by Bryan, JL
“What’s up? Are you finally watching Kim’s Convenience? I told you it was hilarious.” I looked over her shoulder. When I saw what she watching, I sank down beside her. “Are you...really doing this?”
“I didn’t mean to!” Stacey looked guilty. “I was just doing a status check, making sure all the gear was up and recording. And then…this.” She pointed at the screen.
On the screen, Wyatt and Adrienne were arguing in the gun room, decorated with a few broken-down rifles and some larger fauna of the American west, like the mountain lion and grizzly bear.
“Let me hear.” I unplugged her headphones so the audio would play over the tablet’s external speaker.
“—and why would you think I’d want our wedding here?” Adrienne demanded. “Are we going with a depressing dead animal theme? Should we rent sad-looking ponies for the kids to ride? Is the Tiger King guy going to officiate?”
“It's for your family,” Wyatt said. “Won’t they be blown away? And then we can enjoy it ourselves, fix it up our way. There’s already a new roof with solar—”
“This is a lot, Wyatt. It's too expensive. That's one reason we ditched the whole place.”
“I’ve got like three billion dollars left, so I think I'll be fine. And that will probably double after we get through these congressional hearings. We are definitely not spying on people through their phones all that much. I mean we are, but everyone knows it. That’s how we serve you relevant ad content, which, you know, makes for a more customized and enjoyable user experience—”
“This isn’t a rehearsal session with your lawyers, Wyatt.”
“Right, sorry.”
“Escaping my family’s shadow is thematic in my life and art, Wyatt,” Adrienne said. “I thought you understood that. This house is nothing but a palace of those very shadows. What are you saying to me with this? That you only see me as everyone else sees me, after all? As just a subordinate piece of my family? A trophy with a famous name? That this—everything between us—was a mirage? Is this all about your ego? Showing off how far you’ve climbed?”
“Ironically, that’s kind of why the lodge was built in the first place,” Stacey muttered.
“Of course not,” Wyatt replied on the screen. “This represents taking command of that past and ruling over it. Changing it. Making something good out of it. Seizing the biggest symbol of your family’s heritage and doing what you want with it. We could cover it in graffiti. We could burn it down.” Wyatt grew excited. “Wouldn’t that be the perfect climax to the wedding? You want a statement of rebellion? Have history’s most extravagant and decadent party here with everyone, I mean everyone—then at the end, demolish the whole place while everyone watches.”
“We’re not destroying it, either, Wyatt.” Adrienne rolled her eyes and popped a couple of pills from a brown medicine bottle.
“It could be an amazing site for a wedding, though,” Wyatt said. “And a new, meaningful experiment in eco-friendly living. Eventually. Once we get the roads and landscaping done.”
“This isn’t some theme park. This is deeply personal to me.” Adrienne frowned as she looked over a display case of hunting knives gone to rust. “But everything’s a joke to you. You come here on your blimp—”
“It’s a hybrid airship. And this inspection was a last-minute choice. I was originally just doing a brainstorming sky cruise over the East Coast—”
“My family history is not a tourist attraction. How is inviting ghost hunters supposed to help with our wedding?”
“I’ve never really believed in ghosts, but there are strange things happening here. That’s why the work crews quit and the renovations are behind schedule. Those paranormal investigators are here so the work crews will eventually come back. To create a placebo effect if nothing else. And they do have some weird images and video from around the island.”
“Like what?”
“Like, some hooded guy on horseback. And it’s not fully there, not like a real person. It’s, well—”
“A ghost? They took a picture of a ghost on a horse, that’s what you’re telling me.”
“Stacey can show it to you.”
“She’s the cute blonde one?” Adrienne asked.
“How did you know?”
“You knew her name off the top of your head. You just met that girl and already remember her name, even though you’re terrible with names.”
“What do you want me to do? Abandon this island? Find a new place to get married?”
