Page 41 of No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding

“He’s not after me for my money, he has plenty of his own.”

“Why not pay Tyler back, then?”

“Because Tyler is a jerk. He doesn’t need the money. He just wants to hurt Fred because I chose him.”

“Maybe. But don’t be so sure Tyler doesn’t care about the money.”

“Okay, Mom.” She lets me go and checks the time. “All of this is stressing me out.”

“Too early for a drink?”

She smiles. “Probably, but there’s this amazing series of hot tubs built into the hillside. Why don’t you go get changed and meet me there in twenty?”

“Can Harper come, too?”

“Of course. The more the merrier.”

I hug her impulsively, and she shoos me away.

I go to the door, and when I get to it, I turn back to watchher. She’s staring out the window again, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say she was lost in thought.

But Idoknow better.

I know her best.

And so a shiver runs through me when I recognize her expression for what it is.

Fear.

32Everyone always thinks the main characters in books are a thinly disguised version of the author. And okay, Idoborrow from life, but after ten books, Cecilia Crane has gotten up to some pretty shady things, including killing someone. Do they think I’m capable of that? Oh, wait, Ididkill someone. Fine.

33See, Ihaveread Austen.

34Okay, FINE. I’ve watched the BBC adaptation ofPride and Prejudicemore times than I can count. In my defense: Colin Firth.

This feels like a good time for a map.

You should know I can’t draw.

But here it is:

I did warn you.

CHAPTER 7

Doesn’t Everyone Know You Shouldn’t Drink the Water on Vacation?

“So, let me get this straight,” Harper says as we hike up the stone-strewn path to the hot tubs where Emma asked me to meet her. They’re near the top of the steep hill above the villas, and I feel more winded than I should as I grip the guide rope and push my calves up, up, up. “Tyler Houston’s probably been sending her threatening messages, and that’s been going on for a while, including the other day when the last note said someone was going to die at the wedding and then on the agenda a murder is announced?”

I gulp in some air and almost swallow a bug. Gross.

“Yes, but she doesn’t know who’s sending the messages. We don’t know for sure that it’s Tyler.”

She glances back at me over her shoulder. She seems unbothered by the climb, which shouldn’t surprise me but somehow does. “But shedidsleep with him?”

“Yes. Years ago.”

“And he’s pissed about her marrying Fred?”

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