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of “good-bye” and headed for the car, digging again for his keys. As he got in, he had an idea.
He hoped this one would turn out better than the last one had.
CHAPTER 8
Gina and the rest of the group straggled into the yard two days later. Over the past twenty-four hours, the heavens had opened and dumped every last bit of rain in the world on top of them. They were wet, hungry, tired, and just a little cranky.
But they filed into the barn with their mounts. The horses were as tired and wet and dirty as they were, and it would be inhuman to leave them like that.
Gina led Spike and Lady Belle to their stalls. Jase appeared and took care of Spike with tight, annoyed movements, not speaking until he finished well ahead of her.
“Meet me in the kitchen,” he said. “We’ve got trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
Teo didn’t seem the type to be a problem. Then again, he hadn’t seemed the type to lie, and look how wrong she’d been.
Jase just shook his head and moved off to help the others.
The next few days would be spent at the ranch for the spa portion of their getaway. The guests could order massages, travel to the nearby hot springs, schedule a yoga retreat or any number of other relaxing benefits before they left on their second, slightly more difficult than the first, trail ride.
Gina finished with Lady Belle and was able to cop a shower and a change of clothes yet still beat Jase to the kitchen. Fanny was putting the finishing touches on supper, which would consist of her famous Five-Alarm Chili and Fajita Chicken Nachos.
Despite the hot shower and warm clothes, Gina remained chilled. She poured herself a cup of coffee from the always-full pot and sat at the table.
“What happened?” she asked.
Fanny continued to stir the chili, refusing to meet Gina’s eyes. “You must talk to Jase.”
Gina didn’t like this at all, especially since she could have sworn unshed tears thickened Fanny’s voice. But no matter how many times Gina asked or how much she begged, Fanny would say nothing more. Which caused Gina to imagine all sorts of horrible things.
Teo and Jase fighting. Teo hitting his head. He was now in an irreversible coma, and the police were asking questions.
Teo dead and buried in the garden. Jase needed her to help him figure out what they were going to do with the rest of the bodies. Because they couldn’t let anyone leave now, could they?
Gina shook her head. She’d watched way too many thriller movies on cold winter nights. Then again, so had Jase.
Taking a sip of coffee, she faced the scenario she’d been avoiding—a far more realistic but no less disturbing one. What if Teo was still here, refusing to leave until she led him to the place depicted in that photograph?
After her parents had died, it had taken Gina nearly a year to go back there. By then, the cavern had been filled with earth, packed tight, and made to appear as if nothing had ever happened there at all.
But she knew better.
Jase walked in, and Gina started up so fast, she nearly knocked over her chair. She did slosh coffee onto the once-pristine tabletop.
“What happened?” she repeated, a little too loud.
Jase glanced at his mom, who continued to stir the chili, staring into it as if she could find the answer to one of life’s great questions at the bottom of that pot. “You didn’t tell her?”
“That is for you.”
“Great,” he muttered.
“What did you do?” Gina demanded. “Did you hurt him?”
“I haven’t even talked to him yet.”
Jase crossed the room and poured his own coffee, then took the dishcloth his mother handed him, even though she hadn’t turned around and could not possibly know Gina had spilled anything, and tossed it to her. “Do you want me to hurt him?”
