Page 116 of My Sister is Going to Kill Me

“I was thinking about what Stefan called the killer. Remember, Dad?”

“Lady,” Guy grumbled.

“That’s right. Lady. The Regent Group was organized into four departments. Love, attention, distraction, and yearning.” She took a breath. “I think the secret investor is the person who killed Babette and Stefan. The lady behind L-A-D-Y.”

To her surprise, her dad burst out laughing.

“A woman! I should have known.” Guy turned to Mandy, his face shining now. “You know, that investor gave Babette an eight-foot pink salt healing crystal as a gift. I assumed it was a woo-woo dude, but this makes more sense.”

“You think this lady is on our rafting trip?” Charlie said. “She showed up, what, in disguise?”

Mandy nodded. “Or under false pretenses. Your whale is famously secretive, right? Anyone who met her had to sign NDAs up the wazoo. Maybe that’s why Babette wouldn’t tell anyone who it was she was afraid of. She couldn’t.”

“There are no investors on this trip besides Stefan and you.” Charlie looked at her pointedly. “And you’re not a whale.”

“I’m not even the investor, really,” Mandy said. “It’s my dad’s money. I’m just the front man. Like Stefan was.”

Charlie whipped his head around. “You’re our first investor?”

Guy gave him a sly grin.

“I’m sorry I was rude to you earlier,” Charlie said mechanically.

“Water under the bridge.” Guy smiled again. “You can make it up to me by rescuing CareFree.”

“The product is not going to be impacted,” Charlie said.

“Really?” Mandy asked. “Even if it turns out your biggest investor murdered two people?”

Charlie dropped his eyes back to the mushed energy bar in his hand.

“Who do you think it is?” Thor asked.

“A woman on the trip who has a bigger stake in CareFree than they’re letting on. Someone with a huge pile of cash and the ability—and desire—to keep their investing secret.”

Guy looked at Charlie. “How much did you and your siblings inherit when your parents died?”

“You think I’m the secret investor behind all of this?”

“No,” Guy said. “You and Babette put your money into starting the company. But I wonder what Devon did with her share.”

“I’m not sure,” Charlie said. “We never discussed it.”

“It could be Katy,” Mandy said. She turned to Thor. “You said she was a trust fund kid.”

“I know who it is.” Charlie looked upriver, his face set. “Fiona.”

“The blonde with the blinky masks?” Guy asked.

“Cross me and you’re dead too,” Charlie muttered. He took off his Babette hat and let it rest upside down on the ledge, the ominous white words marching across the filthy fabric.

“I’m lost here,” Thor said.

Charlie swallowed. “Fiona Moon was involved in the early development of CareFree. She had good ideas, but she hated reporting to Devon. She wanted to be in charge. A year and a half ago, she went to Babette and told her Devon was steering the product in a direction that would never be safe to go to market. Babette came to me and Devon. We disagreed. Fiona didn’t like it. And then, fourteen months ago, the third focus group failed.”

“Failed?” Thor said.

“There was an accident. Justine Long, a twenty-six-year-old test subject, was exposed to unsafe materials. She died. Everyone was upset, but I always wondered . . .”