Vicky adjusted the sunglasses on her head. “You mean I could be nice to Autumn?”
“For starters.”
Victoria laughed. “I’m not going to invest the time in being Autumn’s friend and neither should you.”
Liam moved up in line. All he wanted was to get his tacos and find a quiet place to eat. But Victoria didn’t seem to get the hint.
“Seriously, Liam. Autumn does nothing but talk about New Jersey. You should hear her in class. Whenever college plans come up, it’s about Rutgers. Or Seton Hall. Or Montclair. She has no plans to stick around the Keys after graduation. Which means she has no plans to stick around you.”
“Harsh, Vicky.”
“It’s the truth. I should know. I had to listen to that from you.”
He raised his brows.
“Oh, don’t you remember? For months, you talked of nothing but meeting your dad in North Dakota. What? Thinking my feelings wouldn’t be hurt? I wasn’t special enough for you to stick around. What makes you so sure you’re special enough for miss east coast to give up her plans for you?”
Liam never thought about how he hurt Vicky’s feelings when he took off. She was always surrounded by friends, not to mention enormous wealth. Up until now, he wasn’t even sure she had feelings. Like she was a vampire with no heart.
“Whatever, Vic. You’re just saying this shit because you don’t want to see me happy.”
Victoria’s chin wobbled slightly and for the briefest of moments, Liam worried she was on the verge of tears. Instead, she cleared her throat and said, “You’re wrong. I don’t want to see you unhappy. Because when someone you love leaves you, it sucks.” She put on her sunglasses.
Bernadette Canton emerged from the cafe, dressed in a linen suit, and clasped her granddaughter’s hand. “There you are! I approved the table settings and the necklace is stunning.”
“Nice to see you again, Mrs. Canton,” Liam said politely.
Bernadette smiled, pulling the skin taut across her face. “Likewise, William.” Bernadette, like Glenda, always used his full name.
Victoria reached out to Liam and touched his arm. “The charter school is having a winter formal in a few weeks. Are you going to go?”
Liam knitted his brows.
“Oh, you didn’t know? Autumn didn’t ask you?” A smile played on her lips.
“To be honest, I haven’t thought that far ahead,” said Liam.
“Well, you have to come. Everyone loves a dance.”
Bernadette shifted her weight off her bad leg. “Not everyone, Victoria.” She nodded toward the street. “Come, dear. Finn is waiting for us around the corner. I still have a few more errands to run.”
Victoria nodded and pivoted on her heels. “Enjoy your tacos.”
Liam watched her go with a heaviness in his chest. Perhaps with everything going on with the Cayo, Autumn forgot to mention the school dance. Maybe she doesn’t want to go. Or maybe she doesn’t want to go with me.
Liam approached the food truck and placed his order.
“Were those the Cantons?” said the guy behind the window as he handed Liam a cardboard bowl and several napkins.
“Yup,” said Liam, his voice practically a sigh.
The guy whistled. “Those are some powerful people. Untouchable.”
Liam glanced behind him, still expecting to see Victoria and Bernadette Canton waltzing like royalty among their Key West subjects, but they were long gone. Untouchable? Were they really? Was anyone?
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
That night, Autumn flopped on the bed and buried her sweaty face in the floral bedspread.
“Tough day?” Katie asked, her voice raspy.
Autumn rolled over on to her side to look at the ghost. “Well, after the whole boiling lava water fiasco this morning, Mom discovered that the fridge had been unplugged. The cheese, milk, and who knows what else went rancid. I had to drive to the supermarket to restock only to come home and find Mom scrubbing the floor. Apparently a guest had puked. That last one I’m pretty sure had nothing to do with Inez.”
“But the other things?” Katie asked.
“Definitely her.”
“How’s your mom doing?”
Autumn raised her brow. It was unusual for Katie to show compassion for Evelyn, or Glenda, for that matter. Evelyn pretended ghosts didn’t exist, which insulted Katie. Glenda knew about Katie, but used her like a sideshow in a carnival, which also insulted Katie.
