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Oblivious of the seriousness of the grown-ups’ conversation, Lili shoved the last bite of cookie in her mouth, wiped her hands on Cameron’s shirt, and slid out of his lap.
He grinned at the look of horror on his sister’s face, and the moment passed. He left a short while later, satisfied that he’d put Rachel on alert without giving anything away, and went home.
***
Kevin was antsy. He’d been here six months without having an issue, and in the space of ten minutes Leslie had walked in on him and seen stuff she shouldn’t have, then accused him of lying, which was the truth, and before he could stop her and explain, Jack Barton arrived and he lost the opportunity to smooth it all over.
However, Barton’s notice about the camp closing gave him the perfect opportunity to bring his little side job to an end. He just needed to call Boss and let him know. He’d never met the man and had only spoken to him a couple of times on the phone. He sat down on the sofa, made the call, and waited as it began to ring. Just as he thought it was going to go to voicemail, there was a gruff voice in his ear.
“What?”
“Uh, Boss, it’s—”
“I know who it is. I recognize the number. What do you want?”
Kevin was taken aback by what sounded like anger in the man’s voice, then began to explain. “The owner of the campsite was just here. He’s shutting down for the winter soon. And people here are getting a little nosy. I think it’s time to pack it in and head home.”
“You don’t quit me,” the man said.
Kevin froze. “Uh, sorry. You misunderstand. I have more than paid back the favor you did for me. My job isn’t secure here anymore. I have one more file to clean up and send to you. You can send my last paycheck to my bank account as usual.”
“Ah, I see,” the man said. “When do you plan to leave?”
“I’ll get your file to you tonight. Then I’ll spend tomorrow packing up camp and leave the following morning.”
“Yes. One must always tie up loose ends.”
“Yes, sir, and thank you again for the opportunity.”
Kevin went to the desk after the call ended and began cleaning up photos and making a new file. As soon as he finished, he hit Send. Then, as was his habit, he saved the same file to another laptop he kept hidden in the trunk of his car. He wasn’t convinced that sending anything to the cloud was completely protected, so this was his way of not losing valuable data in case one laptop got fried.
As he was planning his next move, he got a call and smiled when he saw caller ID. It was Emily. “Hey, sugar. How’s it going?”
“I’m on my way back to Jubilee. I’m so weary of this shit.”
“No worries. I just spoke to Boss and let him know Barton is shutting down the campsite for the winter. I sent him the last of the files and told him we were even. I still have to pack up, but when I leave, you’re going with me.”
“Oh my God! Thank you, baby, thank you. I haven’t had a drop to drink since all this happened, and I can promise on my life, I will never drink again.”
He heard her crying and winced. It had been a long haul to get past this. “It’s okay. You and I are good. I’ll talk to you soon. Drive safe.”
“Yes, I will. Later,” she said, and disconnected.
Kevin rocked back in the chair, relieved this was over, and then looked out the window, surprised it was already getting dark.
He began turning on lights inside, then sat down to a cold supper of saltine crackers and sardines, and washed it down with a lukewarm Mountain Dew. As soon as he’d finished, he gathered up the garbage and carried it down the short drive to a covered trash can and headed back to the trailer.
He was on the bottom step and opening the door when he heard a twig snap behind him and then someone call out his name.
“Kevin Vanzant.”
He turned around, looking out into the night.
“Who’s there?”
He heard the shot at the same time he felt the blow to his chest and fell backward onto the steps. Dead before he’d landed.
A dark figure emerged from the trees, walked up to the trailer, propped a rifle against the side of it, then went inside, sidestepping Kevin’s body. He dragged the body the rest of the way inside, took the laptop and the phone beside it, then turned out the lights and shut the door as he left.
