A Bone to Pick (Widow's Island Novella Book 2)

by Melinda Leigh

  “We’re going to drive back to your house,” Cate continued. “We’ll meet up with Kurt there.”

  “Thanks, Cate.” Tessa climbed into her vehicle, turned it around, and headed away from the fire. As she drove, she put Cate on speaker and filled her in on the fire and Pam Rhodes.

  “Why Pam?” Cate asked.

  “I don’t know yet.” Tessa would worry about the whys and hows after her mother was safe.

  “If you want help interrogating her, I’m in.” Anger sharpened Cate’s voice.

  “I appreciate that.” Tessa ended the call. Then she made the loop around the forest and slowed her SUV. The rain intensified, obscuring her view of the woods. She turned on her high beams and crawled along the shoulder of the road, looking for the opening to the trail.

  Her mother had to be out here.

  Somewhere.

  Logan jogged down the trail. He could move faster, but he didn’t want to miss any signs that Tessa’s mother could have wandered off the trail. He stopped every twenty-five yards, scanned the ground with his flashlight, and listened, trying to sort out forest sounds from the honk and squawk of fire trucks in the distance.

  Gradually, the sound of the rain falling through the foliage became louder than the sirens.

  He swept the flashlight back and forth across the trail. He didn’t want to emerge at the other end of the trail without Tessa’s mother.

  Branches rustled in front of him. He pointed his flashlight toward the sound. Five tiny deer bounded away from him, their black tails bobbing with each stride. Disappointment surged through him. If she wasn’t on this trail, if she hadn’t gone to find her portrait, she could be anywhere within a three-mile radius.

  The wind moaned through the trees.

  Wait.

  Logan tilted his head, his ears straining. The sound was not the wind. It was a person.

  “Mrs. Flagg?” he called.

  The moan grew louder. Logan followed it around a bend in the trail. Tessa’s mother lay on her side, huddled in a ball. At the sight of her, lying completely still, alarm spiked through him.

  Please be all right.

  Logan approached her as slowly as if she were one of the wild island deer. “Mrs. Flagg?”

  She didn’t react.

  “Bonnie?” he tried her first name. “I’m here to help you.”

  Nothing.

  Logan knelt beside her. Holding his breath, he pressed two fingers to the side of her neck. Her pulse thumped weakly against his fingertips. Relief flooded him.

  He pulled out his cell phone and called Tessa. “I found her. I’ll have her at the trailhead in ten minutes.”

  “Is she all right?” Fear tightened Tessa’s voice.

  Shining his flashlight on her, Logan assessed her condition. The toe of her boot was caught under an exposed tree root. A thin line of blood trickled down her temple. Logan ran a hand over her head and found a sticky spot behind her ear. A rock lay on the ground near her.

  He didn’t want to tell Tessa how bad her mother looked, but lying to her would do more harm in the long run. If her mother . . .

  No. He wasn’t going there. Not yet.

  “She’s unconscious.” He stuck to the facts. “It looks like she tripped and hit her head.”

  Logan splayed his hand at the base of her throat. The skin of Bonnie’s neck was far too cold. All she wore was a wool coat unbuttoned over a thin cotton nightgown. The skin of her face and neck was white, her lips tinged with blue.

  “Hypothermia is a strong possibility as well,” he added. Pale and still, Bonnie looked fragile. “I can’t tell if she’s broken any bones.”

  “Where are you?” Tessa asked.

  “About a half mile from the road.” He looked down the trail. It was narrow, barely wide enough for a bike to pass. “I’ll carry her out.”

  “I’ll call Henry and have him meet us at his office.”

  Logan freed Bonnie’s boot from under the root. “Call the ferry terminal too. The boat should be back by now. Tell them to get ready for an emergency run.”

  The ferry would be in its pen, waiting for the morning run, and available for emergency medical transport to the mainland.

  “I have to hang up now. I’ll meet you in ten minutes.” Logan stuffed the phone into his pocket, opened the backpack, and found the Mylar emergency blanket. He tucked it under Bonnie’s coat as best he could. Then he buttoned the coat. He removed his own jacket and wrapped that around her too.

