Runaway Fate: Moonstone Cove Book One

by Hunter, Elizabeth

  “Your ability may still be evolving. It’s hard to say what the limits of it are. Have you told Baxter anything about it yet?”

  She sighed in relief. “Yes. Just last night. He took it well after he found a scientific rationalization.”

  “Good. If that’s what it takes to ease him into the idea, go for it.”

  Katherine drummed her fingers on the table. “But you don’t think it’s science.”

  “I think…” Monica took a long time to speak. “I think there’s a lot about life, about our spirits, about energy and the world, that we just don’t understand. Call that magic. Call it science we don’t understand yet. Does it really make a difference? What matters is what we do with the power we’ve been given.”

  Katherine nodded. “Agreed.”

  “I didn’t plan on spending the second half of my life solving problems that came to me in visions, but when you see something bad that you can prevent—”

  “You have to do something.”

  “Yes.” Monica took a long breath. “I think you, Megan, and Toni might just be getting started. Just remember to be there for each other—have each others’ backs—and call us if you get into trouble. Do that and you’ll be fine.”

  “Thanks, Monica.”

  “I should let you go.”

  Her phone beeped at her. “Is that you?”

  “No,” Monica said. “It sounds like you may have another call coming in. I’ll say goodbye, but call me anytime, okay?”

  “I will.” Someone else was calling her? Usually Katherine received a grand total of three calls in an entire week. Now she’d gotten three in one day. What had become of her solitary life?

  Megan’s name was on the screen.

  Katherine touched the button and answered. “Hello?”

  “Hey! Have you eaten?”

  Had she? Oops. “Uh no, I completely forgot.”

  “Seriously, what is wrong with you? I never forget to eat. I’m gonna pick you up and take you to lunch since you’re not working today and I have a fantastic surprise.”

  Katherine looked at the spread of information about the case that was scribbled across her kitchen table. Then she thought about a floating pistachio and Monica’s advice to have Megan’s and Toni’s backs. Then her stomach rumbled. “Okay, that sounds like a good idea. Maybe we can pick Toni up too?”

  Megan grumbled a little. “And tear her away from the sweaty confines of her garage? We can give it a try.”

  Chapter 22

  Tearing Toni away from the confines of her garage hadn’t been as hard as Katherine imagined once Megan told her that the “surprise” she had was a reservation at Red Hill, a brand-new restaurant from a local chef that had a tiny dining room attached to a winery just off Highway 1.

  Everyone in Moonstone Cove who loved food had been trying to get a reservation at Red Hill, but it was booked out months ahead. Somehow Katherine’s husband, Rodney, had wrangled a coveted lunch table.

  “It’s just so sweet of him, you know? Rodney’s been kind of… aloof lately,” Megan said as they pulled away from Toni’s garage. “Which I can’t really blame him for. He’s been working like a dog, and I’ve had all these… changes going on, which I haven’t really told him about, of course, because I don’t even know where to start.” Megan steered her luxury SUV toward the highway. “Added to all that, the kids are busy with eight million things now, and I just feel like we never see each other at all.”

  Toni exchanged a look with Katherine. “Listen, we’re both excited to go with you,” Toni said. “But are you sure you shouldn’t be having lunch with Rodney since he got the reservation?”

  “Can’t! I guess the owner of the winery offered him a table for today, but he already had a meeting scheduled for lunch with a client in Paso Robles, so he couldn’t take it, but he asked if I could use it and they promised they’d give us the red-carpet treatment.”

  “That’s very generous,” Katherine said. “I really need to meet him some time. I’d love to say thank you.”

  Megan glanced over to Katherine, who was sitting in the front seat. “Can you get my sunglasses out of my purse?”

  Katherine looked down, but she didn’t see a purse. “It’s not here.”

  Megan frowned. “What?”

  “I don’t see a purse down here.”

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake…” She looked over her shoulder. “Toni, did I put it back there?”

  “I don’t see it.”

