Rayner glanced down at Ronnie’s hand placed on his arm then up to her face. This time he jumped. “Who the hell are you?”
“Ha. Ha. Rayner,” she said, adjusting the neckline of her white catsuit around her boobs.
“Ronnie? Good God woman. What the hell happened to your face? You pick a fight with some bees?”
She rolled her eyes and reached for the bottle of Scotch. He yanked it away, shooting her an unpleasant look.
“They’re married,” Julie whispered in my ear, “if you couldn’t tell. She’s his second wife. They hate each other. But they’re both pre-nupped into submission.”
“Of course they are,” I said dropping my hands between my knees.
“He may not like her plastic surgery, but it’s gold for us. Viewers love it. I mean, once you start looking at her face, you just can’t look away. She’s like the child of the swamp thing and Pamela Anderson. Hot and scary.”
Suddenly I was feeling a little bad about thinking she was a hot fish earlier. I mean, it was one thing to think it, but hearing it out loud made it sound kind of mean.
Julie rolled a hand in the air, which Rayner seemed to take note of.
“Okay, let’s get to it,” he said, banging the table.
The twitchy young man with the highlighted hair at Rayner’s side skidded back in his chair.
We all stared at him. His eyes moved side to side for an uncomfortable moment before he scooted himself back up to the table.
“Boy,” the old man said, the side of his nose lifted in disgust, “we need to get you fixed.”
I kept my eyes on the group, but asked Julie out the corner of my mouth, “What’s with that guy? Why is he so jumpy?”
“That’s Brody. Rayner’s grandson. He’s messed up. It’s a long and twisted story,” Julie whispered quickly. “But also kind of funny. I’ll tell you later if there’s time.”
I buried my face in my hands. There wasn’t enough time in the world for me to want to listen to any more of this. I really needed to—
“Just tell us what’s wrong, Daddy.”
Ew. I peeked up from my fingers. Hyena girl. There was something just a little bit creepy about a grown woman using the word, Daddy. Apparently Rayner thought so too because he shot a look at Ronnie.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “What do you want me to do? You’re the only father she’s ever known. I think it’s sweet.”
He grabbed his glass and took another sip of Scotch as though to wash away the bad taste in his mouth. “We’ve been married a year. Granted it’s been the longest year of my life. But just a year. I’m not her d—”
“Whatever. Can we talk about this later?” Ashley whined. “I really need to go, you guys. I have my convention in Atlanta.”
Rayner gave a fullbody shudder as the girl went on talking.
“Mom says they want to promote my Hunting with Jesus clothing line. Brody, you can come with if you want.” She pinched her lips and looked over at him, but he didn’t look back. I think his terror of unseen things had him frozen.
“She’s talking about this televangelist super church thing she’s been invited to,” Julie said quietly, leaning once again toward me. “She’s trying to add religion to her persona. And I know, I know. You’re thinking, do televangelists even exist anymore? Didn’t they die out like vampires when their maker Tammy Faye passed? But you’d be surprised. They still pull in big cash.”
I pressed my fingers into my temples. This must be what an aneurysm feels like. “You … you talk fast.”
“It’s the job. Got to size up people like that,” she snapped her fingers in my face.
“Okay, but—”
Julie suddenly grabbed my arm again as Rayner cleared his throat. I guess the real show was about to begin.
“So,” he said furrowing his eyebrows together into something so bushy, it almost looked alive and … mean. “Let me start by saying, this family hasn’t had an easy run.” He looked around the table making eye contact with each person. It was then I realized, the lawyer, Chuck, was sitting by himself in a chair by the fire … nibbling his lip … nervously.
“I know you all have your reasons for hating me.”
Ronnie yelled something in protest, but I couldn’t focus on what she was saying because I was too busy staring at the light fixture hanging above the table. It had flickered a little. Shoot. I knew I should have checked to make sure the generator was on standby.
