“Yes. She was in a hurry, like she said, so we didn’t talk much. We were just coming back to get the kids and have them continue our tour,” Damien said.
“Oh, wonderful, then I leave you in good hands, Max and Maddy. A pleasure to meet you both, I hope we can see each other again before you depart.”
“Nice meeting you,” Damien said, then turned to the children, “ready?” Alexander disappeared back into the house.
“Yeah!” Max said. “Did Aunt Celine tell you where to check next?”
“Well, in a way,” Damien answered. “She told us to find Uncle Gray and talk to him about it.”
“Oh,” Max said, looking dejected.
“What?” Damien asked.
“She just doesn’t want us to find it, that’s all. Or she would have told us where to check, not sent us to Uncle Gray.”
“Well,” Damien said, “I think she’s kind of sending us on a scavenger hunt. She doesn’t want it to be too easy!”
“Scavenger hunts are fun!” Maddy said.
“Hmm, maybe. Okay, let’s go back to the house, I bet Uncle Gray is there.”
“Okay, you lead the way,” Damien said.
“Smooth,” Michael said as they followed the kids down the path back toward the house.
The children had them back at the main house in about ten minutes. They rushed through the front door yelling for Grayson. “Hey, what are you children yelling about?” a woman wearing an apron said to them as she passed through the hall.
“We’re looking for Uncle Gray,” Max said.
“Yeah, Aunt Celine said we need to find him right away!” Maddy added.
“Oh, she did, did she? Well, I think he’s in the study. Hey, no running!” she shouted after them as they ran down the hall with Michael and Damien following them.
They raced half way down the hall and burst through the door. Max shouted, “Uncle Gray! There you are!”
Seated at a desk across the room, Gray’s attention was drawn from his book. “Max, Maddy, what’s going on?”
“Aunt Celine said we needed to find you,” Max said, as Michael and Damien came into the room.
“She did? Is she okay?”
“She’s fine,” Michael said, “Max, Maddy, Aunt Celine said once we found Uncle Gray to tell you to check in the scariest part of the house for the painting. She said you’d know what that meant.”
“I know exactly where she means, yeah!” Max exclaimed. “Come on, Maddy!”
“Okay!” Maddy answered, and the two disappeared from the room.
“Mind explaining to me what that was about?” Gray asked.
“Sorry, necessary distraction,” Michael said.
“We need to talk to you,” Damien added. “We need answers and I’m rather sure you have them. So you’re going to answer some questions. First why did you bring Josie here? And why are you calling her Celine? How did you get her to come with you and buy into whatever crap you’re feeding her?”
“Why not ask her yourself?” Gray retorted.
“I’m asking you,” Damien persisted.
“You know what I think? I think you’ve asked your Josie, and she’s not talking.” Gray said, standing from the desk, crossing his arms with a smug smile.
Damien faltered, not sure what to respond with. “That’s probably because you brainwashed her somehow.”
Gray chuckled. “I didn’t brainwash her. No, I didn’t do anything to her. The fact is she made a choice, and it didn’t involve you.”
Gray was slowly but surely backing down the more timid Damien, but Michael wasn’t about to let it happen without a fight. He approached Gray, getting into his personal space, meeting his eyes. “She might have made a choice, a stupid one, but the next one she makes won’t involve you, you can take that to the bank.”
Gray smiled again, turning away from Michael. “We’ll see.”
“You smug, arrogant son-of-a-…” Michael started.
“What’s going on here?” Millie asked, walking through the door.
Michael backed off a bit. “I need to speak with Gray, would you two please excuse us?” she asked, noticing the tension in the room.
“This isn’t over,” Michael warned before leaving the room with Damien.
Michael sighed once outside the room after Millie had closed the door on them. “Well, that didn’t go as well as I hoped,” Damien admitted.
“I didn’t expect he’d give up much information, but I hoped his arrogance might have tipped his hand.”
“I’m betting the shady doctor won’t give us anything either, no sense in waiting for her.”
“Nope, they’re thick as thieves, those two,” Michael answered, shaking his head. “Our best bet is to keep appealing to Josie. We have to find a way to get through to her.”
“Yeah, I hope we can do it. Perhaps we should take our own tour of the house and see if we can find anything interesting or helpful.”
“Okay, sounds like a plan,” Michael said, setting off further down the hall. “We should also try to keep an eye on Gray, following him we’re almost bound to find something.”
“Good idea, we’ll stick close so we don’t miss him leaving.”
Josie sat on the swing under the gazebo, facing the ocean as the sun lowered behind her in the sky. The swing glided as if in a slow waltz under her as she gazed at the sky, painted like a rainbow by the setting sun. Gray approached from behind her. “I thought I’d find you here.”
“I’d forgotten how beautiful it is here,” she answered, without taking her eyes off the horizon.
Gray sat down on the swing next to her. She gazed at him. How many times had they sat in this exact spot together? How many problems had they solved here? She felt like this problem was insurmountable; it had no good solution. No matter what option she chose, she would disappoint someone. She looked into his crystal-clear blue eyes. She couldn’t be what he wanted; she couldn’t do what he wanted. “Gray,” she began.
“Don’t, Celine. Don’t say anything.”
“But, Gray, I…” she started again.
He put his arm around her, pulling her closer to him.
