LN Cronan

I am starting to come around to the thinking of if this isn't about Cary and the pain meds, then somewhere along the way in Chapters 7 and 8, Eva went out partying while Gideon sat home, part of the act for the cops' benefit. Per those snippets, she drunk dialed him, and he met her at the club. Now she's nursing a hangover. Â Chapter one starts on Wednesday evening, and it looks like chapter two is them waking up together Thursday morning. Chapter three is likely Thursday at work. So by chapter 8, we're likely into the weekend now.

Between the Brett-related snippet and the Chapter 4 snapshot, Cary apparently had been hanging around with Eva and Brett in Times Square at some music PR event. So he's clearly turned the corner on recovering from his injuries. Â I wonder whether Eva, spending stolen time with Gideon and now totally focused on him, might have been in the dark about the true status of Cary and his pain meds, Â -- but that in Chapter 8, she comes home to a crisis situation, like Cary passed out cold on the couch. Â And yes, sending Cary to a short-term stint in rehab to detox him from drug withdrawal might be what happens here. It's one of the medical options sometimes used in cases like this: where a recovering drug addict absolutely must be prescribed powerful narcotics, short term, because of very serious injuries, then discovers, when it is time to start weaning off the medication, it's impossible to do so on her/her own.

 Yes, it could look like someone home with a cold or the flu, but I think that's deceptive. Cary's past drug problems have come up both in Bared and Reflected, and I think there's very good reason Sylvia put that material in both novels. Plus, I can't see a single day of the 14-or-so days of Entwined being devoted to something trivial like a cold or flu -- especially because the story takes place in the summer.

When last we saw Cary, 24 hours before Reflected ended, he was still recuperating at home from the injuries he sustained three-plus weeks earlier when Nathan beat him with a baseball bat. He had been starting to feel better -- enough to s***** Tatianna, the model's he's had a friends-with-benefits relationship with. But he was still on pain meds, and Eva reminded him he shouldn't be drinking because of that (she'd brought home sparkling cider for them to drink with some take-out.) Â Cary is a recovering drug addict, and he was worried about having to take pain medication. Â Even when medically necessary, because of injuries or surgery, taking narcotic prescription drugs is very high risk for recovering addicts. Â So my guess is Chapter 8 is where we get a medical update on Cary. It's now been going on a month since he was injured, and it may be time for him to start weaning off the medicine. Is he able to do it easily, or does he face a new medical battle because addictive illness has kicked in again.

Snapshot #8Â http://www.sylviaday.com/2013/04/12/entwined-snapshot-8/ Â The picture shows medication: two different types of pills in blister packs plus a bottle of some sort of liquid medication. The meds are on a glass coffee table. In the background is a white couch. On it are a leopard print lap blanket and a small cushion, striped fabric.Â

It's Friday! Twice-weekly snapshot will come this morning. Today will be a glimpse into Chapter 8.  Recap of 1-7:  1. The word "Press" super-imposed over a fuzzy background shot of a newspaper page. A fancy pen in the foreground. 2. Unwrapped Christmas present boxes 3. The word "Business" next to a cup of coffee 4. A microphone on a stand 5. A pile of neatly-folded white terrycloth towels, wrapped in a red ribbon. 6. A bathtub in a modern-style bathroom  7. An open bottle of red wine, nearly full, and in front of it, one wine glass holding some wine. Beside it is a small vase holding four red roses.  Here's the link to the page on syvliaday.com where you can find links to all the snapshots as well as the book snippets. Note: whenever something new (like the snapshot to be posted this morning) goes on this page, there's a rush of traffic that temporarily overwhelms the server, making it impossible to load the page. If you can't get in immediately, try back later: http://www.sylviaday.com/category/snippet/

