Page 60 of Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds

“You don’t have to justify yourself to me. You did what you did.”

—Sue Grafton, A Is for Alibi

Tristan killed Diana Harden. I was sure of it.

And he killed Gino Garmon to cover it up. All the puzzle pieces fell into place, mostly. He was trying to protect the island’s

owner from blackmail, not realizing that the documents Diana had would help Valentine in the long run.

“Nothing!” Tristan exclaimed. “Everyone, sit down. Kalise! Bring a team over to clean this up, get new plates. Everything

is fine!”

No one moved.

Tristan was sweating.

“Tristan,” Jason said firmly, “what happened?”

“Nothing!” Tristan said, and plastered a smile on his face. “Nothing at all. This is a misunderstanding.”

Said every guilty person ever , I thought.

Little facts began to fall together. “Amber used to date Parker, but he cheated on her.”

“I did not!” Parker said.

“Did too, asshole,” Amber said. “Me. You cheated on me .” She ran her hands over her body as if to emphasize the absurdity of anyone cheating on her.

“And Amber and Diana have been friends and lovers for years,” I said. “They were in the same sorority. So I think Amber and Diana hatched a plan, and Diana seduced Parker.”

He harrumphed, but then glared at Amber. “I knew you were behind this.”

“Fuck you,” she said.

“Diana stole the papers from Parker,” I continued, “and Amber claims she had no idea what was in them, but I think she’s lying.”

“Am not,” Amber said unconvincingly.

Everything was finally fitting into place, and it had to come out. “She and Diana thought Ethan Valentine would pay for the

evidence that Parker stole his ideas and sabotaged his relationship with Roland Briggs, his father.”

“My dad loved Ethan more than me,” Parker wailed.

“Diana hid them,” I continued, “maybe because she thought Ethan would have just taken them without paying if he knew she had

them. Or, more likely, because Amber called her and told her Parker was on his way to St. Claire.”

“Or because she just loved her stupid games,” Amber said in a tone that was both admiring and sad. Maybe she really had loved

Diana, in her own shallow way.

“You knew Diana was blackmailing people here on St. Claire. You argued with Gino Garmon because he was one of the people she

had something on.”

Jason looked at me. “What?”

“The page that Gino had Georgie steal from the book had notes related to Gino embezzling money—I think from the resort—and

losing it in cards. It’s in shorthand, and I’m missing some letters because I could barely see them, but that’s the gist.

I could prove it if I could look at the resort books. I am a CPA, after all.”

Something else clicked. Georgie knew what was written on that page.

Gino might have destroyed it, but Georgie was still a threat to him.

Had Gino gone after the kid and Georgie killed him in self-defense?

Or maybe Georgie understood the importance of Gino’s embezzlement.

.. and that someone was covering it up.

“Jason, do you know where Georgie is?”

“I’m trying to find him,” he said.

“Because he might have figured it out, and that’s why he’s in hiding,” I said.

“And that’s why he killed Gino,” Tristan said with an air of finality.

“No,” I said. “Georgie had no reason to kill him.”

“To protect himself!” Tristan said as if it was a foregone conclusion. “Because he killed Diana!”

“I thought Gino killed Diana,” I said, “because of whatever she was blackmailing him with, but Amber also knows. And if Amber

knows, Parker knows, and Gino didn’t kill them.”

“True,” Amber said. “Diana called me Saturday and said Gino paid for her silence. She was so good at digging up dirt.” She

sighed again in admiration and wiped a tear I was half-sure was fake away from the corner of her eye.

“Which is why you had him go through Diana’s belongings to look for her book. When he couldn’t find it, you searched my room.”

“I saw you with it. I knew Diana had left notes in the margins. I needed to find out what happened to the files she took.

She always set up these little scavenger hunts. She loved the games.”

“Why did you care?” Doug spoke up for the first time. “You wanted to screw your ex over. Why not just let him suffer?”

“Because—” she began.

“Shut up,” Parker said. “Remember, your career!”

“Screw you,” Amber said, but took a couple steps away from him. “If his father finds out, he’ll cut him off. And Parker threatened

my career if I didn’t help him get the files back. He has nude pictures of me that I let him take because I was a fool. Said

he would release them. Well, fuck it. I don’t care anymore. I’m gorgeous. I’m talented. I’ll always have another role, clothed

or naked.”

“On your back,” Parker muttered.

She lunged for him, but Mr. Kent and David pulled her away.

“Diana must have reached out to Ethan to tell him what she had,” I said. “And that would be through you.” I turned to Tristan.

“Everyone knows you’re the only one who is in contact with Ethan on a regular basis.”

