Dead and Breakfast (24 page)

Evelyn arched her brows. “Your friend’s cousin?” She said the words slowly as if trying to process the connection.

“It’s okay,” said Liam. “His cousin is an experienced sailor. It’s totally cool.”

“That makes me feel so much better,” Evelyn said dryly.

“Mom,” Autumn hissed. “We’ll be fine.

Evelyn crossed her arms over her chest. “What’s the name of this boat?”

“Ladykiller,” Liam said without hesitation. He clutched Autumn’s hand. “Ready?”

She stifled a laugh. “Yes.”

Liam and Autumn walked outside and headed to Liam’s scooter.

Autumn said, “You’re terrible. You totally freaked out my mom.”

Liam smiled. “She deserved it a little.”

“Yeah, she did.”

Before putting on his helmet, Liam kissed Autumn on the cheek. “Happy birthday.”

Autumn kissed Liam on the mouth. “Happy Halloween.”

#

Autumn felt giddy and a little light-headed from the spiked fruit punch served on the boat. Liam warned her about drinking it, but the red liquid tasted so sweet. It also made her forget all about her problems with Inez, Katie, and even her mom. Autumn giggled as she stumbled through the gate and into the darkened patio.

Liam put his finger to his lips and whispered, “Shhh.” Autumn waved him away. It didn’t matter. All the guests, except for Mr. Fletcher, Autumn assumed, were outside enjoying the crazy festival.

Autumn threw off her sailor cap and flounced into a lounge chair. Her butt sank beyond the broken plastic slats. She laughed loudly.

“Autumn, your mother’s going to wake up and kill us both,” Liam said, not even trying to hide his nervousness.

Autumn grinned and shook her head. These last few days had been exhausting. There was no way Evelyn could stay awake.

She stared at Liam. The evening air cooled the heat radiating off her skin. She wanted desperately to put her hands on his hips and pull him down on top of her. Autumn wasn’t sure if it was the rum punch making her think these things or the way her body tingled when she did, but she wanted to kiss him, and she wanted to kiss him now.

She sat up and tugged the thin white tie of Liam’s uniform. He smiled and eased onto her. Liam pushed her hair off her face and stared at her lips. “We shouldn’t be doing this,” he said, his voice a soft whisper.

Autumn sucked on her bottom lip. “Absolutely, we should.”

He smiled again and kissed her tenderly. Autumn couldn’t take it anymore. She pulled Liam onto her, wanting him to crush her body with his own. She parted his lips with her tongue and Liam groaned. He stopped for a second and adjusted his body. “I don’t know where to put my hands,” he said, sheepishly. “I don’t want to crush you.”

Autumn guided his hands to her waist. “Start here.”

He kissed her again, this time more urgently. Autumn adjusted herself so that she could wrap her legs around Liam’s waist. Liam put his hands into Autumn’s and slid them up so they were above her head. As they kissed, their bodies moved together in rhythm.

“We need to stop,” Liam said, panting.

“Why?” she asked, her voice practically a whine.

Liam stood up. “Because I’m a gentleman. And you’ve had too much to drink. Also, making out near the pool gives me the willies. Aren’t you worried about who’s watching?”

Autumn doubted Liam meant guests. Perhaps, if she hadn’t drank so much she’d care about ghostly voyeurs. But, even if she was sober, she’d still want to kiss Liam. A lot.

Autumn sat up a little and pouted.

Liam leaned down and kissed her again on her lips, but the kiss felt chaste compared to what they had just been doing.

Light flooded the patio and Evelyn’s sharp voice rang out, “What’s going on out here?”

Liam leaped off Autumn. He yanked down his shirt, but it was no use. Evelyn regarded him with those suspicious eyes of hers. Autumn could tell there was no escaping her mother’s wrath.

“We were just—” Autumn began.

“I can see what you were doing,” her mother said. Then she eyed the sailor uniforms. “What happened? Did you ruin Uncle Duncan’s uniform?”

Autumn glanced down at the inky blood splattered on the front of her shirt. “There was a fake rubber octopus attached to me at one point during the festivities.”

Evelyn tightened her robe. She steadied her voice and this unnerved Autumn more than her mother’s screams. “Liam, I think you better go.”

“Mrs. Abernathy,” he began, but she held up a hand to stop him.

“I was never intending to keep you on past Fantasy Fest.”

“Mom!” Autumn cried out.

“I’ll pay you for this week.”

