“Anyway, I’m glad we’re out here together,” she said, as they reached the motel.
There were two new cars in the parking lot. Good. A few more people would make this place look less deserted and spooky.
“Me, too,” he said.
“You’ve been working too hard. And it’s been forever since we got away from your family. I’ve missed that. Missed the alone time.” He didn’t say anything, and Meggie knew she should let it drop, but her mouth had the need to fill the silence, so it kept running away. “We need more time alone, don’t you think?”
“We’re hardly alone. There are other people on the trip, remember.”
Meggie stood in front of the door and fumbled at the lock. It didn’t use a keycard, but an actual key on a fob. “Not the same thing. We don’t know those guys and they’re not prying into our lives or anything. Not like … ” Her voice trailed off just in time. Mention Kaitlyn again and he’d go off, and that would ruin the night.
He didn’t say anything, but she felt him stiffen behind her shoulder as she finally guided the key into the darkened lock. The door swung open. The light was on.
And there she was, kicked back on one of the two double beds, reading a book. Benjamin’s cousin herself. Kaitlyn. She’d peeled back the covers, stripped out of her clothes and now sat on the sheets wearing nothing but panties and a skimpy camisole.
“Oh, hey, Meggie,” she said, flashing her wide smile that looked so charming until you got to know the venomous person behind those gleaming teeth. “Ready for some caving?”
Chapter Six
Before Meggie could collect her wits and ask what the hell was going on, Benjamin was pushing into the room with a confused expression. Kaitlyn tossed aside her book, sprang from the bed and gave him a hug.
“What, when?” he sputtered.
“Surprised?”
“Well, yeah. How did you get out here so fast?”
Kaitlyn didn’t answer, but looked around the room. “What a dump. You couldn’t find anything better?”
“There’s nothing for fifty miles,” he said. “But when did you decide to come?”
“Yeah,” Meggie said, finding her voice at last. She gave Benjamin a hard stare. “And how did you even know how to find us?”
Kaitlyn shrugged. “I know I said I couldn’t make it, but the conference ended early and I jumped on a standby flight.” She threw up her hands. “So here I am.”
“That doesn’t answer the question,” Meggie said.
The other woman frowned. “What, is your caving expedition full or something?”
She still had her arms wrapped around Benjamin’s neck from her “hug,” and if anyone had walked in right now, what would they possibly think? Meggie stood stupidly at the doorway, while her fiancé enjoyed the embrace of a cute young woman bulging out of her camisole, her lower half in panties right up against his crotch.
Meggie struggled to contain the scream that threatened to burst out of her mouth. “Benjamin, could I talk to you for a moment?”
He pulled away and flushed. He wore a sickly expression, like the face of a kid who has eaten most of his Halloween candy in one go, but can’t stop eating the last few pieces. “What for?”
“I think you know.” She pushed open the motel room door and nodded her head toward the parking lot.
He started to follow her out, but Kaitlyn put a hand on his arm and he stopped like an obedient dog at the edge of a leash. “Come on, Meggie, don’t overreact,” she said.
“You can’t just show up. How did you even know?”
“It wasn’t a secret, was it? I saw you asking around on the forums. Duperre made a couple of comments in one thread, so I sent him a PM asking what was up. He told me. Of course I wondered why nobody invited me. But it seemed like your dates were bad, so I didn’t push it.”
Kaitlyn sounded hurt and confused, as if traveling across the country without warning, renting a car somewhere, and driving hundreds of miles across the desert to show up unannounced was a perfectly reasonable course of action. Digging around, spying in the forums. But no, she was the aggrieved party, because she hadn’t been invited.
What’s more, Meggie could see from Benjamin’s expression that Kaitlyn’s appearance wasn’t totally unexpected. He must have given her details, too. Must have known this was a possibility.
“We’ve got a trip plan written up and recorded,” Meggie said. “It’s going to be a pain in the butt to change it now. Do you even have your own gear?”
She looked doubtfully at Kaitlyn’s bags in the corner. Didn’t seem there was enough there to include caving equipment.
