Page 261 of It Happened on the Lake

“A guy attacked me tonight. But like I said, I’m okay,” she repeated, either to assure Harper, who was now definitely not okay, or herself. “The police said his name is Larry Smith or Tristan Vargas or something. He’s got lots of names—”

Harper stood frozen to the spot.

“—Anyway, he’s in the hospital, and he’s supposed to be okay. Eventually. And the other guy—”

“Other guy?” Harper whispered out loud.

“—that Levi Hunt? He came down here to see me, I guess, and he’s hurt pretty bad. He was there. I don’t know why, but I think he saved my life.” Her voice had gone to a whisper, then she added, “Look, Mom, Iknowhe’s my uncle. Okay? You don’t have to lie about it. I figured that out already.”

Levi was there? Saved Dawn’s life? Once more, tears formed behind her eyes and she felt weak inside, had to lean against the counter.

“But he keeps saying he is my dad,” Dawn said. “Weird, huh? Like I said, he’s kinda messed up. So, call me on my pager and I’ll call you back. I’m at Valley General. The doctor wants to keep me overnight for observation or whatever. But I’m okay. Really, Mom, don’t freak out. Okay?”

As if she wouldn’t. Someone had attacked Dawn? Tonight?

“Oh God,” she whispered. Could this night get any worse?

Just then a floorboard creaked behind her.

She looked over her shoulder and found Marcia standing in the archway leading to the foyer. In her hand, pointed straight at Harper, was the missing pearl-handled pistol.

Chapter 68

Harper dropped the receiver and stared at her stepmother. “What are you do—?”

“Your turn to die, Harper,” Marcia said, taking aim. “It’s your time.”

“What?” She couldn’t believe it.

“First Anna,” Marcia explained, and Harper felt as if the earth had split.

Her mother? All those years ago? Marcia was talking about Anna’s death? Is that what she was talking about?

“Then Evan.”

“I don’t understand,” she said, but that was a lie. Marcia’s deep-seated hatred was evident, the horror and depth of her plan spanning years. “Evan? But that was so long ago.”

“Patience, Harper. Sometimes you have to play the long game.”

“You killed them?” Harper whispered, stunned, her eyes on the gun. She had to get it away from Marcia or somehow escape.

“Then, of course, Dawn.”

“No!” Not her daughter. No, no, no! Her eyes found Marcia’s. What kind of a monster was she? “She calls you grandma,” Harper charged, remembering all the times Marcia and Dad babysat her daughter, how Harper had entrusted her child to this murderous lunatic. “Don’t you ever go near her again.”

“Oh, I will. I have to, now. Unfortunately it seems the job was bungled. Yes, I heard her on the recording.” Marcia’s lips pursed as if she’d sucked on a lemon. “I guess she managed to get away. For now.” Then, as if she wasn’t holding a gun on Harper, as if all this horror and bloodshed wasn’t her fault, she asked, “What can I say? I made a mistake, but I’ve learned my lesson: Never send a boy to do a woman’s job.”

“What boy? What are you talking about? Are you nuts? What does Dawn have to do with anything?” Harper said. But she was beginning to understand Marcia’s twisted line of thinking and she felt sick inside. The “boy” was Trick. Marcia had hired him to kill her daughter.

“Then you. It should have been Dawn, then you, but I think this will work as well. If you die first, everything goes to Dawn and then if she happens to have a fatal accident before she’s stupid enough to have a child, then your father will still inherit.”

Anger boiled deep inside as everything fell together in Harper’s mind. “You want this island.”

“I waspromisedthis island,” she said with venom. “And everything that comes with it. This house, the gatehouse, the stocks and bonds. Everything.” Marcia actually smiled as she thought about the fortune she’d plotted to inherit.

“And you would kill for it.”

“Only if I had to,” Marcia argued. “And, you see, I have to. Your father’s got a bad heart. Won’t last long, so I had to up my game. Besides, after all these years, that patience I told you about, it’s growing thin.”