Episode 91
EPISODE 91
SOMETHING ROTTEN
Sebastian
“Did you hear me?” Shelley asks. “You have to tell River.”
Right. It falls to me. I’m the one who gets to tell Riv that his parents’ home was broken into and his childhood bedroom was ransacked, all while his invalid father was in the house.
“Fine.” I end the call, ready to hurl the damned phone at the wall, but I don’t.
It’s my only link to civilization while I’m here, but damn, I’ve got to throw something. Break something. Anything to release this pent-up fury. My hands are shaking, itching to grab the first thing I see.
The blue ceramic vase on the coffee table. It’s uglier than fuck anyway. I grasp it and launch it against the door of my suite. It shatters with a sharp, resounding crash, as jagged pieces of clay fly to the floor…just as someone knocks.
“Fuck,” I growl. “What now?” I open the door.
Alex stands there, his brow wrinkled, as he darts his gaze to the mess on my carpet. “Uh…having a bad day?”
“You don’t know the half of it.”
“You going to invite me in?”
I wave my hand. “Watch your step.”
His feet are bare, as are mine. He’s wearing board shorts and a plain white tee.
“Going swimming?” I ask.
“I was thinking about it. Thought I’d see if you wanted to come.”
“I’ll pass.” I close the door behind him.
Alex looks down at the chunks of vase scattered over the plush carpeting. “You’ve never struck me as the ‘trash the hotel room and then pay everyone off’ kind of celebrity.”
I shake my head, riffling my fingers through my long hair. “We’ve got trouble.”
Alex rolls his eyes. “Not you too. Between you and River, I don’t know which end is up. What happened now?”
“Sit.” I point to the couch.
“Is it that bad?” Alex plunks his ass down.
I pace around the room once—avoiding the fractured pieces of the vase—before I sit on a chair across from him. “I was about to call Shelley. Get her to look into Rachel and Ginger, just in case Brett comes up empty-handed.”
“I’ve never known Brett to come up empty-handed,” Alex says.
“Whatever. That’s not even the point. I was going to call her when my phone rang, and it was her.”
“And…”
“And…some fuckers broke into River’s parents’ house.”
Alex stands abruptly, his eyes wide. “What?”
“You heard me. Apparently Monica and that healthcare worker went out on errands and didn’t arm the system.”
“They left Duke there?” Now Alex paces the room. “What were they thinking?”
“I don’t know. It’s not like Monica. Something stinks and it ain’t that aftershave you’re wearing.”
“I’m not wearing any.” Alex sits back down. “And fuck you, by the way.”
“Sorry.” I heave a sigh as I tell the whole story.
“They didn’t take anything at all?”
“Not that Monica or the cops could see,” I say. “But they were sure as hell looking for something in his old bedroom.”
Alex rubs his temple. “Something doesn’t add up. Monica wouldn’t leave Duke alone without arming the system.”
“No, she wouldn’t. But I don’t know. Maybe she was in a hurry. Maybe she was?—”
“Here’s the thing,” Alex interrupts. “There’s something rotten here.”
“I don’t disagree, but what do you mean?”
He scratches his head. “When you write a story, things have to make sense. Say I was writing a novel about a woman who has an invalid husband and a security system installed by her billionaire son. She has to leave said husband alone, and she always arms the system before she leaves. But then she doesn’t this one time. There has to be a reason for it or you’ll lose your reader.”
“This isn’t one of your novels, Alex. She was probably just in a hurry. She and the caretaker?—”
“And why did the caretaker have to go?” Alex says, more to himself than to me. “Isn’t she supposed to be caring for Duke? That’s her job. Why would she have to accompany Monica? And why, this time of all times, would Monica forget to arm the system?”
“I don’t know. Shelley said something about medical supplies and she needed Jaelynn’s help.”
“Medical supplies can be delivered, Seb.”
I cock my head. Alex is right.
“I’m still not sure why River decided to stay when he was hellbent on being the one to see Sienna off the island,” Alex says.
