Ball & Chain (Page 79)

“Or the person was injured,” Zane pointed out.

“Burns was a large man,” Nick added. “Avery Kline would’ve had a time of this too, no matter how skilled she was. Trying to snap someone’s neck when they’re a foot taller than you isn’t exactly easy.”

“That would explain why she panicked and made that move on Stanton,” Zane whispered.

Earl was glaring at both men. “I ain’t hearing any answers from you two, just a bunch of maybes.”

Nick and Zane both glanced at him guiltily before going back to their examination. Earl got to his feet and paced a few steps, his eyes meeting Ty’s. He stopped in front of him, then put his arm around Ty’s shoulders, releasing him quickly when Ty winced away, holding his dislocated shoulder. Earl took his good arm again, and Ty was forced to look at the body of Richard Burns.

Earl pointed at him. “Look at that man, son.”

Ty stared at his father for a few moments, then turned his eyes to the floor.

“I met him on a helicopter going into the jungle, Ty. You know what that is?” Earl grabbed Ty’s shirt front, pulling him closer to whisper in his ear. “That’s Nick on the ground, Beaumont. You go f**king find who did this, and you kill him.”

Ty stared at the men kneeling. At the body on the floor. His stomach turned at the thought of any of these men in Burns’s place, lying dead on the floor, murdered. He remembered the anguish of standing at Elias Sanchez’s funeral, of carrying that casket. He remembered the desperate need for revenge.

“Yes, sir.”

Earl stormed out of the room. He had to go somewhere and grieve, somewhere to be away from the body of his oldest and dearest friend. And to deal with guilt, because he’d spent the past several hours enraged over the things he’d learned about Burns.

The Grady family would never be the same after this loss.

Zane clambered to his feet and came to Ty, taking him by his good arm. “Come on,” he said into Ty’s ear.

Ty shook his head, his nostrils flaring and his focus narrowing to a pinpoint. “Someone else was behind this, Zane. Someone else was orchestrating this.”

“Come on, Ty, let’s get out of here.”

“It wasn’t him.”

“Ty.”

“Someone else did all this!” Ty shouted, jabbing his finger at Burns’s body.

“Tyler,” Nick barked. “Get your ass in gear and go!”

Ty nodded woodenly, moving to obey that tone of voice almost automatically. Zane stayed with him, fingers digging into his arm.

“Are you okay?” Zane asked as soon as they were on the stairs.

“They killed him, Zane.”

Zane stopped halfway down the steps and pulled him closer. “I know.” He turned Ty to him, making sure he met his eyes. “You’ve taken a lot of hits in the last few days, Ty. Let me take this last one for you.”

Ty stared at him, struck breathless, struck speechless. He snaked his arm around Zane’s neck and hugged him tight. He nodded, still unable to speak.

“We’ll round up everyone physically capable of doing this,” Zane murmured against Ty’s hair, “and we’ll find out who it is even if we have to take Nick’s ball and chain to every one of them.”

There were a great deal of complaints when Ty and Zane gathered every able-bodied person in the dining room and frog-marched them into the study, but the weapons they wielded and the look in Ty’s eyes were enough motivation to get everyone moving and keep them cooperating.

There were two groomsmen: Christian and Matthew. Three bridesmaids: Catalina, Miyoko, and Ashlee. Livi’s brother, Theo, and Emma’s cameraman, Marley. Mackie and Hamish Boyd were the only two staff members who remained, since Fraser was still tied up in the game room. And Ty had somehow convinced the three Snake Eaters to come peacefully. Zane didn’t know how he’d built that rapport, but he was grateful he didn’t have to wrestle John English through a door he didn’t want to go through.

Twelve suspects.

Several others joined them to help keep order, and to help parse the evidence. Stanton, Earl, Mara, and Chester were there, as was Emma, who was still protesting Marley’s inclusion in the suspect pool. Deuce and Livi had left Amelia with Livi’s mother, Susan, and come to be part of the meeting. Nick and Kelly soon came into the room as well. Several of the people who’d heard Jockie Fraser’s screams shied away from Nick when he entered the room.

Zane moved toward the corner, nodding for Nick to join him. “Got anything we can cull the herd with?”

Nick stared at him for a few seconds. “I never realized how disturbing your accent is until you use cow analogies.”

Zane fought hard to keep his face as deadpan as Nick’s. “Yeah okay, say car.”

“Shut up. Kelly narrowed down time of death to a six-hour window, but he wants to make sure everyone knows he’s essentially guessing. Considering the last time Burns was seen was six hours ago, I’m going to back him on his assessment.”

“Great,” Zane huffed.

“He told me that when he and Ty went looking for Burns, Earl said he hadn’t seen him since his talk with you and me. So . . . it’s probably safe to say he went to his room and someone was waiting there for him.”

Zane nodded. “No one could have knocked on Burns’s door and surprised him. You’re right, they would have had to’ve been lying in wait. Okay, let’s see what we can shake loose.” He gave Nick’s shoulder a pat and stepped away.

“What the hell is going on?” Ashlee Knight demanded. Zane knew her only as the bombshell from Nick’s notes. She certainly looked the part.

“There’s been one last murder,” Zane announced.

There was a murmur of shock and alarm, but at least half the people in the room looked like they just wanted to go to bed. Death was no longer traumatic for the island.

Zane glanced at Nick and Ty, holding his breath. They had so little to go on, he was going to have to bluff his way through this. He hoped they would play along.

“We’ve captured or killed all the people responsible for this massacre, all but one,” he said to the people crowded into the room. “The ladies in the room can relax, the killer we’re looking for is a man.”

The three bridesmaids shared relieved, frightened glances before going to sit on a chaise near the far wall, holding each other’s hands and leaning on each other in a huddle.