Page 76 of Blind Luck

ARI

“Her vitals are strong. Let her sleep it off, and make sure she drinks plenty in the morning. Do you want me to stay here overnight?”

Dusk considered the doctor’s question for a moment, then shook her head. “No, I’ve got it. If anything unexpected happens, you’ll be the first to know.”

When Erin called to tell me what happened at the Funhouse, I’d twice asked her to repeat herself. Jace had done what? Either he was dumb as a box of oatmeal, or he was arrogant enough to think he wouldn’t get caught. I was inclined to believe it was the latter.

Rusty and Erin had brought Kelsey back to Maverick’s place in McNeil, and I heard her coughing up bile in the yard before she even made it inside. Even Alexa caught the drama, not in person but on a video call from wherever in the world she was. The mountains were gone now, replaced by a background of trees.

I’d spoken with Jerry earlier, let her irritation wash over me as I avoided most of her questions, and then tried not to laugh when I found out she’d done exactly what she swore she’d never do. She was on a boat withCole, sailing around San Gallicano with a scientist on a research trip. Ever paranoid, she’d asked me to run background checks on his three research assistants because she didn’t like them much. So I’d run my checks, and Alexa ran her checks, and nothing alarming showed up. The boys were just two college students and a former Navy guy. Dusk glanced over his record and said he hadn’t exactly set the world alight, which had probably rubbed Jezebel the wrong way—she had little tolerance for mediocrity.

I figured I should be flattered by that.

Taking Kelsey to the hospital would have been the best course of action, but Kelsey had mumbled, “No, no, no,” and heaved again when I suggested it. So Dusk had arranged for a doctor to come to the house as a compromise. Rusty tried calling Silas, but Silas hadn’t picked up, and now Kelsey was sleeping in Rusty’s room while the rest of us worked out what to do next.

To confess the truth or not to confess the truth, that was the question.

“We should just tell her the whole story,” Rusty said. “Better to come clean than have her find out herself.”

Dusk closed the front door behind the doctor and flopped onto the sectional opposite me. We were in the living room, where the couch stretched in a U-shape around a glass coffee table with a giant flatscreen taking up the fourth side. I’d claimed one long side, Dusk had the other, and Erin was sharing the short side with Rusty. Honestly, I was relieved they were getting along. I’d had reservations at first, but Rusty turned out to be a rare gentleman.

I’d spent several days with Dusk now, and I still hadn’t worked out how she fit into Jerry’s group. She seemed too nice for that type of job, all sunshine and smiles. The kind of girl who baked cookies for puppies at the local animal shelter. Unless she was their liaison officer? The person sentto speak with others because everyone else was on the rude side of antisocial?

“Jumping straight to the truth is a big step,” she said. “Don’t you think? There are a hundred other stories that are just as plausible.”

How did her mind work? I was curious. “Such as?”

“Keep it really simple—Rusty and Erin saw a girl being accosted by an asshole and went over to intervene. Nobody realised it was Kelsey until later.”

“She’ll think I’m a creeper for watching her,” Rusty said. “We were across the room when they were leaving.”

“She won’t remember that. But if it makes you happier, say you were on vacay with your girlfriend when you saw Kelsey with a guy who wasn’t Silas and got suspicious. You figured she was cheating and then realised she’d been drugged against her will.”

That story could work, provided Erin was willing to play along—and I wouldn’t put her in a position where she was uncomfortable. But it didn’t get us any closer to our goal.

“If Kelsey flies home to New York, we’ll be back to square one. What’s Jace Fuller doing with this freaking golf course? Kelsey’s been closer to him than anyone over these past three weeks, and she could answer a lot of questions.”

“So move a little closer to the truth. Erin followed Jace to the Funhouse because he’s one of the suspects with a motive to harm Cole.”

“And Rusty?”

“Helping out his girlfriend with surveillance.”

“Both of those stories rely on Erin and Rusty being involved, and that isn’t fair on Erin. She doesn’t date, and there’s a reason for that.” I glanced over and offered her an encouraging smile. “Right?”

“Uh, right?”

Dusk’s expression morphed into sympathy. “Oh,sweetie. You didn’t realise Jez put cameras at the front of the house too?”

Erin’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

“Just come inside next time. There’s no need to make out in the car like teenagers.”

My turn with the, “What?”

“Wearedating,” Rusty said, scooching along the couch until his thigh was touching Erin’s. “No need to pretend.”

She didn’t move away, and nor did she snatch her hand back when he took it in his. Okay, so I’d been in Santa Cruz for a couple of days, but how had I not known about this?

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