“I’ll take care of the wedding from now on,” Adrienne said. “You just sign the checks. My friends were right. I was stupid to let you surprise me like this, no matter how insistent you were.”
“I’m shocked. That’s a stark contrast to the many positive and supportive comments your friends have previously made about me,” Wyatt said.
“Sure, more sarcasm. That’s your answer to everything.”
“Sometimes it’s the only answer,” Wyatt said. “Adrienne, just let me finish what we’re doing here. I can make this place good again.”
“Who says it was ever good?” Adrienne wandered into the dining hall, decorated with crumbling animal heads and bison-horn chandeliers. “The taste level here is just…subterranean.”
“We can’t abandon the island now after everything I’ve sunk into it,” Wyatt said.
“Why not? My family did.”
“It’s not just the wedding anymore,” he said. “These paranormal investigators—”
“Yes, thanks for inviting them without talking to me first. Tell me this house won’t end up on some cheesy reality TV show. Look at all these cameras. How do we know they aren’t watching us now?”
Stacey shared an awkward look with me.
“They signed nondisclosure agreements. They can’t say a thing. Nobody even knows they’re here,” Wyatt said.
“Okay. Well, maybe there’s some hope of containing things. But don’t bring anybody else here. And I want your little hangers-on gone. I don’t want to listen to Brad clapping for everything you say, or see your creepy bodyguard who’s always slithering around, or watch how high your chef’s dress rides up every time she fetches you a kale smoothie.”
“You told me to hire Farlee.”
“Yes, to help you get in shape for the wedding. Not for you to drool over her dragon tattoos.”
“They’re actually tropical climbing salamanders.”
“Really, Wyatt?”
“What are you watching?” Darika stood in the doorway, holding her takeout box of chicken salad.
“We were just doing an equipment check,” I said. “But Wyatt and Adrienne are in the main house, and they started arguing—”
“And you’re listening in on them?” Darika asked, jaw dropping.
“Um, sort of accidentally.” I felt my cheeks burn in shame, or at least embarrassment. “I know it’s inappropriate, but we desperately need to hear the Grolman family’s perspective, and now she’s conveniently shouting hers—”
“Have they said anything about me?” Darika dropped onto the bed on Stacey’s other side, and we scooted over to make room for her. She continued eating while she spied on her boss with us. That Bombay chicken salad smelled spicy and delicious.
“You might be the only person Adrienne hasn’t complained about,” Stacey told Darika.
“But the night is young,” I added.
“I’m not sleeping under the same roof as your entourage,” Adrienne told Wyatt onscreen. It really was like watching a soap opera, one we'd never intended to turn on, but now couldn't look away from. “Not tonight. Send them to the guest cottage.”
“That’s where we’re already staying,” Wyatt replied. “The main house isn’t ready.”
“It has power, doesn’t it? And water from the well?”
“Sure, but there’s more to be done.”
“What about bedrooms?”
“A few guest rooms have been fixed up, but not the master bedroom, and it’s also one of t
he main hauntspots Stacey recorded—”
Stacey raised her eyebrows at me, looking quite chuffed to hear Wyatt using her word.
“If we’re staying here, then we’re staying in the main lodge, as the masters of the place. Anything else would be inappropriate,” Adrienne said.
“Adrienne, there really are problems here. I don’t know if you’d call it supernatural, or what it is, but you can see the evidence collected by the investigators.”
“Wyatt, maybe you don’t understand. I am here for the sole purpose of closing down this project of yours before it can embarrass me or my family any further.”
“Embarrass you?” Wyatt asked. “I told you, we did an ecological impact study—”
“Do you think I wish to be associated with a lowly crook like Heinrich Grolman? Do you know what kind of person he was? He was a ruthless businessman who only cared about profits. A crude, unrefined monster without a shred of virtue or nobility in his body. You know my art is a path for individuating myself from my family and all they project onto me. Now you want to shove me back into everything I went to California to escape. Was it always about my family, my name, to you? Am I just a prize in a narcissistic game you’re playing in your own mind? Maybe something to show off to your brothers, to show how you've become their superior in every way?”
