Page 4 of Hush Money

“Her neck is okay,” Lucien says. “Daniel says she was walking around when he found her, remember?”

“Yeah, but I just don’t want to take any chances.”

“I’ve got her,” Lucien says, and he does. He lifts her in one smooth and easy motion, cradling her in his arms the way he might have done when they were newlyweds and he brought her home to Ackerley for the first time. I give myself a stern reminder that we’re in the middle of a crisis here and I am not important, but I still feel a dark blast of jealousy as I see his head bent over hers and the care with which he handles her. I’d better start getting used to the sight of them together and the idea that those arms will no longer be wrapped around me. Unfortunately, both things are way easier said than done.

Right now, though, it’s time for me to focus. So I dart ahead of him and open the heavy front door, admitting another burst of the raging storm. The wind whips the rain straight into our faces. I raise a hand to block it, doing my best to focus on the blazing headlights from the Range Rover straight ahead. Daniel’s got the back passenger side door open, and the dome lights provide a nice beacon. Lucien heads straight for it, his long strides navigating the slick steps as though he’s got a strain of mountain goat in his DNA profile somewhere.

“Come on,” Daniel calls from the driver’s side. “I’m afraid the road is going to wash out.”

I open the back door a little wider for Lucien. He swings Ravenna around, her head and all that long hair draped over his arm. He’s just about to settle her on the back seat when all hell breaks loose.

There’s a deafening boom, the kind that rattles your bones. A flash of light that burns my eyes. A crack. Then there’s the doom-laden smell of sulfur and burning wood. And the astonishing sight of that bolt of lightning as it retracts back to the sky from whence it came, leaving the massive tree at the opening of the circular driveway to fall to its death, taking the power lines with it as it goes.

“Get down!” Lucien roars, and we all duck as sparks and leaves fly and the power lines sizzle. It seems to take forever for the tree to stop shuddering and go still, but it eventually does. And we all slowly straighten again, blinking and dazed by what just happened. Another flash of lightning helpfully eliminates the tree’s enormous and pitiful carcass in its final resting place blocking our path.

Lucien recovers first, straightening with Ravenna in his arms and blinking away the driving rain as it hits his face. “Everyone okay?” he calls, his attention swinging between me and Daniel.

“Yeah,” Daniel says, reaching back inside the car to kill the engine and cut the lights before straightening and shutting the door. “Guess we’re not going anywhere, though.”

“We’ll take the back way,” Lucien says.

“No chance,” Daniels say grimly. “It’s all torn up. They’re re-paving it, remember?”

Epic scowl from Lucien. “What the fuck? That was supposed to be finished while I was gone.”

“When does anything ever get finished on time?” Daniel says with a hollow laugh.

“Looks like we’re stuck here for the night.” Lucien turns to me, his expression softening. “Tamsyn? You okay?”

“Yeah,” I say, swiping my entire arm across my face in a vain attempt to keep at least some of the rain away. But there’s nothing I can do about the driving wind other than raise my voice to make sure they can hear me. “I’m fine, but we better get back inside before some debris hits one of us in the eye.”

I turn back toward the house and quickly discover a startling new reality.

The lights are out.

I knew they had to be, right? I just personally witnessed the tree take out the power lines. But nothing prepares me for the looming monolith now spread out before us. Ackerley in the complete darkness looks like every childhood haunted house nightmare come to life. Another flash of lightning—mercifully a little farther away this time—heightens the sensation by illuminating all the dead-eyed windows. I hesitate because I don’t want to stay out here in the storm, but I damn sure don’t want to go into that house right now, either.

“What happened to the generator?” Lucien asks Daniel, heading back inside without breaking stride.

“Give it a minute,” Daniel says as we follow him.

But nothing happens.

“Fuck,” Lucien says when we’re all back in the foyer and Daniel slams the door against the wind, blocking out the little bit of ambient light that made its way inside. “Daniel, I need you to find every candle and flashlight in the place. Pronto. I’ll take her up to the blue bedroom.”

“I’m on it,” Daniel says, heading off.

Lucien starts for the stairs, but I put a hand on his arm to stop him.

“I don’t want you to take her all the way up there. She’s been jostled enough. Can we just put her on the living room sofa or something?”

“Good idea,” Lucien says, turning away from the staircase and heading for the living room. I hurry in front of him, stumbling against the chair and then the coffee table before eventually making my way to the sofa. I toss the throw pillows aside and push the coffee table out of Lucien’s way, guided only by the little bit of light coming in from the windows. There’s just enough of the full moon visible through the clouds for its light to reflect off the glittering bay and eliminate the living room. Otherwise, I’m sure I’d do a spectacular face plant against the furniture.

Lucien lays Ravenna on the sofa. She murmurs something fretful and shifts restlessly.

“Ravenna?” he says anxiously, leaning over her. “Can you hear me?”

“I’m tired,” she says, shifting again as she presses a hand to her newly bandaged forehead. But she seems groggy and doesn’t open her eyes. “My head hurts.”

---