I tsked him. Oh, ye of little faith. Of course, it wasn't me. There's no way I'd put up with anyone speaking to me that way. I'd be running them over with golf carts.

"It's not me," I whispered back at him.

He inched closer. "This person doesn't exist. Hiring for this position has been impossible. Island people have a reputation."

"And I understand why," Cary yelled, obviously Broadrick's whispers weren't as quiet as he thought. "That's why you haven't found a second person yet. Isn't it?"

No one said anything.

"I knew it!" She threw her hands in the air again. The wild move tossed a pen in the air. "My gut told me there had to be something wrong with this job at this high of an hourly rate, but I wanted the money. Grandma always told me, 'Nothing good comes from greed, Cary.' Why didn't I listen?"

"How much are they paying you?" I asked. Maybe I really did need the job.

Broadrick shook his head at Cary, and she shut her mouth. The lack of girl loyalty was disappointing.

"Again, it's not me. My word, you boys annoy me too much. I'd never work here." Unless it was a like a lot of money. Like at least five hundred thousand. It probably wasn't that much. Was it? "Anyway, it's not me. Remember Braisly? She'd be perfect."

Dalton's face drained of color. I knew it! Something definitely happened between those two back in Pelican Bay.

"She's like basically head of customer service at her current company, keeps everyone in line, and stops her boss from having meltdowns at least weekly. Braisly is the perfect cool cucumber you need. You'd love her, Cary."

"Really?" she asked, her eyes full of hope.

I nodded. "She's totally kick ass, and she'd keep the people in line. I know it."

Cary tipped her head back and forth, rubbing the last few tears from her eyes. "It'd be nice to have someone else here to help when things got bad."

The desk phone rang.

Cary's face turned the same shade as Dalton's earlier. "No. I can't."

Broadrick jumped around the desk. "I'll handle it," he said, the phone already cradled against his shoulder.

"It's just that I feel so stupid," Cary said as Broadrick moved the brown box full of supplies from her chair and sat down in the now empty space. "I'm normally a kick ass person, too."

I patted her on the arm. "People on this island are used to a certain way of life and have weird expectations. You should hear them at the post office."

She gave me a half-felt laugh, but it wasn't a joke. "Next, they'll want us delivering their packages or something."

"Probably. Do you want to get a cupcake and spend the next few hours complaining about rich people? Because I'd be totally down for that." It actually sounded like a good time.

She visibly recoiled. "Heck no. Have you seen how mean she is?"

"Yes." I laughed. "You should take the day off. Leave the guys to answer the phones and relax for a while. Take an everything shower."

She nodded. "Yeah, I like that idea. I can read my book."

"Exactly." I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, and we headed toward the exit.

"You're right. That's what I'm going to do. And I'm going to condition my hair." She turned back with a slight smile. "I haven't had time with the move."

Broadrick stared at me as I said, "That's the spirit. I'll have Dalton bring you a cupcake. That way you don't have to see Peggy, but you have reading snacks."

I pushed open the door for her, waited till she walked out, and then turned back to the boys. Dalton met my gaze with a blank one. I stared. He raised an eyebrow as I tilted my head.

"If you want to keep that woman employed here so you and muscles over there don't have to answer the phones, you will march your toned little ass over to the bakery and buy her a box of sugar. Got it?"

"Fine," he said, but his eyes weren't in agreement. Another second passed before he ultimately realized I was right, and his shoulders fell in acceptance. He handed me NB, the end of his leash dragging on the carpet.

"Good luck," I said and shooed him out the door.

With both those people out of the way, I only had to keep the other busy long enough to start phase two of my grand scheme. I hadn't walked into the building with this master idea, but it came to me slowly as I calmed Cary off the ledge of unemployment.

Broadrick had his head in his hands, the phone still cradled against his ear as he leaned half his body over Cary's desk. I handed him NB's leash as I walked past him. His head shot up, and I made the universal sign for a potty break.

He pointed down the hallway to the bathroom, but I remembered from my original tour. I gave him a thumbs up and walked slowly in that direction. At least until I hit the point that he no longer had a view of my backside. Then my steps picked up, and I jogged down the hall, hitting up the janitor's closet. I scanned the full metal shelves on the side, selected four bottles of various cleaners, and a small white caddy. The window I'd admired during our tour was latched but not locked. I flipped it open and tossed my collection of cleaning supplies through it.