“Of course not. I thought we were both playing the game together,” he said “Player one and player two, together against the system. Which is everyone else.”
“And I’m always player two in your analogy,” Adrienne said.
“I don’t specify. But I am better at video games.”
“Except Mario Kart.”
“That’s because you’re ruthless.”
“Haven’t you done your research?” Adrienne asked. “You’re marrying into a family of ruthless capitalists. We'll throw bananas all over the path behind us.”
“That's why you always play as Donkey Kong.”
“I'm no Princess Peach. But Heinrich Grolman was a complete Bowser. He didn't have a drop of culture in his blood. Because who needs fine art or fashion or poetry when you can decorate your foyer with a dead giraffe?”
Wyatt laughed, explosively, grabbing his stomach and doubling a little. After a couple of seconds, Adrienne’s cold facade melted, and she broke down into laughter, too, smiling for the first time since we’d arrived, and they both looked like the young adults they were underneath the heavy public identities they carried.
“I hate this place,” she said, shaking her head and smiling.
“It’s terrible, isn’t it?” Wyatt said. “It seemed like a good idea when I was just reading about the island from thousands of miles away, before I got up close and personal with it.”
“It’s sweet, Wyatt. Really. But this will never work. We have to shut it down. Return the island to nature.”
“I still don’t think we should stay here tonight.”
“Are you afraid of ghosts, Wyatt?” She sauntered close and slid her arms around his waist. “Can’t you keep me safe, now that you’re all buffed up from your tae kwon do?”
“Ninjutsu. If only I’d known it growing up with my brothers in Ohio.”
“Whatever it is, it’s working.” She traced a finger over his bicep.
“We’re focusing mostly on tiajutsu right now. Though we’ve also gotten into some swordcraft, and Renoir says next month we might try nunchaku. And personally, I think I’m ready for shuriken, often called throwing stars—”
“Shh.” Adrienne touched a finger to his lips, then kissed him, long and slow.
“Maybe we should stop watching,” Stacey said.
“Shh,” Darika whispered. Then she stood up, taking her empty takeout container with her. “I mean yes, of course we should. We never saw this.”
Stacey minimized that particular window on her screen so we wouldn’t see or hear whatever transpired next between Adrienne and Wyatt. “It sounds like we should start packing, Ellie.”
“I’ve been kinda living out of my suitcase anyway, but yeah, maybe. What do you think, Darika?”
Darika shook her head. “We’ll see what they decide. He is impulsive, but she is like gravity. Everything bends her way eventually. I’ll see you in the morning.” She walked to the door.
“Good night, don’t let the chambermaids bite,” Stacey said, then immediately winced. “Sorry. Probably shouldn’t have said that.”
“It would have been better if you hadn’t.” Darika departed for her own room.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Since we hadn’t technically been fired yet, Stacey and I resumed our work, which meant heading to the lodge for the night to observe. The rain had tamped down to a slow drizzle, but the night sky was cloudy and dark, and no light reached us from the distant heavens.
We parked next to Gary’s security cart under the porte-cochère. Gary himself stood at the front door like a bouncer at a bar, tasked with keeping out undesirables.
“How’s it going, Gary?” I asked as we approached.
“Not bad, could be better. Seems like the big surprise of restoring the old family place didn’t make that girl happy like Wyatt hoped. A real fizzle of a firework, only this had to cost millions of dollars, all down the drain.”
“Yeah, well, elephant carcasses are not popular wedding decorations this season,” Stacey said. “I kind of see where she’s coming from. It was a definite misfire on his part.”
“Anyway, until we hear otherwise, we have to keep working.” I stepped closer to the door, but Gary folded his arms and blocked me.
“Sorry. Nobody in or out right now,” he said, trying to look menacing.
“In or out?” I asked. “So, if Wyatt and Adrienne try to leave, you’ll stop them?”