“Oh, save it!” Rayner shouted. “I don’t want to hear it. Truth is, I have my reasons for hating all of you too. That’s just how it goes sometimes with family. But I never thought…” He shook his head. “Now’s the time we put everything on the table.”
“That’s right. Let’s get it all on the table,” Julie whispered more to herself than me.
Oh no, I thought. Here we go. I had seen enough of this type of show to know what was going to happen next. This was going to be a rehashing of every bit of family drama that had ever happened. They would scream and argue and probably throw some drinks. And it would all be about ridiculous stuff, like The color of the car you bought hurt my feelings! Or There were three pictures of so and so on the mantel and only one picture of me! And they would probably take about five hours of footage, just to get twenty minutes of the real juicy stuff, and … and I couldn’t take it anymore. There was a Nor’easter coming.
“Truth is,” Rayner began.
I jumped to my feet. “I’m sorry but—”
“One of you is trying to kill me, and nobody is leaving here until I find out who.”
Chapter Nine
“Booyah,” Julie whispered as I dropped back down onto the couch.
“Rayner,” Ronnie said. “You can’t be serious. You know that—”
Suddenly she stopped talking.
In fact, they had all stopped talking.
It was probably because someone was laughing.
Huh. Would you look at that? It was me.
“I don’t see the humor in this situation, young lady.” Rayner said, staring me down from his place at the head of my mother’s table.
“You’re right. I’m sorry,” I said, nodding. “Really. It’s just that I thought…” I shook my head holding back more laughter. “But now I realize…” I swallowed hard and held up a hand. “You’re right, this is very serious.”
His eyes widened.
“Deadly serious.” I pushed myself up to my feet and waved my hands in the air. I couldn’t believe I had been so gullible. Happy, happy relief rushed over me. I mean, it had been staring me in the face! The timing? My mother going missing? Rich Bitches? I continued my list out loud. “Five hundred million dollars? A storm? A murderer?” I said, making my voice all scary. I suddenly turned to Julie. “Okay, you can tell me the truth now. Freddie put you up to this, didn’t he?”
“Freddie?” she asked, voice still in a whisper. “Who’s Freddie?”
“Oh, you’re good,” I said with a point. “So what? This is some kind of practical joke show?”
“What? Where?” The young twitchy man shouted.
I gave him a careful look before turning back to Julie. “Or … oh my God! Don’t tell me Freddie set this whole thing up just to get me to solve a crime?”
She threw me a squinted sideways look.
“Boost up my detective self-esteem,” I said, shimmying my shoulders side to side, “so I’d get on board?”
She deepened her squint.
“Julie,” Rayner snapped looking to the producer. She jumped to her feet, holding up some placating hands. “This is not what you promised me. Who is this chirpy squirrel?”
“Chirpy squirrel!” I shouted with a laugh. “Fantastic. I love it.”
Chuck, the lawyer, cleared his throat and said, “Her name is…” He shuffled wildly through his sheets of paper before thrusting one into the air. “Erica Bloom! She is the daughter of the proprietor of this lodge.”
“Well, tell her to put a sock in it already. This is fami
ly business,” he grumbled before adding, “and she’s stealing my moment.”
“Hilarious,” I said, noticing Kenny had turned the camera on me. I ducked, before I realized there was no getting away. “You guys are fabulous actors. Really.”
Rayner snapped his fingers at the bodyguard. “I was wrong. Pat her down.”
I smiled and raised my hands in the air as the guard slash actor made his way back over to me. Might as well be a good sport. I couldn’t help it. I was happy. One, I had figured out what all this was, so I wouldn’t look like an idiot on TV—if it really was a show, and not just all Freddie’s idea to get me to sign onto Otter Lake Security. My mother would have been completely on board if it meant pushing me in the direction of moving home. Two, because this was all a hoax, I also knew it wouldn’t go on all night—which meant there was still a chance I could salvage my evening with Grady. Although I was kind of ticked at Freddie. He knew I had a bad history with practical jokes—“Hey,” I snapped, yanked from my thoughts. “Getting a little handsy down there.”