I quickly ducked out of the closet and into the bathroom, flushed the toilet, and threw my hair into a messy top bun as the water ran for my pretend hand-washing.

Broadrick still had his top half hunched over the desk on the phone when I returned to the lobby. Perfect. I hand signaled him I needed a drink and motioned toward the door. He held out NB's leash, but I pretended not to notice as I slipped out of the building. NB couldn't come with me on today's adventure.

With a single glance behind me-not to look too guilty-I ran around the side of the building and scooped up the cleaning supplies, placing them in the white caddy before walking away from the security offices with purpose. I needed to get to Barbie before anyone figured out my plan.

The walk didn't take long, and I opened the main door to what would soon be my building without checking behind me. I had every reason to be there.

"Got some cleaning to do?" a deep male voice asked.

My surprised jerk sent the cleaning supplies rattling. I whipped my head up and came face to face with Tony. "How in the hell?"

He grinned, and I checked behind me. How did he figure out where I was going? When did he see me?

"Does Ridge have cameras here already?" I asked him as he kept grinning. Damn, the man moved fast.

Tony shrugged.

"This is outrageous." We stood off from one another before I gave up. It's not like I could get past him. If Tony wanted, he could just pick me up and carry me out of the building. "Well, aren't you going to stop me?"

He rubbed his hand on his blue jeans. "I planned on it, but now seeing the bottle of bleach you're carrying in that basket, I'm curious about what you've got planned."

"Now you might never know." I turned toward the exit, but he called my name. I turned again.

"You aren't going to dispose of another dead body. Are you?"

I swung the caddy of supplies out in front of me. What did he mean "another body"? "Only yours if you keep annoying me."

He stepped away, putting his back to the wall, and waved a hand to let me through.

It seemed fishy, but I had no other options. so I walked past him with my head held high. I kept the pose as I passed our condo and knocked on Barbie's door a little further down.

Barbie answered as I flashed Tony my most annoyed expression. It did not seem to bother him. "Vonnie, there are no stories on Saturdays, dear. We didn't miss any this week."

I held up my caddy of supplies. "I've been worrying nonstop about that main bathroom. Broadrick wants to move in right away and I won't have time to clean before he's tossing my stuff on those dirty counters."

I didn't know if the counters were dirty or not. The rest of the condo had been immaculate when we toured it, but I needed a reason, and that gave me one. If anyone asked, I'd just developed a deep fear of germs.

"Hadria, kept a spotless place. She had a woman in to clean every week. You'll be fine. Do you and your friend want to come in for a mineral water?"

I glanced back at Tony and made a gagging face. That water wasn't suitable for field mice. "Are you sure? I'd feel so much better if I wiped a cloth around it once or twice."

"Okay, okay. I understand. There's always excitement for young people when they get a new place. Two years ago, Jeanette married her high school boyfriend, and they dragged out their house buying for six months." She leaned around the door, grabbed something, and slipped out of her apartment.

"Who's Jeanette?" Tony asked me in a loud whisper. What was with these men and their lack of volume control?

Barbie laughed. Her long house dress brushed against the carpeted hallway as she unlocked my new condo. "You'll have to have Vonnie introduce you."

"Is she hot?" Tony asked as we walked into the condo.

I shook my head. "She fell down a well as a child."

"What?" Tony gave the opening area a long gaze and a slow whistle. "Impressive, princess."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm really concerned about this bathroom. You should give Tony the full tour, Barbie. He loves hearing about architecture." I winked at him before leaving them in the living room and speed walking for the bedroom and ensuite with dirty bathroom counters.

Tony came toward the bedroom. "Oh, yeah. Um... I guess. I'd probably be more help in the bathroom, though."

I peeked back right in time to see Barbie wrap her arm through Tony's and turn him in a circle toward the kitchen. "They upgraded the appliances less than two years ago. Hadria thinks a stove breaks after so many uses. Not that she did any cooking here."

"Looks like you've got it out there. No worries," I called before closing the bedroom door on their chatter. I stepped into the bathroom, uncapped the bleach, drained a healthy amount into the bathtub, and left the bottle on the counter's edge. The smell seeped out of the room almost immediately-a perfect alibi.

Someone had closed the walk-in closet door, and I turned the handle slowly, only peeking in at first. I closed my eyes, not wanting to find another dead body or images of Melissa in the open space.

"What are you doing?" a man's voice said directly behind me.

I screamed.