  Logan slipped the flashlight into his pocket. He couldn’t carry her and simultaneously light the way. He slid his arms under her body and picked her up, cradling her close to his body.

  Between the heavy cloud cover and thick canopy overhead, the trail was dark. Logan couldn’t run for fear of tripping. A second head injury would not help Bonnie. Moving as quickly as he dared, he made his way up the trail. Ten minutes later, he emerged at the road.

  A set of headlights approached. The vehicle slowed and stopped in front of him.

  Tessa.

  She jumped out of the car. Tears and rain streamed down her soot-streaked face. Logan walked toward the SUV, and Tessa opened the rear door.

  He gently deposited her mother onto the back seat. “Why don’t you sit back here with her and let me drive.”

  Tessa climbed in beside her mother and closed the door.

  Logan slid behind the wheel. He cranked up the heat and turned the vehicle around. “Did you get Henry on the phone?”

  “Yes,” Tessa said from the back seat. “The plan is for him to stabilize her before we get on the ferry. He’ll come with us.”

  Logan glanced in the rearview mirror. Bonnie hadn’t moved. He drove to Henry’s office and carried her inside.

  Henry assessed her, covered her with warm blankets, and started a heated IV. “Her vital signs are surprisingly good.”

  Bonnie stirred as he checked her pupils. Relief flooded Logan as she opened her eyes and murmured, “What happened? Where am I?”

  10

  The next day, Tessa leaned against the ferry railing. Beside her, Logan drank coffee from a cardboard cup. The afternoon sun shone on the water.

  They’d spent the entire night at the hospital on the mainland. Her mother was going to be okay. She was lucky to have only suffered mild hypothermia, a concussion, and a sprained ankle. Tessa shuddered to think how badly she could have been injured.

  She turned, putting her back to the sea and facing Logan. “Thank you for carrying my mother out of the woods. If you hadn’t been there . . .”

  “You’re welcome.” Logan’s eyes met Tessa’s. “But you would have managed. The residents of Widow’s would have come together, just like they did to get the ferry out in record time.”

  It was true. Medical emergencies reminded islanders how isolated they were—and how much they needed each other. The ferry operators had had the big boat ready to go by the time Tessa and Logan had arrived at the terminal with her mother. Henry had gone with them, but he’d returned on an earlier ferry.

  Widow’s Island came into view. The ferry blew its horn. It sounded like home.

  “When is Patience coming home?” Logan asked.

  “She’s staying with Mallory until tomorrow.” Tessa had called her sister from the hospital. She hadn’t wanted her to hear the news from anyone else. Gossip spread faster than the flu on Widow’s Island.

  Logan stretched. Tessa was too tired to think about it right now, but tomorrow, she was going to remember how nicely the muscles of his back shifted under his sweatshirt.

  “Now what?” Logan led the way down to the vehicle level. “You should get some sleep.”

  Tessa climbed into her SUV. She’d slept less than two hours in the past three days. Every inch of her body ached. They stared through the windshield and waited for the boat to dock.

  “I have to question Pam first,” she said.

  “I’ll go with you.”

  “You don’t have to.” Tessa started the engine. “I
know you want to get back to the park, and you have to be exhausted too. You’ve been awake as long as I have.”

  “I want to finish the investigation,” Logan said.

  “Glad to hear it.” Tessa drove off the ferry. “I’m not even going to stop at home to shower or change. If I do, I’ll fall asleep. I apologize if I’m not smelling my freshest.”

  “I spent two weeks in a hundred-and-twenty-degree heat wearing full body armor with no access to a shower. You still smell fresh as a daisy.”

  Her voice softened. “Why did you leave the army? I thought you were career military.”

  Logan sighed. “On my last mission, a suicide bomber blew up a vaccination clinic.” A slight choking sound emanated from his throat. “It was full of women and children.”

  “I’m so sorry.” She couldn’t imagine . . .

  “I came back to the States. When it was time to sign my papers to re-up, I couldn’t do it.” He looked out the window, the conflict clear in his eyes.

  “I’d say you did more than your share,” she said.