“I think Evangeline got him to stay,” I say, “though for the life of me, I don’t know how. But here’s the thing. River’s had one foot out of this place since this Misty shit started, and now? When he hears there’s been a threat to his mom and dad? We won’t be able to keep him here no matter what.”
“I’m not sure we should. I’d leave too.”
Right. Alex likes his parents. My drunk mother wouldn’t know whether I was home or not.
“We have to tell him,” Alex continues.
“I know that. Plus…we have to talk about the Larson place. Shelley went by yesterday, and this time she doesn’t think she was followed.”
“And?”
“She says everything looks fine there, but how would she know? The place is already trashed. Someone could have been there looking around.”
“You think whoever followed Shelley to the property is the same person who broke into Riv’s?”
“I think it’s a possibility.” This time I stand, pace around. “Misty’s the one common denom— Fuck it all!”
Pain lances into my foot. I bend over and pick up the sharp shard.
“You okay?”
I sit back down and examine my foot. “It’s bleeding a little. Grab my first aid kit out of my bedroom, will you? Top drawer of the dresser.”
“Sure, man.” Alex returns a moment later. “Here you go.”
I wince at the sting as I clean the shallow wound with an alcohol wipe, apply some anti-bacterial ointment, and then paste a bandage over it.
“You good?” Alex asks.
“I’m pretty sure I’ll live.” I rub my forehead. “Here’s the thing. Misty came here wanting to get close to River. She thinks she’s Lisa Patterson’s daughter. I don’t know why she wants River, but maybe it’s because he’s the one who still has a presence in our hometown. Maybe all she wants is to find out more about her mother and half-brother. Fuck if I know. Plus, she’s got something on Evie. That was apparent from that email I saw. She finagled her way onto this island under the guise of wanting to snag a billionaire—even though she’s got her own damned money and has no need of ours. All to…”
“To what?”
“I don’t fucking know. Find out about her mother? Seems she could hire a damned PI to do that. There’s something I’m not seeing here, and it’s driving me slowly berserk.”
Alex is quiet. Not introspective and thoughtful quiet, like River. He’s Alex quiet. He’s laying the facts out as if he’s plotting a story. Trying to see all the connections to come to a resolution.
Problem with stories though? There’s always a gigantic rug pull before any resolution.
“So you think Misty’s behind all of it?” Alex finally says. “Taking advantage of the fact that River’s here to do some digging back home?”
“I’d say.”
Alex draws in a deep breath. “I’d say so too. And now I understand why you turned that vase into a missile.”
“It was uglier than shit, anyway.”
That gets a light chuckle out of Alex, but he’s serious a second later. “When is Brett coming back?”
“I don’t know. I assume by sundown. He was supposed to see Sienna to the airport and then go to the hospital and find out what he could about Rachel and Ginger.”
“Damn.”
“We have to tell River about the break-in. It’ll be better if we go to him with a plan.”
“He may already know. I’m sure Monica must have tried to get in touch with him.”
“I don’t think so. Shelley said that I needed to tell him.”
“Fuck.” Alex threads his fingers through his hair. “I’ll leave that to you then.”
“No way. You’re in up to your eyeballs now. You’re coming with me.”
Alex straightens his glasses. “Actually…what if we don’t say anything until Brett returns?”
“That’s not fair to Riv, man.”
“We’ll tell him, but we’ve got to do something about Misty. Slow her down. Maybe convince her we all have connections back home.”
I scoff. “Seriously? Give her reason to break into all our childhood homes?”
“We don’t know she’s behind anything,” Alex says. “But it’s worth the risk if it slows her down. She doesn’t have a phone, so it’s not like she can change course that fast.”
“Alex, this isn’t one of your suspense novels. You’re not the writer. You don’t have control. We can’t leave this to chance. Misty may not have a phone, but she has Evie, who has a phone and a computer. We can’t assume Misty has no way to get shit done while she’s here.”
Alex nods. “We have to keep her busy then. Very busy.”