The outside forces are the detectives and the prosecutor behind them. Â They've manage to break a hole in the alibi, which means they have enough to argue the "opportunity" side of the equation -- that Gideon had the opportunity to get to Nathan and kill him. Â Now -- if I'm right the cops have set a trap by sending Eva running back to Gideon -- they're trying build the "motive" side of the case. Â As for Corrine and Brett, well Corrine was Gideon's cover story to protect himself on the motive. The cops didn't buy it, and now they're trying to break a big hole in it. It's a shame Gideon posed for that picture with Corrine that broke Eva's heart, because it didn't work with the cops. Brett, however, may be a gift, because he'd make a much stronger, better cover story the cops might find impossible to dismantle. "Picked Corrine over Eva" is a weak story, but "Dumped Eva over Brett" is pretty strong, especially because of all the witnesses who saw the fight. Â I think one of two things will make the murder case go away: The stronger Brett cover story is going to shield Gideon from the cops being able to establish motive. Realizing they're not going to be able to convincingly break that cover story, they'll give up. Mind you, this doesn't mean Eva would have to stay with Brett, nor does it mean Gideon can't get back together again with Eva. All it establishes -- which is the protection -- is that Nathan was still very much alive and well when Gideon and Eva's relationship fell apart. Detective Graves messed up by asking Eva one question without Eva's lawyer being present, though Eva specifically reminded the detective she didn't want to talk (meaning didn't want to answer questions) without a lawyer. This mistake might make inadmissable anything the cops try to gather via the trap (because the bait is now legally poisoned.)

This time around, it's outside forces threatening to keep them apart rather than their own issues. Â But they won't be really apart -- they'll just be underground.

For a long time, Entwined has been described as being very much Gideon's story -- and it turned out there is so much there in Sylvia's imagination about him that the story will continue on into a fourth novel. Â I do see the murder investigation as a way for Gideon to walk through his past, Eva now at his side. Why did Gideon take the law into his own hands? Obviously, people failed to protect him as a child, and the "system" didn't even come into play. Just how bad had it been that now, all those years later, he felt the only way to protect someone he loved from a predator was to kill the predator with his own hands? Â So I envision as the two of them talk about what he did, they'll talk about why he chose to handle things the way he had.

 This is true -- for all we know, the Easter snippet is near the end of the novel. Or it's possible, even if they are still hiding, that she's sleeping over his place, and he's coming to bed late after staying up working for a while.

Today there was a real-world example of prosecutors getting a murder conviction based purely on circumstantial evidence in a high profile case involving a high society figure. The trial was in Los Angeles, but the story is from the online edition of The Boston Globe, which extensively covered the case due to Boston interest in the murderer. The murderer is a con man who had for years successfully passed himself off as a member of the Rockefeller family and had moved freely in high society circles in the Northeast.  http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/04/10/jurors-have-reached-verdict-clark-rockefeller-murder-trial-los-angeles/lEpYMh84Ya4jXkc78TPvzO/story.html

The one thing that perplexes me, if Gideon is consistently sneaking into Eva's, is how they're dealing with Cary overhearing stuff. I suppose it's possible they told him at least part of the truth -- Gideon is under suspicion for Nathan's murder -- but it's still risky. Â One of the main reasons Gideon kept Eva in the dark was to prevent her from getting dragged into the investigation. The same deal applies to Cary -- right now, ignorance is his friend. Thus far the cops have left him alone. Until recently, they left Eva alone too. But that's changed. Â So is Cary still home recuperating?

Hmmmm .... maybe Gideon IS continuing to sneak into Eva's place. Kinda dangerous.  How's this for a scenario: each of them making a great show of going out at night, be it business meetings for Gideon and care-free socializing for Eva. Then each of them is careful to make sure they're seen going home to their respective apartments, making the cops believe they're "in for the night" alone. Gideon waits until the wee hours of the morning to sneak into Eva's building so that they can spend at least part of each night together.

