Gwen stretched and set her book down on the little table next to her ice-cold daiquiri. The thatch umbrella above them was shading them from the sun, but the heat was still intense, almost uncomfortable. Too hot to read, anyway. She was wearing sunglasses, but the light off the white sand was blinding this time of day. The waves were calm today, the water that bright, greenish, almost neon blue that didn’t look real. A breeze blew past once in a while off the water, deliciously cool, but it was infrequent enough that sweat pooled on her exposed stomach. She closed her eyes and adjusted her chaise lounge so that she lay almost prone and started to doze. Annie was already asleep in her chair, sitting upright. It was that kind of day.
It had been almost four years since they’d been arrested. Gwen hadn’t gotten as much time as Annie. In fact, and entirely because of Annie’s testimony, she’d been released fairly quickly, all things considered—less than a year. At the time, Annie had testified that she’d forced her to steal all those cars, and her lawyer had done a fair job of claiming that the rest of her actions had resulted from a kind of Stockholm syndrome. Everyone in the courtroom, including the judge, had been skeptical, but her lack of criminal record had helped sway her conviction and sentencing.
Bill had immediately confessed, partly, Gwen thought, out of spite for Susan, but mostly to reduce his sentence. After a brief, two-week period on the lam, Susan had been caught in San Diego. Presented with her husband’s confession, she’d nevertheless remained tight-lipped and received the maximum penalty.
After a series of delayed appeals, Annie’s sentence had been reduced and her conviction bumped down to accessory, in part because of Bill’s confession. Most of the rest of the evidence to change her sentencing had to deal with the paper and digital trail Bill and Susan had left, which showed them in sole possession of the money from the day it was stolen. Had they not been as greedy as they were, Annie would still be behind bars. Annie’s sentence had been reduced to seven years, with time served, which meant she’d been released six months ago.
Trixie had, in fact, managed to get most of the money. She’d made it seem like Susan had moved it herself before hiding it entirely, and, as Susan wouldn’t confess to anything, let alone something she didn’t do, she received the entire blame. In light of this development, Annie and Gwen agreed that a fifty-fifty split with Trixie was fair, and, in gratitude, Trixie had managed to grow their fortune significantly in the intervening years through smart off-shore investment.
Despite her time in jail, after giving her an official reprimand, Gwen’s employer had kept her on. Gwen preferred to think her former immediate supervisor liked her, but she was probably desperate, and they were short-handed. Her bosses couldn’t discount the whole situation, however, so they bumped her back down to local investigator, which meant a lot of stakeouts on cheating spouses and acting like a secret paparazzi at various events. She’d started with this kind of work as a PI and hated it, but she’d been glad for an actual job. Her employer had kindly transitioned her to the Dallas field office, closer to Annie, and eventually she could visit her nearly every week.
Beyond having something to do to pass the time, her job lent credence to their story: she and Annie didn’t know where the stolen money was or where it had been. Gwen had spied a few police officers and agents tailing her that first year but didn’t do anything about it. Thinking of them watching her watch other people amused her. They also weren’t as good at it as she was. She’d never let herself be seen.
Tom moved closer as well, and eventually, among the three of them—Tom, Gwen, and Trixie—they were able to hire full-time care for Beth. They moved her out of the hospital into her own apartment in Tom’s building, using their legitimate savings, so the police had no reason to investigate how they were paying for it.
Annie held up well behind bars, considering. Because of her education and background, she spent some of her time inside helping other inmates and prison workers with their money and taxes. She taught a few classes on professionalization, making résumés, dressing for interviews, that kind of thing, and seemed relatively interested in her occupation. Annie dealt with the situation as best she could, but occasionally one or both of them would lose it during a visit, terrified by what could happen to her while she was confined.
Three months before her release, Gwen and Trixie took a trip together, ostensibly to Mexico. They rented rooms there and paid some bribes to make it seem as if they’d stayed there the entire time. Instead, they hired a charter flight from Mexico City to Belize, all to cover their tracks. After a lot of driving around, they eventually found a series of remote cays near enough to a larger city for health care and shopping, but isolated enough to stay relatively hidden. They leased two houses on either end of the same cay. Only twenty residences were located on the cay, total, and each had its own section of beach.
They’d come here almost immediately after Annie’s release, waiting just long enough for the police to see that they hadn’t rushed to the cash. Whether anyone would come looking for them some day was another story, but Trixie believed that, with Bill and Susan as the sacrificial lambs, so to speak, no one had much motivation to try.
Beth had been here with them in Belize almost since the beginning. Her nurse was trained and dedicated—they all loved her. She came over from the mainland five days a week, and another lovely nurse spent the other two days there. Beth’s part of the house had a separate entrance that gave her some independence. Eventually, should things continue to go as well as they were now, she might get her own place somewhere nearby.
