“Well, then you should be helping Jon tomorrow. He’s our supply man.”
“I’ll be busy in the kitchen all day. I won’t have time to do anything else.”
Gary half rose from his seat, but Rex waved him back. “She’s right,” Rex said. “Sarah should focus her abilities where she can be the most use. Michelle has been prioritizing our needs. Now we’ve got our basic supplies in stock, what should we do first thing tomorrow morning?” he asked the dark-haired girl.
Heather liked Michelle. They’d talked earlier, and Michelle had confided how she wasn’t happy in her current job as an assistant in an accountant’s office. If she won the house, she’d sell it and use the money to set up her own stationery store. She did calligraphy and already made money on the side doing party invitations.
“Jon said apparently the TV studio had arranged for our phones to be activated on Monday,” Michelle said. “Our cable service will be connected tomorrow. That makes things easier. Heather, keep working on your logo design, and then we’ll see about ordering custom-made products for the guest rooms. Sarah, I understand every Saturday morning there is a farmer’s market by the train station. I think you should meet the vendors.”
“And what will you be doing, besides making lists for the rest of us?” Kim said in a syrupy tone.
“Speak for yourself,” Michelle shot back. “You’ve been so busy coming on to all the guys that I don’t see what you’ve accomplished.”
“Gary and I measured the rooms. He said we need to get some area rugs and lamps for better lighting.”
“Gary’s good at telling everybody else what to do but not at getting much done himself,” Dave kicked in, grinning from his position on the floor.
“Oh, hell, I don’t see how we’ll pull it together the way you people act.” Running a hand under his collar as though the room were too hot, Gary shot to his feet and stalked off.
“Now see what you’ve done,” Kim snapped to no one in particular.
“Look, people, let’s all be nice,” Heather inserted. “We have to get along, and we should appreciate what each of us brings to the table.”
They continued their discussion, during which Sarah excused herself to make a pot of coffee. She took an unusually long time to return with a plate of cookies. Kim went upstairs to use the bathroom, while Dave left with a mumbled excuse about looking in the garage for chemicals to clean the pool. The water would turn green otherwise, he insisted. Since his ambition was to open his own pool service, he volunteered for this duty.
“I’ve just thought of something else,” Rex said. “We don’t have any locks on our doors. Each guest will require a room key. We’ll have to call a locksmith.”
“I’ll go count all the doors, including the ones outside,” Michelle offered. “Is this place wired for a security system? While I’m at it, I’d better check the rooms for smoke alarms.” She hastened away, refusing Sarah’s offer of a coffee mug.
“Heck, you know what we forgot?” Rex said to the remaining three of them. His rangy body leaned against the fireplace mantel. “We’ll need a business license.”
“City offices won’t reopen until Monday,” Heather pointed out. Another problem popped into her mind. She turned to Logan, who’d just strode through the front door, his usually plastered hair in wild disarray. “Do we have insurance for the house, liability coverage, that sort of thing?”
“That’s your group’s responsibility to arrange,” he said, smoothing his head and tugging his sport coat into place. “Isn’t Tanya here yet? She’s supposed to interview each one of you.”
A chilling scream pierced the night before any of them could answer.
Three
“The lights were off back here,” Michelle blubbered when they reached her on the patio. “When I turned them on, I saw it ... him.” She pointed a shaky finger.
Heather uttered a cry when she spied the body floating in the pool. “Oh, my Lord. It’s Gary.” Facedown, his undulating form told its own story.
“Call 911,” Rex ordered. Jon peeled off to comply. “Dave, don’t just stand there. Get me that pole so I can drag him in. And stop the cameras, dammit.”
“No, keep filming,” Tanya countered, showing up with a cameraman in tow. He panned for a wide-angle shot.
Heather considered what she could do while Rex and Logan hauled Gary’s limp body over the pool’s edge. Water splashed everywhere. She heard Sarah descend into sobs from behind while Kim cursed up a storm. As Rex and Logan began CPR, Tanya yelled directions to the camera crew. Heather stood frozen, watching the surreal scene unravel.
