“Everyone did.” Her brows hike. “The question is, who had opportunity and means?” Harper reaches into her designer glasses case and extracts a tiny USB drive. “Madison wasn’t just collecting rumors. She was gathering evidence.”
“What’s on that?” I ask, eyeing the USB.
“Recordings,” Harper says. “Madison secretly recorded conversations with all of us. She was going to use them as leverage to ensure she was the star of the show. I found this hidden in her luggage when the production crew was clearing out her cabin.”
I gasp a little at the thought. “Harper, that’s tampering with evidence,” I point out.
“It’s protecting multiple people from unnecessary scandal,” Harper counters. “Until I determine who actually killed her.”
Before I can respond, a familiar voice cuts through our conversation. “What a charming little tête-à-tête!”
Val saunters onto the platform, dressed head-to-toe in lacquered cherry red, glowing against the mountain backdrop likea luxury-brand emergency flare. “Harper, honey, are you boring poor Trixie with your statistics again?”
“We were just discussing the engineering marvel of this platform,” Harper lies smoothly, slipping the USB drive back into the case for her glasses. “The sheer fact we’re not falling to the ground is fascinating.”
Fascinating to her, terrifying for me.
“Well….” Val’s eyes narrow suspiciously. “You two seemed awfully intense for a conversation about architecture.”
“Some of us find intelligence stimulating,” I say with a snippy smile gliding up my cheeks. “As opposed to, say, charitable fraud?” I can’t believe I went there! On the plus side, I’m really getting the hang of this. Who knew I had a catty side to me? I blame the near-death experience I’m currently locked into.
Val’s perfectly contoured face freezes solid. “Excuse me?” Her eyes sweep up and down my body with the look of utter disdain.
“We’re just making conversation,” I say innocently.
Marlie glides between us. “Watch out for Red Riding Hood here,” she warns. “She’s got her claws out, and she’s not afraid to use them.”
Val steps closer, her designer hiking boots making a menacing tap on the glass floor, and suddenly, I’m fearing for the so-called structural integrity of this platform.
“You know, Trixie,” Val leans my way with a devilish gleam in her eyes, “accidents happen all the time on these tourist attractions.” She pokes a finger in my chest, and I inch back until I hit the railing. “People get too close to the edge, they lose their balance...” Her gaze shifts to Harper. “Especially people who don’t know when to keep their mouths shut.”
“Is that a threat, Val?” Harper laughs in the woman’s face.
“Just an observation,” Val shoots back with a smile that could cut granite. “I’m very observant. For instance, I observed you taking something from Madison’s cabin after she died.”
I gasp, and Harper slices me with a look that could definitely kill.
Harper’s cool composure returns as she focuses on Val. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t you?” Val steps closer, forcing Harper to back up toward the edge of the platform as well. “I wonder what the police would think about that?”
“They might be more interested in your creative accounting,” Harper retorts, her back now dangerously close to the railing.
“Ladies,” I try my best to interject, “maybe this isn’t the best place for this conversation, given the heart-stopping drop below us?”
Val ignores me, advancing on Harper with the determination of a predator that’s spotted weakness. “You always think you’re the smartest person in the room, don’t you? With your little notebook and your little calculations. Did you calculate what would happen if someone found out what you’ve been hiding?”
“Val,” I warn, “the cameras are rolling.” I hiss that last bit lower than a whisper. Not that I care if Val reveals Harper’s secret. Honestly, I’m just trying to ratchet up the drama.
“Let them roll,” she hisses right back. “I’m tired of pretending.”
With a sudden movement that seems almost accidental, she bumps against Harper, causing her to stumble backward and just about right off the edge of the platform!
Harper’s eyes widen in fear as she teeters on the brink, arms windmilling for balance as her back arches well past the guardrail.
Without thinking, I lunge forward, grabbing Harper’s arm and yanking her back from the edge in one bionic maneuver. We both tumble onto the glass floor in a tangle of limbs and designer outerwear.
I catch a glimpse of the sheer drop beneath us and my heart all but seizes.
