“Todd and Lyndsey are going out?”
Payne chuckled. “I don’t know if they’re going out but he’s definitely going in, if you know what I mean.”
“Ew. You’re gross.”
“You’re gross. You’re the one who wants him in your pants.”
“I do not. I just wanted to go out with him.”
“Yeah, well. Don’t date the help.”
Gemma sighed.
“See? I saved your from yourself. And you say I don’t take care of you.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Gemma allowed herself a tiny smile. “Speaking of help, did I tell you I saw her that day?”
Payne kicked a stone and watched it roll down the paved path leading away from the barn. “Saw who?”
“Lyndsey. She was in the hall when I went to go to my room the night Mina came down freaking out looking for her phone.”
“Lyndsey was in the hall?”
Gemma nodded, excited to have gossip of her own to share.
“What was she doing there?” asked Payne.
“I don’t know. That’s just it. She was near the help stairs acting really squirrelly.”
Payne’s eyebrows slid up her forehead and Gemma enjoyed a rush of pleasure.
Who has the gossip now?
Payne looked at the house. “That’s where they found that rabbit.”
“I know.”
“Now everyone thinks Uncle Kimber was murdered.”
“Murdered?” asked Gemma so loudly she slapped her hand over her mouth and began to titter. Her laughter set off Payne and the two of them dissolved into giggles.
Gemma took a deep breath and whispered, “I thought he had a stroke or something. I thought he hit his head on the rabbit when he fell.”
“Then who moved it to the stairs?”
“I figured Mina cleaned it up and didn’t notice or something. Like she was embarrassed she’d left it out for him to trip on it.”
“I think the killer was on the stairs.”
Gemma shivered. “That’s right outside our rooms.”
“I know. They could have killed us.” Payne kicked another stone. “Did you tell Mina you saw Lyndsey?”
“No.”
“Do you think it’s weird? What was she doing?”
The sound of a window closing scraped above them and both Gemma and Payne’s gazes shot towards Lyndsey’s apartment above the stable.
“Was that Lyndsey?” hissed Gemma.
“I don’t know. Do you think she heard us talking?”
“I hope not.”
Payne walked around the corner of the barn and Gemma followed her to hide from Lyndsey should she be watching them from the window above. By the time she’d stopped her nervous giggling, Gemma noticed her sister staring out into space, as if her mind had run elsewhere.
“What are you thinking?”
“Do you think Lyndsey killed Uncle Kimber?”
Gemma snorted. “That’s crazy.”
“Is it? He was her father.”
“Exactly. Why would she kill her dad?”
“She got all the money.”
“Oh. Right. But she didn’t know he was her dad.”
“Maybe. Maybe she did and all that who me? stuff was an act.”
Gemma found herself speechless.
Payne tapped her on the arm. “I think we should go ask her.”
A rush of adrenalin shot through Gemma’s veins like it always did when her sister went off on one of her hare-brained schemes. They were exciting, but they also scared her to death.
“Ask her if she killed Uncle Kimber?”
Payne shook her head. “Ask her for half the money.”
“What?”
“If she killed Uncle Kimber and you caught her, she has to give us the money to keep us quiet.”
“I didn’t see her do it.”
“You might as well have. What was she doing near the stairs?”
“I don’t know. Just moving from one place to another. It’s not like she’s not allowed in the house.”
“I don’t know. It sounds pretty fishy to me.”
“Payne—”
Gemma cut short as Lyndsey walked around the corner and nearly ran into Payne. Payne saw her sister’s eyes pop wide and spun.
“What are you two doing?” asked Lyndsey, smiling playfully.
“Nothing,” said Gemma, taking a step back.
“Nothing,” echoed Payne. “What are you doing? I mean besides Todd.”
Gemma pressed her lips shut to keep from laughing out loud. Payne is crazy. Sometimes she wished she could be that brave.
Lyndsey rolled her eyes, but not before a flash of surprise rippled across her expression.
“Very funny. As if.”
“I’ve seen him coming out of your apartment,” said Payne.
“So? I make the daily schedule for him. Sometimes he comes up to get it if I haven’t hung it on the wall yet.”
“Riiight.” Payne crossed her arms against her chest like a lawyer in a movie about to cross-examine the bad guy. “And what about the other day in the hall?”
“What?”
“Gemma saw you in the hall outside our rooms.”
Lyndsey looked at Gemma. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Inspired by her sister, Gemma perked. “The day Uncle Kimber died. Mina was talking to Payne about how he fell and I went back to my room. You were in the hall.”
Lyndsey cackled. “No, I wasn’t.”
Gemma scowled. “That’s a lie. You know I saw you.”
Lyndsey shook her head. “You’ve got your days and times mixed up or something. I wasn’t there. I was driving away with the puppies.”
“Yeah, what was up with that?” asked Payne, straightening so tall Gemma took a step back to stay out of her way. “Why did you steal the puppies?”
Lyndsey looked flustered for the first time.
“I didn’t steal them.”
“I heard they found them all over some neighborhood.”
Lyndsey huffed. “What you two don’t know would fill a dump truck.” She spun on her boot heel to leave and Payne blurted her next words like a shotgun blast behind her.
“We want half the money.”
Lyndsey whirled back around. “What?”
“We want half your inheritance or we’ll tell everyone we saw you in the hall that night.”
