Page 55 of Promise Me Never

“Hi, Savannah. I’m Isabel. Thanks for meeting me.”

Savannah shook her hand and watched her as she sat down. Her hair was long, like in the picture, and straight and shiny. She was very pretty and looked to be around Savannah’s age, maybe a few years older, and was dressed fashionably and expensively. Savannah noticed the Gucci handbag and the Prada label on her coat when she removed it.

“I have to admit, I wasn’t sure about coming,” Savannah said. “How did you know my name? Have you been following me?”

“I’ll explain.”

The server came back and took Isabel’s order—a vodka martini.

After the server withdrew, Isabel leaned back in her chair. “I’ve known Bennett all my life. We grew up together. His sister was my best friend. We have a”—she blew out a breath, then went on—“complicated relationship.”

Savannah was quiet, waiting for her to continue.

“I won’t go into all of it now. Over the years, I’ve been his emotional support. Been through all the ups and downs of his many relationships, starting with his family.” The server came back with her drink, and Isabel took a sip of her martini. “There’ve been a succession of women in his life. But it wasn’t until recently that I started worrying. That maybe these women he claimed had ghosted him were actually harmed by him.”

“I don’t understand.”

Isabel sighed. “Let me back up. He was engaged twice before he and Poppy were married. He claimed both women broke up with him by text.”

“I know all about that. He was very hurt,” Savannah said. In truth she had never discussed it with him. He knew that Marion had mentioned it to Savannah and had started to explain, but she had reminded him of their pledge to look forward, not backward. But that was none of Isabel’s business.

“Yes, I thought it was cruel, but not uncommon these days. But then Poppy died. I stayed with him for a while to help him get himself together. He seemed devastated. He promised me that he was going to focus on his writing, not get involved with anyone. While I was staying with him, a friend of hers, Henri, said some things that I dismissed at the time.”

“I met him. Worked at the Mast Café, right?”

Isabel nodded. “He told me that he didn’t believe her death was an accident. That Bennett had killed her. I didn’t believe it at first. Even when he told me that Poppy was convinced that Bennett was hiding things from her.”

“Hiding what things?”

“He still keeps his office locked, right?”

“Yes.”

“Poppy began to wonder why. One day she got inside. She called Henri and told him she was going to confront Bennett about what she’d found. He pressed her for details, but she said she needed to know if it was true before saying anything. Henri said she was very upset. And then—”

“She drowned,” Savannah finished for her. She thought of Bennett’s high school girlfriend that had been murdered.

Isabel stared into her glass for a moment. “I knew Henri and Bennett never got along, so I just attributed his accusations to that. But then Felicia called me when Bennett brought you home.”

“She called you about me?”

“She cares deeply for Bennett. But she said something that gave me pause.”

“What?”

“She was going off on a tangent about how all these women took advantage of him over the years. And how they treated her like she was their maid, leaving their stuff all over the house for her to clean up. I asked her what she meant. She said Devon, the woman he was engaged to before Poppy, had left her insulin in the medicine cabinet.”

“So?”

“I didn’t even know she was diabetic. But if she had really packed up her things and then texted a goodbye to Bennett, why would she leave her medicine?”

“What are you saying? That he killed her and forgot to get rid of her insulin?”

Isabel shrugs. “That’s not something you’d forget! Maybe it’s nothing by itself. But after what happened to Poppy and thinking about how both of the women before her just up and disappeared, it made me wonder.”

Savannah was skeptical. This was a very thin thread.

Isabel went on. “It got me thinking. So I started digging into Angela and Devon and guess what I found?”