“She’s clean,” the bodyguard said in a voice so deep I could have sworn the floorboards quivered.
“Julie,” Ronnie said, trying, I think, to look shocked, but failing horribly given the forehead paralysis from all the Botox. “Is she telling the truth? Are you doing another show?”
“No!”
“Young lady,” Rayner said, turning his angry eyebrows on me, “given the amount of money I’ve paid to rent out this place, do you think you could sit down now and control yourself?”
“Oh sure,” I said with a big wink. “Let’s do this thing. I bet I can find the would-be murderer before you can.”
I was really proud of myself.
Julie grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the sofa, whispering, “What are you doing?”
“Come on, you can tell me the truth now. It’s okay.”
“What truth? What are you talking about?”
“Oh, you really are good,” I shot her a thumbs up. I meant it too. “Way to hold character.”
“Now, where was I…?” Rayner said looking around the table.
“You were…” Ronnie shot me a comically concerned look before finishing. “You were saying that one of us was trying to kill you, baby? But you can’t mean that. Ashley and I are your family.”
“You are not our family!” Rayner’s grandson, Brody, suddenly shouted.
“Not family! I have done more to your grandfather—I mean for, for your grandfather, than you could ever imagine. I am part of this family,” she said, cringing a little. “I’ve earned it.”
I snorted a laugh and shot a smile at Julie.
She was still holding character.
“Rayner, darling, you’re just confused—”
“I’m not confused!” He pounded the table again.
“Okay,” she said with a sigh. “Let’s say you’re right. Someone’s trying to kill you. How exactly do you propose we find out who?”
“One of you is going to confess.”
The group exchanged unsure glances. A moment later, Ronnie said, “This is crazy. Crazy.” She flashed a look at the camera that really drove her feelings about the craziness home. I heard Julie sigh.
“Well,” Ashley said getting to her feet. “I’m not staying, you guys. I need to get to Atlanta. Besides, I have nothing to confess.”
“Me neither,” Ronnie said. She then got up and pointed at me. “Fire up that boat, squirrel. We’re leaving.”
I planted my hands on the sofa, to push myself to my feet. I mean, if they wanted to cut this thing short, that was fine by me.
“Sit down all of you,” Rayner said.
I dropped back down.
“You will do as I say.”
“Or what?” Ronnie snapped.
Rayner looked to the security guard and said, “Bring him in.”
He nodded and headed for the front door.
“Where’s he going?” Ronnie asked.
I whirled my head around. This was quite the production.
Julie snapped again at Kenny and shooed him and his camera over to the door.
“Mom?” Ashley asked.
Ronnie shook her head. “Rayner, what’s going on? Who’s outside? We’re all h—No!” she gasped. “Please tell me he’s not coming.”
“Who?” Ashley asked. “Mom, who?”
“You know who.”
“I … don’t know who,” I said to nobody in particular. But nobody answered.
“Julie, did you know about this?” Ronnie asked.
The producer pinched her lips together.
“You did!” Ronnie threw her head back against the chair. “Oh my God! I can’t believe this! What else haven’t you told us?”
“He’s a freaking monster,” Brody murmured, before jerking to look behind his chair at the nothing that had been bothering him earlier.
Just then the lights flickered again and the front door swung open.
Everyone jumped as our heads flew around to see a silhouette illuminated in the threshold.
“Hello?”
Then the lights snapped out.
Chapter Ten
Angry shouts and yells exploded in the near dark.
Okay, suddenly this wasn’t so amusing anymore. This whole scenario might be a hoax, but the storm outside wasn’t.
“Everybody relax,” I yelled, getting to my feet. “If the power doesn’t come back on, the generator will kick in.”
Hopefully.
Everyone quieted down. Thankfully, the sun hadn’t completely set, so we had a little light. Good thing too. The dark is a completely different animal when you’re away from the city, especially during a storm. Thankfully the lodge was well stocked with flashlights, lanterns, and candles—I just needed to get to them without smacking a shin. Really, who told these people they could move the furniture all around? Just as I moved to get one of the lanterns, the lights snapped back on, and I turned to the door to see who had everyone so freaked out.
