Dark Shadows (Gia Santella Crime Thrillers Book 11) by Kristi Belcamino (best motivational novels txt) 📗

Hannah’s nightstand. I lifted it to my nose and smelled it. It smelled like booze. Drugs? I wasn’t positive, but Hannah’s symptoms made it appear as if she’d been drugged.

Sabine helped Hannah downstairs while I went to throw on some sweatpants.

When I came downstairs everyone was in the great room except Conner and Lucas, of course.

The wide-open space contained three white leather couches flanked by marble tables. The group of friends sat slumped on the couches, their feet either curled up beneath them or propped up on the marble coffee table, which held the black onyx bust of a woman. Some sipped coffee. Some drank alcohol from crystal tumblers. Owen was drinking out of a black bottle—some type of booze.

I glanced at the bottle of alcohol on the coffee table. It was a bad idea to be drinking before the cops came, but what could I say? They’d just found their friend dead.

Immediately, my gaze found Hannah. She was seated between Sabine and Clint. Hannah was leaned back on the couch with her eyes closed, but she lifted her head when I walked in. Her head swiveled as she seemed to take everyone in around her. Then she looked at me and blinked.

“Where’s Lucas. Where’s Conner?”

They hadn’t told her yet. Fuck me.

Sabine kneeled in front of her.

“Lucas is dead, Hannah. I’m so sorry.”

“How? What?” She tried to stand but immediately fell back onto the couch when her legs buckled out from under her.

“We’re not sure,” I said.

“Where is he?”

“He was in the pool.”

“Oh my God! Oh my God!” she said and tried to stand again. “I need to go to him. I need to see him.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said. “Conner is with him.”

I waited for her to ask how he died, prepared to give a vague answer, but the question never came.

Hannah looked at Amanda, eyes narrowed. “Who found him?”

She knew. I’d wondered how she could not know. Of course, she knew. She knew they had something–whatever it was—secret between them. Her tone was angry and vicious and accusatory.

“Amanda did,” Sabine said and cast a worried look at Amanda.

“Of course she did.” Hannah bit out the words as if they were venom.

We all looked over at Amanda.

She stared straight ahead, tears streaming down her face.

Suddenly, she stood and ran out of the room.

Owen looked around wildly at all of us and then got up.

But I beat him to it and held my palm out toward him.

“I’ll check on her.”

He sat down quickly. I could tell he was relieved. I wanted to talk to her alone, before the police came.

I found her out by the pool. She was curled on the pavement by Lucas’s body, which was still covered with the blanket. Conner sat in a lounge chair nearby, smoking a cigarette, his hand shaking wildly.

I put my hand on Conner’s shoulder.

“Why don’t you go inside now?”

“I don’t want to leave him alone.”

“I’ll stay with him,” I said. I squeezed his shoulder. I didn’t know what else to do. We both watched Amanda.

“I’m so sorry,” she was saying.

I froze, but she looked up at me, her head jerking so her eyes met mine.

“Amanda?” I asked, as if I hadn’t just heard her apologizing to a dead body.

“I know,” she said. “I know…he’s not really here anymore.”

“What made you come out here this morning?” I asked.

She looked back down at him, her hair hanging in a curtain and hiding her face.

“It seems pretty early for you to be up after we were all up so late,” I said, pressing the issue.

“I’m a morning person.”

“So…you, what, just came out for a swim in your nightgown?”

I eyed the filmy white gown with the low-plunging neckline.

“Maybe,” she said snottily. “What are you getting at?”

“Just trying to figure it out. These are the same things the police are going to ask you in a few minutes.”

She looked up wide-eyed.

“Yeah,” I said.

Then she was gone.

I watched her back as she disappeared into the house. She didn’t like the idea of the police questioning her, did she? Why was that?

When I turned back around, Conner was still sitting there.

“Sadly, he’s not going anywhere, Conner. Then there’s no need for anyone to be out here anymore. We’ll make sure nobody comes out until the police arrive.”

He nodded and stood.

Inside, Amanda was sitting demurely on the couch, again staring off into space. In her defense, everyone else was as well. I suspected that along with the shock, they were probably all sleep deprived and slightly hung over.

“Was it an accident?” Hannah’s voice broke the silence.

I shrugged. I mean it was plausible that he’d hit his head and fallen in. But I didn’t think so. Call it gut instinct.

“Not, it wasn’t a fucking accident,” Amanda said loudly and glared at Hannah. “You know that.”

Hannah gasped. “I don’t know anything.”

“Bullshit.”

“What are you trying to say?” Hannah said, her mouth dropping open.

“Why don’t you tell the others about your little argument last night?”

“What the fuck?” Owen said.

Everyone started talking at once.

Then everyone froze and fell into an uncomfortable silence when the doorbell rang. I jumped up to punch in the alarm code and open the door.

It was Ryder.

He strode confidently through the room and toward the back of the house. Thank God.

As annoying as he was, it was nice to not have to be the only fucking adult in the room.

I stood quickly to follow him but first turned to the group. “Stay here. If the police knock, let them in and yell for me.”

Then I led Ryder toward the back door.

“Who are your friends?” he said as we entered the kitchen. “And who is?” He waved his hand toward the blanket. The dead body.

“Long story short—ran into these kids at a club, was feeling lonely... Their reservation had been fouled up. I invited them back here. We stayed up late drinking. I woke to one of them dead in my pool.”

He stared at me.

It sounded about as fucking strange as it was. I knew that.

I wasn’t going