“She’s at the end of her rope. We finally have a packed house, and everything is going wrong.”
Katie floated over to Autumn, her form fading fast in the dark room. “I need you to hurry up and banish Inez. She’s getting more and more out of control. I’m afraid.”
Autumn sat up in her bed and hugged her knees. The last thing she would want would be for Inez to stay here, causing havoc, and for Katie to disappear. Where would Katie even go?
“You don’t want to know,” Katie said, reading her mind. “Inez can push me into a dark place. It’s not like seeing the light. It’s the opposite. I don’t want to get sucked in there.”
The pit in Autumn’s stomach grew. She was supposed to be solving Inez’s murder and pursuing the scholarship, but she’d been having too much fun with Liam, not to mention helping her mother run the Cayo, to make a dent in the investigative work. Autumn’s scholarship deadline wasn’t until December. But Katie’s deadline just got moved up.
The problem was, something inside Autumn kept her from moving ahead. If a bit of Inez was still inside Autumn, then why wouldn’t Inez want Autumn to uncover her killer? Didn’t she want justice?
Autumn needed to focus. “How do we banish Inez?”
“You need to remove her hold on the physical world.”
“By uncovering her killer?”
“As a start. I don’t know. Maybe.”
Autumn got up from the bed and paced the room. She went over to the air conditioner unit and turned it on. It blared to life, blowing cold air. Finally, she could think. Except her head felt crowded, like there was too much information crammed in there. Or too many people. She turned to Katie, her eyes narrowing. “And if I don’t solve her murder?”
“If you don’t, this won’t end well.”
“For who?” asked Autumn in a slight Cuban accent.
Katie’s lip trembled and she retreated. “Autumn, come back.”
Autumn shook her head, trying to clear out the junk clouding her thoughts. “I’m sorry, Katie. Where was I?”
But Katie had already disappeared.
#
That following Tuesday, Liam and Autumn hopped off Liam’s bike as they arrived at the salt ponds to deliver cash to Randall. Liam should have never said anything, but when he mentioned to Autumn that he needed 500 dollars to cover more business expenses, Autumn didn’t hesitate to open up her sock drawer and hand him a wad of bills.
“I can’t take this,” he had told her. “You need it more than I do.”
Autumn pressed the money into his hand. “You’ll pay me back. I know you will.”
“Of course I’ll pay you back. As soon as the scooter shop is up and running, I’ll reimburse you nine hundred dollars.”
Autumn laughed. “I think that’s high interest.”
They had approached the plot of land where Liam and Randall planned to set up shop only to find a bulldozer ramming into the shack. The little building crumbled. The wood splintered into toothpicks.
Liam’s stomach dropped to his knees. He ran over to the construction worker, waving his hands above his head.
“Liam, wait!” Autumn called to him.
But Liam was an unstoppable force. This was Randall’s property, and there was no way Randall would bulldoze the shack. They couldn’t afford to construct something better.
“Stop!” Liam called out. The bulldozer reversed on its caterpillar tracks. The worker, having spotted Liam, lowered the bucket. He shut down the machine.
“What’s the matte
r, kid?”
“What are you doing? You’re destroying the property.”
“I’m supposed to, kid. The owner wants it cleaned up.”
“Randall Bell?” Liam asked.
“No, Canton Corp. They own this now.” He put on his headphones and turned on the machine. It roared to life. Liam jumped back just in time.
#
After the incident at the salt ponds, Liam intended to drive to Randall’s trailer on Stock Island, but then Autumn received a text message from Timothy and their plans quickly halted. Apparently, something had happened to Mr. Fletcher’s room.
“Can you drive me back?” Autumn asked.
Liam exhaled and mumbled, “I’m gonna throttle Randall when I see him.”
Autumn kissed Liam’s cheek. “Let’s get back to the Cayo and deal with one problem at a time.” Lately, there seemed to be a whole lot of problems.
Autumn walked inside the Cayo’s lobby with Liam close behind her. She felt his light fingertips on the hem of her shirt, and it gave her chills.