“I’ve got everything I need in the car. Don’t worry, I won’t be any trouble, I promise.”
“Duperre is the trip leader,” Meggie said. “I’m not going to ask him to change the plans. Not now. Makes us look like newbies who don’t know what we’re doing.”
Gah, this was all wrong. Giving multiple excuses was worse than none at all. Why didn’t she just say, Look, I don’t want you here. I need time alone with my fiancé without you butting in. Oh yeah, and you’re ripping off the company. What do you have to say about that, you lying, stealing sack of …?
But Meggie didn’t say anything like that. Truth was, she was afraid of Kaitlyn. Maybe the woman suspected, guessed that Meggie was on to her. And this whole surprise visit was designed to turn Benjamin’s affections, make it so when Meggie brought up the fraud, he’d doubt her. It would look like she was jealous. Desperate to break apart the cousins’ special friendship.
Kaitlyn never left them alone, and about twenty minutes later they were in their beds, Benjamin and Meggie in the bed closest to the bathroom, and Kaitlyn in the one by the outside door. It was pitch black in the room and Meggie lay there fuming, unable to see her rival in the next bed, but sensing the woman’s malevolent presence.
After about twenty minutes, Benjamin snuggled up to Meggie and began touching her, like he wanted to start something.
“Dude,” she whispered. “Your cousin is three feet away.”
“She’s asleep,” he whispered back. “Listen, she’s not moving.”
Kaitlyn did seem to be lying quietly in the other bed, motionless. Benjamin kept trying.
Men. Didn’t matter the situation, there was no putting them off once they got in the mood.
Meggie was most definitely not in the mood. She was tired, feeling yucky from the long day of travel, and skeeved out by the dumpy motel and the presence of Kaitlyn in the room. But there was something about the other woman sleeping in the next bed in her panties and bulging out of her camisole that made her reluctant to turn him down. Like she was feeling competitive or something. So she gave in.
Only when they were halfway done and she saw that Benjamin was into it, and not just bored or suffering typical male horniness, did it occur to her that maybe it was Kaitlyn that had him so turned on. That left Meggie doubly skeeved out. It ended without any satisfaction on her part. Benjamin didn’t seem to notice. He rolled over and yanked on his boxers, then promptly fell asleep.
Had Benjamin always suffered this sick fascination with Kaitlyn, and if so, why hadn’t Meggie seen it? The first time she met him was when she was waiting tables at that wings and pizza place in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He came in with one of his brothers and a couple of buddies. It was twenty minutes to closing time, and of course they only wanted mozzarella sticks and a couple of beers—no big tips forthcoming.
Worse, they were clueless. The friends kept hitting on her, and the brother was a pompous idiot, who managed to insert comments about how much money he had, how he was going to Harvard, and how he had big-shot investment firms lining up to offer him a job at graduation.
She plastered a smile on her face and gritted her teeth, while trying not to look pointedly at the clock. Her feet felt like bloody stumps, she had a chemistry test in the morning, and tips tonight had sucked. A half-hour after closing, all her night work done, and still they were scr
ewing around out there, calling her over to run their mouths.
When the owner started to total the till and gave the young men a scowl, Meggie figured she had permission. She plastered a sympathetic look on her face and brought them the bill “Well, guys,” she said. “I’m afraid we’re closing. So if you want to settle up …”
“How about another calamari plate for the road?” one of them asked.
“Sorry. The fryer is closed. Maybe next time.”
“Ooh, there goes her tip,” he said. He gave Meggie a glance that was half-wink, half-leer. “Does this mean you’re off? What are you doing tonight?”
The one with the curly hair hadn’t been drinking and looked up from sending a text. He winced. “Dude, don’t be an asshole.” Then, to Meggie, “Sorry, it’s the end of the semester. We’re just blowing off steam. You know how it is.”
“Tell me about it,” she said, dryly. “I’ve got finals tomorrow and here I am working late, when I should be home studying.”
“Oh, you’re going to college, too? Where is that? Bunker Hill Community College?”
