The House Guests

by Emilie Richards

  “Maybe we can sneak out when it gets packed?”

  “We’ll see, but I have to go home tonight.”

  “Eventually.”

  Just for a moment she wondered what would happen if she told him what she had told Cassie. But Travis would be certain he could help, and Amber knew better. She remembered stories Billy had told about his brother. Darryl had routinely tormented, even tortured anything or anyone smaller or younger than he was, and his father and uncle had never discouraged him. She’d seen him at his worst. He had learned his lessons well.

  Travis pushed through the swinging traffic doors to the kitchen, and Amber joined Roxanne to finish the receipts. They were just about to gather and lock everything in the safe in Yiayia’s tiny office when Amber heard more tapping on the window. Darkness had fallen, but under the front lights she saw that this time the visitor was Cassie.

  “What’s with everybody tonight?” Roxanne said. “Nobody’s using the back door?”

  “Travis said the lot’s full and a car’s blocking the walkway.”

  “I’m not real fond of opening the front door when we’ve got the cash drawer open, too. Let her in quick. She tries to steal anything, I’ll slam it shut.”

  Amber opened the door just wide enough so Cassie could enter. “Travis just got here. Savannah’s not with you?”

  Cassie grabbed her arm and held it, bumping the door closed with her hip. “Lock it fast.”

  Amber frowned but did, since that’s what she’d intended anyway. “Are you okay?”

  From across the room Roxanne looked up. “Something going on I should know?”

  Cassie looked torn. “We need to talk privately,” she told Amber as quietly as she could. “Right now.” She crossed the room to her aunt. “Rox, I have to talk to Amber. Can you spare her a minute?”

  “Sure, I have to mail a letter anyway. Let me lock up the night’s receipts first.”

  Amber waited anxiously until finally the front door closed behind Roxanne. “You’re scaring me,” she told Cassie.

  Cassie didn’t waste time. “Listen, Savannah told me something you have to know about right now. Will has been in touch with Darryl Hawken.”

  Amber just stared at her, trying to take in the words. “That’s impossible.”

  “Savannah gave him a DNA test kit for his birthday. When he got a list of people he’s related to, Darryl was at the top, because he’s Will’s closest relative to be tested, his uncle. Darryl got his information and contacted him through the service. Will was smart enough to use a fake name, and he told him he was a foster kid in Georgia. But Darryl wants Will to meet him somewhere. And he’s told Will that he’s his father’s brother.”

  Amber heard it all, every word, but for a moment she was unable to speak or breathe. Finally she repeated one word. “Uncle?”

  “Yes, his uncle! Amber, this has to be the man who killed Will’s father. Billy’s brother, who you’ve been running from all these years. The one you told me about!”

  All the words that had jumbled in Amber’s head were sorting themselves out now. “A DNA test?”

  “He was anxious to find out who he really was, Amber.”

  “But I told him. I told him his father’s name and—”

  “He knows you were lying. The weekend of the field trip Savannah and Will went to the town in Georgia where Roger Hart was buried, even though she was the only one we caught. They figured out Hart couldn’t really be Will’s father.”

  “But he didn’t tell me. Why wouldn’t he confront me if that’s true?”

  “Because he loves you. He must have figured out that if you were lying it was important.”

  “He went behind my back and did this?”

  Cassie touched her arm. “He couldn’t do it any other way. And he tried to be careful. He’s smart and he knew you had to have a reason to keep the past a secret. But from everything you’ve told me, lies may not be good enough with this man. He may find you anyway.”

  “We have to go somewhere else, start over again. We have to do it immediately.”

  Cassie looked as if she wanted to cry, but she didn’t argue. “I’ll give you every cent I can spare, Amber. What else can I do? I can talk to Savannah’s mother, ask her to help. You can drive across country, and Gen will give you a place to stay until you find a job.”