Mr. Fletcher stood at the reception desk, waving frantically and talking in a hushed whisper.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
Mr. Fletcher gave an imperceptible nod. “I don’t want to alarm your mother, but someone was in my room.”
“Someone who?” Autumn’s voice rose an octave. Mr. Fletcher motioned for her to lower her voice and peered into the back office.
“Like a guest?” she whispered.
Mr. Fletcher bit his lip. “Maybe. But I had locked the room. I made sure of it.”
Autumn clutched her chest, a gesture that was a little more dramatic than she intended. “You don’t think it was a Cayo employee, do you?”
“Well, not an employee exactly,” he said, rather vaguely. He motioned through the empty space around him.
Timothy’s eyebrows shot up. “Mr. Fletcher, are you a believer?”
The man tapped his stubbly chin. “I think you all better come to my room. Just don’t tell your mother.” Autumn nodded quietly and put a finger to her lips.
Mr. Fletcher hurried upstairs and Autumn, Liam, and Timothy followed.
Mr. Fletcher put his hand on the doorknob and turned it slowly. When he opened the door, Autumn stifled a gasp. His stuff had been thrown all over the place. The dresser drawers were open, clothes scattered like a bomb had gone off. The papers on his desk were tossed about the room as if a gale force wind had swirled them around in a funnel cloud. Even the sheets and bedspread had been thrown off.
“Should we call the police?” Liam asked.
Timothy’s brow shot up. “And say what? That we suspect a ghost vandalized a guest’s room?”
“Good point,” said Liam.
“Your mother has been under a lot of stress,” Mr. Fletcher said. “I really don’t want her to know about this. But I felt I had to tell someone.”
Liam looked thoughtful for a moment. “Between the frigid water and the vandalism, seems Inez really has it out for you too.” He smiled weakly. “Guess I’m not alone. But why you?”
Autumn scooped up the papers that had fallen to the floor. Immediately, Autumn noticed photocopies of Canton Corp’s holdings, newspaper clippings about Mick Canton, and maps of his properties. She rose slowly. “You’re researching Mick Canton?”
Mr. Fletcher puffed out his cheeks like he was holding his breath. “My editor in Tampa wants me to write a profile on him.”
Liam bent down and picked up notes. He read the man’s chicken scratch and furrowed his brow before handing Mr. Fletcher the papers.
“It’s not a coincidence you’re a guest here, is it Mr. Fletcher?” Autumn asked.
“To be fair, my editor suggested I stay here. But he must’ve known the connections your uncle had to Mick Canton.”
Liam checked the time on his phone. “I have to go.”
“Now?” asked Autumn.
Liam nodded. “I need to meet Randall.”
Autumn slumped her shoulders. “Okay. I’ll call you.”
Liam’s eyes hardened for a second before he kissed Autumn on the cheek. “We’ll talk.” He sidled past Mr. Fletcher and left the room.
Timothy glanced around. “I’d stay and help you tidy up, but my mama needs me in the kitchen. Let’s just hope Inez was messing with you for fun.” Timothy followed Liam outside.
Mr. Fletcher waited a beat and swallowed. “What do you think your ghost is trying to tell me?”
“You never saw her?” Autumn pointed to her cheek. “A brunette with a mole below her eye?”
He shook his head.
Autumn explained all that she had uncovered about Inez. “She likes to play games, and she doesn’t seem to want anyone’s help. So the question is, what was she doing?”
Their eyes moved to the antique rug. A headshot of Mick Canton stared back at them.
“Huh,” Mr. Fletcher said.
“Huh is right,” said Autumn.
#
Liam pounded on Randall’s door. “Open up, dude. I know you’re in there.”
Liam waited a beat and then knocked again. Silence. He knew Randall was home. Whenever Randall had a setback, be it something small like when he and Liam lost the division playoffs in Little League, or big like when Randall’s dad died back in junior high, Randall would hole himself up in his grandpa’s trailer and play video games until his eyes blurred.
Liam peered into the grimy window. Sure enough, Randall, still in his boxer shorts, was chugging a beer and pressing furiously on the game controller.