“Harvard,” she said.
All four of them looked uncomfortable. No doubt they were thinking about how they’d been bragging it up about Harvard for the past hour. Well, three of them had been, at least. The cute guy with the curly hair hadn’t been such a jerk. He’d mostly been texting, but was now studying her with a different expression.
Meggie felt awkward and wished she’d kept her mouth shut. If even half of what they’d said was true, these were trust fund babies. Everything paid for. No need to work. Meggie had accepted plenty of student aid, but what didn’t come in grants had saddled her with tens of thousands in debt. And she had to work fifteen hours a week on top of everything else. Harvard liked to pretend that it was a meritocracy, that once you got in, you would be treated like anyone else. The reality was, Meggie had to bust her butt to make this work; she doubted these four had any clue what it took. And when they finished, and they scooped up their mid-six-figure jobs, working for the family company or Wall Street or wherever, they’d only move from one privileged bubble to another.
Meggie hoped to get a master’s in education and teach high school biology. Hopefully, she’d earn enough to pay off her student loans.
The awkward moment served one purpose. The four guys paid their bill, gave her a respectable eighteen percent tip, and left shortly after. Two days later, the one with the curly hair showed up at the restaurant to apologize for the behavior of his companions. He wasn’t like that, he promised. That was his brother and his brother’s friends, and he didn’t hang out with them that much. Mostly, he was closer to his cousin, but she was in London, finishing a year studying abroad.
Oh, and was Meggie sticking around Cambridge over the summer? Sure, Meggie answered. It’s not like she had anywhere else to go.
Kaitlyn didn’t return until the fall, and by then Meggie had fallen hard for Benjamin. He was awfully close to his cousin, calling and texting constantly. That was a little strange. And Benjamin let himself be pushed around by his brothers, by his parents, by his friends. Even by Meggie, when she wasn’t careful. It wasn’t his best trait, but she wasn’t perfect either.
They were each graduating the following year, Meggie with a bachelor’s, and Benjamin with his MBA. He was going to be training to take over the family business. What if she joined the company, too? Could they make that work? She thought they could.
And that was the apex of the relationship, Meggie decided, two years later, lying in the dumpy motel room next to her fiancé, with his cousin in the next bed. Kaitlyn proved to be more than conniving, she’d proven herself a thief and a liar. Benjamin was too weak to run his own company. Too weak to stand up to his cousin and his brothers. Too weak to be Meggie’s husband.
I can’t do this anymore.
The door banged open in the adjacent room, and HalfOrc and Duperre’s muffled voices came through the thin wall. She lay there a long time wondering how she would break the news about Kaitlyn’s theft.
I won’t marry into this—it’s not worth it. Either he cuts her loose, or I’m done.
Chapter Seven
When the alarm went off the next morning at 5:00, Meggie waited until Kaitlyn was in the shower, then rolled out of bed, leaving Benjamin still dozing, apparently using the two women as his virtual snooze button. She slipped outside and knocked on the door of the adjacent motel room.
Duperre cracked the door and squinted out over the chain through bloodshot eyes. “Crap, is it time already?”
“I’ve got to talk to you before my boyfriend gets up. Can I come in?”
He rattled the chain and let her in. HalfOrc had the hot water pot going and was mixing up instant coffee in Styrofoam cups. The diner up the road opened at 5:30. They planned to slam down a big breakfast before driving out to the caving site.
Meggie gratefully accepted a cup of the nasty coffee, then sat in the chair and quickly laid out what had happened last night when Kaitlyn showed up in their room.
“I take it you don’t like this lady,” Duperre said.
She didn’t want to get into details. “We have a trip plan. I don’t know why she showed up, but it’s not kosher.”
“Not really,” Duperre agreed. “But five people is better than four. Probably the optimal number for this descent, to be honest. Someone gets injured, that leaves two to stay behind and two more to run for help. Has she got all her gear?”
“She says she does. But I don’t know—it’s weird, is all.”
“Look, Megs, if you’ve got a bad feeling, tell me. I’m the trip leader, I’ll make a call.”
