Jeanette

The air was close and still and oppressively hot as Kate and Jeanette ambled through the remains of the May Plantation. Even in its current woeful state of disrepair, it wasn't hard to see the grandeur that had once been; burnished wood floors, a curving staircase that led to an intricately carved balustrade on the second floor. Looking up, Jeanette could imagine the daughters of the plantation owner standing up there in belled gowns, ready to make their entrance as debutantes. Girls with faces and hair and mannerisms like Kate's.

The old and neglected plantation house had long been a destination for horny Skylin teens, a place where they could party as loud as they wanted. The walls were tagged with names and dates from summer nights long past. Jeanette found her brother Derek's name on a wall near the kitchen. The place was a legend, and now it was hers, and Kate's.

"It's a wreck," Kate said to her distractedly.

"It'll do for what you've got in mind," replied Jeanette. There were workmen outside already, putting up temporary fencing and signs warning against trespassing. Tomorrow a crew was coming to clean the place up and restore the cellar to Jeanette's specifications.

"The foundation is sound," Jeanette muttered half to herself. "If you need a place to keep a secret, this is it."

Kate clucked in agreement. "You know," she said, "It won't be long before people find out you bought this place, even with the dummy LLC name on the signs. What are you gonna tell people when they ask why?"

Jeanette thought about it for a few pensive seconds. "I'll tell them batshit crazy Jeanette Turner felt robbed of never being invited out here to party, so I bought the place to make up for it, like my own private prom. That's what they'll all think anyway. Let them wonder."

Martin Harris' house was now the clandestine meeting place for the kids of Skylin; it was where they went to get high, or low, to escape their parents or become someone else for the night. The place had been left untouched since Harris' death and Kate's rescue, pending next of kin who had put off coming to clean the place out and take whatever belongings of Martin's they might want. A lot of his things had already been stolen, though much remained. Many did not want the Harris curse anywhere near their own homes. The basement floor was still stained with his blood and still reeked of Kate's fear and despair. No amount of cleaning would ever wash away what had happened there. It smelled like lies and hopelessness and regret that would never die.

Here, it just smelled like history, and there was a sort of anticipatory hum in the air. Jeanette studied Kate sidelong as they moved toward the door to the cellar. Though Jeanette had dropped the defamation lawsuit against Kate, her father Rod had still settled with her out of court for almost two million dollars for the damage done to her reputation and future earning potential. Jeanette had sold the rights to a book about her experience for another million. The Wallis family had been good to her.

It had been Jeanette who tipped the police about Harris the day they had come to his door and set the events that led up to his death in motion. It had also been Jeanette who tipped the police about Mallory having Harris's snow globe in her possession, making Mallory a person of interest and staining her forever. Jeanette had gone down into Harris' basement with Kate to stand at her side while she faced her demons, yet still Kate and Mallory called her a creep and worse behind her back, and Jeanette knew it. Mallory, who had once been her best friend and had turned on her when she saw the chance to climb the social ladder via Kate's friendship. Fat lot of good it had done her; Mallory was the town pariah now.

Justice would indeed be done, but maybe not exactly as Kate was imagining. Karma could be a real bitch sometimes. Jeanette knew who had pulled the trigger that night. It was her secret to keep, or use, or sell.