“Why do you think so?” Eric asked.

  “She’s whip smart,” Mac explained. “She recognizes her own craven ambitions and is able to spot the same feature in others. Of all of them, she’s the only one who’s studied her craft to the nth degree. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that she’s visited prisons and interviewed hardened criminals for research. And I’ve read her book. She’s a good writer and a very scary woman. But she’s not a killer.”

  “Are you sure?” Eric asked.

  “What do you think?” Mac countered.

  Eric leaned back in his chair. “I think you’re right.”

  “I think so, too,” I said. “And she’s a valuable witness. Her vanity is so strong that she’ll happily reveal the deepest darkest secrets about the others, just to prove that she’s the smartest kid in class.”

  Chloe elbowed me. “Sounds like you’re the smartest kid in class.”

  I had to laugh. “Hardly, but I did enjoy that spontaneous courtroom scene by the lighthouse this afternoon.”

  “Yeah, Mac.” Chloe set down her wineglass. “You were like Perry Mason there for a while.”

  “Huh,” Mac said. “I was trying to channel Better Call Saul.”

  Eric laughed. “Either way, you did a good job.”

  “Thanks. I recognized that Brian might spill his guts if I was the one questioning him.”

  “I saw that, too,” Eric said.

  Mac grinned. “That’s why you let me blather on and on.”

  “I wish we had thought to record it,” I said.

  “None of that is admissible,” Eric explained. He paused, then smiled and held up his phone. “But I taped it anyway.”

  Chloe applauded. “Thank God. That was really smart.”

  “It sure was,” I said.

  In his honor, we helped ourselves to more pasta and antipasti.

  “Your phone,” I mused.

  “What?” Mac asked, instantly alerted to my tone. “What’re you thinking?”

  I gazed at him. “I was just thinking about the way Lewis records everything on his phone.”

  “The phone that’s sitting at the bottom of the ocean?”

  “Are we sure it’s at the bottom of the ocean?” I wondered.

  “I saw the water splash where Brian threw it,” Mac said.

  I sighed. “Okay. Well, never mind trying to recover the phone. But I was thinking. Remember when Travis thought he’d lost his tablet, and he talked about retrieving his stories and documents from the cloud?”

  “Sure,” Mac said, sitting up straighter.

  “Do you think the information on Lewis’s phone could be on the cloud, too?”

  They all stared at me, then Mac grabbed me and kissed me. “You are a genius.”

  “So you think the recordings can be accessed?” I asked.

  He kissed me again. “Yes. Sheri told me he’s a fanatic about backing up his data. And I know he uses a voice recorder app that I’m familiar with. The data can definitely be retrieved.” Then he scratched his head. “Don’t know why I didn’t think of it.”

  “You’ve had a lot on your mind.”

  He sighed. “No kidding.”

  “We’ll have to get a warrant,” Eric mused, then smiled. “That won’t be a problem, though, since I’ve already applied for it.”

  I smiled. “You’re always two steps ahead.”

  * * *

  * * *

  Lewis had been transferred from the hospital emergency room to ICU and regained consciousness two days later. Eric questioned him at his hospital bedside, and later that night, he dropped by my house with Chloe and told us the story. “He denied everything that Brian claimed was true when we questioned him at the lighthouse.”

  “I’m not surprised,” I said. For once, we weren’t discussing all the sordid details while stuffing our faces with food. But we did have a good bottle of wine, and we were happy to share it with Eric and Chloe.

  “Me, either,” Eric said. “He maintained his innocence the whole time, but his story will collapse eventually. Although I must say, he’s a much more skillful liar than Brian.”

  Mac studied the wineglass, thinking. “It might be because Lewis actually believes his own lies. Brian is more tentative, but he’s sly. He’s shifty. He’ll change stories in midstream if he has to. I doubt he can even remember all the lies he’s told.”

  “Still,” I said, “I do believe they’re equally evil.”

  “I don’t often use the word evil,” Eric admitted. “But in the case of these two men, I think it applies.”

  “I’m still interested in hearing those recordings from Lewis’s phone.”

  “Yes, I think that’ll tell the real story,” Eric said.

  Chloe took a sip of the deep red wine. “So when Lewis denied everything, what did you say?”

  “I told him that even if he denied killing Linda, he was still going to prison.”

  “He must’ve balked at that,” Mac said.

  “Oh, strenuously,” Eric said. “He cried real tears, claimed he was a victim in all of this. But he committed fraud when he took money from his publisher for the book he stole. And he probably did it for the second book, too. And he coerced Brian into doing all sorts of unlawful acts. They’re both going to prison. How long they stay will depend on how good a lawyer they each get.”

  We all sipped our wine and considered the two men. I wondered how they’d become friends. They must’ve recognized something in each other that would complement their own personality traits.

  “Birds of a feather,” I murmured.

  Everyone nodded. They must’ve been thinking the same thing.

  “By the way,” Eric said, “I asked Sheri about Brian and his writing. She confirmed that he’s never shown the group any of his work. All they had to go on was Lewis’s insistence that Brian’s work is brilliant. He’s a genius, according to Lewis. Sheri just rolled her eyes at that.”

