“Whoa.” Rhonda blinked a few times. “I can’t believe I get to meet Ronnie.”
I threw her a look.
“Right. There will be time for all that later. Camera Guy, you get your producer to the boat,” she said, looking at Kenny. “I’ll get the women. Erica, you bring Kyle.”
“Wait! My mom!” I shouted. “Her ankle’s broken. She’s back at the twins’ in their little stone shed thingy.”
“Jeez Louise,” Rhonda said throwing her hand in the air. “Okay. We’ll get everyone in the boat. Then I’ll go back to stay with her.”
I shook my head. “No, I will. You get everyone to the mainland.”
“Got it.”
Kenny lifted—I guess just Kimberly?—up into his arms.
“I can walk, you know,” she said, with a grimace of pain. “He hit me in the arm.”
The cameraman shook his head. “There’s no pretending anymore.”
The producer rolled her eyes and threw her head back over his arm.
“You like me,” Kenny said in a singsong voice. “You think I’m sexy.”
“Just stop.”
“And for the record…” Kenny paused dramatically as Julie’s eyes snapped up to his. “I feel the same way. Well, I wouldn’t say I’m all the way in love like you are, but—”
“Please,” she said, closing her eyes. “Just let me bleed out.”
I jerked my head at Kyle. “Let’s go.”
“Okay,” he said, patting his jacket pockets. “But there’s a big flashlight in the other room.” He jerked a thumb back. “Way better than ours. I’ll just grab it.”
The others were already out the door.
“Kyle!” I hissed. “Leave it. We don’t have time for—”
But he was already in the hallway. I moved to go after him when I heard the man on the floor suddenly wheeze.
Guess, it was hard to detect a pulse through all that neck muscle.
I froze, the hair rising up on the back of my neck.
Maybe … maybe that was just some kind of after-death wheeze?
“Kyle?” I hissed again, softer this time. “Let’s get going. Now!” I would have gone to get him myself, but the man on the floor was blocking my path, and I didn’t want to take my eyes off of him to go around. Sure, he looked dead, but that’s how they always look right before they grab your ankle.
Just then his fingers twitched. I jumped back. But he wasn’t reaching out for me. His hand just kind of flopped off of his chest onto the floor sending something spinning in my direction.
A phone.
My eyes stayed glued to his face as I stepped forward and crouched down to reach for it. Once I had it in my hand, I stood up and backed away again.
It was a small, cheap thing.
A burner.
I looked at the screen, eyes falling on an open text message window.
All it said was The money is coming. I need more time.
I had to know.
I had to be sure.
I called the number and carefully put the phone to my ear.
I held my breath as it rang and rang.
No one would answer. Brody was secure. So no one should answer.
After a few more rings, I felt my shoulders drop. Of course no one would answer … except …
Suddenly I could hear a phone buzzing.
My eyes darted around following the sound.
It was coming from the threshold that led to the back hallway …
… right from Kyle’s hand.
“You little a-hole.”
Chapter Fifty-four
“This sucks. It really does.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing was coming out.
Kyle … Kyle? But why? He had the money. This didn’t make any sense. He …
Kyle’s eyes darted to the ground, yanking me from my thoughts. He snatched up Brody’s gun that had spun away from me, under the table, before I had even thought to move. He rose to his feet, weapon pointed at my chest.
“I had to go back for my phone,” he said, waving it in the air with his other hand. “It fell out in the bathroom. That could have really messed things up for me. But, now, I can just toss it in the lake or something.”
“So, this was all you?” I asked raising my hands in the air. “You hired the assassin?”
He shrugged.
“But why?” I asked. “You have the money.”
“Yeah, but for how long?” he said almost sadly. “I had to go through a lot to get Rayner to change his will in the first place.”
I gasped. “You poisoned yourself to get him to believe someone was trying to kill you!”
“Yeah, him too. He was having trouble believing that one of them,” he said, jerking his head toward the window, “would actually try to kill him. Like it was this huge stretch or something.”
“So you brought them all here to—”
“No, that was all Julie’s idea for the show. Julie. Now I have to deal with that whole situation.” He sighed. “She’ll probably try to make a claim for the money. The old man just couldn’t keep it in his pants.”
I waited, too afraid to breathe.
“This get-together was the perfect opportunity for me to get him to hire a bodyguard,” he said, putting air quotes around the word. “I mean, being all alone on an island with your murderous family members? It only made sense to hire somebody for protection—somebody who could also double for a bartender.”
“I don’t believe this.”
Kyle shuffled behind the dead body of his father—the father he had killed with the help of the assassin—to walk down the far side of the room. I matched his steps on the other side, keeping the table between us. At first it was just instinctual, but my brain was beginning to fire again. The distance wouldn’t make a difference if he took a shot. But maybe, just maybe, if something distracted him, I could make a dash for the hallway and get out a window before he could shoot. Maybe.
“But I still don’t understand. The assassin killed your father. Why get him to come back? Did you hire him to kill your entire family?”
“No, Erica,” he said, eyes suddenly flashing. “I didn’t get him to come back. He came back all on his own.”