 Victor knew a little bit about Brett in the past -- knew him in passing as yet more evidence Eva was wild (i.e promiscuous).  Nor was Brett the only "cheater" in Eva's life Victor knew about (though "cheater" is a bit of a stretch - let's just say Brett wasn't the only guy who slept with other women while sleeping with Eva, because her Dad knew of at least one other guy too.)  Eva's wildness with men coupled with her anger issues is what finally drove him to get her help, made him to convince her to enter therapy with Dr. Travis.  Victor had a clearer picture of Eva than Monica did. This despite the fact Eva was a grown woman of college age not even living under Victor's roof - she lived nearby and they saw one another at least once a week. That's a big contrast to Monica, who missed the fact Eva was being raped for years and then out of guilt smothered Eva.  One other thing I really like about Victor is he didn't reproach Eva about yet again being with some other guy who wouldn't be monogamous to her: Gideon. Victor on his own figured out, by going online, Gideon had reignited things with his (Gideon's) former fiance. Victor also figured out Gideon had been trying to hide this from Eva.  Yes, yes, when Eva asked her Dad the morning after the family dinner what he thought about Gideon, Victor said "withholding judgement." In my opinion, Victor was just being gentle with Eva because of what Victor was about to do: show her an online photo proving what Gideon had tried to hide from Eva, that Gideon was cheating. In front of the press at a public event, Gideon and Corrine had been photographed together -- a picture that made it obvious the two of them were intimate (desperate to fool the cops, Gideon had posed in a way that would lead everyone to believe he and Corrine were together again.) Plus -- although Victor didn't bother showing Eva the sensational stuff -- the Internet had been abuzz for almost a week about Gideon and Corrine.  I'm certain Victor also figured out Eva dumped Gideon right after seeing the photo. I'll bet Victor was proud that  Eva had benefited so much from therapy and had grown so much that no longer would she tolerate being used.  Of course, Victor had no clue -- in fact Eva had no clue at that point -- what the truth really was concerning Gideon "going back" to Corrine. Gideon's act meant to fool the police backfired horribly: the cops ended up not buying it, but Eva most certainly did, and so she left Gideon.

There are 22 chapters, so Chapter 7 has us roughly a third of a way into the novel. I say "roughly" because not all chapters are the same length.Â

 He's in the music business (among many things) and she doesn't recognize the singer, so no matter where they're hiding, it'd make sense for her to ask.  Eva does have a stereo system in her open living room area. Cary had it blaring while he was having a small orgy there -- Eva killed the music by throwing a shoe at the system. Good aim - the disc playing skipped and then stopped.  But yeah, more of Sylvia letting us run wild with the snippets, trying to put one piece of a puzzle into a bigger picture Whose dishwasher? Whose stereo? Whose kitchen? Whose living room?  Is it June yet?

Actually, they could be at her place, his place, or a love nest they've set up. She was loading the dishwasher though, so I'm thinking it was her place. Here's the full text of snippet # 5:   We cleaned up the mess from dinner together. As I reached for the rinsed dish Gideon held out for me to put in the dishwasher, he faked me out. He grabbed my hand instead and deftly set the plate on the counter. Catching me around the waist, he spun us into a dance. From the living room, I caught the strains of something beautiful laced with a woman’s pure, haunting voice. “Who is this?†I asked, already breathless from the feel of Gideon’s powerful body flexing against mine. The desire that always smoldered between us flared, making me feel vibrant and alive. Every nerve ending sensitized, preparing for his touch. Hunger coiled tight with heated anticipation. “No clue.†He swept me around the island and into the living room. I surrendered to his masterful lead, loving that dancing was a passion we shared and awed by the obvious joy he felt in just being with me. That same pleasure effervesced within me, lightening my steps until it felt like we were gliding. As we approached the sound system, the music rose in volume. I heard the words “dark and dangerous†in the lyrics and stumbled in surprise. “Too much wine, angel?†Gideon teased, pulling me closer. But my attention was riveted to the music. The singer’s pain. A tormented relationship she likened to loving a ghost. The words reminded me of the days I believed I’d lost Gideon forever and my heart ached. I looked up into his face. He was watching me with dark, glittering eyes. “You looked so happy when you were dancing with your dad,†he said, and I knew he wanted treasured memories like that between us. “I’m happy now,†I assured him, even as my eyes stung at the sight of his yearning, a longing I knew intimately. If souls could be mated with wishes, ours would be inextricably entwined. Cupping his nape, I pulled his mouth down to mine. As our lips touched, his rhythm faltered. He stopped; hugging me so tightly my feet left the floor. Unlike the heartbroken singer, I wasn’t in love with a ghost. I was in love with a flesh and blood man, one who made mistakes but learned from them, a man who was trying hard to better himself for me, a man who wanted us to work as desperately as I did. “I’m never happier than when I’m with you,†I told him. “Ah, Eva.†He took my breath away with his kiss.

