Page 70 of Whispers of the Lake

As I rounded the corner, I spotted Gina standing in front of the island counter. She wasn’t alone. Emily was in her arms, her legs wrapped around Gina’s waist and her head on her mother’s chest.

“She heard some of the noise,” Gina said, giving me a cold smile.

I forced a smile and grabbed the door handle, lugging it open. I searched the outdoor table for my gun, the last place I saw Gina put it, but it wasn’t there.

“Rose?” Victor called.

I looked over my shoulder at him, heart thudding, pulse swimming loudly in my ears.

“You’re probably looking for this.” He raised my weapon in the air, smiling again. Only this time, the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

When the smile vanished, he pointed the gun at my face.

CHAPTER FIFTY

“Eddie!” Gina screamed as she stepped back. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Get inside,” Victor demanded, still glaring at me as I threw my hands in the air.

Call me crazy, but he looked like a completely different person now. That cheeriness he carried was now concealed by a darkness I couldn’t comprehend. His hazel eyes were murky, his lips pinched tight, his nostrils flared.

He seemed like such a simple man before. Not overly toned. Not very tall. Your average build. But as he stood there in this moment, I could see that he had strength. With his spine stacked and his chest out, he looked sturdier.

Deadlier.

“Eddie!” Gina yelled again as she clung to her daughter.

“Take Emily back to her room, Gina.Now.”

“I don’t understand what’s going on!” she cried.

“There’s nothing to understand!” he barked over his shoulder. “Just fucking take her!”

I stepped away.

He noticed.

He grabbed my forearm and yanked me into the kitchen. I yelped as he wrangled me close.

“Eddie, please,” I pleaded.

“You shouldn’t be so fuckingnosy, Rose. But you can’t help it, can you?” he growled in my ear. “Fucking reporters. Can never stay out of people’s business. Go that way.” He released my arm to shove me away, then pointed at a door on the opposite side of the kitchen.

I shuffled forward, biting back tears.

“Open the door,” he ordered.

I twisted the doorknob, only to be greeted with darkness. He reached around me and tugged on a string connected to a bulb, revealing a long stretch of descending stairs to a basement.

“Go on.” He nudged the center of my back with the gun.

“Eddie, I don’t understand,” I breathed, taking the stairs down slowly. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because I’m not stupid,” he muttered. “I know you know.”

“Knowwhat?”

“About me and Eve.”