Page 112 of Vacation Friends

The words could have sounded warm. But not coming from Kalani. They only sounded detached and calculated.

She tried to control the tremble going through her, but it felt nearly impossible.

Jared dead. Fowler missing. Logan now dead also.

It was all too much . . .

“I saw the people gathering from my balcony, and I came down to see what was happening. I had no idea it was going to be—” Her voice caught, and she couldn’t finish her statement.

Kalani stared at her, not saying anything. Finally, he murmured, “You need to stick around.”

Stick around? What did that mean? Was he going to try to frame her for this also? Then she realized she had no alibi, no alibi other than her room key.

Even more dread filled her stomach. How was this happening?

Who had done this to Logan?

What about Fowler? Were there any updates on him?

Her head pounded as she tried to figure out exactly what she should do.

For now, she crossed her arms over her chest and paced away. She would wait here. Just like the detective told her.

But she wouldn’t like it.

An hour later, Detective Kalani made his way back toward her.

Maddie had found a lounge chair on the beach, and she sat staring at the waves as she waited.

No one had bothered her—a fact for which she was thankful. Talking to people was the last thing she wanted.

But now it was time to talk to Kalani, who sat on a lounge chair beside her, also facing the water. He didn’t say anything a moment.

“What happened to Logan?” Maddie quietly asked.

“The medical examiner will tell us for sure.”

“Foul play?” Part of her didn’t want to know, to hear the confirmation, even if she already knew the truth.

“It’s hard to say without the proper examination. But if I had to guess, I would say yes.”

Maddie turned toward the detective, wanting to see his eyes as she asked the next question. “Do you think I did something to her?”

“Did you do something to her?” He remained stone-faced as he asked the question, his expression showing no hints as to what he was thinking, what his pre-drawn conclusions were.

“No. I was in my room all night. Alone.”

His face remained placid. “It seems as if this retreat has been rough for the company.”

“You can say that again.” She almost wanted to chuckle, but she didn’t. “You might be able to claim that one incident was just bad luck. But things are piling up so much that it’s clear this company and the people in it are being targeted.”

“You have no idea why that might be?”

Maddie shook her head, hating how heavy and burdened her actions felt. “No, I don’t.”

She briefly considered telling him about everything that had happened to her. All the things she’d tried to keep quiet, mostly in an effort to stay out of the spotlight.

She still wasn’t sure it was a good idea to share too much. She needed to be careful what she said and consider each of her words.

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