Gwen startled awake at the sound of a gull, very near. She sat up, resting her weight on her hands, and yawned, yodeling a little. The heat of the day had died down, maybe in part because the breeze had picked up. Annie stirred to life next to her, stretching, and Gwen watched her, delighted as always to see her in a bikini. Her little body was still milky white—she stayed out of the sun almost entirely—but she’d gained some weight since her release. Her curves were coming back, and her ribs and collarbones grew less stark as the weeks passed.
Annie yawned. “Did you say something?”
“No. It was a gull.”
“Mmm.” Annie stretched again, and Gwen stared at her without blinking. Annie must have sensed what she was doing, as she turned to her with a sly grin. “What are you looking at?”
“You.”
“Uh-huh. And do you like what you see?”
“Yes. Very much.”
Annie swatted her with her hat. “None of that, now. We have company coming.”
Gwen glanced at her watch. “Not for another twenty minutes.”
Annie’s cheeks colored, and Gwen took that as an invitation, climbing out of her chair and into Annie’s. They started kissing, and right as Gwen reached for the tie to Annie’s top, they heard an engine approaching.
“Crap,” Annie said.
They both looked toward the water. At the far end of their beach, they had a small dock. Gwen, Annie, and Beth used bikes to get around the island, primarily, but to reach the mainland, they needed easy access to the water. Gwen hadn’t settled on a boat yet, but Trixie had one and used it when she dropped by. Today she was bringing their visitor over from the mainland, and Gwen could see Tom towering above her in the little boat.
“I should go get Beth,” Annie said.
Almost as if they’d summoned her, they heard a shriek from the house behind them, and they both laughed as Beth ran from the porch, across the sand, and toward the dock. Tom and Trixie were waving enthusiastically enough to tilt the boat back and forth, and Gwen and Annie laughed with shared joy.
“I guess I should get off you now,” Gwen said.
“I guess you should.”
Neither of them moved, and Gwen bent back down to kiss her. The others were still far enough away that they were still relatively hidden, and Gwen crushed Annie against her. Eventually Annie drew back, breathing heavily.
“You’re going to get me going, and I won’t be able to do anything about it.”
“Cold shower?” Gwen suggested.
Annie laughed and pushed her shoulder. “Asshole.”
“Okay—how about this? You can spend the rest of today thinking about what I’m going to do to you tonight.”
Annie laughed again. “That doesn’t make it any better.”
Gwen leaned down for one more kiss, and they both froze when someone sighed a few feet away.
“Jeez, guys, get a room,” Beth said.
“Really,” Tom added.
Annie wiggled out from under her and jumped to her feet, rushing into Tom’s arms. He picked her up and swung her around, the two of them giggling like kids. This was Tom’s first visit here, and he already looked the part of a local expat—sandals, shorts, guayabera shirt, and a straw porkpie hat. Annie was hoping to convince him to move down here. Gwen had her doubts that he would go for it at all, or very easily. She’d promised Annie to help convince him this weekend. Maybe she could talk him into opening a business of sorts. He wasn’t the kind to stay idle. Still, Annie’s motivations were good. She wanted her whole family here, real and adopted. Gwen felt the same way.
Beth, for example, was already as close as a real sister. Standing there in Tom’s shadow, she looked like an entirely different person from the one tied up in Bill and Susan’s basement. Once sprung from the hospital, she’d cut all her hair into a pixie, and now that she spent most of her time outside, she hardly seemed related to Annie. Trixie was like the kooky aunt she’d never had. Her clothes and hair had always been outrageous, but here in Belize, that kookiness had taken on an entirely new level of wacko, now with locally made jewelry and clothing. All their neighbors here on the cay loved her. Even Tom was like a second brother to her now—closer in some ways. They’d spent many evenings together coping with Annie’s imprisonment and Beth’s initial transition to home care. She might not have gotten through any of it without him.
Annie, suddenly realizing she was still in the chair, held a hand out for her.
“Come join us, Gwen. We’re thinking of eating at the little restaurant we like so much.”
A prickle of tears made Gwen suddenly grateful for her dark sunglasses, but she blinked them away and levered herself to her feet. Annie’s hand in hers was warm, comforting, and her fingers gave hers a slight squeeze. Annie was staring at her, her expression slightly concerned.
Gwen shook her head. “Just happy.”
Annie smiled, her expression so dazzling that the natural beauty around them faded.
“Me, too.”
The others had walked back toward the boat, and the two of them had to jog to catch up. As Tom gallantly helped all four of them climb in, Gwen realized they’d be able to convince him to come back and stay for good.
Their future, once so dark and uncertain, stretched in front of them with light and hope. Gwen pulled Annie into a deep kiss, and the others whistled and hollered. Gwen ignored them and kept kissing.