Chapter 21
James awoke to pounding fists on the door to his room.
“Open the door you murderer!” an angry Australian shouted from the hallway.
He swung the door open and was completely unsurprised to find Edie and Cassidy standing together. “Keep it down, are you trying to get security called?”
“Like they’d even come,” Edie said as James ushered the women inside and flipped on the overhead light.
After Cherish’s outburst at the concert, he’d anticipated something from these two.
When he hadn’t heard from them by the time he started to fall asleep, he figured they, too, forgot about Brad King.
Checking his phone, he caught that the time was now four in the morning, and a bit late for a confrontation in his opinion.
“This couldn’t have waited until sunrise?” he asked, taking a seat on the bed.
Cassidy crossed her arms and rooted herself in front of him. He wasn’t sure if she was trying to intimidate him or keep him from leaving, neither of which were options he considered.
“What did you do to Brad King?”
“I didn’t do anything to him.”
“Bullshit,” Edie said, taking a similar stance shoulder to shoulder with Cassidy. “You were talking about making videos asking someone with deep pockets to do you favors, and now Brad King is missing. I saw your video from earlier. What did you do, put a hit out in a TikTok?”
“Keep it down, will you?” James stood and walked back to the door to check through the peephole for eavesdroppers and security guards.
The cold hallway lights showed him that it was clearly empty.
He turned back to the women but stayed by the door.
“If you saw the video, then you know exactly what I said. I never said I wanted him dead.”
“Well, it’s a little convenient that now two people you openly disliked are dead or missing,” Cassidy said.
“Are you trying to say I had something to do with Ryan’s death, too?”
Edie took a step toward James, halving the distance between them. “What if we are?”
“I would say that we all saw him fall from the same place and that it looked like an accident.”
“But how do we know that it was an accident?” Edie asked. “I only met you that night. For all I know, you had your hitman waiting up there.”
James expected the women to be angry with him but hadn’t expected to be accused of hiring a hitman. Perhaps he’d given the women more credit for figuring out what was going on. They clearly knew nothing still, and he had the upper hand. He stepped forward until he was eye to eye with Edie.
“Okay, let’s say for a moment that we live in a reality where I could even afford a hitman.
How does that explain that we seem to be the only people on the island who remember Ryan LeHane?
How does that explain Daisy going missing?
How does that explain the medics not remembering us?
Or our phones not making calls off the island? ”
Edie swallowed hard enough that James heard her throat click. Tears welled up on the brims of her already reddened eyes, and only then did it occur to James that Edie was lashing out in fear, not anger.
“Where’s Rose, Edie?” James asked, softly enough that only she could hear the question.
Edie’s countenance chilled as her expressions flattened, then her brows stitched together and her eyes filled with rage. She pushed against James’ chest with all her might and screamed.
“I knew you had something to do with it! What was that bloody thing in the crowd tonight, and where is Rose?”
James put his arms up to defend himself from her blows. When Edie’s fist came for his face, he grabbed her wrist and squeezed.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why would I know where Rose is?”
“Because you seem like you have a pretty good idea for what’s going on here,” Edie said as she struggled to wrench her arm back. James maintained his grip on Edie until Cassidy stepped forward to pry his fingers open.
“Let her go!” she sobbed.
James released Edie, and both women took a step away from him.
“You don’t seem at all worried that people have been disappearing, and it hasn’t just been our friends,” Edie said, rubbing her wrist and twisting the hand in the air.
“That crowd tonight was half as big as it was arvo, and if I were here all alone like you, I would be pretty worried about something happening to me.”
James smirked. “You are alone now, aren’t you?” He fixed his eyes on Cassidy. “I notice Apricot isn’t here, either. Looks like we’re all alone now.”
“This isn’t funny, James!” Cassidy shouted. Her face and neck were beet red from crying, and she put her hands up to catch more tears as they fell.
No use telling them to keep quiet now.
“I know you know something. Tell us what is going on,” Edie demanded.
“I tried to help before things got this bad and you didn’t want it.”
Edie wrapped an arm around Cassidy’s shoulders and stared daggers into James as she led both of them out of the room. “I know you’re behind this somehow. When all this is over—”
James interrupted her. “You know, Edie, I have figured out a thing or two about what’s going on, and I’ll be honest with you. I didn’t have anything to do with Ryan’s death, but I’ll take full credit for Brad’s disappearance.”
Cassidy’s face drained from red to white so quickly that James thought she was going to pass out and took a small step forward before he could stop himself. Both women took a step away from him again and he stood tall, crossing his arms.
“How?” Edie asked. “How did you make Brad disappear? Next to Brad King, you’re a nobody, if you’re just a YouTube magician like you’ve been telling us, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. So, tell us who you are, really.”
James stepped forward again and this time Cassidy jumped backward and Edie flinched. He eyed them in his periphery as he took two more strides to his bedside table and picked up his phone.
“You saw how I made Brad disappear,” he said, holding the device up by the corner like a playing card. “Are you sure you want to see me do it again? Maybe I’ll make you disappear this time.”
Cassidy whimpered behind Edie, but Edie also felt a shock of fear. Like ghosts and curses, she knew that the square in James’ hand couldn’t hurt her, or that’s what she would have thought only days ago. She swallowed her fear and called his bluff.
“You don’t scare me, James. I know it’s bigger than you.
They got us all in one place and are controlling food and communication.
It’s probably not hard to hack our phones and drug the water.
Half the people here are C-list actors who would do anything to get ahead, including acting like they don’t remember us.
” She paused, then added, “or acting like they’re more important in this whole show than they are. ”
James set his jaw, understanding her meaning completely. “If that’s the case, then are you saying Apricot and Rose are in on this as well and kept it from you two?”
Cassidy’s wet eyes flicked from James to Edie, like she wasn’t sure who to side with anymore.
“Not willingly,” Edie replied. She gave James another hard stare, full of hatred, and turned to the door. Cassidy followed, shoulders slumped. With her hand on the door knob, Edie turned.
“You’re not as important as you think, James.”
“Ditto,” he replied.
Edie whipped the door open and stood still as a sentry locked on James. Cassidy seemed unsure of herself as she walked into the hallway and turned. Only then did Edie walk out, leaving the door wide open.