Page 28 of Grave Stone

“Yes!”

“How?”

“I don’t know. I tried to watch him leave to see where he came from. I can show you where he disappeared into the trees, but I didn’t see how he got through the fence.”

“I’ll have Anthony check the fence line,” she said and snapped her fingers. “Can you get the blue phone out of my purse and send him a text telling him I need him at the lake house?”

“Sure.” I reached into her purse and paused. “How many phones do you have?”

She laughed. “PIs go through more phones than you’d think, but one is personal, two are for business, and one is for no one’s business.”

After sending the text to Hadley’s estate manager, I called Stevie and put the phone on speaker.

“Hadley?” she answered, sounding out of breath.

“Yeah, it’s me. I’m with Whitney, and you’re on speaker. Can you talk?”

“Yes. Is something wrong?”

“Maybe,” Hadley said. “We’re on our way there, but Stone showed up at the lake house while we were gone.”

“Are you serious? What happened?”

“He wanted to know if the Wood brothers were the ones who put me in the casket and said he could offer me protection if I could help him prove it. He gave me a ring and a gun, and I let him record the video of the attack with his phone. He left, I panicked, and here we are.”

“You’re fucking with me, right?” she asked.

“I wish I were.”

“Fucking hell,” she grumbled. “Okay, um, we might have to figure this out in the morning. I can’t think right now.”

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“I’ve been better, but I’m afraid the worst has yet to come,” she said. “You guys might want to steer clear of my room when you get here. It smells like a crime scene.”

“A crime scene?”

“Trust me. This odor is criminal.”

“Thanks for the warning.”

“Anytime,” she groaned. “Damn it! I thought this shit was done. Gotta go.”

“Was it something she ate?” I asked Hadley.

“Yeah, I think she had a couple of bad prawns.”

“Y’all stopped for dinner?”

“No, she ate my leftovers before we left the lake house.” She shrugged. I told her not to, but you know how she is when she’s hungry.”

I wrinkled my nose. Despite growing up in a coastal area, I did not like seafood, and the thought of leftover seafood seemed even more disgusting.

We fell into a comfortable silence. Hadley expertly navigated the dark country roads leading back to Jolly Beach while I stared out the window and wondered what fresh hell the next day would bring.

12

WHITNEY