Help Rex, you twit. “I’ll send the paramedics back here,” she called to him. Jon hadn’t reappeared. Maybe he was waiting out front. Turning, she fled past the open sliding glass doors.
Sirens wailed from down the street. Soon police and rescue personnel flooded the grounds. Following orders from the officer in charge, Heather and the other contestants gathered in the living room. Swirling red lights strobed through the picture window from rescue vehicles parked in the driveway.
She slid onto the sofa next to Sarah, who sat rigidly, her face as pale as bleached flour. Kim wrapped herself around Dave on a chair by the fireplace, while Michelle sank to the floor, the luster gone from her flamenco dancer’s eyes. Jon’s complexion, normally a ruddy contrast to his spiked blond hair, had deepened to resemble a cooked lobster.
No one spoke. She felt a grateful glow when Rex flanked her other side. His solid warmth gave her strength. Their hips touched, making her aware of his proximity and her inappropriate response. Parts of her that should be numb flamed into life. This wasn’t the right time or place to react to his scent of soap and sandalwood. To distract herself from wayward thoughts, she focused on his admirable fortitude. A muscle twitched in his jaw, his only outward sign of emotion. Otherwise, the sharp angles of his face presented a rock-hardness as firm as Gibraltar. His forearm, sprinkled with dark hairs, rested just a few centimeters from hers. An uncontrollable urge to grasp his hand made her curl her fingers.
Logan, given permission to continue filming, withdrew into a corner for a huddled conference with Tanya and their crew.
Another official arrived, an ominous portent judging from Logan’s audible curse and sudden pallor.
“Who’s that?” she whispered to Rex.
“The medical examiner. That’s not good.”
Heather soon understood why. Shortly thereafter, a body retrieval unit carried away the covered corpse on a stretcher.
“Oh, no. I can’t believe Gary’s gone,” she croaked, her throat dry.
“Believe it, babe,” Dave said. “What I don’t understand is what the hell he was doing by the pool.”
“I’d like to know the same thing,” said a dour-faced man in a rumpled suit, who stalked in from the rear. “I’m Detective Jackson. I’ll have to take statements from each one of you. We can use that spare front room as an office. If you wouldn’t mind giving me your names, we’ll get started. In the meantime, there will be no discussion among you until I’ve interviewed everyone. Understand?”
Tanya stepped forward. Heather noted that she seemed less rattled than Logan. Her makeup and hair appeared perfectly in place. “This won’t affect our show, will it, officer? I mean, we have an obligation to the network. We can’t let this horrible accident stop our progress. Dealing with setbacks is part of the business. You can watch our videotapes if that would help your investigation.”
Heather nearly choked. Gary’s death was more than a setback. How could Tanya be so callous?
The detective furrowed his brow. “Thanks, that’s what I intended. But you’re under a mistaken impression here. This wasn’t an accident. The victim was hit with a blunt instrument on the side of his head.”
Heather’s glance flitted to the male contestants. Now they were down to three men. How horrible. No one was supposed to leave the show in this manner.
She sat in stunned disbelief as Jackson called each i
ndividual to be questioned. She didn’t even notice when Rex entwined his fingers with hers. When her turn came, he squeezed her hand and gave her a nod of encouragement. Maybe furniture repair wasn’t such a bad job. He seemed to possess the same sturdiness as the wooden items he restored.
The detective’s choice of milieu wasn’t wood but stone, judging from the granitelike coldness of his eyes. “Please have a seat, Miss Payne.” Instead of sitting behind the desk, he chose an armchair adjacent to hers. He tilted his head, peppery hair spilling across his forehead. “I’d appreciate it if you could tell me the sequence of events that you remember.”
She bent her neck, folding her hands in her lap. “We were talking about what we should do tomorrow,” she said in a subdued tone. “I don’t know what you’ve been told, but we have to get this place ready for guests to arrive within the week. Will we ... will the show be cancelled?”