  “But they let him stay in the group anyway,” I said. “What’s up with that?”

  “Sheri did say that Brian was very good at critiquing everyone else’s work.” Eric read from his notepad. “ ‘Brian was especially helpful with murder scenes,’ she said. ‘He has a real keen eye for detail, and he knows the finer points of blood spatter and all sorts of ways to kill. He pushed all of them to get more graphic and more violent with their murder scenes.’ ”

  “Wasn’t she grossed out by that?”

  “Actually, no,” Eric said. “She admitted that it was really helpful. ‘That’s what sells,’ Sheri said.”

  “Wow,” Chloe said.

  Mac shook his head. “The sad thing is, she’s right.”

  * * *

  * * *

  Two days later, it all came out. Eric had recovered a whole series of recorded conversations between Lewis and Brian that were astounding. And so ugly. It made me sick.

  Faced with the naked truth of those recordings, Brian and Lewis confessed to everything. Even though Brian killed Linda and Simon Marcello himself, Lewis was charged as an accessory. Lewis was also charged with fraud for passing off Simon Marcello’s work as his own. Lewis confessed to stealing Travis’s work and doing the same thing.

  The police had also confiscated all of the computers and electronics that belonged to the writers. Eric confirmed that Lewis had copied everything from Travis’s tablet, and we all agreed that eventually, he would’ve claimed every one of Travis’s stories as his own.

  And if they were following their usual pattern, they would’ve eventually found it necessary to kill Travis.

  * * *

  * * *

  “They’ve already confessed to their crimes,” Eric explained the following night as we sat in his kitchen dining on Chloe’s lasagna. “But their lawyers might insist that they recant, so we’ll have to wait and see if there’s going to be a trial in Lighthouse Cove.”

  “Exactly what are their crimes?” I asked.

  Eric’s gaze was steady. “Look, it’s wrong of me to do this, but I’m trusting you guys.”

  I exchanged a quick glance with Mac. What was Eric going to do?

  “Here’s the thing,” Eric continued. “You were both responsible for getting us to this point, so I’m going to let you hear the recordings. If you want to.”

  “Absolutely.” I looked at Mac. “I know you want to hear them.”

  “Oh yeah, I do. I want to know what was in their gutless little brains that drove them to do what they did.”

  I nodded at Eric. “I want to hear what they say, even if it makes my stomach turn.”

  “It just might,” Eric said tightly. He pressed the Play button, and we all sat and listened to everything.

  The lasagna was delicious, but, sad to say, I lost my appetite within a few minutes of listening to Brian and Lewis.

  * * *

  * * *

  “You can do it,” Lewis coaxed. “You’re good at that stuff.”

  The phone recordings revealed that it was at Lewis’s urging that Brian had stolen Travis’s tablet. Lewis was determined to undermine Travis to get him away from Linda. The kicker came when he saw the two of them together at the pub that night. He didn’t like that at all.

  But a secondary reason to grab the tablet was to read Travis’s stories. Maybe there was something on there that he could use. Turned out, there was plenty. Lewis went ahead and sent his agent the best story. Then he told Brian how he planned to use the other stories eventually, too. Brian told him he was being selfish, and Lewis laughed hysterically.

  He and Brian’s arguments over Linda were the most revealing in terms of their bizarre dynamic. Lewis’s point was that yes, they would only be in Lighthouse Cove for two weeks, but for those two weeks, Linda would belong to Lewis. It was clear that the man’s main goal in life was to be seen as a winner.

  Brian antagonized him constantly. “You’re not a winner,” he said on more than one occasion. “You’re a cheater.”

  “I won Linda,” he bragged.

  “You cheated.”

  “Nobody cares,” Lewis said. “All they know is that when we walk into a room, she’s on my arm.”

  “You’re pathetic,” Brian said.

  “I’m pathetic?” Lewis cackled. “You wanted her, but I won her. Who’s pathetic now?”

  As I listened, I realized it was all a game to the two of them. They would only be in Lighthouse Cove for two weeks, but they would do their best to screw with everyone they came into contact with. Their relationship was so bizarre. It seemed as if they always wanted the same thing: the same girl, the same dream of being a writer. But then it was as if Brian wanted that dream for Lewis, not for himself. However, when Lewis got what he wanted, it didn’t make Brian happy, because even though he was the one who had helped Lewis achieve his dream, he would just as quickly and eagerly snatch it away.

  It couldn’t be said enough: their relationship was creepy and sick and twisted.

  After Linda’s body was found, Lewis recorded this short passage: “So you killed her.”

  “Who says I did?” Brian said.

  “Why would you do that?” Lewis cried, simply accepting the fact that Brian had murdered Linda. “You knew I liked her.”

  “I liked her, too,” Brian said easily. “But you had to go and tell her that you didn’t have anything written, and that you didn’t have any ideas. You only did it so she’d feel sorry for you. But seriously, don’t you think she would’ve put two and two together when your new book was announced? Of course she would! She would’ve started asking questions, and everyone would’ve figured out that you stole Travis’s story. I had to get rid of her, because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut.”

