Someone Else’s Life(55)

“Yes, you are, and I want you out now!” Annie’s voice rose to a feverish pitch.

“No. I’m not going to leave like this. You need to listen to me. I need your help.” Serena gestured out the window. “And look, the flooding is getting worse. I can’t go out in that.”

Her eyes pleaded even as her voice took on a desperate tone. She wrung her hands together and started pacing again, muttering under her breath, “This wasn’t how this was supposed to happen. This wasn’t how it was going to be. What do I do? How can I fix it? I need to fix this.”

Annie stared, fixated, until Serena looked up, the fire in her eyes still burning like embers.

“You stole my house, my life, from me. You can’t kick me out now. You’re the only person who can give me what I need. You have to help me.”

“No, I don’t.” Annie glanced at her phone, but Brody still hadn’t answered.

“Yes, you do.” Serena’s tone changed and she was suddenly pleading. She brought her hands together in front of her, as if praying. “You owe me.”





30


They stared at each other for a moment, and then Annie came to life and grabbed Serena by the upper arm. She pulled her to the front door, but Serena resisted and a tug of war ensued.

“Annie, stop. You have to listen to me,” Serena pleaded as she tried to dig her heels into the ground.

Annie fought with the front door as lightning flashed, and for a moment, she wondered whether she’d somehow entered a horror movie. She finally twisted the knob open. A crack of thunder boomed as she yanked open the door, and then they both stopped, staring out at the storm. The water had definitely risen. It was now up to the underside of the cars in the driveway, and in the backyard, the water was already coming up over the canal, and onto the bottom of the three steep steps that led from the canal up to their backyard. Before Annie could react, Serena tore herself out of Annie’s grip and ran into the Ohana. Marley reacted and sprinted after her as Serena went screaming into the bathroom and slammed the door.

The wind whistled and rain blew into the Ohana, soaking Annie. She quickly shut the door and looked toward where Serena had barricaded herself in the bathroom. Marley stood outside the door, barking at it. Annie couldn’t decide what to do. Should she take Marley and leave now? But did she really want to leave Serena in their home by herself?

Annie’s phone dinged and she looked down.

B: Finally got a signal. What’s going on? Who’s been stalking us? What are you talking about?

A: Serena! She’s been watching us.

B: What? You’re not making sense. Watching us where?

A: In New York! At our lake house. She thinks we stole her house away from her.

B: Wait. What? We stole whose house? Are you okay?

Growling in frustration, Annie dialed Brody’s cell and he picked up immediately.

“Are you okay?” Brody’s voice came through, broken up by static and dead air.

“I’m fine. But the house. Our house. The lake.” The words rushed from Annie as she struggled to make sense. “The people who asked for a third extension. It was her. Her and her fiancé, who left before the wedding.”

“What? Who’s getting married?”

“Oh my god, Brody. Pay attention. Serena.”

“Serena’s getting married?” Brody shouted over the static.

“No! She was. But he left her. She thinks we stole her house.”

“We didn’t steal a house. What’re you talking about?”

“You’re breaking up. I can barely hear you.” Annie was trying not to shout because she didn’t want Serena to know, but it was hard to hear Brody over the roar of the storm and the bad connection. She needed him to understand and to tell her what to do. “She thinks we stole their house. They were the buyers who lost the house when we bid on it.”

There was silence, and when Brody spoke again, Annie knew he’d finally made the connection. “What the fuck? How did she even find us? What’s she doing in Kauai? How did she end up with you?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know what’s going on. You need to come home. Now. She’s barricaded herself in the bathroom and she won’t leave. She says she needs me to understand something.” Annie ran a hand through her hair, which was wet from the brief time she’d had the door open. “Oh, and her baby died.”

“What? What baby?” Brody yelled.

“Just come home! I’ll explain when you get here.” Annie threw a look at the bathroom door, where Marley was sitting still, staring at it and growling. She should have listened to Marley when Serena had first stepped foot in the Ohana. He knew Annie shouldn’t have let her in.

“I’m . . . in the car. But Kuhio Highway . . . not moving. I think . . . tree fell . . . Stuck for . . .” Annie got the gist of what Brody was saying even with the bad connection.

“Oh no. I need you. I don’t know what to do. Marley is guarding the door outside the bathroom.”

“Do you think . . . danger? Should I call . . . police?”

“Yes! I don’t like this. Something’s not right.”

“I don’t like this either.” There was fuzz, and then Brody came in, loud and clear. “I’m calling the cops.”