Page 76 of Release Me

“You can scold him whenyoudeal with this issue. Keep going.” Belinda waves a hand forward.

We wind around the bend. Fluorescent red, orange, and pink squares catch my notice. “What is that? Up there.” I point ahead, past a chain-link fence to where handmade signs dangle off tree branches. I squint to read the words. “‘Mermaid Beach doesn’t want this.’ ‘You’re not welcome.’ ‘Take your money and go away.’” A longer one hangs nearby. “‘Wolf Hotel Billionaire Owner Questioned in Brother’s Death.’”

“That is the reason I wanted to bring you out here.”

“Ah, yes. The neighbor.” The one Henry specifically warned me about.

“Drive.” She gestures toward the area.

“Okay, even I know to stay off the green?—”

“Anyone who has a problem with it can speak to the general manager. Oh wait, that’s me,” she snipes. “I am not ruining my heels.”

“Whatever you say, boss.” I veer off the path. The cart bumps along, the tires leaving imprints as we move closer toward the fence. “So, what’s this all about, besides old news?” Scott Wolf died a year and a half ago and deserved his untimely end. Abbi told me what happened—the grim details that they managed to keep out of the news to protect her from becoming more of a media spectacle—and if someone else hadn’t killed the son of a bitch, I would have with my bare hands.

“Our neighbor isn’t a fan of us.”

“A giant hotel right next door? Can’t imagine why. Is that one lot?” It’s hard to tell beyond the thick, wild bramble.

“It is. Stretches all the way from the main road to the beach. The family purchased it decades ago.”

I let out a low whistle as I slide out of my seat for a better view, feeling the itch to dig into my pocket for a smoke that’s not there.

More handwritten signs come into view.

Wolf Heir and Assistant Spotted at Exclusive High Society Sex Party with Friends Margo Lauren and Hedge Fund Playboy Preston Abbott.

I remember that headline circulating. Connor still asks for an invitation every time he talks to Abbi.

Henry Wolf Breaks His Own Rules to Marry His Assistant. Was She Prey?

Wolf Hotel Billionaire’sInnocent Farm Girl Not So Innocent After All

That last one spikes my anger. It’s about Abbi … and me, and moderately fabricated nonsense from a spurned reporter who was trying to cause trouble ahead of the wedding. Connor and I were named in the article. Our full fucking names.

It caused Abbi such stress and unleashed a torrent of online bullying from brainless losers with no lives of their own, so they spend their time taking sides of strangers they’ll never meet and trying to tank Farm Girl’s business.

“That’s gotta be worth a pretty penny.” There’s at least ten to fifteen acres there. I’m surprised they haven’t already sold to a developer. I crouch to find a view past an especially full bush. “Are those trailers?”

“Yes. Painted every shade you can find.” Belinda’s disgust is plain in her voice.

“Campground?”

“I don’t know what you call it. The mobile homes are occupied during the season, except for one tenant who lives there year-round. The owner lives in a dilapidated house. You can see it clearly from the beach.”

I shift my position. “Yeah, I see it now.” Or the back porch, anyway, of a house sitting off the ground on a pier-and-beam foundation, to help fend against a flood, though the sand dunes already form a natural barrier.

A pink hut sits on the far end. “Is that a chicken coop?”

“Yes, one that houses the noisiest rooster I have ever heard. I called bylaw but, shockingly, you’re allowed to have one in this county if you have a lot that size. We’ve already petitioned to have the law changed.”

“Over the neighbor’s rooster?” I can’t help the amusement in my voice.

“We can’t have it disturbing our guests.”

“From way over there?”

“Wait until you hear it!” she snaps. “Besides, it’s the principle. These people have been a royal pain in Henry’s ass for years. From the moment they found out about the hotel, they’ve been trying to stop it. Circulating petitions, rallyinglocal interest groups to storm council meetings, challenging zoning and environmental studies. Crying about confused turtles or some nonsense. There were two of them fighting this. An old woman and her granddaughter. The old woman is gone now.”

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