  Megan swerved to the right and pulled over. “I must have left it on the counter. I was getting that little stool for Katherine so she could climb into the car—”

  “Thank you for that, by the way. It was really thoughtful.”

  She shook her head. “No worries. I’m five minutes up the hill at the last turnoff.” She waited for traffic to clear, flipped a U-turn, and headed back a little faster than she’d been driving before. “We might be a few minutes late, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

  “No problem,” Katherine said. “And Toni hasn’t seen your house before.”

  “Toni, where do you live?”

  “Kinda out in the country,” she said. “But neither of you can see mine. Eventually yes, but it’s a work in progress.”

  “Mine’s one of those McMansions up in Ferraro Hills. You’ll see. It’s boring as hell.”

  “Your home is lovely,” Katherine said.

  “But it’s so boring,” Megan said. “It has no soul.”

  Toni laughed. “You think houses have a soul?”

  “Oh definitely.” She glanced at Toni in the rearview. “What made you pick your house if it’s a work in progress?”

  “It was cheap and I like the location.”

  Katherine turned. “And that’s it?” She knew exactly what Megan was saying. It might not have been scientific, but Katherine adored her home’s personality. And wasn’t that a little like a soul?

  Toni shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess it felt like home even though it’s a disaster. I like the trees.”

  “Trees are really important. Our neighborhood in Atlanta had the most magnificent oak trees.” Megan steered through the carefully tended gates of Ferraro Hills and past the manicured lawns. “Look at the trees around here. Nuthin’. That’s what’s around here. A whole lot of nuthin’.”

  Toni huffed. “There used to be an oak grove here. It was pretty.”

  “And they tore it out? See what I mean? No soul.”

  Katherine spotted Megan’s house at the end of a cul-de-sac. There was a sleek grey convertible in the driveway. “Is Rodney still home?”

  Megan frowned as she pulled in next to the convertible. “That’s weird. He’s probably on his way out the door.”

  Katherine looked over her shoulder.

  Toni’s eyes were narrowed on the convertible. “That’s your husband’s car?”

  “Yeah. Cool, right?” Megan hopped out of the car. “He got it when we moved here. I’ll just run in.”

  Toni pushed the door open. “I’ll come in with you.” Her face was grim.

  A curdling suspicion twisted in Katherine’s stomach. Toni wasn’t going in to gawk at Megan’s home. She sensed something was wrong.

  “I’ll come too.” Katherine stepped out the car, ignoring the ache in her knee and ankle. “I’d love to thank Rodney for the lunch reservation.”

  “Sure.” Tiny lines formed between Megan’s eyebrows.

  Toni and Katherine flanked Megan as she walked up to the door. The minute Megan opened the door, the silence seemed to envelop Katherine. The world was cast in grey and her perception shifted. She stepped into the vision like stepping through a mirror.

  Megan strode down the hallway, screaming and crying. A woman ran out, her clothes clutched to her chest and red lipstick smeared across her cheek. A glaring red handprint shone against her pale cheek.

  “That bitch is crazy.”

  The shouting in the hallway got louder. Angry voices building and building until there was
a crack and a crash. Katherine walked toward the commotion, trying to stretch the vision, trying to give her friend minutes.

  “Megan, I’m calling the police!”

  “You fucking bastard!”

  The scream made her ears pop and her eyes cleared.

  Megan was standing motionless in the entryway. She knew something was wrong. The sudden silence that echoed in the house spoke volumes. So did the pair of women’s heels in the entryway.

  “Well, damn,” Megan whispered, staring at the heels. “Aren’t I the pretty idiot?”

  In a moment of clarity, Katherine reached down and grabbed Megan’s hand before she could take off down the hall. “Wait.”

  “I can’t breathe.” Megan’s chest was heaving.

  Toni reached for her other hand. “Megan, calm down.”

  “Breathe.” Katherine squeezed her hand. “Look at me.”

  Megan turned and looked her in the eye. Katherine had never seen blue eyes so hot and so cold at the same time. “I just saw what you don’t want to happen, so listen to me.”