“Did she?” Jason asked him. “Did Diana talk to you about those documents?”

“I—I—yes,” he said haughtily. “She said she had a deal to make. I didn’t think it was worth Mr. Valentine’s valuable time,

so I told her I wouldn’t.”

“What did she have on you?” I asked him.

“Nothing. That was it. I was shocked when she disappeared. Shocked!”

“She was murdered,” Jason said bluntly.

“Georgie. Or—or maybe Gino did it and blamed the kid,” Tristan said hurriedly. “Because of the gambling.”

I shook my head. “No. Too many people knew about his gambling. You knew too. Because your finger is on every single aspect

of St. Claire. You love this resort. Gino embezzled money from the resort. You must have figured that out.”

“I will order a full independent audit of St. Claire immediately!” he exclaimed.

“And you knew that Diana went to Ethan’s house on Sunday and couldn’t find him there. The only way you could know that is

if you saw her Sunday night. Yet you didn’t tell the police that you saw her. You said she left on the ferry and didn’t return.”

It was so clear now that I said it. “You lied to the police.”

“No. You have it all wrong.”

I glanced at Luis. “Luis, you told Gino about Diana, didn’t you?”

“Yes, after her body was found,” Luis said. “Poor girl.”

“Gino really was investigating her murder,” I said, somewhat surprised. Maybe his threat to me, though nasty, was intended

to be a warning because he knew a killer was on the island. “Did Gino figure out you killed her, so you had to silence him,

too?” I said to Tristan.

“Tristan,” Jason said with an air of authority. “Why did you kill her?”

Tristan was backing up as if cornered. “I... I... I did it for you!” he shouted. “To protect you, Ethan!” He put his

hand to his mouth, turned, and ran down the trail that led to the lake.

Jason ran after him. I was missing something, but with all the commotion, I didn’t know what I thought I heard. Tristan killed

Diana to protect Ethan? From what? Learning the truth about what Parker did to him?

I heard a scuffle and grunts down the path. “Someone, call security! The police! Jason needs help.” I ran after them. I didn’t

know if anyone followed me, but I couldn’t leave Jason to fend for himself. What if he was hurt? What if Tristan had a weapon?

A gun?

My heart pounding in my chest, I ran as fast as I dared on the muddy trail, grateful that there were lights. The security

netting was up around the hole along with a wooden barrier. Jason disappeared from view up ahead, where the trail forked.

I heard him yell at Tristan to stop.

The tools were still next to the pit. I grabbed a hand spade, the only thing I could carry and might be able to use as a weapon

because it had a pointed tip, and I followed the men.

“I did it for you!”

Is that what Tristan said?

I reached the trail that edged the cliffs above the lake and slid to a stop on the slick path. Up the trail that Brie said

led to the helicopter pad, Jason and Tristan were in a wrestling match. Right on the edge of the zip line platform. Tristan

was trying to push Jason over into the lake. The roar of the waterfall terrified me.

Tristan kicked Jason in the stomach, and he teetered on the edge. Then he fell.

“Jason!” I screamed.

Tristan grabbed one of the dangling zip lines and sped down the wire holding on to the harness, but not taking the time to

buckle up. I ran to the platform, fearing Jason had fallen all the way to the lake. Could he survive that?

When I reached the platform, I saw Jason barely holding on to the edge of the wood. I lay down and put out my hand.

“You can’t pull me up,” he panted. “Pull down the trolley, please! The thing that looks like handlebars.”

I saw it, did what he said. I pulled it down, but the weight of Tristan going across had the heavy line bouncing up and down.

“Now!” Jason cried out.

I pulled as hard as I could, getting the trolley within a foot of where Jason grasped the edge of the platform, and he reached

up and grabbed the handle. Suddenly he was flying in the air down the zip line, completely out of control with no safety harness.

Paralyzed, not knowing whether I should run back for help, I watched as Jason sailed over the water. One hand slipped off,

and I screamed as Jason wobbled precariously. Halfway across the lake, he lost his grip and fell. I watched him hit the water.

Without thinking, I grabbed the last trolley, held on tight, and followed him, praying he had the strength to swim to the

shore and not be sucked down the waterfall. Had he made it far enough across? I didn’t know. I didn’t want to lose him now,

not like this.

I screamed as the trolley rolled down the wire, gaining speed, clutching the handles because my life depended on it. I squeezed

my eyes shut and prayed and screamed and begged as I flew through the air, going faster and faster and faster... how the

hell would I stop when I reached the other side? Was I going to crash into a tree?

Open your eyes! I told myself.