  “You’ve done enough.” Amber knew if she stayed connected with Cassie in any way now, even through Savannah’s mother, Darryl would find them. She had to slip out silently, find a town large enough to hide in but not so large that she and Will would simply be empty crime statistics. She had to secure false papers, change their names, and she had to do it without help.

  “I hate this!” Cassie said.

  “I’m so sorry I’ve put you in danger. And you are, Cassie, because you and Savannah will be in his sights now, too. You have to come up with a story about why we left and spread it around. You have to stick to it. Tell people you were betrayed, that after everything you did for me, I just disappeared like an ungrateful con artist.”

  “Will is doing so well here. Are you going to tell him?”

  “I should have told him before! This is my fault. But how do you tell a kid something like that? I thought I had time, that I could wait until he’d at least gotten out of high school.”

  “He’s going to be in danger for the rest of his life, isn’t he? How can you register him anywhere? Records are probably public for somebody like Darryl. You can’t change Will’s name and erase all the extraordinary classwork he’s done. Please, go to Nick and tell him what’s going on. He’ll find a way to help you. If nothing else maybe he can put you in witness protection—”

  “Don’t you see? There has to be a crime to witness! And I can’t prove there was. Especially not after all this time. People in Chaslan think Billy and I snuck off together to see the world. If I tell a different story, Darryl will brand me a liar and then a murderer. If he doesn’t kill both of us first.”

  Amber squeezed Cassie’s arm, and then dropped her hand. “I’ll get Will and tell him there’s an emergency. Then we’re going home to pack. We’ll be gone before morning. Please don’t try to find us. If someday we’re no longer in danger, I’ll get in touch. But until that happens, if it ever does, you just have to let go.”

  “There has to be a way to help.”

  Amber started toward the swinging doors into the kitchen. “You have helped already. I’ll always love you for it.”

  She didn’t wait for a response, although she knew Cassie was right behind her. She pushed the doors and stopped so suddenly she could feel Cassie’s warm breath against her neck.

  “Run,” she said softly.

  “I wouldn’t run,” said the man with a bandanna covering most of his face and a stocking cap pulled low over his ears. He pointed a gun at both women, and then he swung it to one side where Will and Yiayia were plastered against a counter. “You run, either of you, and I’ll take out these two so fast you’ll never get to say goodbye.”

  46

  FOR THE FOURTH TIME since her mother had bolted out of the house, Savannah tried Will’s cell phone, but he still wasn’t answering. He’d probably left it in the pocket of his jacket and it was hanging in the Kouzina’s coatroom.

  Or maybe he couldn’t answer.

  Will needed to know that very soon—and possibly already—all their lies were going to blow back on them big-time.

  She banged her forehead against a great room wall until she realized nothing could jump-start good sense. Will had trusted her, and now she’d screwed that up, too. But Cassie had acted as if Darryl Hawken was some sort of psychopath. And after everything that had happened, Savannah wasn’t sure she could trust her own instincts. She’d been wrong so often, she was no longer sure what right felt like.

  She thought about calling Helia for a ride to the Kouzina
. Her friend didn’t drive or have a car, but her brother did. Of course, what if Will really was in danger? Wouldn’t showing up there put them in danger, too?

  By now she was pacing, which was marginally better than banging her head. In the last days of his life, her father had paced the hallway of their apartment. Sometimes she had heard his footsteps as she was going to sleep. Why hadn’t she stationed herself at one end of the hall and demanded he tell her what was wrong?

  Why didn’t she ever know what to do until it was too late?

  She wished she could drive. The Mustang was parked in their garage, waiting patiently for her to take possession once she had her learner’s license. Her father had taught her a little and Will had showed her a few things on their trip, but she’d never driven more than a hundred yards.

  Tonight was a Saturday during tourist season. The streets would probably be crowded. If she made it unscathed to the Sponge Docks, she would have to park. She wasn’t sure she could put the car in reverse.

  She grabbed the key off the peg by the garage door anyway. The Mustang belonged to her, and so did the problem. There was only one way to find out if she could use one to solve the other.

