Chapter 56

CHAPTER

FIFTY-SIX

As a hotel employee ran over and began CPR on Nico, Maddie scooted back to give him space.

She still couldn't get a deep breath. Her nerves felt as if they were on fire, and her heart raced.

"Maddie?" Josh peered at her.

She ignored him. Instead, she pulled herself up on shaky legs. As other guests wandered over, she warned them to stay away from the electrified hot tub.

The employee doing CPR shouted for someone to call 911.

Nico still wasn't moving.

Maddie lifted a prayer.

Would he be okay? How had this even happened?

Even more . . . who had been the target? Nico or Josh?

Then the biggest question of all hit her.

Had Josh planned this to get rid of the competition?

For that matter, had he killed Logan before she could come forward with any of his secrets?

If that was the case, what would he do to Maddie?

Instinctively, she took a few steps back from Josh.

Maybe her suspicions were right. Maybe he had been behind those mysterious incidents before the trip, those opportunities where she could have died. Maybe Josh wanted to gain sympathy among the board members.

The thought had sounded outlandish before.

But maybe it wasn't.

"He's alive!" the hotel employee yelled. "I've got a pulse."

Maddie's lungs finally loosened enough for her to catch her breath.

She glanced at Josh in time to see a frown flicker across his face before quickly disappearing.

Cement filled her lungs again.

Maybe—just maybe—her suspicions were correct and she wasn't paranoid after all.

What if her former fiancé was a killer?

Kalani showed up on the scene fifteen minutes later, and Maddie wasn't surprised. At this point, the man might as well get a room here at the resort.

Just as before, he indicated she should wait as he talked to several people near the hot tub.

Paramedics had arrived several minutes ago. They'd checked Maddie's heart rate and breathing before declaring her "fine."

Nico, on the other hand, had gone to the hospital to be examined.

As Maddie stood at the edge of the crowd, her limbs still shook. She'd been replaying what happened over and over again in her mind.

Nico could have so easily died.

Maddie could have too. Grabbing him with that towel had been risky. Yet she wouldn't have been able to live with herself if she'd just stood there and watched the man be electrocuted.

While she waited for Kalani, she thought about what she wanted to say to him.

Maybe the detective wasn't such a bad guy after all. Maybe he wasn't looking for a reason to blame her for all that had gone wrong.

But Maddie promised herself at the first sign that he was trying to pull the wool over her eyes, she'd guard her words as if they were gold inside Fort Knox.

Finally, Kalani wandered toward her. He sat in the chair next to her, and the two faced the ocean. They probably looked like two old friends talking—though their body language was stiff.

Kalani glanced at her. "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged. "To be honest, I've been better. I really don't want to be close friends with death."

"It was heroic what you did. Most likely, Mr. Rankin wouldn't be alive right now if you hadn't been close."

"I'm glad I was here when I was." She rubbed her neck as she remembered the text she'd received.

Kalani tilted his head as he examined her. "Exactly why were you here?"

She hesitated, drawing in a deep breath as she considered what to say.

If she didn't tell the truth, then she'd probably only continue to look suspicious. Besides, what could it hurt at this point? She hadn't been fiddling with that hot tub.

She pulled out her phone and found the text. Instead of reading it, she showed it to him.

His eyebrows shot up as he scanned the words.

Then he looked back at her, his head still tilted. "Someone sent that to you . . . ?"

"Yes. It hasn't been the only one."

"May I see these others?"

She pressed her lips together, knowing she had no choice but to show him.

"Scroll up," she murmured.

She peered over his shoulder at the words.

I know something you need to know. Someone is out to get you. I need to explain in person and not through text. Meet me at 5:30 a.m. on the beach. Tell no one—trust no one. Delete this message.

Jeepers Creepers.

Don't be Clueless.

"The words in these messages . . ." He studied the phone with squinty eyes. "I feel like they're references to something."

"They're all titles to movies from the nineties and early two-thousands. Mostly campy thrillers or rom-coms."

He squinted even more. "Any idea why someone would reference these?"

"I used to watch a lot of those movies with my grandfather before he died," she admitted. "Those were some of his favorites, especially when he was in a nursing home. He was actually an extra in a few. Later in life, he decided he wanted to be an actor, and he went for it. He was happy just being in the background."

Curiosity glimmered in the detective's eyes. "Sounds like you had a strong bond."

"We did. There were more messages, other than the texts. Someone also slipped a paper under my door that said: Someone you know has cruel intentions. I'd be careful . They sent another saying something about 10 things I hate about Josh . There was a picture of Josh and Logan together."

She decided not to mention the note that read, I Know What You Did That Summer. And, of course, she wasn't about to mention her mugshot.

"Who else knows you liked to watch these movies? Josh, I assume."

"Yes, Josh. No one else here—at least, not that I know about."

Kalani nodded slowly. "Did you ever post anything about these movies on social media?"

Maddie nibbled on her bottom lip. "I thought about that, and I don't think so. I did a quick search on my phone, but I didn't find any references on posts I made. I'm not really active on any of the socials. They seem like a waste of time."

He grunted. "I'm going to want those notes. Also, I'll need to see if I can trace this phone number. I assume you don't recognize it?"

"I don't."

"So now my question is: Did someone want you out here so you could watch Nico or Josh die? Or for some other reason?"

Maddie's heart beat harder as he voiced the question out loud—a question she'd also been asking herself.

"And why did Josh take his time getting to the hot tub?" she asked quietly. "He usually walks faster than he did."

"That's a great question."

She glanced down the pathway to where Josh now stood talking to some of his colleagues.

How was he connected to all of this?

Maddie wasn't sure, but she was determined to find out.