 Remember, we've got those nightclub snippets that strongly suggest they're still sneaking around, and none of those strongly link to any of the snapshots thus far. So I think they're still undercover in Chapter 7.  The two snippets involve Eva on a girl's night out at a club Gideon owns. She uses the club's business phone to call him because the phone number is "safe" (Gideon owns the place, so its phone number showing up on a list of calls to his cell phone wouldn't be suspicious like Eva's cell number showing up on his call list would.)  On the phone, she jokes about being out partying like she's "single" and being a bad girl. Gideon tell her he's on his way to meet her there in an o go meet her there in an inconspicuous section of the club, careful about his appearance so that he looks like just another really hot guy, not the billionaire mogul he is.  An interesting thing about that pair of snippets is that when Eva jokes about being "bad" Gideon tells her to come home and be bad with him (and then when she explains she can't leave "the girls" yet he decides to go to Eva instead.) This suggests they've figured out a way for Eva to sneak into his apartment too -- my guess is via the service entrance and service elevator. One of my guesses about snapshot #5 (neatly folded towels tied up with ribbon) is a service entrance.

 I think you're right about this snapshot being connected to a specific snippet, because two others definitely were:  Snapshot #2 (the Christmas presents) definitely connected to a snippet, Sylvia told us, and our best guess was the snippet in which Eva joked to Gideon that waking up with him was like waking up to presents on Christmas. Snapshot # 4 (the microphone) obviously connected to a snippet as well, because the day before that snapshot was posted, Sylvia gave us a snippet involving Brett at a PR event in New York. So if this same pattern holds, today's snapshot ties into Gideon dancing around with Eva at home, giving her a happy memory that matches his happy memory of watching Eva dance around her kitchen with her Dad. Plus Gideon creating a new happy memory is a form of apologizing for just how bad things turned out the night he'd been to dinner to meet her Dad.

 Oooo, I like it! It was nearly three weeks they were estranged.  Week one technically they were still together, but Gideon had already resumed taking Corrine out and distancing himself from Eva without explanation. Week one was when Nathan died. At the end of that week, Eva formally dumped him.  That was followed by more than a week of absolutely no contact whatsoever between the pair of them.  In week three, they resumed very limited contact for two straight days (Monday and Tuesday) and then on Wednesday is when she ended up on his doorstep, having just found out from the cops what the supposed deal was with Nathan's murder.  My educated guess is that by Chapter 7 we're either into late Friday or possibly Saturday evening.

 I think Gideon sneaked into Eva's apartment only once, that first night, risking the danger. But he doesn't dare go near the place a second time. Eva's the bait in the trap, so she'd be the main one the cops would follow -- that and she's much easier to tail, because she doesn't have a car and she sometimes walks to work.

 Maybe she got roses from Brett, probably a dozen. The fact that there are only four in the picture is symbolic, not literal, symbolic that  Brett's wooing isn't going anywhere.

It's the cork to the wine bottle.

My guess for snapshots #5 and 6 had been Gideon and Eva getting together for a tryst in a hotel room he's set up as a love nest, a place where they can meet away from their respective apartment buildings, both of which may be under police surveillance. Â As part of keeping up the appearance, each of them has to go home at night -- because if both of them stayed out all night, the cops would guess correctly they were meeting in secret. Â Because the story is told from Eva's point of view, my guess is her back home at her apartment. Sitting alone -- or possibly sitting with Cary, who is not supposed to be drinking because of his pain meds (thus only one wine glass.) Â It'd be so ironic, given Gideon's past of refusing to sleep with women anywhere other than in a hotel room -- including Corrine. Also of his refusal to spend an entire night with Corrine, the problem that became the deal-breaker to their engagement.

Snapshot #7 depicts an open bottle of red wine, nearly full, and in front of it, one wine glass holding some wine. Beside it is a small vase holding four red roses. Both rest on a a butcher block type of counter.