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What was going on here? Was this a dangerous situation or was everything just…weird? No one seemed to be hurt, except possibly Soraya. And Billy, unless he was drunk.
Of course he wasn’t drunk. Billy didn’t drink anymore. She believed and knew that with all her heart. So what was wrong with him?
And where was Tyler? She didn’t see him anywhere.
She focused on Billy. Lift your head. Look at me.
After a few moments, Mallory said something she couldn’t make out and waved her arm in the air. Billy tracked it, and miraculously, his gaze finally landed on Jenna.
His eyes widened, then he deliberately unfocused them and let his gaze wander the room.
He didn’t want to give away that she was here.
She lifted her phone to show him she was going to call for help. He gave a microscopic nod.
Quiet as a winter vole, she backed away down the path until she was out of sight and earshot. She called Granger on her cell phone, but he didn’t answer. Heart sinking, she left a message. “Something strange is going on out here at Sans Souci. Can you please come out here as quickly as possible, or send a spare firefighter?”
Then she texted Thomas and Galen. Please come but be careful. Something strange is going on but I don’t know what. Billy’s inside with the boys, and the cook has Bean and…please come.
Texting complete, she hurried back to the window and peered inside again. Billy was making clumsy gestures with his hands…probably trying to distract Mallory from any chance of hearing Jenna’s call for help.
Mallory had released Bean so he could put his feet on the ground, but she held onto him with an arm around his neck. Bean’s thumb was in his mouth. These days, he only sucked his thumb during moments of extreme stress, so her poor baby was definitely struggling with this situation, whatever it was. Was Mallory threatening something? What had happened to Soraya? Why was she doing this…whatever “this” was?
Had Mallory taken the photos? Was she the stalker?
Stepping out of sight again, she pulled up the BillyFan account on Instagram. Thumbing through the photos, she saw that all of them had been taken after the Caldwells had arrived for their vacation. Even the location of the photos made sense now, including the one that had really freaked her out, of her and Billy in the candlelight. Mallory must have climbed into the treehouse and used a long lens.
She crept back to the window. Inside the kitchen, Mallory had started pacing back and forth, hauling Bean along with her. Billy caught Jenna’s eye and beckoned for her to get out of sight. She ducked away from the window and decided to make one more call. To Brent Caldwell.
“Who is Mallory?” she demanded when he came on the line.
“Mallory? You mean, my cook?” She could barely hear him over the drone of the helicopter. Good; they were on their way.
“How do you know her? How long has she been your cook?”
“She’s a fill-in. My regular cook got sick, I had to scramble to find a replacement. She met us here, and she’s been great. What’s going on? Is that what Tyler’s been calling about? I missed a couple of calls while we were taking off.”
A wave of chills swept through her. “So you don’t know anything about Mallory?”
“She had an excellent resumé and references. Her last job was for a member of the Minnesota Twins, actually. Maybe your husband knows him. Pedro Carro, the new shortstop.”
Twenty-Nine
Billy felt like he was moving through molasses. But at least he could move now, and his thoughts weren’t as muddled. He could understand everything Mallory was saying, even if he couldn’t respond very well.
His slowness of movement had one benefit. It allowed him to mask his shock at the appearance of Jenna outside the window. He couldn’t let Mallory know she was here.
Mallory had already explained that she’d made her move when Jenna wasn’t around because she would just make everything worse, the same way she had back when she and Billy were married.
“She was always in the way, even after the divorce,” Mallory ranted. “Every time I tried to talk to you, you ignored me. I tried everything.”
Including drugging him, just like now. Mallory was the woman who’d been on his lap when he’d woken up in that club. Jenna had been absolutely right; she’d slipped him something.
“Sorry,” he managed.
“Too late for apologies. I’ve moved on.”
“Then…put…him…down.” He pointed with his chin at Bean. Some motor control was returning, but he didn’t want her to know that.