“Seriously?”
Again, nobody answered me.
“You have got to be kidding me,” I mumbled, hurrying to the door. “Come in. How long have you been out there? You look like you’re freezing to death.” I ushered the teenage boy inside. The security guard followed in behind. The kid was maybe fourteen, fifteen. He was wearing an oversized navy blue hoodie and a knit hat, pulled down over his black hair, a flop of bangs sticking out from underneath the brim. He also had really pale skin, big nervous-looking eyes, and braces that glinted in the light.
“Kyle, my boy!” a voice shouted from behind me. Rayner had his arms flung wide in welcome. “Come here! Come here!”
“Gross,” Ronnie said, rolling her eyes. “He’s going to touch it.”
The boy made his way over to the head of the table, while I shot a look out the window toward the lake. I couldn’t see Red’s boat, but he must have dropped him off. When I turned back around, Rayner had the boy locked in a very awkward hug.
Okay, I couldn’t do this anymore. Having a minor on the premises changed everything. I was too tired from traveling and too hungry from, well, not eating, to deal with any of this anymore.
The lights flickered again.
My cue.
“Everyone,” I called out. “Everyone?”
Nothing. The group had gone back to complaining among themselves.
“Everybody, listen to me right now!”
That got their attention.
“Obviously you all have your reasons for wanting to do whatever this is,” I said, smoothing my hair back. “But we have a real-life situation on our hands. So, I’m going to go outside now to check on the back-up generator because unlike the rest of you, I am staying the night, and I need electricity.” I grabbed a small flashlight from the basket on the top shelf in the hall closet. It was getting pretty gloomy outside. “I suggest you all use this opportunity to collect your things. It’s time to go.”
* * *
A moment
later I was standing on my porch letting the cold wind whip my too warm cheeks.
It was a good, good feeling.
Cold. Sharp. Real.
I took a long deep breath then pulled out my phone and texted Freddie.
Tell me right now if you signed me up for a prank TV show. If you tell me the truth, I won’t kill you.
I waited a moment for the reply.
Um … are you having a stroke? Should I have someone come get you?
Well, I guess that answered that question. Fabulous. In my attempts not to look like an idiot on TV, I had pretty much guaranteed I’d look like an idiot on TV. At least I hadn’t signed a contract. Then again, knowing my mother, she’d probably already done it for me. Where was she? I sighed and shoved my phone back into my pocket.
Okay. Time to change tactics. Worrying and getting angry would not help me here. And really this was just a part of being home. It was like that serenity prayer my mother was always quoting. The one where you’re supposed to let go of the things you can’t control. I could not control the fact that the lodge was full of crazy people. I could not control the fact that it was looking less and less likely that I would be seeing Grady any time soon. I certainly couldn’t control the weath—a blast of icy rain hit my face, cutting me off from my thoughts. It might have even been wet snow.
“Yeah, I get it,” I muttered, wiping the moisture from my cheeks.
No, I couldn’t control any of those things. But what I could do was ensure that I had electricity for when all of this was over. Then I would get these people on the boat, take them to the mainland, and get back here before the storm really picked up. My mother was sure to be home by then. After that I would make myself a steak—two steaks! Grady would understand if I ate his—and bring my blood sugar up to a less murderous level.
I walked the porch all the way around to the back of the lodge, clutching myself against the wind. For those who have never had one, generators are a pain in the butt although kind of essential when you’re living on an island. Thankfully, my mother had invested in an expensive propane model—she had to for insurance purposes—that could keep the retreat in power for days if need be. She was pretty good at making sure the propane tanks were filled. Believe me, it’s not the kind of mistake you make twice. You also make sure the generator is on standby mode when you’re in the middle of a storm. Red was right. The underwater power cables could go at any time in a storm like this.
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