“I don’t think so. I’ll review the tapes before they’re edited, but I’m hoping we can wrap this up pretty quickly. So you were sitting in the—?”
“Living room. We viewed the video from today. Gary got angry and left.”
“Angry at whom?”
“Dave accused him of not accomplishing much.”
“I see.” He consulted his notes. “Did Dave Molina remain in the room?”
“Yes. Michelle had been making lists, but we really hadn’t organized ourselves. Rex aimed us in the right direction.”
Jackson must have detected a note of admiration in her tone because he gave her a sharp glance. “Jon Walker said Gary took charge, telling everyone what to do.”
She clasped her hands. “Gary tends to order people around, but he means well. That’s his work style, you know? Rex, on the other hand, motivates you to do your job.”
“So you think Rex Gerard set everyone on the right track?”
“Yes. He said Jon’s good with numbers, so he should be in charge of finances and insurance. We hadn’t even thought about establishing accounts with the credit card companies, banking, taxes, or billing procedures.”
“Your producers said they’d given you a budget. Walker is the one handling the money now, isn’t he? So it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to put him in charge of financial aspects.”
“Rex also suggested that Kim and Sarah take on guest services. Sarah will handle meals, and Kim will supervise housekeeping.” Kim would make sure things were kept up properly. She liked her clean towels and perfumed soaps.
“So you respect Mr. Gerard’s ability to tap into people’s talents?”
She cocked her head. “Yes, I do.” It was more than that. Rex didn’t act competitively. He behaved as though he’d like them all to succeed.
“Did Gerard leave the room while the deceased was gone?”
Her hands clenched tighter. “No, and neither did I.”
Jackson scribbled in his notebook. “Can you tell me about anyone else’s movements?”
“Well, after Sarah went into the kitchen to make coffee, Kim left to use the bathroom, and Dave decided to check for pool cleaning supplies in the garage.”
“At night? Were the exterior lights on at this time?”
“I didn’t notice.”
“Michelle said they were turned off when she went outside.”
He waited expectantly.
“We’d decided to bring in a locksmith,” Heather explained, “and Michelle offered to count the bedrooms for the number of guest keys we’d need. She meant to check on smoke alarms, too.”
“Then what do you think led her to the patio in the dark?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she was looking to see if the patio doors were hooked up to a security system. That’s one of the things we have to install, unless the house is already wired.”
“Did the others return during this interval?”
“Sarah brought us coffee and cookies.” After she’d been gone for at least fifteen minutes, Heather recalled. That was before Kim and Dave left. Could Sarah have gone outside, whacked Gary on the head, then run back in to fix them a snack? They hadn’t heard a thing with the television blaring.
“You want to add something?”
Heather fixed a bleak smile on her face. For all Sarah’s desire to win the prize, the girl seemed too timid to commit murder. “I don’t think so.”
“Who do you think is guilty, Miss Payne?”
“I haven’t a clue. Is it possible that an intruder got Gary?”
“We’ll investigate all the angles.” He paused, his brows lowering. “Until this is solved, I suggest you trust no one. Is that clear?”
When Jackson left to scour the grounds outside, along with his crime scene technicians, the contestants grouped in the kitchen to rehash events. Unable to reach any conclusions, they shuffled off to their rooms after the clock struck midnight.
Too tired to think straight, Heather prepared for bed. She was about to step into her shower when a loud crash sounded from down the hallway. A woman’s shrieks made her grab an oversized bath towel and rush out the door. She bumped into Rex, emerging from his bedroom. His glance skittered across her barely concealed body. Half-naked himself, he wore only a pair of khaki shorts. His hand reached out to steady her.
“What’s happening?” she gasped, ignoring the heated trail from his touch.
He gestured toward Kim’s room. “Come on, let’s go see.”
Following in his wake, she trotted into Kim’s room where the others had congregated. Kim crouched on her bed, her plum negligee leaving little to the imagination. Blond hair streamed about her creamy shoulders as she pointed a shaking finger at the open closet.
“It’s in there,” she squealed.
