My knives were missing. I could feel the empty space in my boots from where they’d been. I raised my aching head and stared into the darkness. The air was chilly, and it smelled of dirt and rain. I tried to move, but I found myself tied to a chair with thick rope. I glanced around, trying to focus my vision in the low light. I was near water, and a single streetlight lit up the area.
“You used it wrong,” I groaned, closing my eyes again. I racked my brain. The last thing I remembered was—
“What?”
Charles—the realtor, my mother’s ex-lover, and one of her murderers—stepped out of the darkness with Skye in tow. He was different in person from the man in the photos. He’d obviously aged, gaining a beer belly and a grayed beard, but up close, he wasn’t as attractive as the photos made him appear. His eyes were beady, and he was shorter than I realized. He was stocky, like an elderly lumberjack.
He appeared calm and collected under the streetlight.
“You said ‘Beep beep, Ritchie’ before hitting me over the head. That’s not some catchphrase. It means shut the fuck up.”
“Well, it worked, didn’t it?”
My head drifted backward into nothing, and I righted myself again. Maybe he had used it correctly. I didn’t know.Had he given me a concussion?
“You’re lucky my date thought to move you off the property. I’m showing it in the morning. Wouldn’t look good to have two dead bodies in the foyer.”
My eyes drifted to Skye.
She stood behind him, eyes wide with fear.
“Who are you?” I asked, keeping her cover.
“Don’t worry about her,” Charles muttered. “She’s gonna be rewarded after this is over, and that’s all that needs to be said. Riley, sweetie, go back to the car. I’ll be there in a bit. Twenty minutes, tops.”
I fought back a snicker. She’d used her character name from the movie. Locking eyes with me, she backed away, into the shadows.
A groan came from beside me, and I turned my head to see Sebastian, looking like I felt. His head hung low, his shoulders were slumped, and he too had been tied and bound to a chair. I wiggled my arms, but I wasn’t going anywhere.
“You used it wrong,” he muttered. “The quote.”
“This again? Jesus, you guys are like one brain. No wonder it was so easy to hit you over the head.”
“Where did you bring us? I know this place…” Sebastian groaned.
“I’m sure you do, Mr. Hollywood. I took you to one of my favorite places to toss garbage.”
“I know this set…” Sebastian turned his head from side to side.
I did too, and that’s when I noticed a plane, a cabin, a lake…
“Are we at Falls Lake?” I blurted. Dread pooled in my belly as I remembered stories my mom had told me about the lake.
“Stay far, far away from there, Evie Reyes.”
“Good job. You know your movie trivia.”
He’d taken us to the studio lot where some of the most famous movies were filmed…but why?
“After I’m done with you, I’m just gonna throw your bodies in the water. I own some shares in the lake. They won’t be changing the water for another month or so,” he said, as if reading my mind.
“Just fucking do it, then,” Sebastian muttered. “Get it over with.”
“I can’t. Elliott wants information.”
“So do I,” I piped up. “You were in love with my mom. Why did you help kill her?”
He paused, his brows furrowing, face contorting in pain. Eventually, he just shook his head.
