Carolina Isle (Edenton 2)

“Or two,” David said.

“Yes, if a few people are watching, they’ll follow us and see us dispose of what I hope will look like a body,” R.J. said. “Sara and I are to go one way, you and Jock here the other way.”

No one moved. They just stood there glaring at R.J.

“Okay. David,” R.J. said. “Ariel, you and David will go a second way.”

“We found some useful things,” Sara said to Ariel. “There’s a treasure trove of stuff under the eaves.” She nodded to the little doors in the bottom of the slanting attic walls.

“Ready?” R.J. asked.

“I think it would be better if I went with you instead of David,” Ariel said to R.J.

When Sara looked at David, his face turned red. So that’s what this whole thing is about, she thought in disgust. Another woman who wanted R.J. “I think that’s a great idea,” Sara said, stepping closer to David.

The men looked at each other in silent, mutual agreement, then they traded places so they were back to where they had been.

“Sara and I know each other,” R.J. said in a way that meant there’d be no more discussion of the matter.

“So do Ariel and I,” David said, sounding as though R.J. had been the one who’d asked Ariel to go with him.

R.J. turned to Ariel. “When we go out, play it suspicious, as though you’re doing something bad.”

“We are!” David said. “We should have—” Breaking off, he looked at them. “Called the police” was not an option.

Ten minutes later, they were ready. Over David’s shoulder was one of Sara’s dummies wrapped in a small rug. He was bending his knees to look as though whatever was inside the rug was very heavy.

Sara had dressed the other dummy in clothes she’d found in a box under the eaves. She’d put a broomstick inside the dummy to make it stay somewhat upright, and they’d put the Ariel wig askew on its head. She and R.J. were going to try to walk the dummy out, as though they were carrying a drunken person between them.

As they started down the stairs, Ariel silently pointed out the roses marked with blue to show the squeaky steps. It looked as though other people had stayed in the rooms with the barred windows, and they too had heard people sneaking upstairs.

At the front door, they paused and waited while R.J. went down the basement steps to deposit incriminating evidence on the body. He was back in a moment. He turned off the porch light, then cautiously opened the front door.

“It’s showtime!” R.J. said.

Chapter Eleven

“I CAN’T GO ON WITH THIS,” R.J. SAID quietly to Sara. “I want you and the kids to stay in the house and do whatever it is you need to to survive, but I have to …” He waved his hand to indicate that he had some ideas that he was going to keep to himself.

Sara was struggling with the limp dummy between them, trying to keep the floppy thing upright. If it weren’t so dark outside, and if R.J. weren’t leading them into an even darker forest, she’d never believe that anyone watching them would believe they were carrying a dead body. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said. “We need to—”

“Get this body thrown over the cliff on the east side of the island. Yeah, I know that, but …”

“So help me, if you start keeping secrets, I’ll drop this thing and start screaming.” She could feel R.J. laughing.

“I think I liked it better when you didn’t speak to me. Was I really such a terrible boss?”

“The worst. You rule and no one else is allowed to have any input.”

“But it’s my company.”

“Then run it all by yourself.”

“You do hate me, don’t you?”

“Could we talk about this later? Right now I’d like to keep us out of jail.”

“Which brings us back to the beginning,” R.J. said. “I think there’s more to this than meets the eye. I’m beginning to think all this has to do with my work.”