it in her office every few days for the past few weeks so that we’d have a lot. I couldn’t have it look like I just left on my own terms; I needed it to be a bloody scene because I hoped that, once my disappearance and likely murder was made public, there would be a parade of women coming forward, yourselves included, revealing that you had been with Connor and knew just what kind of man he was. After all, the honorable thing for any of you to do, after learning that this terrible man now had a missing wife, would be to offer up your piece of the puzzle.” Isabel slowly looked at each of us, gauging whether we understood.
“See, it couldn’t come from me,” she continued, eyes wide and earnest. “If I were to tell the world, ‘My husband is awful! He’s abusive and misogynistic and sociopathic,’ Connor would somehow turn it around and make it look like I was crazy, unwell. He’d find a way to come off looking like the good guy. He always does. And I’d be back in my prison of a marriage, where I’ve been for the past ten years, punishment awaiting me. But if other women, one after the other, were the ones to say, no, this is a bad man—and say so publicly, urgently, in the context of my being missing—then he’d never be able to hurt me or trap me again. I needed the spotlight on him, and I needed others to be the ones to shine that spotlight. My vision was a public takedown on a grand scale, woman after woman coming forward and sharing their story about what a predator he was, so that Connor could never recover from the shame and scandal—and, more importantly than revenge, I could finally be free of him.”
Kira spoke up. “I’m still not sure I understand. Were you trying to frame him for your murder?”
Isabel shook her head. “I knew he wouldn’t actually go down for a crime, since there was no crime, and no real evidence linking him to my disappearance. Besides, I always planned to return, and soon, too, for Naomi. But if his reputation were destroyed in the process of my disappearance, then he’d be knocked off his pedestal for good: he’d be fired from his job, and he’d always be googleable, so any woman he might meet in the future could quickly learn who he really is and save herself. I could finally divorce him easily without him threatening me. The eyes on him would be my protection.” She paused for a second, looking halfway hopeful as she described the plan as she’d imagined it. Then her face fell slightly, as if remembering that it hadn’t gone that way.