“What?” Dave said in a fearful tone. Shirtless, he hovered in the doorway along with Sarah, who clutched at her robe. Jon stood just inside the room, looking uncertain.
“A giant cockroach. I’ve never seen one that big. It’s enormous!” So were her eyes, round as the sapphire ring she flaunted.
Rex brushed past them all. “I’ll take care of it, but we’ll need to hire an exterminator on a regular basis. We don’t want guests finding palmetto bugs in their bedrooms.”
For God’s sake, you scared us for a bug? Heather threw Kim a contemptuous look. Pressing a hand to her chest where her heart pounded, she felt an unsettling reaction rise from her toes to her crown. Oh, no. Her numbness from the evening’s trauma dissipated, and she began to shake. Her knees buckled. Dave caught her as she stumbled.
“Hey, babe, are you okay?” His bedroom eyes regarded her with mock concern.
“No, I’m not. All Logan and Tanya care about is the stupid show, and their attitude is infecting us. Gary’s dead. I can’t go on pretending as though he never existed.”
Whack. Rex killed the miscreant insect in the closet with one of Kim’s fashion magazines. Its life was extinguished, just like Gary Friedman had been squashed in his prime.
Sarah began weeping. Spotting an opportunity, Dave shifted his attention to her. “Don’t cry, babe. We’ll be all right. The dude would’ve wanted us to continue.”
“This gig is turning into a nightmare,” Kim whined. “If I didn’t want the money to open a day spa, I’d bolt, but I don’t want to work forever as a nail tech.”
“We’ll get through this,” Heather said, summoning reserves of strength. “We just have to work together.”
Jon strode forward to give Kim an awkward pat. “Tomorrow will be better. You’ll see.” Despite his geekish appearance with his spiky hair, he displayed an impressive physique in a set of workout clothes. He must have been on his way to the exercise room they’d set up downstairs, Heather thought.
Kim smiled at him, sheets of blond hair screening her face. “Stay with me for a while. I’m scared.”
So am I, Heather thought, feeling alone and cold when the air-conditioning kicked in. Cool air blasted her skin.
“You’re getting goose bumps,” Dave called to her, winking. “Nice outfit, by the way.”
> Finished with his job as champion bug catcher, Rex approached. “You can try, Dave, but she’s not interested.” Putting a proprietary hand at the base of her spine, Rex propelled her out the door.
Hoots followed them down the hall. Heather heard Dave announce he was going downstairs for a beer. Sarah and Michelle chimed in to join him. After they left, Kim’s door quietly closed from within.
Outside her room, Heather turned to face Rex. “Today has been terrible. I’ll miss Gary.”
“We’ll all miss him. Will you be okay?”
“Yes, thanks.” Her body shivered.
He stepped closer. His hooded glance raked over her, then came to rest where her towel barely covered her breasts. She stood rooted to the spot, unable to budge when he looked at her that way. With his desire to go to sea for a living, he seemed the antithesis of what she wanted in a man, and yet, she felt drawn to him by some kind of magnetism. Her lips parted involuntarily.
His gaze ignited, and before she knew what was happening, his mouth descended in a kiss hot with passion and promise.
Four
Heather felt divine being held by a man who seemed able to fix any problem. Desire flared inside her, and she wondered if he’d be able to assuage the heat shimmering through her body. Letting her tongue explore the crevice of his mouth that he so tantalizingly offered, she pressed herself against him and wrapped her arms around his neck. The towel threatened to slip. Feeling his solid chest against her shoulders, she heard her own quick intake of breath and his guttural moan.
Applying pressure to her thighs, he forced her inside her room, kicking the door shut behind them. One hand gripped her head while the other supported her back. His mouth slanted again, giving her a taste of mint and merlot from dinner. You’re some dessert, she exulted, realizing that she hadn’t felt this aroused in ages. Beneath the terry cloth fabric, her nipples ached for his touch. Heather’s remaining reserve kept her from shedding the towel completely. This was absurd. They barely knew each other, and yet the man captivated her senses. It must be a belated release from tension, she decided.
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