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Throw Sadie and Garrett into the mix, and it’s turned into one of those horror stories where you wish for something and get it in the worst possible way.
I wish things were normal again. I wish I had Kit back as my husband and Jayla back as my best friend, and even Sadie back as a friend, everything as it used to be, once upon a time.
I might long for that, but having all of them on my island—with Garrett tagging along—is the most evil wish-fulfillment imaginable. I can’t even insist we don’t need Sadie and Garrett and send them on their way. They chartered a boat to get here, and it’s long gone.
Naturally, being both a cop and an asshole, Garrett tries to take over the investigation. Naturally, being a tough-as-nails Garrett-hating defense attorney, Jayla isn’t putting up with that shit. She means well, but it splashes kerosene on an already roaring fire.
We searched the house and island and found nothing. Now it’s evening, the sun falling, and we’re cooking sausages over a bonfire. Sure, there’s a no-open-flame edict, but a fire here won’t catch anywhere else, and it’s a small blaze contained in a pit, which has no vegetation within ten feet.
We’re ringed around the bonfire, cooking sausages that Sadie brought. I’ve added beer, coolers, and s’more fixings from my personal food stash.
“You need security cameras,” Garrett says, his mouth full. “You blow a million bucks on a vacation house and don’t spring for cameras?”
“We have them,” I say. “We shut them down while guests are here because they’re considered an invasion of renter privacy and a violation of the contract. There’s an indoor security system linking all doors and windows. That’s on whenever no one’s home, and renters who aren’t comfortable with the isolation use it at all times.”
“You need the type of system that keeps a log so you can track unauthorized use.”
“It has that. I can show you the logs. Each guest receives a unique door code.”
Garrett stops, beer bottle to his lips. “How does that work when you don’t have remote access?”
“I send renters their code, which Nate sets while he’s cleaning.”
“Meaning this kid has owner-level access.”
“Thekidis twenty-one.”
“Still a kid. And what’s he doing in a shit job like this? Cleaning houses isn’t exactly normal for a twenty-one-year-old guy.”
“Nate takes what he can get.”
“You mean he’s desperate.”
“Eager for work,” I say evenly. “He went off to college before the pandemic. When it hit, he came back to live with his dad, who has liver disease. He’s still here looking after him.”
“So dad’s an alcoholic. How about the kid?”
“His father has liver disease,” I repeat.Yes, he’s also an alcoholic, but I’m not giving Garrett that.“Nate dumps all booze that renters leave behind.”
“Are you sure?” Garrett raises his hands. “All I’m saying is that this kid obviously needs money, and he’s going to feel stuck in a shit town doing shit jobs.”
“How would scaring Laney fix that?” Madison asks.
I tense, ready for Garrett’s reply, but when he turns to her, his tone softens, belligerence fading. “Good question, kiddo. Maybe it’s a diversion. Has anything gone missing? He could be stealing while staging the Satanic stuff to distract you from the thefts.”
“I haven’t seen anything missing. But, yes, while I completely trust Nate, I understand that having access to the island and the security system makes him a suspect.”
“Also,” Garrett says, “when we were searching, Kit mentioned that his family used to own this island. How did he feel about that?”
I try not to squirm. Nate was fine with it—or he’d let on that he was fine with it, for my sake. I’m the one who’d been uncomfortable with that. His family once owned the island where he was now employed as caretaker.
“It didn’t bother him,” Madison says firmly. “We talked about it. I know it made Laney uncomfortable, so Nate and I talked. He said the money his great-grandparents made selling the island meant his grandma could get treatments for her leukemia. Without that, he wouldn’t be here. He’s fine with it.”
“Or so he says,” Garrett murmurs.
Madison bristles. “Heisfine with it. Laney lets him stay out here anytime it’s empty.”
“So he uses the house? Has full access to it?”
