Chapter 2 - The Alibi
I shoved the heavy bag back into the darkness of the vent.
I quickly pushed the metal grate into place, hoping it looked undisturbed.
I jumped off the wooden chair just as the front door swung open.
Bruce walked in holding two iced coffees from the resort cafe.
He stopped in his tracks when he saw me standing there breathing heavily.
"What are you doing in here?" he asked with a tight, unnatural smile.
His eyes darted suspiciously around the room, briefly lingering on the ceiling.
"I forgot my sunglasses down at the beach," I lied smoothly.
"I thought you had them on your head when we left," he replied slowly.
I forced a laugh and pointed to the dresser mirror.
"Found them right where I left them this morning," I said, grabbing a spare pair.
Bruce handed me a plastic cup of iced coffee, but I noticed his hand was shaking.
"Jim and I were thinking about renting a boat this afternoon," he said.
"Just the guys, you know, to blow off some steam," he added casually.
I nodded, pretending everything was perfectly normal between us.
"That sounds like fun, you two should enjoy yourselves," I told him.
I walked past him and headed back down the hallway to find Lily.
I desperately needed to figure out what kind of trouble they were hiding.
Later that evening, I watched them from the shadows of our balcony.
They were arguing heatedly near the edge of the closed resort pool.
Jim was pacing frantically back and forth, waving his hands in the air.
Bruce grabbed Jim by the collar and shoved him hard against a palm tree.
I pulled out my phone and zoomed in with the camera to get a better look.
Bruce reached into his pocket and handed Jim a dark blue passport.
May you like
My husband was planning to help my brother leave the country.
Before I could process this terrifying realization, a cold hand clamped tightly over my mouth from behind.
