The Guest List [https://cdn.midjourney.com/df8d0af3-918c-477c-b60a-7daa7bdebd76/0_3.webp]

While Kennedy talked on her phone in the airport parking lot, David threw their suitcases into the cab of the truck. She kept her hand cupped over her phone to keep her voice from carrying. The people in the airport parking garage didn’t need to know their business. The comment the Wolf, Ansel, had made about his people being everywhere lingered with her and made her skin itch. What if they were here right now, watching her with their damn technology?

Kennedy hissed, “No, Mom. I do not think that is a good idea. You and Nan should not drive at night.” With her free hand, she jerked the truck’s door open. “Explain to me exactly what you think you two old bats will be able to do if some lunatic decides to burn Nan’s house down.”

Her mother’s voice ramped up a notch. “Whatever I have to do. Don’t underestimate me Kendie. I’ve survived the last six weeks with your Nan and we haven’t killed each other yet.”

“Wait just one night. Come on, please. I don’t even know if the hospital will let us in to see Mr. Bob tonight.”

David leaned over as he drug his seatbelt across his chest. “Hi, Mom.”

“Is that David?”

“Yes.”

“Give him your phone.” Reluctantly, Kennedy handed it over. David beamed a smile in her direction.

*

The hospital was too cold, and the dry air tasted weird and metallic. David followed Kennedy like a shadow as they hunted for Mr. Bob’s room number. The woman downstairs at the information desk had sent them to the fifth floor. She’d told Kennedy to talk to the nurse before she approached the room. There were cops stationed by Mr. Bob’s door, so his room was easy to find. They needed to be cleared by the nurses before they could visit him. Why were police officers in front of his door? No one in their right mind could think that Mr. Bob would burn down her mother’s house.

Kennedy drummed her fingertips on the nurses’ desk, ready to talk her way into visiting. The woman across from her had little flying pigs all over her scrubs. “I’m here to see Mr. Bob. He is here because of the fire at my mother’s house.”

“So, you are a neighbor?” The woman’s eyes were a flat olive brown, and the way she was frowning made Kennedy think she had seen some bad things in her time at the hospital. Lips pursed, the nurse flipped to the list of names that were his approved visitors. Her eyes widened when Kennedy’s name was there on the list.

“We are like family. I should be on his emergency contact list.”

“Since you aren’t his daughter, I don’t see why you would be.” Her lips pursed and then flattened into a thin line. “Kennedy Bliss, you said?”

“Yes, Mam. Kennedy Bliss, right there. My name is on the second line.” She dug her driver’s license out of her wallet and placed the card on the desk, right in front of the woman. “It’s me. Now explain to me why there are cops. This is the ICU, right?”

“That is something the officers will have to explain to you if they decide to disclose information.” She handed Kennedy back her I.D. “Young man, you can sit in the waiting area past those doors. There are no men on this list.”

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David bristled. “I’m going with her.”

“You absolutely are not. She won’t have much time with him as it is. Visiting hours are almost over and the last time I was in his room, he was unconscious. You can waste the time she has if you continue arguing with me.”

David started to argue, but Kennedy raised her hand to stop him and pointed toward the two doors the nurse had gestured toward. “I will tell you everything they say.”

Begrudgingly, he shoved his hands into his pockets and took a step toward the waiting room.

The nurse moved to join her in the hall, walking forward briskly. “I can give you twenty minutes, but that is it. You’ll have to speak with his doctor to find out what is specifically happening beyond the heart attack and the smoke inhalation. There are machines that are helping him get enough oxygen. Touch nothing. If you talk to him while he is unconscious, he might hear and understand you. Keep that in mind when you speak and mind what you say.” She shook her head. “I doubt the officers will let you see him, but you are his first visitor and you are on the list.”

The two cops had an empty chair placed between them, where a hand of cards rested on the dull gray seat.

“Officer’s, may I introduce you to Kennedy Bliss. She is on his list.”

“Mam.” The older cop gave her a curt nod. “I’m glad to see you. We’ve repeatedly been trying to contact your mother, but she hangs up as soon as we inform her we are police officers.”

“Sounds like her.” Kennedy rubbed her arms. “We are private people. I’d like to visit with Mr. Bob.”

“We’d like to ask you a few questions first.” The officer with mahogany skin and a movie star jaw swept the cards from the seat. “Would you mind handing over your id for a moment? We are strictly limiting who enters this room.”

The nurse folded her arms across her chest. “I already told you I checked her information. This seems like a lot of fuss for an arson case.”

The first cop said, “It’s not just arson. I have to admit until this young lady walked up.” Kennedy handed her driver’s license to the second cop. “We were going with the assumption that you were dead.”

“Why on earth would you think I was dead?”

The older officer continued, “We found a body in the rubble. A young girl your age. They are still trying to gather information from the corpse, but there wasn’t much left of her face.”

Kennedy’s knees went to jello, and she locked them back to keep herself from falling. “You think Mr. Bob killed a girl in our basement and then set the house on fire to cover it up? I don’t think he would do that.”

The handsome one said, “We don’t either. On the way to the hospital, he could still speak. He told the EMT’s that he had seen two men with a clipboard in your mother’s backyard the day before, wearing workmen’s clothes. He’d confronted them, but they’d claimed to be from the city, checking on a reported gas leak. Do you know anything about a gas leak?”

“My mother hadn’t been home for weeks. We went to visit her childhood hometown.” Kennedy shifted her weight. “Like on a vacation.”

“And where were you yesterday?” The older cop pulled out a small notebook.

“I got back from Texas today. My friend and I were actors in a small Indy film. The fire brought us back early.”

The handsome cop asked, “How long has it been since you lived on the property?”

“I moved north to my grandmother’s house after I visited the mountain on spring break. Lately, I’ve been helping at a friend’s farm for a few weeks up by the canyon.”

“Do you have people that can confirm that?” The older man scribbled notes down onto the paper.

“I sure as shit do. One is in the waiting room.” Kennedy pointed at the nurse. “She wouldn’t let him come with me.” The second cop, a good fifteen years younger than the other, stood up.

“I’ll go talk to him.” The younger man moved with the confidence of a college athlete that was only a few years past his prime.

“We are going to need you to come down to the station for a few hours.”

“Am I under arrest?”

“No, but this is a serious situation, and we’ve been led to understand that you and your mother don’t always get along.”

“Yeah, well, when you meet her, that will make more sense. She doesn’t really get along with anyone.” She gestured toward the closed door. “Not even Mr. Bob, and he is her best friend. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go see him while he is still breathing. We came here directly from the airport.” She moved past him and cracked the door open. The sound of Mr. Bob’s life support filled the room with a rhythmic whooshing beyond the drawn curtain.

Behind her, the older cop casually said, “There were parts missing.”

Kennedy looked over her shoulder. “From the house?”

“From the body in the basement.”