Chapter 11 – Whitney
WHITNEY
The moment I could no longer see him, I ran inside and locked the door behind me. Then, I sprinted to the front of the house so I could watch him leave. I wanted to see for myself that he was gone, and I also wanted to know how he got onto the property without being detected.
He reappeared near the front corner of the house and disappeared into the trees halfway down the property line. I stared at the area, trying to find him again, until I heard an engine crank and briefly saw taillights in front of the house.
That’s when it hit me. The magnitude of what happened. He found me, which meant the others could find me. But there was nothing I could do until Hadley and Stevie got back. Well, nothing I could safely do.
“Fuck!” I yelled as once again I ran around a house checking the locks on the doors and windows. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t leave, and I couldn’t turn my phone on to call Hadley or Stevie.
The panic room.
As if someone whispered it in my ear, I remembered what I was supposed to do if there was an emergency—go to the panic room.
Running down two flights of stairs to the basement, I locked myself in the panic room hidden behind a large deep freezer. Then, I freaked the fuck out. I had hours to wait before they were supposed to be back.
It took longer than I thought, but I eventually calmed down enough to sit and think about everything that had happened.
Did I make a mistake by trusting Stone? I didn’t think so, but what other choice did I have? I couldn’t hide at Hadley’s forever. After just two days, I was already feeling a bit of cabin fever.
Searching the panic room for something to do to burn off my nervous energy, I found a notebook, a pen, and some snacks. Perfect.
When I saw Hadley pull into the driveway on the security monitor, I used the intercom system to tell her where I was.
“What is all this?” she asked. “Did you get spooked?”
I could only imagine how it looked. Her once cozy panic room had become a makeshift war room. Papers were scattered everywhere, and my mouth and fingers were covered in a layer of cheese dust.
“Yes! One of the Grave Prowlers showed up here while you were gone.”
“What?”
“The one who opened the casket. Stone.”
“What happened?” she asked. “No, never mind. We need to leave. You can tell me on the way.”
“Wait! He said they would take care of things with the Wood brothers, and he gave me this ring and that gun.”
“You married a biker while I was gone?”
“Say what now?”
“He gave you a ring and a gun? Isn’t that how they do it? You're like his Old Lady now.”
“No! He didn’t say anything about that. He said it was a show of good faith.”
Hadley shook her head. “Get your papers and your wedding gifts. We need to leave.”
“Where are we going? And where’s Stevie?”
“She stayed at the beach house because she wasn’t feeling well. I came back to get you. We’ll call her and let her know what’s going on from the car.”
As I ran upstairs to once again frantically pack my belongings before fleeing, I cursed the day I met Glenn. I wouldn’t be running for my life if it weren’t for him.
“Okay,” Hadley said once we were on the road. “Tell me everything.
So, I did.
“He just walked onto the property?” she asked in disbelief.
“Yes!”
“How?”
“I don’t know. I tried to watch him leave to see where he came from. I can show you where he disappeared into the trees, but I didn’t see how he got through the fence.”
“I’ll have Anthony check the fence line,” she said and snapped her fingers. “Can you get the blue phone out of my purse and send him a text telling him I need him at the lake house?”
“Sure.” I reached into her purse and paused. “How many phones do you have?”
She laughed. “PIs go through more phones than you’d think, but one is personal, two are for business, and one is for no one’s business.”
After sending the text to Hadley’s estate manager, I called Stevie and put the phone on speaker.
“Hadley?” she answered, sounding out of breath.
“Yeah, it’s me. I’m with Whitney, and you’re on speaker. Can you talk?”
“Yes. Is something wrong?”
“Maybe,” Hadley said. “We’re on our way there, but Stone showed up at the lake house while we were gone.”
“Are you serious? What happened?”
“He wanted to know if the Wood brothers were the ones who put me in the casket and said he could offer me protection if I could help him prove it. He gave me a ring and a gun, and I let him record the video of the attack with his phone. He left, I panicked, and here we are.”
“You’re fucking with me, right?” she asked.
“I wish I were.”
“Fucking hell,” she grumbled. “Okay, um, we might have to figure this out in the morning. I can’t think right now.”
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“I’ve been better, but I’m afraid the worst has yet to come,” she said. “You guys might want to steer clear of my room when you get here. It smells like a crime scene.”
“A crime scene?”
“Trust me. This odor is criminal.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
“Anytime,” she groaned. “Damn it! I thought this shit was done. Gotta go.”
“Was it something she ate?” I asked Hadley.
“Yeah, I think she had a couple of bad prawns.”
“Y’all stopped for dinner?”
“No, she ate my leftovers before we left the lake house.” She shrugged. I told her not to, but you know how she is when she’s hungry.”
I wrinkled my nose. Despite growing up in a coastal area, I did not like seafood, and the thought of leftover seafood seemed even more disgusting.
We fell into a comfortable silence. Hadley expertly navigated the dark country roads leading back to Jolly Beach while I stared out the window and wondered what fresh hell the next day would bring.