  “You did it to hurt me,” Lewis cried.

  “That was just a bonus,” Brian said.

  “Bastard,” Lewis said.

  “Loser,” Brian replied.

  Their name-calling sounded almost rehearsed, as if they had been through it all before.

  Suddenly Brian gave a quick, sly laugh. “Hey, remember Felicia Harding?”

  Lewis snorted. “Dude, that was in high school.”

  “Do you remember her?”

  “Of course. She was a really good kisser.” There was a pause, then Lewis said, “I wonder what happened to her. I remember she disappeared after meeting me at the library one night.”

  “That’s right.” Brian laughed again.

  There was a long pause. Finally Lewis whispered, “Wait. Are you kidding me? You did it?”

  “I did what I had to do.”

  “Damn,” Lewis muttered. “Why didn’t you tell me? I’m your best friend.”

  “I’m telling you now.” Brian giggled. “Because we’re best friends.”

  “Man, you are fierce!” Lewis said, sounding impressed. “But . . . we were only fifteen years old.”

  “Got to start sometime,” Brian said, his voice alarmingly calm. “And practice makes perfect.”

  Lewis laughed. “You are one sick puppy.”

  * * *

  * * *

  “Those are two sick puppies,” Chloe said.

  “Some of the sickest I’ve ever known,” Mac admitted.

  “I looked up the Felicia Harding case,” Eric said. “She disappeared when she was fifteen. No trace of her since.”

  Something occurred to me. “Do you think there were other victims?”

  “Someone starts killing when he’s fifteen years old?” Eric pondered the question. “Chances are, he’ll keep doing it until he’s caught.”

  “Seriously sick.” I had to take a breath. “As much as I hate to agree with Sheri, Brian really is a psychopath.”

  “Lewis isn’t much better,” Chloe said. “What do you call someone like that? A narcissist?”

  “A ‘narcissistic opportunist’ is what Sheri called him,” Mac said. “I’d add ‘with sociopathic tendencies.’ ” He shook his head in disgust. “Makes me want to discontinue the writers’ retreat.”

  “They were an anomaly,” I argued. “Please don’t worry. There’ll never be another writers’ group like theirs.”

  “We can only hope that’s true.”

  I poured everyone a bit more wine. “I don’t want to give one more minute of energy to those two, and the same goes for the rest of them. They were barely in town for ten days and caused nothing but chaos. It still disturbs me to think about it.”

  “It disturbs you because you can’t look away,” Eric said. “Those two are like that bloody car crash on the highway. Not only can you not look away, but then you continue to think about it for the next hundred miles.”

  Mac stared at him. “That’s good. That’s really good.” He pulled out the small leather-bound notepad that he carried everywhere. “I’m writing that down.”

  It was just the right thing to say. We all laughed and sipped our wine and then went around the table talking about happier subjects. Like the fact that Parks was home from the hospital, and my dad and Belinda were going to visit Homefront next week. My vegetable garden was thriving, and Mac was more than halfway through his latest book. His darling niece Callie was coming to stay with us for the summer. Chloe’s show was up for a Daytime Emmy. Eric won the office football pool. And life went on.

  * * *

  * * *

  The next day, I went back to work at Homefront. Chloe and I were able to start applying mud to the drywall. It would take a day to dry before we could start sanding, so I went up to our latest group of houses and took out some aggression with my pneumatic staple gun.

  I happened to look up and was pleased to see Parks walking toward the house. His head was wrapped in a bandage, but he looked great. I climbed down the ladder and greeted him with a light hug.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked.

  “Much better, thank you.” His voice was softer and he seemed fragile. “I understand you found the person who killed our Linda.”

  “Yeah. We found him.”

  “Must’ve been the same crudball who conked me on the head.”

  I nodded. “So you saw who hit you.”

  “Sure did. It was that skinny writer with the dead eyes.”

  Brian, I thought. That description was way too close for comfort, and I felt chills creep up my spine. “Do you mind telling me what happened?”

  “Don’t mind at all. I saw him go into Travis’s house, and when he came out, I confronted him.” Parks folded his arms tightly across his chest. “He didn’t like that, but he didn’t do anything about it right then. Just called me an old snoop and walked away.”

  “What happened next?”

  “About ten minutes later, someone knocked on my door. I opened it and there he was. I wasn’t going to invite him in, so I walked out onto the stoop. He tried to look all contrite and apologize. Said he was always taught to respect veterans. I thought it was a load of bull and said so, then turned to go back inside. That’s when he whacked me hard on the head, and I went down.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “Yeah.” He touched his head gingerly. “Me, too.”

  “You’ll be happy to know that he’s in jail.”

  “Good. Glad to hear it. We don’t need troublemakers like that around here.”

  I had to smile, but it wasn’t because of a happy memory. No, his words reminded me of what Whitney had warned me about the other day. Troublemakers were showing up here, she’d claimed. She had been completely right about that. But also completely wrong, as usual.

  Yes, troublemakers had shown up here, but they hadn’t been a part of Homefront’s community. They weren’t veterans. Those troublemakers had come from the outside and had caused real pain and sadness for our town.