waved a hand in the air. “Who knows? People here like to have fun. Perhaps someone was playing a trick on her. Maybe even her own brother.”
“There’s an idea,” Keith said, though he didn’t really believe it. The more he thought about, though, the more he thought that the use of a skull had to be more than coincidence. The prankster had to be someone who had been on the island.
“Ben did keep one of the skulls in his locker, I hear,” Amanda said.
“Don’t you think he would have admitted that he’d done it?” Keith asked lightly.
“With the police called in already? Doubtful.” Amanda narrowed her eyes suddenly. “Why don’t you go talk to the little darlings over there?” She pointed. “Amber and Kimberly. The girls are at that age…and they do prowl around Beth’s office.”
“Maybe I should go ask them,” he said lightly, and rose.
“Do come back,” Amanda invited, her voice husky and amused.
He smiled, and walked over to the pool area. Amber looked up, sensing the arrival of someone. When she recognized him, she started, then smiled. “Hi.”
“Hi yourself,” he said. The girls were both seated on lounges, but they weren’t leaning back, relaxing; they were sitting up, feet on the ground as they faced one another. He sat at the end of Amber’s lounge. “I hear I had an e-mail exchange with the two of you.”
They both blushed to brilliant shades of red.
He cut right to the point. “Did you put the skull on your aunt’s desk, as well?” he asked.
“No!” Amber said with horror.
He stared at her hard. “I’m not going to the police or your father with the information, I swear. I just need to know.”
Amber shook her head, stricken. “I swear I didn’t do it. I would never do anything like that. Really.”
“Honest, Keith, it wasn’t us,” Kim said.
He believed them. “Do you have any idea who might have done something like that?”
Amber sniffed. “Amanda.”
“Miss Rich-Bitch Mason,” Kim agreed.
He smiled, lowering his head.
“Do you girls think maybe you have a little bit of prejudice going there?” he asked.
Kim looked away. Amber stared at him sagely. “You think? Or is it true that Miss Amanda Mason just takes what she wants and steps on anyone in her way?”
“Wow,” he murmured.
“Good call,” Kim said.
“Well, you tried to scare your aunt once.”
Amber frowned. “No, I didn’t.”
“Oh, come on, you said that you were on her computer.”
“Yes, I e-mailed you on her computer.” Amber was frowning. “I didn’t try to scare her.”
He frowned in return. “Amber—”
His cell phone started to ring, and he excused himself, walking a few steps away.
It was Lee. Keith listened, his heart thudding, then standing still. “We’ll talk later. I have to go,” he said to the girls after he hung up.
He didn’t wait for a reply but strode quickly toward the parking lot.
OFFICER GARTH WAS GONE. The commodore hadn’t stayed while the policeman took the full report but had hurried down to play spin doctor about what had happened. Beth thought that he was a good man; he had some doubts, she was certain, but he also believed she had seen something, and meant to find out who had played such a trick and why.
When Garth was gone, she was left with her brother.
He was quiet, sitting in one of the chairs across from her desk, hands folded idly together, looking down.
“Beth,” he said very softly.
“Oh, Ben, get off it. I have not lost my mind.”
“I just don’t believe it was a real skull.”
“You don’t want to believe me.”
“Well, of course I don’t,” he said impatiently. “I don’t want to think that danger is following me home.”
“Ben, this is being done to me, not you.”
He offered her a wry grin. “Basically, you are my home.”
She had to smile at that. But she leaned on her desk, trying to reach him. “I swear to you, I have not gone mad.”
“Okay, Beth. Whatever you say,” he said skeptically.
To her surprise, he got up then and started out of her office.
“Ben?” She followed him.
He stopped and turned back to her on the stairway. “I need to check something, and you can’t come with me.”
“Why?”
“I’m headed to the men’s locker room.”
She frowned in earnest. “Why?”
“I’m just checking on something.”
“What?”
“Beth, stop it. What are you doing in your office today, anyway? Take the day off. Go home. Rest. Watch a movie. Do something.”
“Ben, dammit—”
“Okay, Beth, I had a weird feeling in the locker room the other day. I think that someone was in my locker and stole my old Halloween skull. I’m going to go and see if it’s still there.”
“So you do believe me?”
“What I believe is that your wild story from the island has gone around and someone is playing tricks on you, okay? But just playing tricks, Beth. That’s it. You can’t keep running around as if you’ve suddenly become part of CSI: Miami, okay?”
“Me, CSI! You’re a mess. You’re acting as if you’re frantic!”
“Because I think my skull is missing…. Don’t you understand, I have to see if it’s really gone. Okay, I am feeling a little déjà vu. It’s weird. But I’m just checking my locker.”
“Find out if your skull is gone,” she said flatly.
“And then you’ll leave, please?” he said. “I will, too. I was going to clean the boat, but forget that. I’m getting the girls,
