Permanent Vacancy. Katy Lee

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СКАЧАТЬ seeing these boards and the public notice on your front door, I’d say not all of them love you. You’ve lived here long enough to make a few enemies, and one enemy is really all it takes to cut a few floorboards.”

      “How do you know they were cut? Unless...” A breath-halting realization struck her. “You cut them. That’s why you know they were tampered with. You probably did this for your show. To up those ratings you were talking about, am I right?”

       Please, let me be right.

      “Now, wait just a second. You are way off. I would never—”

      “You came inside before I returned home and set the scene up. I played right into your plan. Contrary to what people think around here, I do have a brain. I know when someone’s playing me.”

      “Playing you? Why? Who played you before? Your islanders? The ones you say love you so much? I thought you just said none of them would ever hurt you. Perhaps you want to modify your words. Someone has messed with you. Am I right?”

      Gretchen opened her mouth to deny it but in all honesty couldn’t. But that didn’t mean she would admit it. Never could she admit it to anyone.

      Not when she’d let it happen.

      But it didn’t matter: Colm McCrae already knew. Maybe not all the details, but he knew. Shame doused her attempt to make sense of the situation. The fact was, when she fell through the floor, she had a good idea who had done this. But instead of admitting to knowing what her ex was capable of and his possible involvement in this incident, she was quick to find blame elsewhere. Anywhere. Even the crew that was here to help her get out from under Deputy Billy Baker’s hold.

      But why? Why couldn’t Gretchen just say there was someone who’d want to hurt her and had?

       Oh please, you know exactly why.

      Deep down she wanted to believe she would never date a man capable of such a thing. Billy may have been controlling. He may have misused the word love. He may have gone above and beyond his duty to protect her by smothering her instead. But none of these things meant he would kill her.

      But he had hit her.

      Gretchen reached again for her right cheek. How could one slap have such a lasting and debilitating effect?

      “You’re right.” She dropped her hand to her side. “There is someone who hurt me once. I can’t say they did this, but I can say that’s why you’re here now—so I never have to depend on anyone again. I contacted Rescue to Restoration for more than a rehab. It’s not only the house that’s getting a rescue, it’s me, too. And when you finish, and I open the front door to my first guests, it will be the beginning of a fully restored me. It will be the beginning of my new life.”

      Gretchen released a deep breath, wishing honesty came this easily with her family and friends. Maybe someday when she was stronger, after she’d proven she could succeed with not only the business, but also with the plans she made for her life, she would tell them, too. “Mr. McCrae, as you can see, we have a lot of work to do if we’re going to reach our goal in only three weeks. Obviously, the person who did this wanted to halt the project at the get-go. So, what do you say? Can we show them they didn’t win and get started?”

      Colm’s smile widened to deepen his famous dimples. Gretchen let a smile grow in return. Then again, she wasn’t sure if she had any control over her lips at all. The man was gorgeous.

      “I’m your man, Goldie, love.” He lifted a hand and made a slicing action across his neck. “Cut. That was perfect, Gretchen. The viewers are going to love you.”

      “Cut?” she replied, stunned and confused at the same time. She felt her smile droop. The room darkened as Nate removed the camera from his shoulder and took the light with him toward the stairs. “Wait! This whole thing was filmed?” Her confession blared in her mind. The admission she had withheld from her family and friends would now be viewed by the whole country, the whole world, perhaps. But most definitely the island.

      “Oh, no! You can’t air what I said. Please!” She rushed out to follow Colm and Nate. They gave no response. “Please, listen to me. People around here won’t understand.”

      “Terms, Miss Bauer,” Nate reminded her. At the time she’d had no idea the show would be insensitive to her wishes. She should send them away. Risk a lawsuit if need be. Obviously, Billy had been right and she couldn’t make a good decision to save her life. Calling the show could be the worst decision she’d ever made.

      No. Dating him was.

      And Billy would want her to second-guess any decision she made so that she would ultimately fail at this endeavor. Then she would fall right back into her old life, which included all of the ways he pulled her strings.

      At the top of the stairs Nate looked back at Colm. “I’m heading to the bluffs for some stills for fillers while the light’s good. Be back in an hour or so.”

      “Sounds good. I’m going to look around here for a while.” All traces of the Irishman’s accent were gone again as the two men carried on with business—as though her future mattered not at all.

      “Mr. McCrae!” Gretchen yelled from the bottom of the stairs. He stopped on the top tread and looked over his shoulder. Even in the shadows she could see his perfectly sculpted eyebrows raised in question over the sleepy-eyed stare the camera and his fans loved so much. But Gretchen saw the real, ugly side of Colm McCrae, and as of this moment, he had lost a fan.

      “You should know I’m nobody’s puppet,” she stated loud and clear. “Don’t try that again. And I want this whole scene erased.”

      “Or what? You think you can rehab this place alone?”

      She huffed at this egomaniac—even though her own mother had asked the same unsupportive question numerous times. “Not alone, Mr. McCrae. On my own,” she shot back with all the vigor pent up from everyone’s betrayal. “I will restore this place on my own. There’s a difference.”

      He stood silently, chewing on the inside of his cheek. He gave a quick nod and started to walk away. Before he disappeared around the corner, he stopped. “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll see what I can do.”

      Gretchen stared up at the empty doorway. See what he can do? Wasn’t he the host of the show? Didn’t he have clout? It didn’t make sense, unless...

      Gretchen inhaled sharply.

      It would seem she wasn’t the only one who had a puppet master. Colm McCrae had to perform for one, too?

      * * *

      The metal tape measure zipped back into its case after Colm took a few quick measurements of the gaping hole in the foyer floor. He tossed it back into his bucket of tools, figuring he could repair the damage today before his crew and trailers arrived. He also figured Troy would be happy not to have it cut into the strict rehab schedule.

      A schedule that didn’t include stopping someone with murderous intent, but now just might.

      Colm felt the edge of the rough-cut hole. His fingers came away with chewed sawdust. Whoever cut this had used the wrong size blade. Not that it mattered; Gretchen still fell through. It did the trick.

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