Windfall by Wendy Corsi Staub

Author:Wendy Corsi Staub
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-07-11T00:00:00+00:00

J.J.

“J.J.?”

Molly’s voice floats to her from the other side of the house.

“Coming!” She hurries down the long main corridor. Molly emerges at the other end with Dawson on her hip, his head on her shoulder.

“Did you find Chantal’s room?” J.J. calls.

“No, but I just saw . . . someone.”

“You saw someone?”

“Something. I think . . . I don’t know. I was down there.” She gestures at the short corridor behind her.

“What happened?”

“I had checked all the rooms, and then in the last one, I looked out the window, and . . .” She takes a deep breath. “I thought I saw someone come out of the opposite room on the opposite balcony and hurry down the steps, but . . .” She shakes her head rapidly, wincing as she does so.

“Your head, Molly. Is it hurting?”

“Yes, but . . . are you listening to me, J.J.? I saw someone.”

“You said you thought you saw someone.”

“I saw someone.”

“Not Leila?”

“It might have been. It was so quick, and I saw it out of the corner of my eye. I went out and called her name, though. Whoever it was would have been in earshot. Leila wouldn’t have run away from me.”

“Then was it Shea? Or Beck?”

“I don’t know. All I saw was a blur of a figure, slipping outside and running down the steps. And the dogs were barking.”

“I heard them. And, Molly . . . I checked three of the rooms in the other hallway, but the one at the end was locked. I knocked, and I was calling for Leila.”

“If she was in there, she would have answered you. It must have been someone else. Or just a ghost.”

“I don’t believe in ghosts.”

“I know you don’t. And you know I do. But . . . J.J., what if something happened to the ticket?”

J.J. stares at her. “What do you mean? What could happen?”

“I don’t even want to think about it.”

“Well, it’s in the bank, right?”

“That’s what Leila said.”

“I even asked her about it yesterday, because . . .”

When she trails off, Molly asks, “Why were you asking her, J.J.?”

“I had a run-in with someone at my bank just the other day, and it just . . . it made me wonder.”

“About whether you trust Leila?”

“No! About whether I trust the bank!”

“Well, I don’t know if that’s what Leila got from that. Maybe that’s why she reacted that way.”

“Reacted how?”

“She seemed defensive. Or maybe cagey is a better word.”

J.J. stares at her.

“You don’t think so?”

“No. I mean, yes. I guess I didn’t really want to think about it, but yes. She did seem a little cagey. But we know Leila.”

Or do we?

“Right. She doesn’t like anyone to question her judgment. Anyway . . . come on. I’ll show you where I saw . . . whatever I saw.”

As Molly leads her back down the short hallway, J.J. confirms that this wing is laid out exactly as the one she’d explored. Two smaller rooms with a bathroom between them.

Molly opens the last door and they step into a large room.

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