  * * *

  By the time she backed out of the garage and onto their street, Savannah had learned a lot the hard way. The worst part was the clutch. The car jumped, the car stalled. On the street, she ran up on the curb and across the center line because she overcorrected. But somehow, she managed to stay in her lane once she was in a higher gear. The guard at their gate was surprised to see her behind the wheel.

  “Just got your license?” he asked.

  She pasted a big smile on her face. “Isn’t it great?”

  He looked skeptical, but he didn’t ask to see proof. Proof probably wasn’t in his job description.

  A trip that should have taken less than ten minutes took thirty, largely because she stalled every time she stopped. She figured Cassie was twenty minutes ahead of her, and by now it was probably too late to warn Will. But at least she could stand with him and take the heat.

  By the time she took the final turn onto Dodecanese, she was sweating, despite temperatures in the low sixties. The good news was that she was still alive and the car relatively undamaged if she didn’t count the front bumper, which she’d banged into a metal cabinet in the garage more than once trying to put the car in reverse. She was in no hurry to survey the damage.

  As she slowed to a halt across from the Kouzina, she saw an empty spot at the curb. She thought she could nose into it, but she was pretty sure the rear half of the car was going to stick out. That didn’t matter. She had to do what she could. If Will was still speaking to her, he could come out and park for her. Or somebody less angry.

  When she opened her door, she realized just how far from the curb she was, but she slid out anyway and slammed her door, locking it with the key fob before she shoved it in the pocket of her jeans. When she turned toward the Kouzina, a uniformed police officer was standing about six feet away watching her.

  For a moment, she was terrified this might be Will’s uncle. Then she realized that a West Virginia sheriff wouldn’t be wearing his state’s uniform here, and this man was wearing the same one she’d seen on local police officers during the Epiphany celebration.

  The cop looked to be about Cassie’s age, tall but not thin, strong, like somebody who worked out. He had olive skin with penetrating brown eyes. He might be Greek. That gave her something to work with.

  She forced a smile. “I’m sorry, Officer. The car stalled. I was just going in there.” She pointed to the Kouzina. “Yiayia is my mom’s grandma. Somebody in there will help me.”

  He tilted his head an inch, as if he didn’t believe her but wasn’t quite ready to write a ticket. “Who’s your mother?”

  “Cassie Costas. Well, she’s actually my stepmom, but in my life she’s the real deal.” She hoped that Cassie’s notoriously combative father hadn’t beaten up anyone in this man’s family.

  “You have a reason to be in there after hours?”

  “I’m invited to the Saturday-night feast. It’s a tradition. My mom’s there now. Do you know her?”

  “Why don’t you show me your license.” He held out his hand.

  She put her own hands behind her back. “The thing is...”

  “You left it at home.”

  “Not exactly.”

  “Explain exactly.”

  “I don’t have a license.” She could feel tears filling her eyes. “Look, it’s an emergency, okay? I had to come. I had to see somebody who’s in there. It couldn’t wait. The car belongs to me, it’s just that, well, I don’t know how to drive it.”

  “And yet, here you are.”

  “Yes, but you can see I don’t know how to park!”

  He seemed to debate, then he shook his head. “Give me the keys and stay right where you are, Savannah. Exactly.”

  “You know my name?”

  “I know your mother.” He held out his hand. Savannah fished for the keys and put them in his palm.

  “Stay right there.”

  She nodded. “I won’t move.”

  “I bet you told your mother that earlier today.”

  “It’s an emergency!” She watched as he expertly moved the car into the parking spot and turned off the engine. She wanted to dislike him. Cops and teenagers weren’t exactly sworn enemies, but she’d heard enough to worry. Still, even though she clearly wasn’t going to get away with anything, he was relaxed, almost as if he was struggling not to smile.

  Back on the curb he pocketed the keys. “These go to Cassie. Let’s find her.”

