Page 29 of A Dark and Stormy Night

"Don't be stupid. I need to think. Our futures are at stake." She sat down at the dressing table and stared at her husband.

He looked back, his small eyes pleading. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Go to sleep. I have to think," she said again. But she couldn't contain herself. "Those bastards!"

"Who?"

"Who do you think? Your cousins." She tapped her nails on the dressing table. She had been going to teach Gwen how to do a manicure tomorrow, but now that was out.

"We could leave." Landon had been nagging about that, and tonight he had been whining worse than ever.

"Why would we do that?" As if she didn't know.

"I'm tired of working for Cousin Mario." Landon's lip trembled.

"Is he working you too hard, darling?" she crooned. "That's not nice of him to take advantage of you because you're his cousin. Maybe you should take tomorrow off. Take a mental health day. Stay here with me."

His eyes got round. Something about her demeanor must have frightened him. "No. No, that's okay. We owe him for keeping us here."

"We don't owe those people anything. I wouldn't have fallen down their crummy stairs if they hadn't been negligent." She fought to regain control of her temper. "So you'll go to work tomorrow?"

"Yes!"

She didn't know where he was going to go. She didn't care. But she didn't want him hanging around, messing up her plans. "You are too good to Cousin Mario." When she thought about Cousin Mario, how pissed he was at Landon and at the havoc Landon had created with his incompetence, she chuckled deep in her chest.

Landon was such a lousy electrician. By the time she had decided to shut down their business, she knew more about wiring than he did. She knew more about how to earn a living, too, and she wasn't about to let this jackpot go because Cousin Mario and Cousin Gwen had finally gotten suspicious.

Now Cecily had to make a decision—should she allow them to throw her out, and Landon too? She could sue them for her injuries, take everything they had. But she was already taking them for a bundle. To mess with Gwen's mind and make Mario's wife incompetent in his eyes, Cecily had been playing in their business accounts. But she also had gained access to their credit cards, their bank account, all their investments. She could transfer money out of their bank accounts, and tonight, that was what she had intended.

But now after hearing their conversation in the pantry . . . Cousin Mario had been leading her on, looking at her when he thought she wasn't paying attention, making her think he was hot for her.

And she had believed it. She was a vibrant woman, years younger than dried-up old Gwen, and Cecily could bring Mario's peen to attention with one lick of her tongue.

But now . . . he had made fun of her. He had scorned her figure. And Gwen, that bitch Gwen, had laughed.

Cecily was determined.

They were going to be sorry.

They were going to pay.

***

It took three days for Mario and Gwen to firm up their plans to rid themselves of their unwelcome guests.

First Mario went to the Virtue Falls sheriff, Garik Jacobsen, and confessed the situation in full.

Sheriff Jacobsen was new to the job, but he had law enforcement experience and a calm demeanor. After listening to the story—and shaking his head in disbelief—Garik assured Mario the difficult part was evicting someone who resided in your home. If Mario managed to get them out of the house without physical harm, any attempt on their part to get back in could rightfully be called breaking and entering and the sheriff's department would respond accordingly.

Meanwhile, Gwen changed her password and examined the accounting, and came to the conclusion someone had been moving cash out of the company accounts. All signs pointed toward their long-time employee and receptionist, Rylee Ellinger. But Gwen had been suckered one too many times. She didn't believe that lie, although she complained worriedly to Cecily.

While assuring Cecily she was a confirmed idiot—and she felt that way—Gwen fetched and carried, served food (although without the greens because she actively wanted Cecily to be constipated) and offered sympathy for Cecily's ongoing illnesses.

She also delivered a series of FedEx overnight packages to Cecily, several every day. Not that Cecily hadn't always received a lot of packages. The woman obviously had an online shopping addiction. But to order with overnight shipping—that was new. Gwen couldn't help it; she worried that Cecily had somehow overheard the eviction plans and intended some kind of dangerous mischief.

Then Cecily started opening the boxes in front of Gwen, pulling out dresses and heels, urging Gwen to try them on right now, and generally acting as if Gwen's failing marriage required emergency measures. That reassured Gwen about Cecily's intentions, and she didn't even wince much when Cecily assured her they would "spruce her up and win back her man's attention." Sometimes she thought the glint in Cecily's eyes seemed more malicious than usual. But that was a matter of degree and Gwen told herself all she wanted was to focus, to survive until she could see Mario pick Cecily up out of bed and dump her on the doorstep.

On day three, at seven am, Mario and Gwen finally gave up on trying to sleep. They got out of bed and tensely smiled at each other. They knew what they had to do. They stood ready to do it. But they were kind people. Hospitable people. They tended to see the best in others.

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