Husband For Hire

by Caitlin Daire

  She wasn’t wrong. Blake and I were so naïve to think she was innocent, even when she went out of her way to open the case and practically display the knife to us, all in an attempt to incriminate her own husband and buy herself some time.

  “So you knew Ed and his son? And Neil?"

  “Not exactly. Stop dawdling. I told you to walk faster.”

  “Amy, if you’re going to kill me, you may as well tell me why. May as well tell me everything.”

  She huffed. “Fine, if it will shut you up. I was born in a little town called Haplin, South Dakota. Heard of it?” she asked. Then she laughed sarcastically.

  “You’re from there too?”

  “Uh-huh. Well, sort of. My birth parents gave me up as soon as I was born. My adoptive family moved me to Sioux City with them.”

  I nodded slowly. I knew from the first night on the show that Amy had an adoptive family, although she hadn’t given any of us much detail about it.

  “They weren’t very nice people,” she went on. “They lost most of their money when I was about six, so they couldn’t provide me with much. But one thing they did always provide me with was the knowledge that I wasn’t theirs. I don’t even know why they adopted me in the first place, to be honest. I guess they thought it was a good idea, and by the time they realized they made a mistake, it was too late. They couldn’t return me.”

  “I’m sorry, Amy.”

  “Whatever,” she said with a light scoff. “You don’t know what it was like. But you know how I got through it?”

  “How?”

  “I used to daydream. About my bio parents and who they might be, specifically. I used to imagine that I was a princess from some foreign land which was plagued by war, and my parents gave me up to keep me safe. But they loved me, and one day they’d come back to find me and take me to their palace,” she said. “Or sometimes I’d imagine they both died protecting me.”

  I nodded. That made sense. “I can see why you did that,” I said, trying to sound as sympathetic and understanding as possible.

  “Somewhere along the line, I came to realize that they just abandoned me. They weren’t coming for me,” she said with a sigh. “I’ve already told you this part, but I always wanted a family of my own to make up for my shitty childhood.”

  “I know. I understand.”

  “What I didn’t tell you was that a few years after we started trying, I realized what I needed to do. I needed to find my birth parents. I needed closure, you see. I didn’t want to raise my own child in an environment where I was still hung up on the past, never sure of anything. So I found their names and tracked them down. I wanted to ask them why they gave me up.”

  “What did you do then?”

  “My bio mom was dead. Car accident. But my father… he was alive. He was successful, too. Rich, happy, living in LA.”

  “He was Ed Kramer,” I said quietly.

  “Yes. But I wasn’t angry. I thought… I thought maybe he was ashamed. Maybe he was waiting for me to come to him to forgive him for letting me go all those years ago. So I flew to LA. I told Dean I was going on a girly weekend trip, but I went to the network where Ed worked instead. I built up this whole magical scenario in my head of what would happen when I saw him. He has the same eyes as me, you know. Or had.”

  I nodded again. I’d never thought of it before, but she was right. Ed had the same piercing green eyes as her.

  She continued with her tale. “I thought as soon as he saw me, he would know who I was. Thought he’d take me in his arms, beg me for forgiveness. Beg me to be a part of his new family.”

  We were nearing the top of the rocky track now, and I could see the ocean drawing ever-closer. My pulse sped up, and I swallowed hard. “What happened?”

  “He looked right past me on the way into his office. Like I didn’t even exist. So I tried calling out to him. That made him turn around. And you know what?”

  She jabbed the blade at my back again, and I gulped. “What?”

  “He mistook me for one of his colleague’s interns and asked me to get him a latte. A fucking latte, Indi.”

  “I’m sorry, Amy. But can’t you understand that he was very young when you were born? He probably thought giving you up was the best option for you to have a good life.”

  “Yeah, and then he went on to have an amazing life in California while I got stuck with a poor, shitty existence back home. Father of the fucking century, right there.”

  “Okay. I see how that could make you angry. But he gave you up almost thirty years ago. How could he recognize you, Amy? You were just a baby when he last saw you.”

  “He should’ve known!” she screeched. “He should’ve known it was me!”

  I held my hands up and turned around. The edge of the bluff was only a few yards away now. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to make you angry. I just want to understand why you killed all these people. And how.”

  She sniffed and wiped her eyes. “It was at the network building.”

  “What was?”

  “When I tried to see him, idiot!” she said, her eyes narrowing. “I tracked him down at his office. After he asked me for that fucking latte, I actually went and got one for him. I thought I’d give him one last chance to recognize me. When I took the drink to him, he didn’t. Again. But I could hear what he was talking about on the phone.”

  “What was that?”

  “He was laughing about some new reality show idea that he’d just pitched. ‘I Do Or Die’. A supposedly hilarious concept, where they get a bunch of people whose marriages are failing and then stick them on an island to scare the shit out of them. Watch them fall apart under the stress.”

  “Oh. So you knew the truth about the show all along. And you still applied.”

  She nodded. “That day, I realized he didn’t care about me at all. I also realized what a terrible person he was. And I was mad. So fucking mad.”

  “So you got yourself on the show just for a chance to kill him?” I asked.