Liam faced Autumn. “Did you know about that?”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “My plan was to talk her out of it.”

Liam squeezed Autumn’s hand. “I’ll call you.” His voice was barely a whisper.

“Don’t go,” Autumn pleaded.

Liam smiled weakly. “It’s okay.” He kissed her lightly on the cheek and disappeared out the side gate.

Autumn whirled on her mother. “Mom, that was cruel.”

“That was nothing. I knew this nonsense with Liam was going too far, but Aunt Glenda kept saying, ‘You’re young. Be free.’”

“So what’s wrong with that?”

Evelyn’s eyes flamed. “Don’t throw away your future for some guy like I did. You’ll have nothing to show for it.”

Autumn stepped back as if her mother had slapped her. In a way, she had. “You mean Dad.”

Evelyn softened her stance. Her eyes searched Autumn’s face, looking for some trace of recognition. “Look, I’m forty-three years old. I’m divorced and broke. All I have is this ridiculous bed and breakfast, which I have sunk whatever money I had into.”

Autumn blanched and felt the sting of tears about come. But she held up her head. “You have me, Mom. Am I not good enough? Was I not worth the sacrifice?”

Autumn brushed past her mother and hurried inside to the empty kitchen, where she hoped to cut a slice of Cora’s Key Lime pie and devour her sorrows.

Liam straddled his scooter and patted his pocket for his set of keys. What a night. It started off so well until he got fired. He should’ve known Evelyn had no intention of keeping him on; he just wished Autumn had given him a heads up so he didn’t feel like such a chump.

Liam dropped his chin to his chest. The keys must had fallen out of his pocket when he and Autumn had been making out.

“Crap,” he muttered. He would have to go back to the patio and find them. He let his helmet dangle from the handlebars and dismounted the bike. He pushed through the white gate, which squeaked on its old, rusty hinges.

The pool water was still like the night air. The Cayo looked dark inside, aside from a light left on in the lobby for the nocturnal guests, still partying in town.

Liam skirted around the pool and sidled past an old patio chair. He scraped his leg on a rusty screw that jutted out from the chair. It ripped a hole in Pops’s old uniform. Liam cursed under his breath. He walked over the old lounge chair and bent down, his hand searching for his keys. He patted the concrete, his palm scraping against it until his fingers touched metal. He clutched the keys tight in his fist.

He hated being alone in the pool area. Ever since his first day here. The dark dulled his sense of sight, but heightened his sense of fear. Goosebumps erupted along his arms, and the little hairs on his neck stood at attention. He swallowed hard and made a beeline for the gate. Then he heard a noise behind him.

He froze in place.

“There you are,” a seductive voice called to him. He spun around and relaxed his shoulders.

“Autumn,” he said, putting his hand to his chest to calm his breathing. “What are you still doing out here? I assumed your mom was reaming you out.”

Autumn still wore Duncan’s old Navy uniform, but her hair was all disheveled. And the way she approached him was different. When she walked, her hips swayed side to side in a hypnotic rhythm.

She came closer and touched his collar. Her fingers danced over his skin, but instead of feeling bolts of electricity, he felt chills.

“Should we continue where we left off?” she asked, breathless.

Liam arched his brow. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He nodded toward the house where Evelyn was no doubt watching, infuriated. “I came back to get my keys.” He dangled them.

Autumn giggled oddly. “Don’t you want me?” Liam noted how her voice lilted a bit. She spoke with an accent.

He removed her hands from his uniform. “What’s gotten into you? You sound funny.”

Her eyes darkened. She backed away and yanked her hands through her dark hair. “
Dios
! You always do this to me.”

Liam retreated. Something was wrong. Very wrong. “
Dios
? And what do I always do?”

“Tease me,” she said, her voice sounding angrier. “You tell me it’s Mariana you love, but I know that’s not true. I see how you look at me.”

Now, Liam started to panic. “Inez. I’m not Leo Breyer. I’m Liam.” He emphasized the difference in the names. “William Michael Breyer and it’s not 1966.”

Inez growled. “You did this to me!” She lunged for him, brandishing a knife in her right hand. Liam screamed as the blade grazed his cheek. “Inez, no!” She charged him again, the knife nearly missing his arm. “Stop! I’m not Leo!” Liam ran to the pool shed.

Inez’s eyes darted all around. Liam flung open the shed door and grabbed the shovel.

“Please Inez. Let Autumn back inside her body. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Inez cackled and spat, “You’ve already hurt me!”

