Gentle aloha vibes trickle from the speakers as we open the lobby doors and head toward the pool. Neon purple lights give the water a pleasant glow as we approach. The girls sit on the pool’s edge, chatting among themselves. Frankie and Kindra sport waist-snatching one-piece suits, while Eve, Cat, and I rock bikinis. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more attractive friend group.
We join the others, and Gary brings out a tray of piña coladas as I regale the crew with the tale of two cocks. As a reward, I’m treated to the story of Bennett’s pineapple lovefest as we wait for Gary to bring out something more exciting than drinks. We’re all here for one reason, after all—the murder.
I just hope it can take my mind off my worry for Aven. I can’t talk about his current absence. Aven didn’t have time to give me any rules or words of warning before he took off, but he didn’t need to. I know that Jim can’t know what he’s off doing right now. He didn’t need to reiterate the need to keep this silent.
Gary returns to the pool with a few other staffers, and the Cattle trail behind them. Each victim is dressed in a color-coded swimsuit. Their hands are secured behind their backs, and they’re connected by a chain around the waist rather than by their feet, which have been left free for once. Judging by their silence, they’ve had their lips secured shut in some way.
“I don’t quite have Jim’s panache when it comes to games, but I’ll do my best,” Gary says with a nervous chuckle. “What does he usually say?”
The girls laugh, then say in unison, “The game is simple!”
“The game is simple,” Gary says. “You just need to swim the length of the pool one time, then try to kill the sorry shitbag of your choosing. The weapons are in the cabana at the other end.”
“What are our options?” I ask.
Gary glances back toward the cabana. “I scrounged up a couple of power tools, the gun that bird used to kill a guy, some?—”
“No, not the weapons,” Kindra says. “The Cattle. What did they do?”
“Oh, right!” Gary raises a finger and nods. “I forgot you guys like to know their crimes. We’ve brought a serial rapist, two dog-fighting assholes, a child molester, and a lady who got her kicks from abusing the elderly.”
I feel a little foolish, as I was asking about the weapons. I don’t really care what these assholes have done.
“Dibs on the child molester!” Kindra yells, and the man in the pink speedo wets himself.
Eve turns to me with a shimmy of her shoulders. “What’s your poison, honey?”
I shrug. “Doesn’t matter to me. I’m a bit different from you guys. I definitely enjoy righting wrongs and killing bad guys, but I’m fine with killing for the sake of killing.”
“A woman after my own heart,” Eve says. “Those three need a reason, but I just need the motivation.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Frankie says.
Eve goes to her bag by a lounger and pulls out a covering for her hair, which she fastens in place without a mirror. Not a single micro braid pokes out, and she still looks stunning, so I’m becoming more convinced that she knows magic. “Not a bad thing. Just different. Different doesn’t have to be bad.”
“You got another one of those?” Cat asks. “I really don’t want to have to wash my hair before the event this evening.”
Eve tosses a second cap to Cat, and the girl begins tucking away her blonde hair.
“I kind of feel like it’s the other way around,” I offer. “The differences, I mean. Like, maybe we’re looked down on because we aren’t choosy.”
“I don’t look down on you. My mother always said that folks who look down on others must feel silly up on their self-made pedestals, so I’ve always tried not to stand on one.” Cat tucks the last of her hair into the cap, though she doesn’t look half as cute as Eve. She looks more like a Kewpie doll, but I’ll never tell her that.
Frankie nods in agreement. “Besides, have you seen the penis-to-vagina ratio at these shindigs? I refuse to alienate another woman who could become a sister.”
My heart squeezes when she says this. She has no idea she has a sister in the most literal sense. We secretly share the same DNA.
A few of the men stroll by the pool, and Bennett is among them. He sees Cat and immediately begins laughing.
“Who made my girlfriend look like a fucking Kewpie doll?” he yells toward us.
Cat reaches up to snatch off the cap, but Eve covers her hand and stops her.
“The cap makes her look like an adorable doll. Meanwhile, you look like a fucking moron all the time by nature’s design,” I yell back.
Eve nods, then looks at him. “At least she can take off the cap, honey! You’re stuck with that melon head.”
That earns a laugh from all of us, and Cat lowers her hand.Thanks, she mouths to me.