  I was also going to ask how she knew for sure she wouldn’t get voted off (thus destroying her chances of staying on the island long enough to get to Ed at a good time) but I realized the answer before I said it. She knew the show’s twist and had obviously thoroughly researched it all beforehand. Therefore she also probably knew the showrunners would lie to keep the couples ‘trapped’ on the island (aside from the first eliminated pair) whether they were eliminated or not.

  That gave her a few weeks to choose when she wanted to carry out her crimes, as long as she and Dean were good enough to last past the first elimination ceremony, which wasn’t all that hard.

  “Uh-huh. And it worked, didn’t it? I’m here, and he’s dead,” she said. Then she scoffed. “Obviously I knew all along that the so-called ‘ax murder’ of Yuri Tilden was fake, along with all the other freaky shit the showrunners tried to pull. I couldn’t wait to see everyone’s faces on the crew when a real dead body showed up. But it was worth it. It’s funny, right?”

  “I think we have very different definitions of what’s funny,” I said softly.

  “What was even better was that some of his stupid fucking family members worked here too. Stephen, that spoiled little brat… he had no idea how lucky he was. He didn’t get given up like I did. No, Ed kept him and gave him everything! And still, he was such an arrogant asshole, always wanting more. That’s why I couldn’t wait to get him like I did with the others. I had to do it almost right away, before I totally flipped my shit.”

  “And Neil? What did he do to deserve to die? He was just a cousin of the family.”

  She arched an eyebrow. “He was still related to Ed, though.”

  I let out a shaky breath. Amy was crazy. Totally and utterly bat-shit crazy. Simply being related to someone whom she perceived as having ‘wronged’ her was enough to get them killed, apparently.

  “You said you killed Mike for me?” I said, trying to keep her talking. Please, Blake, I silently begged in my mind, wi
shing and praying for him to somehow sense I was in terrible danger. Find me. Please!

  He was my only hope. I couldn’t run. Amy and I were about the same size and had a similar level of strength…but she had a knife. I had nothing.

  She shrugged in response to my question. “Sort of. I knew people would eventually figure out that there was some sort of family connection behind the deaths if I only killed Ed, Stephen and Neil. So I figured I needed to throw in some random deaths as well. Mike was a good choice. He was an asshole who messed with everyone else—and you—and he just so happened to be hanging out alone in a room with Neil yesterday. Two birds, one stone. I got Mike from behind while he sat on the couch, and I got Neil in the bathroom a minute later.”

  Jesus. She was truly psychotic.

  “So now that I’m onto you, I’m going to be the other ‘random death’ to throw the police off the scent when they get here,” I said. “And Blake as well, once you get to him?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. Sorry. I really didn’t want to do this,” she said. “I was going to get a crew member next. Or maybe that slut Vanessa. But you and your husband couldn’t stop digging into everything. Too smart for your own good. But still not smart enough to realize the truth before it was too late. It’s too bad.”

  I didn’t know what else to say to stall her. My mind was too numbed by terror. “Please…” I whispered. “Don’t do this. I won’t tell anyone that it’s you. I promise.”

  Amy smiled. “Sorry. Can’t risk it.”

  And then she lunged forward.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Blake

  “What’s going on?” Bennett asked as he followed me back to the Browning’s room.

  “It’s Amy Browning,” I said, not even stopping to turn and look at him as I spoke. “She’s the killer. And she’s alone with Indi.”

  Guilt wracked every inch of me as I dashed up the stairs. This was my fault. I always promised Indi I wouldn’t leave her alone on this island with all the shit that’d been going on, not even for a second. But I let my guard down, and now she was probably in serious danger.

  The worst part was how close I’d been to telling her I loved her earlier. I’d decided against it, thinking it wasn’t the right time, but when was the right time? When it was already too late?

  No…anytime was the right time. I should’ve said it. I should’ve fucking told her.

  “How do you know it’s Amy?” Bennett asked me as we reached the second floor.

  “Just trust me. It’s her,” I replied. “I don’t have time to explain.”

  I realized it was her while Dean was telling me about her adoption, and the fact that her biological parents had been eighteen when they gave her up. Dean said she always felt terribly abandoned by her bio parents, and Ed Kramer told us he was eighteen when he left Haplin to start a new life in California. So it made sense that Ed could be Amy’s father, and she’d tracked him down for revenge after her abandonment issues drove her mad.

  I reached the Browning’s door, and my heart plummeted. The door was wide open, and the room was empty. Shit.

  “She can’t have taken her too far. It’s only been a few minutes,” I said, turning to Bennett. “I’ll go up to the third floor balcony. I can see most of the estate from up there. If they’re outside, I’ll spot them.”

  He nodded. “I’ll check all the rooms inside while you do that.”

  I dashed up to the main balcony on the third floor and peered out over the grounds. I couldn’t see anything untoward, but the view from up here was mostly of the front and sides of the estate. There was another smaller balcony on the other side which showed the back of the land.

  I ran through the halls and stopped on the other balcony, and my stomach lurched as I saw what I was looking for. Indi was heading up a track in the distance, right at the back of the estate, with Amy right on her tail. It looked like Amy was holding something against Indi’s back, probably forcing her to walk.