Liam’s stomach dropped. “I’m sorry.”

“You should be.” She charged him again.

Liam raised the shovel and brought it down.

#

Autumn felt trapped inside her body. She could see Liam’s fear. The way his knuckles turned white as he gripped the shovel. But also the way he held it. Like a baseball bat.

Autumn screamed, but it was no use. Inez was too strong. Her dark energy kept Autumn caged inside her own head. Timothy was right. She opened the door for this, and now she was stuck. Autumn knew she had a knife in her hand. She felt Inez in control, thrusting the blade forward, hoping to cut Leo.
No
!
Liam! It’s Liam you’re trying to hurt.

Just as Liam brought down the shovel, someone slammed into her body, flinging her into the pool. She heard the shovel clang against the pavement. Inez was gone and with her, Autumn’s strength. She could barely swim to the ledge.

Autumn registered Timothy’s grim face as he stood at the pool’s edge. He waited a beat before saying, “Are you in there, Autumn?”

She spit out pool water and swung droplets from her hair. “Yeah, it’s me.”

Timothy pursed his lips. “Seriously?”

“Just help me out.”

Timothy held the skimmer pole out to her like a lifeline. She grabbed it and both Liam and Timothy yanked her out of the water.

Chlorinated water ran from her sailor uniform in rivers. She wrung out some of the water from her shirt. “Thanks,” she muttered, her eyes downcast, not wanting meet Timothy’s I-told-you-so glare.

“Girl.” He put his hands on his hips. “I told you not to let a spirit into your body, but noooooo! You know better, don’t you? You refused to listen to old Timothy.”

Liam rested his hand on Timothy’s shoulder. “It’s not Autumn we should be mad at.”

Timothy shrugged off Liam’s hand, crossed his arms, and huffed. “Maybe not, but the girl has got to learn. Now, you’ll never know when miss evil thang wants to jump inside you for a little revenge. She could overtake you at any moment.”

“We’ll figure out how to stuff her back inside,” Autumn said.

Timothy shook his head.

“What?” Autumn asked, her patience completely gone.

“You can’t just go stuffing a ghost back into wherever you think ghosts live. You have to banish her. And to do that goes beyond séances. She must possess you before you can get rid of her.”

“So let’s do that,” Autumn said.

“Uh-uh,” Timothy said. “Her negative energy makes her strong. You nearly killed Liam with a knife because she was controlling you. To get inside her, could mean she’ll overtake your body. The Autumn we know and love,” he looked pointedly at her, “could disappear.”

“That’s what she wants,” Autumn whispered.

“What?” asked Liam.

“She wants to live again. Inez lets me see the bits and pieces leading up to her death to tease me. She knows I want to solve her murder. She’s playing me.”

“Yeah,” Timothy said. “Everytime she gets inside you, she takes over little by little. It’s only a matter of time before she becomes you.”

“So how do we get rid of her?” asked Autumn.

“She is fueled by both revenge and a desire to live. You need to take away her fuel.”

“How do we do that?” asked Liam.

“Find justice for her,” Timothy said, annoyed.

Autumn flopped into the patio chair. “Can you say with a hundred percent certainly that Inez doesn’t know who killed her?”

“Honey, I wouldn’t even say I’m Bahamian with a hundred percent certainty. I just know. Anyway, no more hanky-panky.” Timothy pursed his lips. “You have detective work to do.”

#

Sunday morning, Liam sat at the kitchen table and ran his fingertips along the scratched Formica top. He kept thinking about his grandmother and Inez. He never had a sister or brother of his own, but he imagined that losing one so young had to be tough.

Pops shuffled in. “Hey, sport, you’re thinking hard.” He chuckled, opened the fridge, and groped around until his fist encircled a can of beer.

Liam listened as the can hissed and his grandfather gulped down the amber liquid. Sometimes it took these quiet moments for Liam to realize just how much his grandfather drank.

Liam shifted in his chair. “How did you meet Abuela?”

Pops belched and flopped down in the chair across from Liam. Sweat trickled down his beer can, leaving a circle of water on the table. “I never told you that story?”

“Not really.” He shrugged. “Maybe I never asked.”

Pops smiled wistfully. “It was at her parents’ bodega. I had just enlisted. I was only a little older than you are now.” Pops winked. “I went in to buy gum every day until she agreed to go out with me. On our first date, I took her to dinner, and then we went dancing at the Green Parrot.” He laughed. “She wore the most awful beige dress.”