Page 49 of The House Beyond the Dunes

“Weeks, maybe months. My crews will be here in a few days, and then we’ll really get moving. I was the only one available to handle the immediate damage control.”

“No holidays for you.”

“New Year’s isn’t my favorite holiday. Too many festivities.” A smile flicks his lips. “Plus, it’s good work in a slow economy. You know Kyle owned that house, right?”

“I didn’t know that. How many houses did he own up here?”

“He built just the two, and then there’s the house he would’ve inherited from his brother’s estate if it’s ever settled. Jeb, his brother, owned the family house, but it’s mired in unpaid back taxes.”

“I had no idea.” I shake my head. “I’m saying that a lot.”

His brow furrows. “What were you and Kyle fighting about?”

I’m silent, trying to decide if the truth is the right hand to play. “I still don’t remember anything right before the fall. It’s like a switch flipped in my head. I think Kyle was annoyed with me, but I don’t know why. Did you hear what we were saying?”

Reece is silent before he shakes his head. “I couldn’t make out the words.”

“You mean mine?”

Again, more silence. “You were shouting, screaming. If Kyle was saying anything, I didn’t hear him.”

That still doesn’t sound right. “Are you sure someone else wasn’t in the house? Devon said she was going to cook for us. Maybe she came in early and was the woman you heard.”

“There was no one else in the house that I saw,” he says.

“How do you know? Did you search it?”

His gaze is steady, but he shifts his grip on the wheel. “I didn’t see anyone else. What are you getting at?”

“I still can’t believe we could’ve had a knock-down, drag-out fight within an hour of arriving. We were kissing moments before.”

He grimaces, shifts away from me, leaning on the door, as if he doesn’t want to know about Kyle and me. “I found you both at the bottom of the stairs. I called 9-1-1, and then I checked on you and Kyle. You were unconscious, but you had a heartbeat. Kyle didn’t, so I started chest compressions. He never responded, but given the blood and the angle of his neck, I wasn’t surprised. I worked on him for fifteen minutes before the rescue squad and sheriff arrived.”

I raise my hands to my lips, stifling a sob. “The rescue squad arrived here that fast? All the way up here?”

“We’ve a rescue squad a couple of miles from here. They serve this area. Once they arrived, they immediately called the med flight, and you were airlifted to Norfolk. The detective talked to the paramedics on the phone and insisted that Kyle’s body stay behind.”

“Detective Becker.”

“That’s right.”

“I spoke to him on Friday. How long did it take him to get here?”

“Less than an hour.”

“That fast?”

“I guess he was on this side of the bridge when he got the call.”

Detective Becker. He’s popping up everywhere. “What kind of questions did he ask?”

“He wanted to know about you and Kyle. I told him I heard you two fighting. After that he walked the house and then asked me the questions again. Cops like to see if your answer changes. Mine didn’t.”

“He said the medical examiner ruled Kyle’s deathundetermined.” I let the word hang in the air. “Even if Kyle and I had been squabbling, Istill don’t understand why Detective Becker would’ve assumed the fall was anything more than an accident.”

“It was more than a squabble. You were very upset. And then there was silence. It didn’t feel right, so I checked.”

“Upset? Screaming.” The words sound distant, disconnected from me. “That’s not me. I keep my emotions under a tight lid.”

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