  “Anyway. The only thing I wanted was to come home and be alone. The park ranger job seemed perfect.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I expected to be dealing with poachers and pain-in-the-ass teenagers, not murder.”

  “The murder was most unexpected.” Tessa still couldn’t believe it had happened on Widow’s Island.

  “Do you miss Seattle?” he asked.

  “At first I did, but now that I’ve settled in here, I can’t imagine going back to the traffic, the crowds, the fast pace of city life.” She scanned the stunning green vista. “The island feels like home.”

  Logan sighed. “It does.”

  Tessa parked in front of the station. “Let’s get this done so we can both go to sleep.”

  Inside, Pam waited in the holding cell. Cuffed to a pipe, Garcia dozed in a chair. His head rested on the wall behind him. Under the scent of coffee, something smelled delicious.

  Bruce was pouring a large mug of coffee. “I just brewed a fresh pot, and Logan’s grandmother dropped off a pan of cinnamon rolls.”

  “Hallelujah.” Tessa filled her giant travel mug with coffee and shoved half a cinnamon roll into her mouth. The sugar and caffeine might keep her going for another hour.

  “Here’s Garcia’s statement.” Bruce handed Tessa a printed report. She read through it. Garcia hadn’t exactly admitted to breaking and entering the barn, but he had doubled down on his claim that his mother had been scammed out of her life savings by Frank Martin.

  Tessa set the report down and went to the holding cell door. “Come here and turn around,” she said to Pam.

  Pam obeyed. Her anger seemed deflated. Tessa handcuffed her before opening the cell door. She led Pam to a chair next to the second desk. A video camera faced the chair. Tessa began recording. Murder was the most serious of all charges. Despite her exhaustion, Tessa took her time and paid particular attention to following legal procedure. She read Pam her rights and had her sign a form stating that she understood them.

  But Tessa was too damned tired to dance around the charges. “Why did you kill Frank Martin, also known as Dante Moreno?”

  “Everyone thought Dante was such a sweet boy.” Pam’s glare could have cut through the steel bars of the cell. “But he was actually a nasty little weasel.”

  Tessa had no problem believing that, not after reading Nick Garcia’s statement. She waited, letting the silence play out.

  “I wanted my deposit back,” Pam said. “And I wanted him to destroy the painting. That’s all.”

  “Why?”

  “He painted in my fucking C-section scar and the cellulite on my thighs. Who does that?” she spat. “If I’d wanted reality, I would have hired a photographer. My husband spends his time in LA with beautiful young women like Leslie Lamont. I wanted to look hot too, for the last time in my fucking life.”

  “You killed Frank because you didn’t like the painting?”

  Pam grimaced. “No, I killed him because when I told him I wasn’t giving him any more money, he said he’d finish the portrait without me and sell it in the art shop in town.”

  Then Tessa understood. He’d threatened to put Pam out on display if she didn’t pay him. It was blackmail. “You thought the painting was in the studio, and you wanted to destroy it?”

  Pam straightened. “Wasn’t it in the studio?”

  “No,” Tessa said. “It’s here in the evidence locker.”

  Pam’s head dropped. “I can’t fucking win.”

  Logan shifted his weight. “You gave Steve your sleeping pill, didn’t you?”

  Pam didn’t answer.

  “He didn’t hear you leave the house,” Logan continued. “You knew Dante would be at the beach. It was a clear night, and he’d been working on that painting of the beach in the moonlight. Did you drive there or take the boat?”

  Tessa thought about the little runabout tied up at the Rhodeses’ dock. “You took the small boat and used the public dock at the park. That way, no one would see you driving along the road or entering the park.”

  The large fishing boat would be difficult for one person to dock at the state park.

  “I went there to talk to him. I didn’t intend to kill him. All I wanted was for him to destroy the painting, but he was a greedy little bastard. He laughed at me.”

  Logan pressed her. “You took the harpoon from the fishing boat with you, didn’t you?”

  Premeditation. Despite what she’d said, she had intended to kill him when she’d left the boat.

  Pam started to cry.

  Tessa had no pity. Pam had killed a man over her vanity.

