Chapter 7 - What Ruby Saw.
Marcus read the message until the screen dimmed.
Celeste did not move.
"That's not my number," she finally said.
Lila stared at her.
"You gave it to me six months ago."
"You're being paid to say this."
Lila laughed through her tears.
"Paid?"
She pointed toward the door.
"Someone put twenty thousand dollars in my locker and then tried to make me disappear."
Damian leaned against the wall.
"Nobody tried to make you disappear."
Lila looked at him.
Her face changed.
Elena saw fear again.
"Why are you looking at him?" Elena asked.
Lila said nothing.
Tomas entered and quietly told Elena that a storm warning had been issued for the island.
Heavy rain would arrive within two hours.
The private ferry had already suspended service.
No one could leave the resort by sea without taking a small boat through dangerous water.
The entire wedding party was now trapped on the property.
Marcus turned back to Lila.
"Tell us what Ruby saw last night."
Lila shook her head.
"I don't know exactly."
"Then tell us what you know."
Lila took a breath.
"Celeste called me at two in the morning."
Celeste shouted, "Stop saying my name!"
Marcus lifted one hand.
"Let her speak."
Lila continued.
"She said Ruby had wandered out of her room and seen something she wasn't supposed to see."
Elena felt sick.
"What?"
"She wouldn't tell me."
"Then why enter Ruby's suite?"
"To find out whether she had taken anything."
Marcus's voice became quiet.
"Taken what?"
Lila stared at the recorder on the table.
"That."
Elena looked toward Ruby, who was now sleeping under guard in the adjacent family room.
Sophia had hidden the recorder inside the rabbit years earlier.
Somebody had discovered its existence only now.
"How?" Elena asked.
Lila looked at Celeste.
"Ruby told Celeste she heard her mommy's voice inside Bunny when the toy broke at the rehearsal."
Celeste's eyes filled with anger.
"She is inventing this."
Marcus stared at his bride.
"Did Ruby tell you that?"
Celeste did not answer.
That silence was enough.
Elena stood.
"Ruby saw you searching for the recorder."
Lila shook her head.
"No."
Elena turned.
"No?"
"She saw something else first."
Lila's voice dropped.
"That's why Celeste panicked when Ruby mentioned the rabbit."
Marcus stepped closer.
"What did she see?"
Lila looked at Damian.
"Ask him."
Damian pushed away from the wall.
"I'm done with this circus."
Two security guards blocked the door.
"Move," he said.
They did not.
Marcus's expression hardened.
"You are staying."
Damian laughed once.
"You think because your sister says code red, she gets to imprison people?"
Elena replied before Marcus could.
"No."
She held up her phone.
"But the police launch from the mainland is already on its way as soon as the storm clears."
Damian's eyes flicked toward the windows.
That tiny movement told Elena more than any confession.
He was calculating time.
Lila leaned closer to Elena.
"Last night, Ruby saw Damian in the bridal suite."
Marcus frowned.
"Doing what?"
Lila's next words landed like a blade.
"Kissing Celeste."
Marcus did not react at first.
Then the entire room seemed to contract around him.
May you like
Lila added one more sentence.
"And Ruby heard them talking about what would happen to Marcus after the wedding."
