“Oh, what a great idea. I had just thought maybe we should fill it in, but there are always dolphins and seals that are washing up places or getting hurt by boats.” I smack a kiss on his cheek just as we hear the doorbell ring. It’s a loud fog-horn-sounding thing.
“Is it just me, or did that sound like something that could have been in the Addams family?” Holden asks, a small smile on his face as he shakes his head. “Count Bucataru is really turning out to be quite a character.”
The four of us head out into the foyer, with me being the one to unlock the door despite the guys’ protests. I can see a shadow on the other side but can’t make out who it is.
The door swings open to reveal Kai. He’s a little dusty, and there’s a smudge of something across his face, but he’s grinning.
“Are they done already?” Holden asks, surprised, but Kai shakes his head.
“No, once they got to the entrance of the tunnel, I left them to come back here… though I might have done a little exploring a little on the way. Did you know you have a herd of deer in the zoo?” he asks me.
“Actually, I saw them on the first day, but I forgot. We’re going to have to clear them out before any work starts. What’s that smell?” I ask as the scent of gasoline and burned rubber wafts through the door.
“Your stalker struck again, and Jaxon’s bike blew up.” Oli and I step out onto the porch to take in the smoldering remains of Jaxon’s bike. I instinctively press a hand to my stomach, trying to calm the rising nausea, though of course that’s useless.
“Holy fuck!” Oli exclaims as I reach out and grab his hand, squeezing it.
“Should we call the police?” I ask Holden as he joins Oli and me, but he shakes his head.
“Dad’s taking care of it. Come back inside,” he insists, so we do as he says.
We close and lock the door behind him once he’s fully inside, going back to our drinks. I think we’re all feeling like safety in numbers is the smartest strategy at the moment. I’m still feeling a little shaky at the fact Jaxon’s bike blew up, what if someone had been in the blast range. Surely, Holden would have told me if anyone had been hurt.
“Was everyone okay?” I ask, my gaze fixed on my whiskey. When Holden takes too long to answer, it shoots to him.
“Mostly. Dad and Emma were close by, so both of them got a little banged up, but they're fine. Paramedics checked them over, and it’s nothing a little rest won’t fix.” Holden sounds casual, but he can’t stop his foot from tapping up and down, so I’m wondering how much he’s playing it down.
“I can’t believe we didn't hear it upstairs.” Oli takes a big sip of his drink and paces around the room. He always gets like that when worked up.
Kai grabs himself a tumbler out of the cupboard and joins us, pouring some of the whiskey into his glass and taking a seat on the other side of me.
“You know, I was thinking about the deer.” Kai changes the subject, and Holden breathes a little sigh of relief. “If there’s a free paddock beyond the zoo, maybe we could fence it in for the deer and keep them in that. Then you have at least one source of food for the predators you end up keeping.”
“What? Are you suggesting she let a deer loose in the tiger cage and let them hunt it?” Between the image that’s now in my head and the disgust practically dripping from Hope’s words, I can’t help it. I burst into laughter.
“No, babe, that’s a little inhumane. There are nicer ways of ending the deer’s lives. That’s actually a great idea, Kai. I was thinking about keeping cows, but they need a variety in their diets to keep them healthy. The deer would be a good variation for them. But that would mean having a butchering building on the premises as well.” My mind is already stacking items on a list to talk about with the construction guys. Just how much would they be willing to do here? I suppose anything should be possible for the price we’re willing to pay.
“I think there is one,” Kai says with a frown. “I found a building that had big walk-in freezers and meat hooks for hanging carcasses. Or I hope it was for that. Who the fuck knows? Dude seems like he was a bit of a freak.”
“Fuck, maybe we should show that to the police too,” Holden groans, and I jump in.
“Do we have to? There’s nothing to suggest that he killed people, and if the police start to poke around, they may find more things that will delay the renovations.” I look down at my hands, feeling guilty and selfish, but my dreams seem to be drifting further away with every new discovery. When I look up, no one is giving me bad looks; in fact, they all have soft, sympathetic eyes.
“Let’s just see what they say when they check out the vault. Wayne, the DEA agent, didn't seem like he believed any of it, but the ATF guy, Jason, seems to be on the ball. Hopefully, there’s nothing in his file to suggest the count might be involved in missing persons,” Kai says, trying to reassure me.
“Fingers crossed. It would be a disaster if they wanted to dig up the grounds. I only pray that when construction does start, the McCallisters don’t find anything like that.” That would be a disaster, and things would be delayed indefinitely.
“That Wayne was an asshole. He basically implied we were calling them in to get publicity,” Holden growls, one of his hands clenching in a fist.
I pick up my book and keep skimming through the information. When I get to another section, I choke on the sip of whiskey I had just taken. “Count Bucataru must have been crazy.”
“You mean you hadn't already been thinking that?” Oli teases, and I hold out the book, turning it so they can see a photo of the front of the house. In the picture, unlike the muddy puddles in it today, the moat is full of water, the sun sparkling off it, looking refreshing and inviting.
“Oh wow, that’s so cool.” Hope sighs. “It’s going to look amazing once you guys are through with it. Like something out of a fairytale.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure fairytale is the kind of story Count Bucataru was going for, more like a nightmare. See those things floating there?” I point something out. “And these ones here.” They all lean in close, turning their heads to see if they can make it out.
“Floating logs?” Kai questions, and I shake my head.
