Page 59 of The House Guest

His gaze fixed on a point across the room. ‘So, it was, like, seven thirty, something like that? Not quite dark. We’d been hanging at the pool and we were going to go home, get dinner, before hooking up with these girls we met.’

‘You were heading out of the park?’

‘What I said. Only, these two guys started coming towards us. These preppy-looking dudes, young but wearing suits. I thought they were Jehovah’s Witnesses or some shit.’

‘Hang on, what day was this?’

‘Sunday.’ That was the day Jack and Mona got back.

Jesse went on. ‘Anyways, they come up to us, like they’re gonna try to talk to us about Paradise or whatever, and Brandon and me look at each other, like, this is gonna be fun, and then one of them, the taller one, holds up a picture – a picture of that bitch you were with.’

I wished he’d stop saying that. ‘Eden.’

‘Yeah. Her. And the guy says, “You recognise this girl?” I right away think,Shit, has she sent her older brothers or something to look for us?And then my boy Brandon says something like, “Yeah, we fucked that bitch right here in the park and she fucking loved it”, laughing, you know? And the guy – the guy who wasn’t holding the picture – he shoots his arm out like this, and Brandon ... Brandon just, like, crumples to the ground. It took me a second to realise this dude had stabbed him. Right here. In the heart.’

He looked up to Heaven. ‘The cops said he woulda died instantly. He wouldn’t have felt no pain. And then the guy turned to me, the knife dripping with Brandon’s blood, and he said, and this is the freakiest part, “Protect one, protect all”. And I think if he didn’t, you know, stop to say that, if he’d gone for me right away, I’d be dead too. But the couple of seconds he took to stop to say that, it gave me a chance. I kicked him in the balls.’

I couldn’t help but laugh.

‘Not the kind of move I’d usually pull. But he’d just killed my boy. I panicked. I kicked him right where it hurt and ran like fuck before the two of them could react.’

‘And did they chase you?’

‘Yeah. For a while. But I’m fast and I know that park like it’s my own backyard. I ran all the way back here and did something I never thought I’d do. Called the cops. Turned out someone had already found Brandon’s body and called them. Then I spent the next twenty-four hours answering their motherfucking questions.’

‘What do you mean, they looked like Jehovah’s Witnesses?’

‘Like I said, they were wearing suits. Nice suits, I think. Like, real expensive-looking. They were white and old – in their thirties, at least. Later, when I was talking to the police, I realised they didn’t look like Jehovahs. They looked like they worked on Wall Street. Like those rich assholes who’ve all moved to Williamsburg recently, you know, in those fancy apartments by the river.’

‘And they said what? “Protect one, protect all”?’

‘Yeah.’ He leaned forward. ‘That sounds like some kind of cult shit, doesn’t it?’

It certainly chimed with what I knew so far.

‘Have you seen them since?’

‘Nope.’ He held up the gun. ‘But if those motherfuckers turn up again I’m gonna send them to meet their ancestors.’

He didn’t sound very convincing.

‘Do you know which detective is in charge of the investigation into Brandon’s murder?’

‘Yeah. Big guy. Treated me pretty nice, for a cop. What was his name? Oh yeah. Krugman, that was it. Detective Krugman.’

Chapter 25

I stood outside Jesse’s apartment building, paralysed by indecision. I tried to call Callum but it went straight to voicemail. I left a message, asking him to call me, then began to walk back towards Williamsburg, staying on busy streets where I figured I would be safe. When I had to cross the road, I hurried, making sure there were other people crossing at the same time. I didn’t go anywhere near the park.

Halfway there, two guys wearing suits and Ray-Bans came towards me along the street. My pulse accelerated and I stepped back into a shop doorway. I pulled the backpack off my shoulder and stuck my hand inside, scrambling to find the knife I’d taken from Callum’s apartment. I found it and got ready to defend myself. I swallowed, breathing hard, braced to fight.

The two men walked past, laughing at a shared joke.

I blew out a long, relieved breath and stood in the doorway for a minute, waiting for the adrenaline to leave my system. I felt like I was turning into a new version of myself. One who lived in a world where violence was expected. Where anyone who passed by could be part of this secret, threatening alternate reality. The old me wanted to run back to Callum’s and hide. But the new me was determined to keep going, to keep looking.

And as I carried on towards the house where Ruth and I had stayed – drawn back there once again – I realised how foolish I had been to feel envious or paranoid about Ruth’s impending success and my relative failure. Fame, money, recognition – none of it was important. All that mattered was that I found Ruth and made sure she was safe.

I stood outside the Cunninghams’ house and thought,It can’t be a coincidence. Jack’s death had to be related to Eden and the cult and the men who had stabbed Brandon.

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