I furrowed my brow.
“Why?”
Kyle shot me a pointed look. “Um, because the payment he was expecting didn’t come through?”
I felt my eyes dart side to side. “Payment? Oh my…”
“Yeah, I totally wanted to kill you right then. But that was my bad too.” He shot me a tired smile. “I wanted to pay him from Brody’s phone, but it took forever to find the right opportunity, and then I blew it by showing it to you before the transaction was complete.”
Heat rolled over my body. “You were going to frame Brody with all this.”
“He’s kind of the obvious choice,” he said. His eyes dropped to the assassin on the floor. “I can’t believe this guy was such a dick about the details. That’s why he didn’t kill you. Or your mother when I texted him to. He wanted the same amount of money upfront. If you ask me, it would have been in his best interest to knock off as many witnesses as possible, but I guess I’m not the professional.”
“So he didn’t leave because he was going to…?”
“Kill me! He thought I was trying to stiff him. I told him I would get the money, but he didn’t like how any of this was playing out.” Kyle’s lip curled with disgust. “He almost had me outside just now, but I punched him in the nuts.”
Suddenly the paid assassin let out a wet cough.
“Hey! You’re still alive,” Kyle said. “That’s awesome. Just hang in there, dude. I’ll give you a good final rating online.” He looked over at me. “You’ll be his last kill.”
I swallowed hard. “You will never get away with this.”
“I’ve got a pretty good shot, I think.” He shrugged again. “There’s the storm working on the evidence outside and—”
“Oh my God! You’re going to
blow this place up!”
Kyle’s face twisted in confusion. “What?”
I pointed behind me. “With the propane!”
“Yeah, no,” he said, squinting. “I actually don’t think it’s that easy to blow things up. I figured the storm would kill the power and I wanted the lights to stay out, so Brody would freak. Make him look more guilty? I got the idea when I was waiting for Rayner to arrive and set up my shocking entrance. It was Julie’s idea for me to lay low outside. Man, that was cold. I was out there forever. I mean, I got to the island right after Brody.” He shivered. “Looking back now, the generator was probably my biggest mistake, but I saw this movie last week—”
“No. Stop. I get it.” I dropped my arm then raised it right back up in another vicious point. “You hit my mother!”
He shrugged. “If it makes you feel better hurting your mom was never part of the plan, but she spotted me at the generator. I panicked. I couldn’t take the chance that she would ruin things. I was lucky nobody heard me. But then again, some of the others had just arrived and Ronnie never shows up anywhere quietly,” Kyle said, looking me in the eye. “And just so you know, I never meant for you to die. So, sorry.”
“No! No! I do not accept your apology!” I shouted, patting my chest. “I came back up here to save you. I was willing to risk my own life to save you!”
“I know, and you’re so cute. Total Mama Bear. And like I said, I do feel really bad about this.”
“No you don’t!”
“Okay, fine,” he said making his eyes go wide. “Not like really, really bad. But it has been an awesome night.”
I shook my head in a near shudder.
“There were times I was like really, actually scared,” he said with a nod. “Like when we were in that shed and your friend came with that ax? For a second there, I was like Oh no, Erica protect me! Because we were all”—He looked around the room like he was trying to find the right words. Suddenly he raised a fist in the air—“Kyle and Erica against the world!”
“I don’t believe this.” My eyes darted around the table … sideboard … floor … for a weapon, but I didn’t see anything that would help me against a gun.
“Oh, and by the way, I was just messing with you about that whole cougar thing. I would have totally been down.”
I shook my head frantically again. “Yeah, not that into braces.”
“Wow. Harsh.”
The still-open door banged against the wall with the wind. Kyle’s eyes darted over to it, but not long enough for me to do anything. He walked in that direction, though, keeping the gun on me. Guess he didn’t want me making a run for it.
“Kyle, you can’t get away with this. They’ll—”
“What makes you think they’re going to investigate?” he asked. “I was with you the whole time. You told Rhonda someone was trying to kill me. You died trying to protect me.” He snapped his fingers. “I’ll make you a hero! That’s awesome! I feel so much better about how this whole thing has turned out.”
“I don’t!”
“I get it.” He shook his head. “And you’re right. I need to be careful. I won’t give them any answers at first. Just cry. Then when they have questions for me, well, I’ll have my lawyers there to answer them. I’m thinking five hundred million dollars can buy me some good lawyers.”
“Kyle…”
He kneeled down to the assassin’s body and raised the gun toward my head. That’s what he was doing. Getting the angle right.
“Stop,” I said putting my hands up. “Please.”
“Aw, don’t make me feel bad. I said I was sorry.”
I grabbed the chair again. My only hope left was to throw it at him and make a run for it. It wasn’t much of a chance, but it was all I had.
I was just about to swing the chair when—
“Bye, Erica.”
—someone in a bright yellow slicker tumbled through the door.
“Parkour!”
Chapter Fifty-five
“Freddie!”
A tangle of bodies hit the floor.
I dropped to my knees and grabbed the gun that the tackle had knocked from Kyle’s hand. I tried to stand, but I couldn’t find the strength. Instead, I collapsed against the wall, gun pointed at the squirming bodies in front of me.