  “You don’t have to come with me. I’ll tell her.”

  “Save it. And besides, I was on my way in.”

  “You’re going to the party?”

  “Maybe.” He didn’t say more.

  “Savannah!”

  Savannah turned and saw Roxanne heading their way. “That’s Roxanne,” she said. “She’s sort of my great-aunt.”

  “Nick.” Roxanne came up. “What on earth is going on?”

  “This young lady drove here without a license, and then left the car in the middle of the street where it would have caused an accident.”

  “I parked it.” Savannah realized that arguing with a cop probably wasn’t good strategy. “I tried to,” she amended. “I don’t drive in reverse very well. Roxanne, I have to get inside and talk to Will. Right away.”

  “What’s with all the secrets tonight? Your mom and Amber practically kicked me out of the dining room. What’s going on?”

  Savannah didn’t know what she could say, but Nick didn’t hesitate. “When was that?”

  “A while ago,” Roxanne said. “Ten, fifteen minutes? I went to mail something and ran into a friend. I figured they needed privacy, so I took my time coming back.”

  Without moving closer, Nick peered inside. The lights were still on, but nobody was visible. “Where were they when you left?”

  “In the front. Amber locked up after me. Now they’re probably in the kitchen with everybody else.”

  “Who else is there?”

  Roxanne ticked off names on her fingers. “Mama, Will, Amber—she’s Will’s mother—oh, and Travis. It’s possible other people showed up while I was gone. Travis and Cassie had to park out here. He said the lot was full and some fool blocked the back entrance, right up to the door. So anyone else will be parking out here.”

  He turned to Savannah. “Is there any chance that whatever you came to tell Will might have to do with a dangerous situation?”

  Savannah figured that from this point on, Will would never speak to her again. Now a cop was asking questions that would blow the whole identity thing wide-open, if it hadn’t exploded already.

  Roxanne stepped forward and clamped her hands on Savannah’s shoulders. “T
he Andinos and the Costases go way back, and he takes the Kouzina’s profits to the bank every week to help Yiayia. That’s why you’re here, right?” she asked Nick. After he nodded, she went on. “If something’s going on in there that he needs to know, tell him right now.”

  “I should have stayed home.”

  “Too late for that,” he said. “I’m going inside in a minute, and I need to know if I’m walking into a dangerous situation.”

  Roxanne dropped her hands, and Savannah blew out a long breath. “Will’s been looking for his father. I helped him find an uncle who wants to meet him. His mom doesn’t know, but I told my mom tonight. She said the uncle is really dangerous. So she left in a hurry to come here and tell Amber.”

  “What else about the uncle?”

  “He’s a sheriff somewhere or other. But Will didn’t tell him anything that would lead him here, honest. He was careful. He used a fake name, a fake bio, a fake hometown.”

  “A fake town?”

  She squirmed. “Well, it’s a real town. Will and I were there a little while ago, looking for his father’s family. But we didn’t tell anybody where we were from or anything.”

  “You didn’t show ID?”

  She started to say no, then she remembered. “Only at the library, so we could look at microfilm. And...well, at the motor court where we spent the night. Will showed them his driver’s license. I wasn’t supposed to tell anybody this!”

  He nodded. “You did the right thing.”

  “This is crazy,” Roxanne said. “They’re all probably in the back having a high old time. I happen to know Yiayia’s planning to fry calamari. Can’t you get Amber and Will off to one side and see if anybody’s really in danger? Nothing good’s happening out here, and I’m hungry.”

  “Nobody goes in until I check. I’m going around the back and in through the kitchen. You get in Savannah’s car and roll up the windows. Or better yet, head away from here.”

  “Don’t you, like, have to call for backup or something?” Savannah asked.

  “Not unless I think there’s a reason.” He swept his hand toward the car. Then he took off down the block, walking fast. There was a narrow passage that cut between two businesses leading to the alley behind the restaurant. In a moment he disappeared.