Page 52 of One Last Secret

I park the car and quickly make my way inside. The front door is open, but there’s no one in the foyer. I hear footsteps ascending the stairs, however, so I quickly rush behind one of Victor’s statues and turn my body so the stone profile hides me from view.

Lisa's and Marcus's voice carries up the stairs. I pull my cell phone from my pocket, open the camera, and turn the volume down so I can record without them hearing my phone chime.

“How much are you planning to take?” Marcus asks.

“All of it,” Lisa replies Here and in the studio. Not the statues. Those are too heavy.”

“It’ll take forever to load all of that.”

“No, it won’t. There’s only a few dozen upstairs, and none of them are framed. Two more loads from the basement and one upstairs, then we’re gone.”

“What if the maid gets here? Or the nanny?”

Lisa scoffs. “They’re not going to work for free. Victor’s dead. Who’s gonna pay them?”

My breath catches in my throat. So they did kill Victor!

“How do we know Victor’s dead, though?” Marcus replies. “The hitman never got back to me.”

“He told us he’d never get back to us.”

"He never sent me a picture, though, or anything. Don't they have to provide proof of death?"

They exit the front door, so I can’t hear them for a few seconds. I process what I’ve just heard. So a hitman was hired to kill Victor, but there was no proof of death. Could Victor have survived the assault somehow?

He must have. I found the evidence of a camp in the hidden cove. So then where did he go from there? Did he go into hiding? Why would he do that without Celeste?

My speculation is cut off when I hear them returning. “It won’t matter anyway. If we’re in Costa Rica, they can’t get us. It’s not like Victor can send people after us down there.”

Marcus replies to Lisa. “What about the girl? What if she’s told people?”

“Then they’d be here. Relax, Marcus. Seriously, what are the chances Celeste is still alive anyway?”

They start descending the stairs. I hear Lisa add, “Good riddance too. The little bitch hated me.”

“Well, youwereplanning to kill her father.”

“So? She didn’t know that. She just thought I was trying to marry him or something.”

Their voices fade again. I stop the video and send it to Sean, just in case something happens to me or my phone. I look at the time. Five-forty-five. They said two more loads from the basement and one from the studio. That has them leaving right around six o’clock.

I listen for sirens. Why am I not hearing any? What’s taking the police so long? Maybe I should call them myself. I could dial nine-one-one and let them listen in on the conversation. They could—

“Should we be worried about the nanny?”

That’s Marcus’s voice.

“Why would we worry about the nanny?” Lisa replies wearily. “What’s she gonna do?”

“Well, she was asking you a bunch of questions.”

“She wanted to know why Celeste went psycho-ape on me. I told her the truth. Who the hell knows when you’re talking about insane artists?”

There’s a thump, and Lisa snaps, “Hey! Be careful!”

“Sorry. Look, I just don’t like this, okay? I’ll feel better when we’re in Costa Rica.”

“Well, quit whining, all right? The nanny has no reason to be here anymore. Not with Celeste floating with the fairies somewhere.”

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