I couldn’t shoot. They were too close together.
“Freddie, get away from him!”
“Get away from him?” he grumbled, not sounding nearly as panicked as he should. “Why?”
“I’ve got the gun!”
“Yeah, no worries.” I watched Freddie straighten up, seated on Kyle, hand mashing the kid’s face into the floor. “Now who’s wrestling marshmallows, punk?” He then looked over to the assassin. “Is he…?”
I shook my head. “I think. Maybe. Yes?”
He just nodded.
“I don’t … I can’t … Freddie,” I said blinking at him. “You saved my life.”
The intensity of his gaze dropped as a thought crossed his face. “I did?”
“You did.”
“Wow.” He straightened up some more, making Kyle groan. A big smile spread across his face. “Well, I couldn’t just let you die. You are my best friend.”
Tears filled my eyes. “If you hadn’t come through that door when you did…”
He nodded, still smiling. “You’d totally be dead!”
My face tightened. “You need to say that with a little less enthusiasm.”
“Erica, you know what this means, don’t you?”
“I’m alive?”
“No,” Freddie said with just a tinge of disgust tainting his smile. “Well, yes, that, but this really means that I got one!”
“You got one?” I barely had enough energy left to breathe let alone figure out what Freddie was trying to get at.
“You got one,” he said, pointing at me. “Rhonda got one.” His free hand swung to the door. “Now I got one!” The same hand patted his chest.
“Got one what?”
“A murderer!”
“Oh. Yay,” I said weakly. I tried to raise my hand in celebration too, but my muscles still hadn’t recovered from all of the excitement. “Sorry, I’m in the process of accepting the fact that I’m not d—”
“You need to take a picture.”
I blinked.
Kyle grunted something—something angry by the sound of it—but it was hard to understand him, what with his mouth pressed against the floor.
“Earth to Erica,” Freddie said, reaching into his pocket. “Did you hear me? You need to take a picture.”
“Now? Why?”
“For posterity’s sake! The news!” Freddie shouted. “Oh, and the website. I definitely can’t forget the website.”
I clutched my forehead. “Freddie, I … I…”
“Still not firing on all cylinders yet, huh?”
I dropped my hand to my lap. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. It seems to make light of all that’s happen—”
“What? No, it doesn’t.” He made a few swipes on his phone with his one free hand then passed it to me. “This is like the picture fishermen take when they catch the big one.” His eyes dropped down to Kyle. “Except I think maybe I’ll keep this little guy pinned to the floor.”
Kyle grunted again, turning his spittle-covered chin up into the air. “You two are the biggest losers ever! Don’t you even think about taking my picture! I’ll have my lawyers—”
“And that’s quite enough of that,” Freddie said, pressing Kyle’s face back down into the floor. “So, you going to take the picture or what?”
I stared at the phone in my hand, then shrugged.
“Say ‘cheese.’”
Chapter Fifty-six
“You know this is the kind of day that just makes you feel like all is right with the world.”
Warm sunshine broke through the clouds. “If you say so.”
Freddie shot me a bright smile. “Don’t worry. You’ll get there.”
Grease with maybe a side of beer.
“We would have gotten there sooner, but you were supposed to be at the twins’.” Freddie went on flashing me what was meant to be a disappointed look, but he was too giddy to pull it off. “Next time, give me a heads up.”
I nodded. After my last call with Freddie, he had decided to give up altogether on trying to get the authorities to help. Instead, he had spread the word around town that I was in trouble and convinced Ken to lend him his biggest boat to make it over to the island. Red, Matthew, and a few others came along for the ride. They had run into Rhonda on the way up to the retreat, but, despite reassurances that it was over, Freddie had still come rushing up to get me. He said his sixth sense had told him I was still in trouble, and I wasn’t about to disagree. He could totally have that, given the outcome.
Shortly after that, the authorities finally arrived at the island, and the EMTs found my mom and Chuck in the shed with Caesar. She went to the hospital with Chuck for a CAT scan and cast while Caesar spent the night on Rhonda’s desk in a cat carrier, grumbling at people. He and my mother were now back at the retreat. Everyone else was still at the hospital. Julie was awaiting surgery with Kenny by her side, and Brody was in the psych ward awaiting evaluation. Ronnie and Ashley were getting treated for frostbite, but they were going to be okay. Kyle had been there for a little while too—suspected cracked ribs—but he was quickly relocated to a holding cell after it was determined he was fine … and Ashley and her mother were overheard discussing strangling him with an IV tube. Even The Dark Web Assassin was in the hospital, but in critical care. I wasn’t exactly praying for his speedy recovery.
“Freddie,” I said, hopping over a puddle. “There’s one thing I gotta ask you.”
He closed his eyes and sighed. “Go ahead. Say it.”
“Parkour?”
“I don’t know, okay? I was scared and over-excited. It just came out.” He shook his head. “But if we’re going to armchair quarterback this whole thing, maybe we should talk about this aversion you have to shooting people?”
Snowed In with Murder Page 24
