Page 123 of Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds

He looked surprised. “Why?”

“I don’t know, but first one of the guests is killed. Then I fell into the hole because the security netting was gone. Andnow your Jet Ski and boat are disabled. Have there been other accidents over the last few weeks?”

He shook his head. “Nothing that comes to mind.”

“Are we safe here?”

“Yes. I promise. I checked the weather before I planned this excursion, and there are no storms expected in the next twenty-four hours.”

“Do you have a cell phone?”

“Even if I did, it won’t reach anyone on the other side of the island. It’s one of the reasons the resort is putting in a cell tower next to the Sky Bar, so the west and east coasts can more easily communicate.”

“If we can’t reach anyone, how are we going to get back?”

“Henry knows where I planned to go tonight, and Kalise—I had to ask permission to take the boat. If we don’t show up by morning, they’ll come look for us.”

“Okay,” I said, getting comfortable with the idea of spending the night on the boat. If I was going to be stranded anywhere, I was glad it was with Jason. “Let’s eat.”

“You’re not freaked out?”

“No.” I paused, considered, realized that I was telling the truth. “I’m okay. Really. I’m definitely hungry, and I have some things to tell you.”

“About?”

“I might know part of what’s going on. I didn’t tell Gino Garmon everything I knew about Diana Harden when he asked.”

Jason stared at me to the point that I felt distinctly uncomfortable. “Did you know her?”

I shook my head. “I never met her alive, but I feel like I know her.” Now or never, I thought.

“Diana Harden was blackmailing people on the island. I found her notes. They were written in the book that was stolen from my room Wednesday night.”

Chapter Thirty

“Then I realize what it is. It’s him. Something about him makes me feel like I am about to fall. Or turn to liquid. Or burst into flame.”

—Veronica Roth,Divergent

Jason had thought of everything.

The evening was a little chilly, though the sea was calm. He set up the meal in the main cabin, a table for two, champagne, and steak salad with fresh rolls. It was perfect—hearty and healthy and very delicious.

I told him everything I knew over the meal. About how I’d found the book, what I’d read in the pages, why I believed that it belonged to Diana Harden and that she had been blackmailing at least one person. I would have shown him the pictures except that my phone was in the seat of the Jet Ski. I explained how one of his staff members had torn out a page my first day here, and why I thought Amber and Parker had stolen the book—or hired the kid to do it. They were looking for documents that Diana had hidden somewhere on the island, and thought clues were in the book—which was why Brie and I had followed them yesterday, and that’s how I ended up falling in the hole.

I told him I didn’t trust Gino. I didn’t tell him Brie and I had broken into Tristan’s office for Ethan Valentine’s information—that was really crossing a line I still wasn’t comfortable with.I told him about why Sherry Morrison was giving me weird vibes, about her money problems, but also admitted that she was possessive of Andrew and thus might just not like me on general principle. I’d already told him about CeeCee’s lunch with her boyfriend’s ex, and what Tristan told me of her departure.

“When she disappeared on St. John, I thought she might have been a victim, like Diana,” I said. “I’m glad she’s okay, but I still think she had a secret.”

“Like?”

“Like she’s not exactly who she appears to be.”

He listened to everything I said, asked a few questions, didn’t call me foolish or make fun of my amateur sleuthing.

“And because of all these things, you think someone might be sabotaging the resort.”

“I don’t know—I only had that idea because of what happened to your Jet Ski and boat. I still think that Diana was killed because she had blackmailed someone. She had information about a lot of people. I figured out who most of them were because her number coding system is pretty simple, but there are a few I couldn’t find—I mean, the initials don’t match to anyone I’ve met here. She tracked guests’ net worth, property values, and made comments about bad behavior.”