“Huh? Uh, no, I mean, nobody in. Sorry, nothing I can do about it.”
“I’m sure Wyatt will let us come. I’ll send him a Look Now about it.” Stacey tapped at her phone.
“What? Don’t do that.” Gary was so offended by Stacey's end run around his doorkeeping authority that he reached for her phone. She backed away, glaring at him.
“Keep your hands off, Gary,” I said, stepping up and drawing my tactical flashlight, which is heavy and beveled for breaking glass. Or flesh and bone, if needed.
Gary backpedaled, looking surprised. “I’m just doing my job.”
The LookyLoon notification squawked from Stacey’s phone. “I bet that’s Wyatt, telling us we can go inside.” She checked her phone, then turned it to show Gary. “See? Told ya.”
“Oh, pardon me, madam.” Gary bowed low and opened the door very slowly. “I didn’t realize you were such intimate friends with the master of the house.”
Stacey narrowed her eyes as we stepped past him into the front hall, greeted mutely by the giant deteriorated corpse of the Cape buffalo and the lion with its dusty, half-shed mane.
In the card room, Wyatt was explaining our array of monitors and observation gear to Adrienne, who plainly could not have been less interested.
“Here they are.” Wyatt looked slightly relieved. “They can explain it better. Or just show you the stuff.”
“Just show me the stuff,” Adrienne echoed back, her voice soft, not looking at either of us.
“Okay, sure.” Stacey pulled up the same material we’d showed Wyatt earlier, including the distant singing voices in the dining hall, followed by the dining hall door opening. She ended with the shadowy figure in the cemetery and the glimpse our camera had caught of the dim hooded rider. “That’s our best look at these entities so far.”
“Who else has seen this?” Adrienne asked Wyatt.
“Just me and Darika,” Wyatt said. “And Ellie and Stacey, obviously.”
“Brad and the others?”
“Some of it, yeah. Why?”
“My family will kill me if this goes public,” Adrienne said. “Erase it.”
“Erase the whole video?” Stacey asked.
“Erase everything you have collected here. I
t can’t end up on TV or online. It’ll be my fault for letting my fiancé bring you here.”
“We keep all client information confidential—” I began.
“It cannot be truly, permanently confidential until it’s erased,” Adrienne said.
I couldn’t actually argue against that, but I was still alarmed by her demand. “Wouldn’t your family, at least, want to know about this?”
“They already know.” She sighed and covered her eyes.
The room was so silent that we could almost hear the fur rotting off the jaguar.
“What do they know?” Wyatt asked her, finally.
“The estate is haunted. We’ve known it for generations. Why do you think we abandoned it?”
“Well…the Great Depression, right? And these days, people don’t really use lard that much anymore…” Wyatt trailed off as she scowled at him.
“My ancestors left Satilla Island because it’s completely scary, if you haven’t noticed,” Adrienne said.
“But you never told anyone?” Wyatt asked.
“People think you’re crazy when you make such claims,” Adrienne said. “When my family gave the island to the state of Georgia, we specifically required that people should never be allowed. Wildlife only. We literally made it illegal for people to visit. What more do you want from us? If I’d known what you were up to, Wyatt, I would have warned you. Now I have to fix this mess. Did you at least have everyone sign nondisclosures?”
“Definitely,” Wyatt said. “But we thought it was mostly short term, until our wedding. Obviously, the wedding location wasn’t going to be secret after that.”
“It’s not short term. It’s permanent.” Adrienne looked us over coolly. Coolly seemed to be her default mode of looking people over. “We do not want this kind of publicity. We put this place behind us nearly a century ago. It was a forgotten ruin when I was born, and it must stay that way.”
“What did your family experience here before closing it down?” I asked, treading out onto very thin and unwelcoming ice, but I had to know.
“Just the sort of things you’ve described,” Adrienne said.
“But where did it all come from? How did it happen?”
