False Alarm?

I need help, I text Erin as soon as I sit down.

What’s up? she replies on the secure line, just a second later.

Thank god she’s always got her phone handy.

I spill out everything that happened today, best as I can remember it, texting the details as I recall them.

Shit, I see Erin reply.

Fuck that’s not good not good not good, comes Genevieve’s reaction a second later.

So what should I do? I text back. Need advice.

Laying out our thoughts as they come, most of it you should know, comes Erin’s response. First, they don’t know who you really are yet. This wouldn’t be the move if they did. Second, the ‘they’ - fits what my mom would do. Not really Father’s style. But hard to imagine her acting without him involved. Last I knew, Father controlled all the pieces. But maybe you entering the equation has shaken things up.

You think Father ordered this? I ask.

Not sure yet. Open question, Erin says. I’m not even sure I believe that your mom was killed, just yet. I know it hurts, but we’ve got to keep a steady mind. Evidence like that can be faked. Especially if everything was set up so that you can’t verify anything, like it was here.

But there are details we can try to corroborate, I write.

Gen and I will work on that as soon as we get the chance. Though from what I saw back then, the broad story is true, Erin writes. For now, first priority is figuring out what you should do. Seems clear to me that this was just a warning…

Feels like there’s a gun pressed against my neck, I reply.

Yes, a very vivid warning. But the intent is clear. They don’t want you getting closer to the family, she says.

So I play it cool for a while, I say.

Yes. But stay vigilant. We always knew something like this would happen eventually.

But not like this, I text.

Believe me, this isn’t how I wanted to find out that my mom might be a murderer, Erin says. The question is, what triggered this? Why now? I think it could be you growing close with Salome, and then Scarlet, and with Tiffany already in the bag, mom might have been scared that you’d move on to the other members of the family she sees as more important… like Holly and Elianne…

That would be part of it, I write. There was also the talk about the nude photoshoot. That ticked both Father and Hyerim off.

Of course, because that’s drawn in Sofia too.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Hyerim approaching my spot by the hedges.

Your mom’s coming, I text.

Let her think she’s won, is the last thing Erin sends before I’m **** to swipe away the chat.

My screen is immediately replaced with some innocuous cat pictures. Hyerim stands a few feet away, looking down at me.

“Claude,” the Korean supermodel says. “Why are you sitting alone out here? Salome was getting concerned, so I came to check on you.”

She leans forward a fraction, squeezing her tits together between the straps of her black dress, and I fight to keep my eyes on her face.

“Well, I’m not exactly one of the other staff,” I say, glancing at the cleaning and kitchen and gardening crews laughing with each other out on the lawn. “And I… I clearly don’t belong with you and Salome.”

“Oh,” Hyerim says, her mouth forming a little ‘o’ as she says so. “Well. What makes you say that?”

It’s a subtle thing, but I hear the gloat underlying those words.

“I’ve just been thinking of my place recently,” I say, demurring my eyes to the side. “And I realised that I am a guest here, after all. I’m here to make art, to help you as you see fit.”

“I like that attitude,” she says, nodding to herself.

I resist the urge to kick her teeth in. It would, among other things, spoil her pretty face.

“I’m sorry about the house,” I say, instead. “Let’s hope the fire doesn’t do too much damage.”

“It’s no big deal,” she says. “I was told that it was a false alarm. Somebody made a mistake, set it off, now there’s going to be a ton of water damage. But no fire. An expensive lesson to learn, but sometimes, that’s necessary.”

Hyerim smiles at me. The true intentions of her words are not lost on me.

“Well, then I’m sorry about the water damage,” I say.

“It’s all insured,” she says, still seemingly unconcerned. “It’ll be a few days before we get the final numbers, but I suspect we might have made money today. We Najbreits have a way of always winning at the end of the day.”

“That’s why I’m so glad to be able to help you,” I say. “It’s good to be on the winning team.”

“You’ve got a good head on your shoulders,” Hyerim smiles. “Now, if you really want to make yourself helpful… come by my suite tomorrow night. I have something to show you.”

She offers me a hand. I take it, and she helps me up to my feet.