fault,” Erin muttered, scraping her foot against Sebastian’s pristine hardwood floors. “None of this would’ve happened if you’d just kept your nose out of my business.”
I was confused. “I didn’t stick my nose into your business.”
She rolled her eyes. “If you weren’t digging, if you didn’t know, then why did you ask me all those questions about the guy I was seeing? Why did you tell me what Barry had said?”
I struggled to catch up. I considered myself relatively astute when it came to reading people and figuring things out, but I was at a genuine loss. “I was just talking out loud.”
She shook her head and heaved out a sigh. “You know. You know because Barry told you. He covered for Vera and Roy for years, but when Vera decided it was time to get out, he saw an opportunity. I knew he couldn’t be trusted.”
I swallowed hard and slid my eyes to Sebastian. He looked as confused as I felt. “Do you know what she’s talking about?” I asked.
He shook his head, but there was something about his stare that told me he was ahead of me on this one. “There were rumors,” he said. “They’ve been going around for years.”
“Rumors about Roy knocking up his employees?”
“Well, yes, but those weren’t the rumors I mean. Roy didn’t exactly hide his proclivities. Vera was better about it, but in a town this size even she couldn’t keep a secret.”
“So ... Vera did what?”
“Vera came up with an idea to make movies,” Erin answered for him, her tone bitter. “She conducted research online and found there was a niche for films featuring older men and young women. Roy could never keep it in his pants, so she thought they might as well make money off his impulses.”
“Did you know about this?” I demanded of Sebastian.
“I heard some things,” he hedged, distinctly uncomfortable. “I thought it was made up. You know how this town is. There are people still spouting that rumor that Maude Jenkins is really a man because she’s been able to sprout a full beard since menopause. I didn’t think it was real.”
I wanted to kick him. If he’d shared that bit of gossip from the start it might not have taken us so long to realize what was happening. “You are unbelievable,” I hissed. “I’m taking your gossip card away as soon as this is over.”
“It won’t be long until it’s over,” Erin promised, her eyes — once so full of life — somber and dead. “I can’t afford for this story to get out. I have to silence you.”
“Silence us?” Sebastian’s voice hopped. “How are you going to do that? Do you have a gun? Or a knife? I once saw a horror movie where the killer used a fire poker to carry out a bunch of murders.”
“Stop giving her ideas,” I hissed.
“I’m not going to do anything,” Erin promised. “But they ... .” She inclined her head toward the front door. While we’d been distracted by Erin, two people had entered through the front door without a sound.
“Vera,” I said on a note of disgust.
“And Barry,” Sebastian added. “This is quite the gathering of minds.”
“It’s a waste is what it is,” Barry snapped, shaking his head. He had a hand in his coat, making me think he had a weapon stashed. Erin was acting the same way, so we’d gone from outnumbering her to being outnumbered — and that didn’t take into account the potential weapons. We had to distract them until we came up with a plan ... or someone came looking for us ... or we could find a way to escape. There had to be a way.
“I don’t understand what’s happening,” I said, opting for honesty. At the very least I needed answers. “What is all of this?”
“It was a business plan,” Vera replied blandly. “Roy was a terrible husband, but he was great when it came to money-making ideas. He also had a porn fetish, which is how I knew what sort of disgusting scenario would sell. He was always buying it, so we decided to turn it into a financial investment. You know, old guy mows lawn naked and pretty young thing comes over to help ... and gets so hot she just has to have him.”
The images she stirred in my mind were disgusting. “So Roy and Erin filmed a bunch of movies and you sold them?”
“Not just Erin,” Vera countered. “You need variety if you’re going to pull