Chapter Twenty-Nine
CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE
That weekend, Cass and Tyler moved into House Heroux.
Laylani had disappeared, with a flippant mention of a garden party across town, twenty minutes before they arrived.
It was the first time she’d been out of the house while Scarlett and Brayden were home, and Scarlett was itching to use the opportunity to search her space.
With Cass and Tyler around, she hoped to have many more opportunities to look for evidence.
“Do you play the game Allbright?” Cass asked after they were introduced to Beni.
“Oh yeah,” Beni said enthusiastically. “All the time.”
Tyler, who was tall, skinny, and pale, with bright eyes and blue hair, grinned. “That’s a relief. Do you have a hard LAN line?”
“Yeah, and fiber internet. My parents put it in a couple years ago. Wait—do you stream Allbright?”
“Yep. I’m Katana,” said Tyler.
“You are him!” Beni looked up at the streamer with wide eyes.
Scarlett grinned, amused by her brother’s awe.
“You’ll need to set up your computers right away, and I can move a second desk in so you have more space for your screens. Scarlett, what room are they in?”
“The room with the harp at the end of the hall upstairs,” said Scarlett. “It’s the closest to our bedrooms,” she said to Cass.
“There’s an Ethernet port there. I’ll help you move your stuff,” said Beni. He took a suitcase from the small cluster of bags and boxes they’d brought with them and ran upstairs.
Scarlett and Brayden stood in the upstairs hallway while Beni showed Cass and Tyler where to hook up Tyler’s computer.
“I’m going to search Laylani’s study,” Scarlett told Brayden.
“Yeah, let’s,” he said.
“Tyler?” called Scarlett.
Tyler spun around. “Yeah?”
“If we needed help getting into my evil stepmother’s laptop, is that something you’d be comfortable doing?”
His answering smile was serpentine. “For sure. Cass told me everything, and I’m totally on Team Scarlett’s Revenge.”
“Aww, we have a team name,” said Beni.
“Thank you,” said Scarlett, with a grateful look at both Cass and Tyler. “It means a lot to have you on my side.”
“Here to help. And on that note, where’s your security setup?” asked Tyler.
“It’s in my father’s study.”
Scarlett led him to the downstairs study, which was filled with Jules’s books. Brayden watched from the doorway as she opened the cabinet where the security system was kept.
“There are some cameras on the outside of the house, although no one checks them unless there’s an issue,” she said to Tyler as she pulled out the old laptop they used to view the feeds.
“Great.” Tyler took it from Scarlett.
“My stepmother’s study is next door. I’m not sure if her computer is in there or not. I’ll go check while you get started here.”
Tyler sat down in front of the laptop. “Cool.”
Scarlett’s nerves spiked. She prayed Laylani would stay away long enough that she didn’t get caught in the act. She half expected the door to be booby-trapped or locked, but the room was still as she pushed it open. She noted right away that Laylani’s laptop was missing from her desk.
“I’ll check the desk.” Scarlett was hyperaware of every sound around them as she moved into the room.
“I’ll look in there.” Brayden moved to a decorative white trunk sitting under the large garden-facing window.
All of Laylani’s desk drawers were unlocked. Scarlett methodically searched each one, her palms sweating as she did, but all she found were old receipts for clothing and jewelry purchases.
“The trunk has nothing important,” said Brayden as he kneeled next to her and ran his hands along the underside of the desk.
“What was in it?” asked Scarlett.
“Her wedding dress and a few photo albums.”
“Ugh,” said Scarlett. She lost hope as every drawer revealed only the mundane.
There were no bank statements, birth certificates, or anything of the like.
She finished looking through the final desk drawer—unused greeting cards—and sat on her heels.
“It makes sense she’d remove anything I could’ve used against her.
” She looked around for anything else that could hold Laylani’s secrets.
Just for good measure, she took the cushions off the small love seat, but she found nothing.
Not even a pack of Laylani’s menthol cigarettes.
Brayden ran his hands through his hair. “Should we look in her bedroom?”
“Yes, but something tells me there’s no point. She must be keeping things somewhere else, like at Moira’s house.”
“Let’s try anyway,” said Brayden.
They did a similar sweep in the bedroom Laylani had shared with Jules until his death.
This time, they did find cigarettes in the nightstand.
And disturbing artifacts Scarlett wanted to forget, including Laylani’s extensive lingerie drawer.
Aside from the clothes that still hung in his section of the closet, there was little evidence of her father in the room.
In the bathroom, Scarlett stilled when she noticed a bottle of his cologne.
She took the cap off the bottle and inhaled.
The familiar smell of vanilla and leather reminded her of visiting her dad in his study.
Laughing with him. Talking with him. Tears spilled over her cheeks as her breath caught. She missed him so.
Brayden appeared in the doorway. When he saw her, he slid his arms around her waist.
“That must be your dad’s.”
“Yes, it’s his. The smell brings back so many memories.
” She leaned into him. The comfort of his arms around her meant everything.
As the ache in her heart lessened slightly, she replaced the cap on the bottle and placed it back where she’d found it.
“I’m so tempted to take it even though I know she’d notice. ”
“She would notice,” said a voice behind them.
Scarlett looked in the bathroom mirror and let out a yelp, her heart hammering against her ribs. Laylani stood behind them, her expression mocking, like she’d found them exactly where she expected them to be. “But you can keep it. I don’t want it.”
Scarlett spit out the excuse she’d concocted in case this very thing happened. “I want to give Beni Dad’s watch. I was wondering if you had it in here somewhere.”
“Of course. That makes sense, to come in here to find it on your own instead of asking me,” said Laylani with a smirk. “I do agree, though, and I’ve sent the watch to the jeweler to get it resized and cleaned for Beaufort.”
“Thanks for the cologne.” Scarlett took Brayden by the hand and left the room as quickly as she could.
“She must have done that on purpose. Told us she was going across town so she could catch us searching her shit,” said Scarlett as they made their way back to Jules’s study.
“We lost nothing by her catching us,” said Brayden. “The civility between you is clearly wafer-thin.”
Scarlett huffed out a laugh. “True.”
Back in Jules’s study, they found Tyler showing Beni and Cass how to use the new surveillance app on their phones. Scarlett and Brayden eagerly pulled out their phones to join in.
Scarlett studied her phone. She could flick between feeds to view the exterior of her home from several angles, and she could set up a million different kinds of alerts. “This is so much better than having to go into the study to check the feed.”
“We’ll all sleep better tonight,” said Cass.
She looked at Brayden, her unspoken question obvious. He gave her a quick nod and crooked smile.
Yes! The self-imposed exile from my bed is over! Her smile was overbright, earning an odd look from Cass and a chuckle from Brayden.
“Congratulations,” said Nori, sounding amused.
Behind the closed door of the study, Scarlett relayed what she and Brayden had discovered before Laylani surprised them.
“No laptop, and a whole lot of nothing,” finished Scarlett.
“You don’t need her laptop necessarily,” said Tyler. “Get me a list of companies she’s affiliated with and any personal information you have—everything you can think of. Where she gets her cosmetic surgery, her gym, everything—and we can try to get her that way.”
“I can do that.” She sat down at her dad’s desk and picked up a pen.