Everybody Knows

Table of Contents
 
 
 Cover
 Title Page
 Copyright
 Dedication
 Epigraph
 
 PART ONE: THIS BRUTAL PHANTASMAGORIA
 
 Chapter One: Mae
 Chapter Two: Chris
 Chapter Three: Mae
 Chapter Four: Chris
 Chapter Five: Mae
 Chapter Six: Chris
 Chapter Seven: Mae
 Chapter Eight: Chris
 Chapter Nine: Mae
 Chapter Ten: Mae
 Chapter Eleven: Mae
 Chapter Twelve: Chris
 Chapter Thirteen: Mae
 
 
 PART TWO: HEAVIER THAN A DEATH IN THE FAMILY
 
 Chapter Fourteen: Mae
 Chapter Fifteen: Chris
 Chapter Sixteen: Mae
 Chapter Seventeen: Mae
 Chapter Eighteen: Chris
 Chapter Nineteen: Mae
 Chapter Twenty: Chris
 Chapter Twenty-One: Mae
 Chapter Twenty-Two: Chris
 Chapter Twenty-Three: Mae
 Chapter Twenty-Four: Chris
 
 
 PART THREE: HOLLYWOOD SICKOS
 
 Chapter Twenty-Five: Mae
 Chapter Twenty-Six: Chris
 Chapter Twenty-Seven: Mae
 Chapter Twenty-Eight: Chris
 Chapter Twenty-Nine: Mae
 Chapter Thirty: Chris
 Chapter Thirty-One: Mae
 Chapter Thirty-Two: Chris
 Chapter Thirty-Three: Mae
 Chapter Thirty-Four: Chris
 
 
 PART FOUR: WONDERLAND
 
 Chapter Thirty-Five: Mae
 Chapter Thirty-Six: Chris
 Chapter Thirty-Seven: Mae
 Chapter Thirty-Eight: Mae
 Chapter Thirty-Nine: Chris
 Chapter Forty: Mae
 Chapter Forty-One: Chris
 Chapter Forty-Two: Mae
 Chapter Forty-Three: Chris
 Chapter Forty-Four: Mae
 Chapter Forty-Five: Chris
 Chapter Forty-Six: Mae
 Chapter Forty-Seven: Mae
 Chapter Forty-Eight: Chris
 Chapter Forty-Nine: Chris
 
 
 PART FIVE: THE PRINCIPLE OF EXPLOSION
 
 Chapter Fifty: Mae
 Chapter Fifty-One: Chris
 Chapter Fifty-Two: Mae
 Chapter Fifty-Three: Chris
 Chapter Fifty-Four: Mae
 Chapter Fifty-Five: Chris
 Chapter Fifty-Six: Mae
 Chapter Fifty-Seven: Chris
 Chapter Fifty-Eight: Mae
 Chapter Fifty-Nine: Chris
 Chapter Sixty: Chris
 Chapter Sixty-One: Mae
 Chapter Sixty-Two: Chris
 
 
 PART SIX: THE DEAD FLAG BLUES
 
 Chapter Sixty-Three: Mae
 Chapter Sixty-Four: Mae
 Chapter Sixty-Five: Mae
 Chapter Sixty-Six: Chris
 Chapter Sixty-Seven: Mae
 Chapter Sixty-Eight: Mae
 
 Discover More
 Acknowledgments
 About the Author
 Also by Jordan Harper
 
 
 Navigation
 
 
 
 
 
 Table of Contents
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
 Copyright © 2023 by Jordan Harper
 Cover design by Kirin Diemont
 Cover art by Getty images
 Cover © 2023 Hachette Book Group, Inc.
 Hachette Book Group supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
 The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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 First edition: January 2023
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 ISBN 9780316458238
 E3-20221222-NF-DA-ORI
 E3-20221201-NF-DA-ORI
 
 
 
 
 
 
 For Megan
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I have lived in the monster and I know its entrails.
 —José Martí
 
 
 
 
 
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 PART ONE
 THIS
 BRUTAL
 PHANTASMAGORIA
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter One
 Mae
 The Chateau Marmont
 
 Los Angeles burns.
 Some sicko is torching homeless camps. Tonight they hit a tent city in Los Feliz near the 5. The fire spread to Griffith Park. The smoke makes the sunset unbelievable. The particles in the air slash the light, shift it red. They make the sky a neon wound.
 Mae waits outside the secret entrance to the Chateau Marmont. She watches Saturday-night tourists wander Sunset Boulevard, their eyes bloodshot from the smoke. They cough and trade looks. They never thought the Sunset Strip would smell like a campfire.
 Mae moves around the sidewalk like a boxer before the fight. Her face is sharp and bookish, framed in a Lulu bob. She wears a vintage floral jumpsuit. She’s got eyes like a wolf on the hunt—she hides them behind chunky oversized glasses. Nobody ever sees her coming.
 She shifts her weight from foot to foot—these heels weren’t made for legwork. She put them on for a first date she canceled twenty minutes ago when she got the text from Dan. No big loss—the date was with a stand-up comedian she met on Bumble. Comedians on a date tend to treat a woman like a test audience, or like their shrink, or they think you’re a chucklefucker and they don’t even have to try.
 Dan’s text had read hannah chateau asap followed by the number for Hannah Heard’s new assistant. Dan’s text was cryptic per usual. The rules say keep as much as possible UNSAID.
 The Chateau Marmont: the hippest no-tell hotel in the world. This shabby-chic Gothic castle slouching against the base of the Hollywood Hills. The way to the hotel proper is up a small winding road to Mae’s left. This secret entrance on Sunset leads straight to the grotto where the private cottages are. The unmarked door built into the white-brick wall is made of green cloth—someone could slash it easily and go marauding among the rich and famous. But no one ever does.
 Chateau jobs tend to be messy. They tend to be drama. They tend to be a fucking blast. Hannah Heard increases the odds of all three exponentially.
 The green-cloth door swings open. The girl on the other side is early twenties. She’s got blue hair and an Alaska Thunderfuck T-shirt worn as a dress—her vibe is manic pixie e-girl. Her eyes are wide like a rabbit in a trap. Mae pegs her as having a milk-brief life in the Industry.