“So, what do you think our parents want to talk to us about this morning?” He asks.
“I wondered if they’re having a baby.”
Chase’s nose scrunches in disgust and I laugh. “I know, I would never imagine Stella having another kid after how horrifically she treated me.”
“The way she was talking to you last night made me want to punch a woman for the first time in my life. She has no business picking apart your appearance like that.”
I nod my head. “But other than that guess, I really have no idea. Maybe they’re selling the house?”
“Maybe, but we should get going. Our plane leaves in a few hours.”
Our parents are back at Chase’s childhood home, and he points out things along the way on the short drive over, telling me about his favorite taco truck and showing me his favorite bit of beach that he likes watching the sunset from. I like seeing him like this. Relaxed, and happy, and mine.
“Dad?” Chase calls as we enter the front door. The house is surprisingly dark, and I wonder if they’re still asleep. It’s eerie and far too quiet as we head deeper into the house.
It’s an enormous place. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out if it has over twenty bedrooms from how massive it looked from the outside. It’s a typical Florida style home with palm trees dotting around the outside with lizards scurrying away from the pavement. The air is already a balmy eighty degrees, but there’s a wind on the horizon that threatens to turn into a storm. I just hope we’re out of here by then.
“Dad? Anyone home?” Chase tries again. I head into the kitchen and root around finding a bottle of water.
As I go to open it the sound of a gun being cocked gets my attention. Whirling around, I find Chase standing with his arms up, while my mom points a shotgun right at him.
“Mom?” The bottle shakes in my hands as all rational thoughts empty from my head.Am I hallucinating?
“You just couldn’t stop digging, could you?” My mom asks Chase, not paying me any attention.
“What the hell are you doing?” I ask, but as I do, two large men that I’ve never seen before come into the room. The one on the left is balding, but clearly a gym rat. I think his arms are the size of my waist. The one on the right is shorter, but has a distinct scar running from his brow bone to his chin. One look at these two and I know I’m standing in the presence of evil. I blink hard and yeah, this is really happening.
“I worked a long time to get to where I am today, and if you think I’m going to let some spoiled little boy ruin it for me, you have another thing coming.” The butt of the gun sits snuggly against the crook of her shoulder as she aims directly at Chase.
Fear grips my entire body as I scramble to figure out what the hell is going on. “Chase, what is she talking about?”
“Well, Melody, I think she’s confessing to being the one that killed my mom so she could get her money.”
My mom lets out an unhinged sounding laugh.
“Who are these men?” I ask.
“You see, Melly boo, money can buy so many things. Like hired help that’s willing to do anything you ask. So while my new husband sets up home for us in the Dominican Republic, I’m here cleaning up this little mess. We can’t have your little boyfriend running to the police with his musings. He’s creating such a stir, hiring a private detective and poking into my past. He’s dead by the way, don’t you worry.”
Chase makes a move to lunge for her but she levels the shotgun at his head, haunting him in his tracks.
“Grab them both would you? We’re going for a little ride together.”
The men come closer, and I back up looking for an exit, but we’re blocked in with nowhere to go, and no weapons to grab.
“Mom?” Tears well up in my eyes in disbelief.
She doesn’t even look at me as the shorter of the two goons grabs me and ties my arms behind my back. The room goes dark a moment later and my knees buckle beneath my weight. I fall hard, then nothing.
* * *
My body is rocking backand forth and it takes me a minute to register what’s happened. Head fuzzy and ears sounding like a million bees are buzzing around inside my brain, I manage to pry my eyes open. The sight I find is one that startles me. We’re on a sailboat, headed straight into the Gulf of Mexico away from Saint Bipal. My mom sits at the helm and my hands are tied behind my back. Chase is next to me passed out, and the two men from earlier hold on to the sides of the boat. Each wearing a life jacket. Looking down I notice that I’m not wearing one, and panic begins to take over.
“When the fuck did you learn how to sail?” I scream, voice tight with fury.
“There’s so much you don’t know about me, Melody. Did you really think that abusive asshole of a father just up and left us? Never to be heard from again?” She cackles , head thrown back as she turns the wheel.
“You— you killed Dad?” I scream again, partly from shock and partly because the wind is so loud. Clouds darken dangerously in the sky and a pit of dread forms in my stomach.
