Chapter 48
CHAPTER 48
SARAH
“I don’t trust Mia,” Sarah said as she and Jason walked along the wood plank path back to the house.
Minutes before, they’d left the boat dock, leaving behind Mia and Chris, who wanted to look for the missing speed boat. Sarah wasn’t interested, as she didn’t think they would find it because whoever had killed Grace must have sailed away in it, possibly to dump Grace’s severed head into the cerulean Caribbean waters.
“Why not?” Jason asked.
He hadn’t been interested in looking for the speed boat, either, deciding instead to head back to the villa with Sarah, where he intended to pack in preparation for leaving the island.
“I think she lied to us,” Sarah said, pushing aside the branches and wide, green banana leaves encroaching the pathway. “I don’t think Alex took Phil to the marina.”
“Neither do I,” Jason said. “I think Alex told Mia to tell us that. Question is, why? And where is Alex? Where is Phil?”
Sarah said, “I don’t think Phil is still alive.”
“What?” Jason said. “Wait a minute …”
Feeling Jason’s hand on her elbow, forcing her to stop, Sarah turned to him. “Phil’s suitcase is still in his room. And all his clothes are in it. But I saw blood on his sheets. So if he suddenly had to leave the island, why didn’t he take his things? Why was blood smeared on his bed? Because he didn’t leave the island. Phil is dead.”
Shaking his head, Jason said, “I don’t think?—”
“Alex is dead, too,” Sarah said. “Grace was telling the truth.”
“So now you believe her?”
Sarah looked at him. “Grace is dead because she found Alex’s severed head.”
“Okay, let’s say she did,” Jason said. “If so, then who would have killed Alex? I would think Phil. The guy told us he wanted to ruin our lives?—”
“But he didn’t want us dead,” Sarah said. “He wanted us destroyed. He wanted us to suffer the way he suffered. And dead people don’t suffer.”
Jason exhaled. “So you think someone killed Phil, Alex, and Grace?”
Nodding, Sarah sighed. “I think it was Mia.”
Expelling a scoff, Jason ran a hand down the back of his head. “Mia? Are you serious? ”
Sarah gave him a sharp look. “You don’t know what she’s capable of …”
“I know she’s not capable of murder,” Jason said. “And even if she were… Mia wouldn’t kill Alex. She’s obsessed with the guy. Dependent on him.”
Sarah said, “But she hates him, too. Alex is not a good person. You know that.”
Jason looked away, saying nothing.
“He’s disloyal,” Sarah said. “Unfaithful.”
“Okay, sure, Alex cheated on Mia,” Jason said. “He’s always cheated on her. But she knows that. He’s been cheating since they got together. Why would she wait until now to kill him?”
“Maybe it wasn’t intentional,” Sarah said, resuming walking. “Maybe Mia, Alex, and Phil got in that speed boat and headed for the mainland. But somewhere along the way, there might have been an argument. A fight. Maybe Alex killed Phil, and instead of keeping his secret, Mia took the opportunity to get rid of her cheating husband.”
“Sarah, that doesn’t make sense,” Jason said.
Massaging the dull ache between her eyebrows, Sarah said, “I don’t know how it happened. I just know it did. And I feel like it’s my fault.”
“Why?” Jason asked.
As they exited the path and headed toward the terrace, Sarah said, “I told Phil that Alex proposed staging an unfortunate accident to get rid of him.”
“You what?” Jason demanded, grabbing Sarah’s arm, forcing her to face him .
Wary of the ire in Jason’s intense gaze, Sarah yanked from his grasp and stepped back. “I wanted to warn Phil.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I didn’t want Alex to hurt him,” Sarah said, walking to the outdoor bar. “Phil didn’t deserve what Alex was going to do to him.”
“Alex wasn’t going to kill Phil,” Jason said. “He was panicking. Talking nonsense.”
Sarah grabbed a glass and a bottle of vodka. “How do you know Alex wasn’t serious?”
Jason sighed. “You know what I know, Sarah?”
Unscrewing the cap off the vodka, Sarah glared at him. “What’s that?”
“Alex and Grace probably are dead,” Jason said. “But not because Mia killed them. That’s ridiculous. Alex was her husband, and Grace was her best friend. But Phil is a billionaire who promised to ruin us!”
Sarah poured vodka into the glass, then finished it in three long gulps. Slamming the glass against the bar, she glared at Jason. “Well, maybe we should be ruined for what we did to Phil. We ruined his life. And for what? Money.”
Jason pinched the bridge of his nose. “We did that because?—”
“Because Alex told you to,” Sarah said, pouring more vodka into the glass. “Because Phil needed to pay for what he did to me. What a fucking joke.”
Frowning, Jason asked, “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the truth,” Sarah said, finishing the second glass of vodka. “Phil Richart didn’t rape me.”