“Well …” Meggie began.
She was trying to work around how to say it without dumping out Benjamin’s dirty laundry. And how to explain why Kaitlyn creeped her out.
But Duperre apparently took her hesitation the wrong way. “If you’re worried I’ll be pissed off, don’t. I mean, in general, you don’t show up like that, but it’s not your fault. Anyway, I know Kaitlyn from the board and she’s cool—online, anyway. We did some BSing about Nevada caving on the forum and I knew she was hoping things would straighten out at work so she could come along.” He shrugged. “She’s here now, so we’ll be fine with that.” He turned to HalfOrc. “What do you think?”
“What’s she look like? Is she hot?”
Duperre elbowed him. “Dude, shut up.”
The other man shrugged. “Nah, I’m cool. Whatever.”
Meggie gave up. She went back to her room, deciding to grit her teeth and go through with it. If not for the absolute evidence that Kaitlyn was stealing from the company, she almost could have forgotten that sexy hug last night, and how it left Benjamin so turned on. So what? It was weird, them being cousins and all, but Meggie wasn’t the jealous type. Not really.
Breakfast went fine. Kaitlyn was all charm with the two other men, and barely flirted with her cousin at all. She was sweet as the high-fructose, fake maple syrup that came in pitchers to the table to drench their pancakes. Duperre updated the caving plan, then quizzed them on gear and supplies. Outside, they dropped the tailgate on Duperre’s extended-cab pickup to double-check equipment: boots, headlamps and helmets, ropes and harnesses, surveying gear, caving packs, a first aid kit, and everything else on the list. He had a clipboard and he physically checked them off one by one. Duperre even checked the food supplies, and broke open another pack of energy bars, which he passed around to put in their packs.
“You never know what we’ll find down there,” he said. “Hate to call it quits early because someone has the munchies.”
The older man’s professionalism calmed Meggie’s nerves, and by the time they crammed into the truck and headed east into the Snake Range, she found herself getting excited about the cave.
But when they crawled into the hills on a dusty ranch road, Duperre started getting sick. He pulled over on a steep, winding turn, then bent over in front of the bumper, breathing heavily.
<
br /> “You okay?” Meggie called.
“Yeah, I’m good. Give me a minute.”
“What, is he carsick or something?” Kaitlyn asked HalfOrc, but the other man shrugged.
He came back still pale, but looking stronger. “Sorry, guys. That doesn’t usually happen to me.”
They spent another quarter of a mile bumping over and through ruts before he had to stop again. This time he stomped down the emergency brake, staggered out, and puked his guts over the edge of the hill.
HalfOrc got out, too. He walked around for a few seconds, then came back with his hand over his belly and a deep scowl on his face.
“Don’t tell me you’re carsick, too,” Kaitlyn said.
“I don’t get it,” Duperre said when he got back. “I never get motion sickness. Not like this.”
“Feel like I’m going to have a bad case of the shits,” HalfOrc said. “Maybe it was that greasy spoon where we ate this morning. Food poisoning.”
The other three exchanged bewildered glances. None of them were affected. Finally, Benjamin dug around in his pack for Dramamine, which the two sick men took.
Meggie spread the map in the backseat. “We’re almost to the trailhead. Another twenty minutes.”
“I can hold on that long,” HalfOrc said. “How about you, dude?”
Duperre nodded. “I’m sure I’ll be better once we stop driving.”
But by the time they reached the spot marked on the map and parked, the two men had already stopped again and thrown up the Dramamine, then some Pepto Bismol, which came up pink. HalfOrc rushed off into the scrub oak with a roll of tissue. Moments later, explosive noises came from behind the trees.
Benjamin and the two women lined up the gear, then paced around the truck. The two sick men weren’t getting better. HalfOrc let out a flurry of curses from the brush.
Meggie came back to the vehicle, still in the middle of the ranch road, where Duperre lay in the truck bed with his pack as a pillow and one arm draped over his eyes. “I’m wondering if we should get you back down.”
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