  Toni said, “We got you, Atlanta.”

  “Keep your eyes on me,” Katherine said. Her own heart was racing, but all she could hear over and over was the screaming and the crying. “You’re going to be very calm. He doesn’t get the satisfaction of making you lose control.”

  Megan swallowed hard, bit her lower lip, and nodded.

  “Tell me quickly,” Katherine whispered, “do you want this house?”

  “I hate this fucking house,” Megan said through gritted teeth.

  “But he likes it,” Toni said, “so you don’t give him the house.”

  Katherine kept a tight grip on her hand. “You go into that room and tell them to get out of your house right now. They’re expecting drama. You don’t give him anything. You’ve been married to this man for years. You know the buttons he’s going to try to push. You’re going to breathe through it.”

  The steel entered Megan’s eyes, and she took a deep breath, then nodded. “I got you.” She turned to Toni, and her voice wavered for a moment. “I need… I need you to make me strong.”

  Toni met Megan’s eyes, and all the antagonism was gone. “I can do that.” She squeezed her hand hard. “You got this.”

  Megan took a deep breath, lifted her chin, kicked the heels to the side, and walked down the hall. Katherine and Toni waited in the entryway.

  “What did you do?” Katherine said. “To Megan.”

  “Nothing really. Calmed her down a little when we first walked in.” Toni shrugged. “She’s already strong as hell.”

  There was a man’s voice rising, but no shouts came in return. A few minutes later, a woman with long dark hair and red lipstick came walking down the hall with flaming cheeks.

  “Hey there, Julia Verdino,” Toni said. “Imagine meeting you at my friend’s house. Does your mother know you’re sleeping with a married man? Because she’s going to.”

  “Fuck you, Toni,” the woman spat out. “He said he wasn’t married.”

  “Fuck you too. You think I’m some kind of idiot?” Toni pointed to the family portrait prominently displayed in the entryway. “Your grandmother would be ashamed of you. Get out of here, and if I hear you’re talking about my friend Megan—and you know I’ll fucking hear about it—you will be sorry you were ever born.”

  Julia grabbed her heels and didn’t even put them on before she ran out the door.

  Katherine was keeping her ears tuned to the back of the house. While she heard a man’s raised voice, she didn’t hear Megan once lose her composure.

  “You suspected something when we pulled in,” Katherine said quietly.

  “I noticed the car a few weeks ago, driving around town. Julia was in the passenger’s seat. I swear to God, I had no idea the guy was Megan’s husband or I would have told her.”

  “None of us had met him.”

  “I know, but I still feel guilty.”

  There hadn’t been much noise from the back of the house in a few minutes. Katherine was starting to get concerned when all of a sudden, the air seemed to electrify. At once, every picture hanging on the walls around them rattled, shook, and fell to the floor.

  “Uh…” Toni’s eyes went wide. “He’s alive, right? She wouldn’t have…”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “I’m not saying I don’t know where to hide a body,” she muttered, “but I don’t have my truck with me.”

  “Please don’t say things like that.”

  Hearing a loud male voice reassured Katherine that she wasn’t going to have to figure out how to deal with a supernatural murder while her knee was the size of a large grapefruit.

  Katherine and Toni met the still-alive but definitely confused Rodney a few minutes later when he walked down the hallway with a duffel bag in his hand.

  “Who are you?” he snarled.

  Rodney Carpenter was a man who had aged well. He was classically handsome with broad shoulders and a build that said former athlete. Unlike some former athletes though, he hadn’t let his body deteriorate much. His hair was grey at the temples, and his light brown eyes had wrinkles at the corners that magazines would call “distinguished” instead of “aged.”

  Women would call him a silver fox. Katherine wanted to punch his teeth in, and Toni looked like she wanted to do worse.

  “We’re Megan’s friends.” She forced herself to stay calm. “I’m Professor Katherine Bassi—I teach physics at Central Coast State.” She turned to Toni. “I don’t know why I do that. I just automatically introduce myself with my work.”

