Death Prefers Blondes by Caleb Roehrig

Author:Caleb Roehrig
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

24

The Mannings’ living room was a campsite, the furniture cleared away to make room for a ring of sleeping bags, clustered before a blaze in the gas fireplace. Moonbeams danced on the surface of the pool outside and spilled through the hatched skylights above—and even though they were all there for Margo, talking or consoling or just being quiet, Joaquin nursed a small kernel of selfishness deep inside.

Never had the mansion seemed so big or so empty, and the boy couldn’t help indulging a hopeful fantasy. With all these rooms and no one to fill them, what if Margo invited the Moreaus to live with her? They could cut the millstone of the villa from around their necks, free themselves of the ghosts and the mortgage, and maybe be happy again. He could see it. But the dream was as substantial as the flames licking at the glassed-in hearth.

Joaquin wasn’t the only one thinking about the future. After a long moment of silence passed, Davon spoke into the gold-rimmed shadows. “What are you going to do, Margo? Can you stay in the house?”

“Of course she can stay here,” Axel snapped. “It’s hers. Harland left it to her.”

“She’s only seventeen.” Davon—the only other person there who had experienced the death of a parent—kept his eyes on Margo. “She’s still a minor.”

“He’s right,” the girl said in a hollow voice. “I’m not an adult for another two months. Until then, my inheritance is in the care of my dad’s financial manager.”

“Like a regent,” Leif suggested.

“Basically. It’ll revert to me when I turn eighteen, but until then…” she cast a look out at the pool, and the electric sickle of light that hugged the coastline beyond it. “Technically, I guess my mom has custody of me now. Whether she likes it or not.”

“Your mom?” Axel shot up in his sleeping bag, his face pale with alarm. “You’re not going to Italy, are you?”

Axel’s horror made a quick lap around the room, acquainting itself with everyone there. Without Margo, their revenue stream would dry up—which Joaquin knew was bad enough—but what would become of his brother? She was his only friend, the only thing he had beyond Tuck/Marry/Kill that kept him from breaking down. The girl seemed to sense this, because she gave him a reassuring smile. “I don’t think I’m going anywhere. Maybe I’ll visit for a while, but just because she’s responsible for me doesn’t mean she wants to be.” She turned back to the fire. “I’ve got Irina and my dad’s attorney in case of something serious. She’ll tell me to stay.”

“Okay.” Axel let out a breath.

“You’ve got us, too,” Joaquin reminded her, reviving his fantasy just a little. The other boys chimed in their agreement, and Margo’s eyes filled.

“Thanks, guys.” She took a deep breath, and then shook her head. “Okay, I don’t know how to say this other than to just say it: I have some bad news.”

In broad strokes, she recounted what she’d learned from their fence, and the mood in the room—if possible—became even darker.

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