“Just come in, dude,” Randall called from the couch. “The door’s not locked.”
Liam stepped inside the trailer. The place smelled like an ashtray because Randall’s grandfather smoked two packs a day. That was one of the reasons he and Randall were such good friends. They were the only boys in their kindergarten class whose grandfathers dropped them off at the classroom door. Randall’s dad had been a good man, but he’d worked a lot of overtime at an auto body shop on Islamorada, leaving Randall in his grandfather’s care. Pops always said Fred Bell was a worse drunk than him, and that said a lot.
Without taking his eyes off the screen, Randall swiped some empty candy wrappers from the couch. “Sit, dude.”
“Okay.” Liam wiped crumbs off the worn, beige cushions and sat down. “You going to tell me what’s going on?”
Randall took a swig of beer. “Nothing to really say. Granddad up and sold my inheritance to Canton Corp without telling me.”
Liam felt the air get sucked out of the room. “Dude, why?”
Randall shrugged before his thumbs tapped feverishly on the controller. “He sold the land that he promised me, and then he took off to Sarasota with the money to live with his girlfriend. I get to keep the trailer, so there’s that.”
Liam fell back into the cushions. “Jesus.”
“Yeah. The old jerk said that property was my inheritance. His exact words were, ‘I’ve never given you anything good, but at least I can give you that.’ And then he freakin’ sold it.” Randall laughed, but it was a hollow, sorrowful sound. “You know what I don’t get is, why now? Why wait until I was putting together this business with you and Keith to finally give in to Canton? All these years, he had said no, but why now? Did he not want me to have something?” Randall wiped his nose with the back of his hand.
“Wait, Canton had approached him to sell the property before?”
Randall nodded. “Yeah, but he always low-balled him. Said the property wasn’t worth much because of its location. So, why now?” Randall stared at Liam as if the answer were written on his face.
“I, I don’t know.”
“Canton always seems to have it out for you,” Randall said, his voice flat. “You don’t think he doubled his offer on the property to get back at you, do you?”
Liam’s head swam. Could Mick Canton hate him that much? “We’re nobodies. Why would he waste his time with us?”
“Not us, dude. You. And I do
n’t know why. All I know is we don’t have a space for our business.”
“I’ll think of something,” Liam said. “I’ll come up with a plan.”
Randall scoffed and sipped from the can. “Yeah. Let me know when that happens.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means, ever since you hooked up with Autumn, you haven’t been focused on what’s important.”
“That’s unfair, dude. And who’s been feeding you those lines? Every time you’ve texted me, I’ve shown up. You’re the one making decisions without me.”
“Whatever, man. I’m gonna rely on me this time. I’ll find us a new spot. Don’t you worry.”
Liam rose from the couch and checked the time on his phone. He was supposed to meet Pops for lunch.
“Gotta date?” asked Randall.
Liam didn’t respond. “You sure you want to live alone? You can crash with me and Pops.”
Randall waved this idea away. “Nah. I’m sick of living with old men.” Randall went back to his video game, leaving Liam to show himself out.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
While most of the guests slept off their hangovers on Thursday, Autumn went upstairs to work on her college essays. The guidance counselor at school wanted to approve them before Autumn completed her applications. Besides Candlewick, Autumn had only a handful of other schools she was applying to—schools she had never visited and schools that probably wouldn’t meet her mother’s approval. Autumn was losing her drive.
She flopped on her bed and opened her laptop. Procrastinating, she checked her email. There was a message from her dad wanting to know if she’d like to visit for Thanksgiving. She had been in Key West more than six months, and this was the first time he had invited her to stay with him. He even suggested touring Candlewick during her visit.
Autumn knew she should feel elated, but inside, she was conflicted. Did she even want to go to Candlewick anymore? Did she want to move back? And how could one boy make her question everything she had considered? In truth, Liam was becoming increasingly important to her. She wanted to see him all the time now. But what if she stayed in Florida? Would she still be her mother’s lackey, a chambermaid in this place? What if Liam got sick of her, and she missed out on her opportunity to go back north?
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