Page 144 of The Body in the Backyard

“Because you are the smartest, most reasonable, most responsible adult in this entire house. And I need you to make sure that Griffin and Bella and all the other pains in my ass stay on lockdown until I tell you it’s safe.”

She’d been wanting more responsibility, but she definitely hadn’t anticipated it involving more quality time with Marie Santiago.

“You’d tell me if you were just avoiding everyone inside this house by pretending to track down a killer, right?” she asked.

“One hundred percent. And for the sake of honesty, that’s exactly what I would be doing if I didn’t actually have a plan.”

“It would be nice if you’d let me in on this plan of yours.”

“It’s more like a hunch than a plan. But if it pays off, you’re going to be so impressed with me, you’ll institute Naked Tuesdays.”

The man was confident. She’d give him that.

“I need you to say, ‘Yes, Nick,’” he insisted.

“Fine. Yes, Nick. I won’t let anyone leave, and I’ll try not to let them maim or kill each other,” she said.

“That’s my girl.” He grabbed her by the front of her shirt and yanked her in for a hard kiss before pulling back. “I promise you by tonight, everything will be good.”

“Tonight? That’s more than twelve hours from now!”

But Nick was already pushing Brian through the yard and around the side of the house. “Naked Tuesdays, Thorn!”

“Tell my wife I was kidnapped by my cousin,” Brian called over his shoulder.

33

4:41 p.m. Monday, November 4

Riley passed Josie in the hallway of the Santiago home. She was holding a long sharp knife and a mixing bowl of chicken salad in one hand. Riley was armed with a stun gun and pepper spray. They exchanged curt nods and no words.

They’d been on high alert since Nick and Brian had left early that morning. High alert and high annoyance.

“I hate this house. I hate this chicken salad. I hate these shoes. This isn’t even my favorite knife.”

Riley sighed at Josie’s internal hate list.

Part of being on high alert meant she’d lowered her shields to make sure she caught even the slightest whiff of incoming danger. Unfortunately, this also meant she had a front row seat to everyone’s inner monologues. If she had to hear Lily compare Griffin’s and Gabe’s butts one more time, she was going to lock the woman in Marie’s linen closet.

“Driveway is clear,” Mrs. Penny said, peering through the blinds with Miguel’s bird-watching binoculars from her perch on the writing desk under the living room window. All the items that had previously called the desk home were in a broken tangle on the floor.

Thankfully, Miguel and Marie had both gone off to work that morning to maintain the illusion of normalcy in case anyone happened to be watching their house. It was unlikely given the fact that they lived in a gated community with its own overzealous security team. But Riley wasn’t about to point that out if it meant that Nick’s mom would stay to continue her merciless siege on Riley’s already fragile self-esteem.

Griffin and Bella had called into work sick and spent the morning critiquing their Channel 50 substitutes on the news.

A deep baritone “Ohmmmmmmmmmmmm” blasted her, and her gaze automatically found Gabe.

He and Griffin were sitting on the couch in the living room. Griffin was verbally issuing a timeline of all the awards he’d won in his lifetime. Gabe, to his spiritual guide credit, was staring blankly and apparently chanting loudly enough internally so as not to listen.

Bella was sitting on the floor having a conversation with her dog and Burt while she painted their nails. Burt gave Riley the side-eye when she passed the doorway. She gave her dog a sympathetic shrug before moving on.

“Another golf cart!” Mr. Willicott barked from the dining room window that overlooked the backyard.

“It’s the same golf cart. It’s neighborhood security,” Josie explained grumpily for the third time.

On cue, Riley’s phone signaled a text.

Neighborhood Security: Perimeter is clear. See you in 15.