Page 40 of The Perfect Hosts

Brother dear, Juneau whispers in his ear like a pesky gnat,you know better than that.Nightjar won’t let you go until it’s good and ready to.

Chapter 18

Lucy

Lucy watches from the living room windows as the ambulance pulls away with Wes and Madeline inside. Lucy had offered to come with them to the hospital, but Madeline waved her off, saying they were fine without her. Upstairs is a bloody corpse and half a dozen law enforcement officers and crime-scene techs, and sitting on the bottom step is a young woman Lucy has never seen before.

“Who the hell are you?” Lucy asks, bluntly.

“Mellie. Who the hell are you?” the young woman shoots back.

“You doing okay?” a voice asks from behind her. Lucy turns around. Agent Saldano. His jacket and jeans are darkened with blood, and there’s a streak of red across one cheek.

“I’m fine,” Lucy and Mellie both say at the same time. Lucy crosses her arms across her chest.

“Just shaken up,” Lucy says. “I don’t understand what happened. Why did he do that?”

“Was it my fault?” the girl on the steps asks. “Did he find out I told you he was the one in the barn before the explosion? Was he after me?”

Agent Saldano shakes his head. “No one would have told him that.” To Lucy he says, “You didn’t know Dalton Monaghan, then?”

“No,” Lucy says, examining the broken glass littering the floor. “I’ve never met him or his wife. And I think Wes was as shocked as I was to find him in the baby’s room. He had nothing but nice things to say about the Monaghans. He feels terrible about Johanna’s death.” It’s true. On their horse ride, Wes had said he couldn’t believe what had happened, how badly he felt about Madeline losing her best friend. They had had a nice ride, a nice chat. “He was in the barn with Johanna? You think he did this, and he wasn’t in custody?”

The agent holds up his hands. “We’re investigating. But for now, you aren’t going to be able to stay here until the crime scene is released,” Agent Saldano says. “Do you and the Drakes have somewhere to go in the meantime?”

Lucy was sure that Madeline and Wes had plenty of options. They could stay at the most expensive hotel they wanted for as long as they needed to. Lucy, on the other hand, had fewer options. “Can I stay in one of the bunkhouses on the property?” she asks.

“That’s fine,” Saldano says. “It’s not part of the crime scene.”

Lucy tips her head, signaling to the agent that she wants to talk to him alone. Together they move to the hallway. She takes a step closer to the agent and lowers her voice. “Who is she?” she asks, waving a hand in the direction of Mellie.

“You don’t know?” Saldano asks.

“I’ve never seen her before,” Lucy says. “Why is she in my sister’s house?”

“No idea, but apparently, she’s the one who called 9-1-1,” Saldano says. “She works for the caterer from your sister’s party. She could very well have saved their lives.”

Lucy eyes the girl suspiciously. “Can I talk to her?”

“Not now,” Saldano says. “We need to get her statement first.”

Agent Saldano walks Lucy through the house to the back door. In the kitchen, Sheriff Colson is sitting at a table talkingto a deputy, explaining to her how she has to take his service weapon into evidence.

“I have to take care of the horses,” Lucy says. “When we got to the house and saw the broken glass, we tied them out front. Is it okay for me to go into the stables?”

“Yeah,” Jamie says. “But you won’t be able to go inside the house until the scene is cleared. Do you need anything from inside?”

Lucy thinks of the handgun in her backpack, but she can’t say anything to the agent about it since it doesn’t belong to her. “How long will the house be off-limits?” she asks.

Agent Saldano looks toward the house and the parade of crime-scene techs that have descended once again on the property. “It won’t take more than a day. You should be able to get full access by tomorrow at the latest.” This is a surprise to Lucy. She would have thought that a man’s death would have taken more time to document. The agent notices Lucy’s disbelief. “This is a pretty straightforward case. There are plenty of witnesses.”

Lucy nods. She saw the rage on Dalton Monaghan’s face and wonders if what he said was true. Was Wes really having an affair with her sister’s midwife?

Lucy crosses to the front to where Blackjack and Billy are tethered to a lacy dogwood tree. She takes a moment to speak to them in soothing, hushed tones before leading them back to the stables.

She checks her phone, hoping for an update from Madeline about how Wes is doing, but doesn’t find one. Lucy’s not surprised that Madeline is once again freezing her out, but in the end it’s much better this way. It will make what has to happen later much easier. Pip, the big white dog that always seems to be underfoot, follows behind her. She could be a problem.

The thought of having to ask Trent for a key to one of the bunkhouses pisses her off. And the girl. Why would Madelineinvite her to stay at the ranch? It makes no sense. She swears to God, if this girl gets in her way...