  “Get back in there.” Two days later, Tessa squeezed out of the chicken enclosure and shut the door in Killer Hen’s face.

  She could hear Cate laughing from her seat on the porch steps.

  “When does your mom come home?” Cate asked.

  “She’s being released tomorrow.” Tessa walked back to the porch, set down the basket of eggs she’d collected, and sat next to her friend. Cate handed her a beer.

  She took a long pull.

  “Have you found someone to stay with her while you work?” Cate asked.

  “No.” And Tessa was starting to panic about the day-to-day realities of managing her mother. “I’m looking into hiring a home health aide, but frankly, they’re scarce on the island, and my budget won’t cover live-in help. I’m waiting to see what medical insurance will cover.”

  “I might have another option for you.” Cate’s blue eyes brightened.

  “Really?” She latched on to the hope.

  “Actually, I can’t take the credit. It’s my grandmother’s idea,” Cate admitted. “She says the knitting group will handle it. Someone will be here to look after your mother while you’re at work. There are enough members so that it won’t be a burden on any one of them.”

  Tessa’s eyes misted. “I can’t believe it.”

  A smile tugged at Cate’s mouth. “Once the Widow’s Island Knitting and Activist group tackles a problem, it gets solved.”

  “They know how to get shit done.” Tessa threw an arm around her best friend’s neck and hugged her. “I know it’s only a temporary solution, but for now, at least I’ll be able to go to work and know my mom is safe.”

  “What are you going to do about her nighttime wandering?” Cate asked.

  “I’m looking into some options.” Tessa was considering a watch with GPS capabilities, but they were pricey. “For the short term, I bought a hotel room door alarm. I can hang it on her doorknob at night, and it will go off if the door opens.” Tessa didn’t want to think about how much the noise would frighten her mother. But her savings was quickly dwindling. The new Alzheimer’s medication was obscenely expensive and had not been covered by insurance. If only her savings multiplied as quickly as the black-tailed deer of Widow’s Island. But the situation was what it was. Tessa stood and brushed some dirt off her pants.

  “Where are yo
u going?” Cate asked.

  Tessa picked up her basket. “To take your grandmother some fresh eggs and thank her. Are you coming?”

  “Of course.” Cate got to her feet. “Did you ever find out if Dante took money from your mother?”

  Tessa shook her head. “I found no evidence that he did. Her bank accounts are untouched, and we don’t have much cash lying around the house.”

  “Seems weird that a guy who made his living scamming women would do something nice.”

  “According to my mom, she reminded him of his own mother. We located Dante’s—I mean Frank’s—sister. She doesn’t want anything that belonged to her brother. Apparently, he stole their own mother’s money before he left New Jersey. I think the gesture to my mother was an attempt to alleviate his guilt.”

  “Your mother can have her painting.” Cate smiled.

  “Yes.” Tessa welcomed anything that gave her mother a small amount of happiness. There would be precious little of that in her future.

  “What happened to Garcia?” Cate asked.

  “We transferred him to the mainland, and he’s been formally charged with breaking and entering and assaulting an officer.” But considering the circumstances and his lack of priors, Tessa doubted he’d serve any time in jail.

  “I love getting straight confessions,” Cate said.

  “They make wrapping up cases so much neater,” Tessa agreed. “Speaking of wrapping up cases, Sam’s file was delivered from the mainland today. I’ll start reading it tomorrow.”

  “You don’t have to rush. You’ve had a rough few days.”

  “I know, but these past few weeks, with two murder investigations on the island, I can’t stop thinking of Sam,” Tessa said. “Do you think there’s any chance she’s still alive?”

  “I don’t know, but we both know the statistics aren’t in her favor.”

  “No, they aren’t.”

  Cate’s focus shifted to the road. “Someone’s coming.”

  Tessa shielded her eyes and followed her friend’s gaze. An SUV approached. A minute later, Logan’s Range Rover pulled into her driveway. He climbed out.

  “I’ll see you at my grandmother’s house later,” Cate said. Then she hurried to her vehicle, kissing her brother on the cheek as she passed him and leaving Tessa slightly suspicious of her hasty exit.