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

“I’m afraid you shall be disappointed in the prison,” he said. “It has been turned into a youth hostel.”

“Boring.”

“Exactly.”

Beyond the small settled area was a thick forest.

“Is the prison that way?”

Ahmed shook his head. “That is uninhabited.”

“Let’s go,” I said.

“Why don’t we go by the fort,” he said. “There is a museum there now and a cemetery next door. You should at least see it while you are here.”

“Fine,” I said.

As we walked, we past a walled-off area.

“What’s that?”

“Aha. That is La Grand Jardin.”

“Can we go inside?”

“It was purchased recently and is now private. I have been inside though. It is quite impressive.”

In moments, we were at the cemetery. I could see the fortress prison beyond the gravestones.

“Wounded French soldiers who were brought here to get well but died are buried in this cemetery,” Ahmed said. “We have to wait in line. They limit visitors to keep the area nice.”

I looked over and saw about ten people in line outside the big cemetery gates.

“I’m super interested in that, but let me run to the restroom first,” I said.

“I will escort you,” he said.

“Nah, I’m good, just save our spot in line.”

The building housing the bathrooms was some ways away. When I got there, it seemed deserted but I heard a sound that sent my heart racing.

“Stop!”

It was a woman’s voice. It was coming from behind the building.

“I don’t want to do that,” she said.

“That’s not what you told me earlier.”

It was Owen’s voice.

“I’m going to scream,” the woman said, her voice growing shrill.

I didn’t wait to hear Owen’s answer. I was around the corner and yanking him off the young woman, whom he had pressed up against the building. He whirled and came at me swinging. I aimed a well-placed kick on his neck and he went flying, landing with a thud on the ground.

When we turned, the woman was gone.

“You are a fucking piece of shit,” I said.

“Hey, Amanda can cheat on me, so I can cheat on her.”

“That’s not cheating, fuckhead. That’s assault.”

“As soon as she told me to stop I did.”

“Didn’t sound that way to me,” I said and glared at him, my arms crossed over my chest.

“I swear.”

“I don’t believe you,” I said. “I don’t know if you had anything to do with killing Lucas, but I promise you if you lift a finger against anyone around me, I will kill you.”

“What the fuck?” he said.

Right then a group of guys came around the corner.

Owen was still on the ground, his legs out in front of him, his lip bleeding.

“Oh, sorry,” one of the young men said.

“It’s all good,” I said. “I’m all done here.”

I took the time to walk back to the cemetery to calm down. I’d have to figure out how to deal with Owen. For now, he knew better than to lift a finger against anyone when I was around.

We were reading some of the headstones when my cell rang.

It was Hannah. She was hysterical. It was difficult to make out what she said, but the gist of it was that someone had tried to kill her. She’d become separated from the group and got lost on a path leading through the thick woods. After she heard some noises, she realized someone was following her. When she turned around, the person stood there in the dark and wouldn’t respond to her questions. She ran for her life, and the person chased her. Luckily, she told me, she came across a group on the path ahead. When they all turned around to confront her pursuer, they had fled.

“Did you recognize the person?”

“No,” she said. “I couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman.”

“Where are you now?”

“I walked with this group back to the prison.”

I looked around. Then I saw her. She was sitting on a small wall with her legs casually crossed, swinging her feet. She didn’t look traumatized. Good.

“We’re here.”

I hung up and turned to Ahmed. “Hate to be a spoil sport, but I think we need to leave the island.”

After everyone was rounded up to get back on the yacht, people crowded around Hannah to ask her what happened.

Nobody asked about Owen and where he was.

I stood nearby, trying to act casual, but watched everyone’s faces and postures closely. Especially Owen’s. He stood in the back by the bar, pouring and downing shot after shot.

Sabine sat with her arm around Hannah, rubbing her back.

“I don’t know what happened,” she said. “One minute you were with us, and the next, when I turned around, you were gone.”

Hannah blinked. “Yeah. I stopped to read this placard, and think I ended up taking the wrong path.”

Amanda sat on the couch across from Hannah with a strange look on her face.

Things were obviously still very frosty between the two friends.

Owen came over and handed Amanda a tumbler of golden liquid, which she downed. And then she leaned forward with her elbows on her thighs, staring at Hannah.

“What?” Hannah said. “Just fucking say it.”

“Seems strange that you were the only one attacked tonight.”

I swiveled my head toward Owen. His face had grown sheet white.

“What do you mean?”

“Just seems a little coincidental that you got lost and you got attacked.”

Sabine glanced at both women’s faces, clearly worried.

She cleared her throat and said, “Well, I guess Amanda got lost too.”

“You did?” Hannah said, and her eyes narrowed.

Amanda shrugged. “Only for a few minutes.”

“Oh, how fucking convenient,” Hannah said. “You disappeared at the exact same time that I was attacked?”

I waited, but nobody mentioned Owen leaving the group. What the hell?

At this point, Amanda had leaped out of her seat and was clawing at Hannah before anyone could react. She screamed, “How dare you? How dare you accuse me? You act like Miss Fucking Innocent, but we both know differently, don’t we?”

Hannah was fighting back. “You shut the fuck up if you know what’s good for you.”

Some idiots also onboard were yelling, “Cat fight.”

Sabine and Conner rushed in and broke up the fight, each taking one woman