  “It’s cool. You must be Rodney.” Toni crossed her arms. “I’m Antonia Dusi.”

  Rodney’s face paled visibly. “Dusi?”

  “Yeah. One of those Dusis. You know us. We know everyone.”

  “Dusi Farms?”

  “That’s my brother.”

  “Dusi Heritage Winery?”

  “That’s my cousin’s.”

  It was strange, but Katherine could almost see the “fuck” forming in a thought bubble above Rodney’s head.

  “And you’re friends with Megan.”

  “We fucking love your wife,” Toni said. “Funny, smart as a whip, and loyal as hell. Gotta love that in a person, right? She saved our lives at the gym. My parents will never forget it.”

  Katherine nodded. “We really admire her.”

  Rodney had nothing else to say. He finally started to look a little embarrassed. “I’m leaving.” He looked at the family pictures, broken and lying on the ground where they’d fallen.

  “California earthquakes,” Toni said. “Crazy, right?”

  He opened his mouth, closed it, then walked out the front door.

  Katherine and Toni peered through the entryway windows and watched Rodney’s convertible back out of the driveway before they rushed down the hall.

  “Megan?” Katherine called. “Where are you?”

  “Megan?” Toni yelled. “He’s gone.”

  Katherine ran into the bedroom at the end of the hall, a room that was nearly as big as her entire house with picture windows looking out over the mountains and a sweep of vineyards folding over hills leading down to the coastline.

  “Holy shit.” Toni stopped in the doorway. “That’s an amazing view.”

  Katherine ran to the center of the giant room. “Megan?”

  She was huddled on the far side of the bed, crouched on the floor, biting the heel of her hand to stifle the sound of her cries.

  “You did so good.” Toni put her arms around Megan and squeezed hard. “You fucking kept your cool the entire time. He’s gone, Atlanta. We got you.”

  Katherine drew Megan’s hand away from her mouth and her cries finally broke through the calm silence of the immaculate house.

  “Shhh.” Katherine smoothed her hand over the bite marks that nearly broke the skin as Megan’s painful cries filled the bedroom.

  “I don’t know what to do.” Megan cried and cried. “I don�
�t know what to do!”

  Toni sat on the ground beside her. “Just do this. Just do whatever you feel like right now. It’s just us.”

  “Why? Why?”

  The pain in Megan’s voice ripped a hole in Katherine’s heart. She’d had friends who’d experienced divorce, but she’d never been there for the raw, painful ending. Not like this. She felt wholly unprepared to help. Nothing she could do could help.

  “I’m so sorry.” Katherine kept Megan’s hand in hers. “I’m so sorry.”

  “What am I going to tell the kids?” She hiccuped. “What do I tell them?”

  Toni looked at her wristwatch. “We got a few hours to figure that out. Right now, just get it all out.”

  Megan screamed, “I hate him so much!”

  “Totally fair.” Toni waved her hand. “Keep going.”

  Megan stood and started pacing around the room. “I moved away from all my friends! All my family! I dragged the kids out of schools they loved. I gave up my business, and he knew I was set to make more than him the next year with the way I was growing. He knew that! I sold the house where I brought my babies home! He knew it and he fucking sleeps with a teenager?”

  Katherine didn’t think she was a teenager, but she was definitely young.

  “That girl was young enough to be his daughter!”

  “I know.” Toni stood. “I know her mom. I’m totally telling her about this.”

  “Oh God, don’t.” Megan looked miserable. Then her eyes got wide and maybe a little scary. “No. Fuck him. I didn’t do anything wrong. Tell her mom. Tell your mom. Tell every damn person in this little town. I’m done putting on a happy smile for his asshole friends. I’m done pretending to be the adoring wife. Do you know how much lingerie I bought to try to fix our sex life?” She put her hands on her hips. “Ha! And trust me, the problem was not with me.” She marched into her walk-in closet.

  Katherine leaned over to Toni. “She’s even pretty when she’s crying and angry.”

  “I know. I’ve never really seen that before. I thought it only happened in movies.”