  “Shit…”

  I raced all the way downstairs and burst out the main back entrance. My heart pounded hard in my chest, the pure need to find Indi leaving me breathless as I ran as fast as my legs could carry me.

  I wasn’t sure where this trail led, but I knew it wasn’t anywhere good. Literally or metaphorically. When I reached the end, I stopped short. Amy and Indi were close now. I could hear their voices.

  I didn’t want to startle them and cause Amy to do anything hastily, and so I began to move slower now, careful not to step on any crunchy leaves or roll any stones with my feet.

  “…still not smart enough to realize the truth before it was too late. It’s too bad,” Amy was saying now.

  I didn’t catch what Indi said in response. It was too quiet, barely above a whisper.

  “Sorry. Can’t risk it,” Amy said.

  She lunged forward, and I called out. “Hey, Amy! Catch!”

  She whirled around in surprise. I didn’t have a rock or anything like that to actually throw at her, but I made the gesture with my right arm anyway. Amy didn’t realize I was bluffing and ducked out of the way of the imaginary missile. That gave Indi a chance to run past her and cower behind me. “Oh my god…Blake!” she whimpered.

  “It’s okay. I told you I’d protect you,” I murmured before focusing on Amy again. She was glaring at me with narrowed eyes now, having realized I tricked her.

  “You know I still have this, right?” she said, waving her knife from side to side. “So stupid.”

  I scoffed and stepped toward her, one hand behind me to motion for Indi to stay back. “What’s stupid is you not realizing who you’re up against. You think a five-four woman with a kitchen knife can take me down? Especially when I have this.”

  I reached into my back pocket and pulled out the knife I slid in there earlier, when Indi and I made our little expedition to the forest. Amy’s face blanched, and I beckoned her forward. “Come on, Amy. Try me.”

  She took a faltering step back. “I…I can’t.”

  “No, you can’t. It’s all over now. Just drop the knife, okay?”

  “But...I have to….” Her chest was heaving now, and she didn’t seem to be able to finish her sentence.

  “I know,” I said in a clear, unafraid tone. “You thought you had to get Indi and then me, before we told anyone what we knew. Not gonna happen, Amy. It’s too late. You’re caught.”

  The knife slipped from her hands and hit the rocky ground with a clatter. All the murderous resolve was gone from her eyes now. She just looked… sad. Defeated.

  “Stay where you are!” A masculine voice called out from behind us, and I turned around to see Bennett rushing toward us. “Stay where you are, Amy,” he repeated.

  He pulled out a pair of black zip-tie handcuffs from his pocket and restrained Amy with her wrists behind her back. She didn’t fight him.

  “How’d you find us?” I asked.

  “I was walking past a window on the second floor and saw you racing out here,” he said, panting. “Followed you.”

  He started reading Amy her rights, and I turned and pulled Indi into a hug, squeezing her tight. “I’m sorry, Indi,” I murmured. “Sorry I left you with her. I didn’t realize…”

  “It’s not your fault,” she replied, her voice partially muffled by my chest. “We didn’t see it coming. I mean, it’s Amy. She seems so fragile.”

  “I still shouldn’t have left you alone. Not even for a second. I said I wouldn’t.”

  She pulled back, her eyes shining with emotion. “Blake, please don’t blame yourself. Blame her. She’s the one who did this to us. I’m just so glad you found me. You saved me.”

  Her voice began to get choked up by the end of her last sentence, and I pulled her close to me again.

  “I was going to tell you something earlier,” I said. “I promised I’d tell you later. But I should’ve told you then.”

  I let her go from the hug so I could look into her eyes again, entwining my hands in hers.

&nb
sp; “What is it?” she asked.

  “I love you, Indi. I know it’s early. We haven’t been together for very long. But fuck, that doesn’t matter to me. I—”

  She cut me off. “I love you too, Blake!”

  I cupped her jaw and leaned down for a kiss, my hands sliding down her back, feeling her arch against me. It wasn’t demanding, frenzied, or rough. I kissed her slow and deep, taking my time…because now I could. The threat to our safety was extinguished, and we could return to our normal lives without the constant stress hanging over our heads.

  We had all the time in the world for this kiss.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Indi

  “Are you warm enough?”

  Blake glanced at me with a questioning look in his eyes as we boarded the boat at the Fremantle Island docks. It was early in the morning, so the temperature on the island was bitingly cold.

  “Yes,” I said with a grateful smile, wrapping his bulky jacket tighter around me. He’d given it to me in the van on the way down here.

  After three days, the weather had finally broken. Now that the mainland police had swooped in, taken over the case and interviewed all of us, we were allowed to leave the island. It wasn’t like there was much left to discover about the case, anyway.

  It was Amy all along, working alone. She’d come here with one thing on her agenda: murder. Like she’d explained to me at the bluffs a few days ago, her plan was to kill Ed (and his family members who happened to work on the show) along with a few other random unrelated people to throw the police off the scent of any family connection. When the show was inevitably canceled after the bodies started showing up, she was going to make her escape when the contestants were sent home after questioning. She assumed she would’ve never been a suspect, and honestly, she might’ve been right about that.