by Lucy Quinn
Dylan raised his eyebrows at Cookie as a grin covered his face. “Where do we start, boss?”
“Good question.” Cookie looked out over the ocean at the debris that spanned a good quarter mile. She noticed the bits of carnage already washing ashore and took in the enormity of the task at hand. Not only would all the wreckage need to be collected and inspected, they would also have to contact the construction company to determine who and what was on the barge. She’d need help tracking down who had come in contact with the shipping vessel and its contents before it launched. And she’d have to talk to the condominium developer.
Fortunately, Cookie had resources. She pulled out her phone as she asked Dylan, a former Navy SEAL, “Know anyone at the coast guard?”
He answered with a nod and reached for his cell while she called the one man who could and would, reluctantly, help her with this mess.
“O’Neil here. Who’s this?”
“Very funny, Hunter.”
“Now I know why I have a pressure headache. Let me guess. Another homicidal storm at Secret Seal Isle with a large side of Rain?”
Hunter’s deep laugh rang out, and Cookie couldn’t help but smile. She missed her former partner, and it was good to hear his voice without the usual trace of annoyance she’d grown accustomed to since she’d left the FBI. It occurred to her it might be because not only had he moved on from his romantic feelings for her, but he may have found love with the woman she’d heard he was dating. She said, “I don’t know who it is that’s put you in such a good mood, but I can’t wait to meet her.”
“Funny you should say that,” Hunter replied. “I’d like you to meet her too.”
“Wow. So it’s serious?”
Hunter cleared his throat. “Enough about my love life, Charlie. What’s going on?”
Cookie surveyed the scattered fires burning in the harbor. There was no way what happened was an accident. It was unlikely marine fuel would catch fire accidently, and more plausible that whoever blew up the barge didn’t want evidence to be found. It certainly appeared there were enough explosives on board to make sure nobody could have escaped it, and nothing was left intact. Someone very dangerous wanted to make sure that barge and its contents never made it to the island. “That storm you were joking about,” she said, “it’s real.”
Chapter 3
Cookie shoved her phone into her pocket once she ended the call with Hunter. He was going to talk to the marina on the mainland side and see if he could find out who and what was on the barge and the tugboat along with who might have had access to put the explosives on board. But that still left the mess off the coast of Secret Seal Isle to be dealt with. She was having trouble concentrating on her next move though, because she was worried about her mother. June had never hidden the fact she didn’t like Rain, and the deputy sheriff’s bias made Cookie nervous about leaving Rain in June’s care.
She glanced over at Dylan and eavesdropped on his conversation when he chuckled into his phone.
“Sounds good. See you tomorrow,” he said. Cookie raised her eyebrows in question at Dylan as he turned off his phone and added, “My buddy Cade’s making the call to the Coast Guard, and then he’s coming to lend a hand.”
“Perfect,” Cookie said. She imagined Cade would have a few stories of Dylan’s past to share, and she looked forward to hearing them.
Dylan looked out at the water and blew out a long breath. “It is. I’m going to need all the help I can get with this.” Dylan put his hand on Cookie’s shoulder. “Because you have more important things to do right now.” He tilted his head toward the road. “Go get Rain and her friends out of jail. The coast guard is on its way, and I’ll call if we need you.”
Cookie stepped close to the man who she’d fallen madly in love with and smiled up at him in amazement. She loved that they’d become so close he knew exactly what she needed without having to ask. Just like a good partner. And he was a great one. As an investigator and as a boyfriend. She lifted up onto her toes and put her hands on his shoulders as she asked, “What would I do without you?”
“You’d handle this situation like the pro you are. But luckily for both of us, you don’t have to do it alone ever again.” Dylan leaned down and kissed Cookie just long enough for her to feel his love but not long enough for either of them to forget what they were doing.
“Thanks,” Cookie said, and she left the pier confident Dylan would get the job done. However, she was not confident June would, and she walked briskly to the sheriff’s department to make sure the Pussycat Posse were being treated fairly.
Cookie was headed up the walk to the station when the door opened and out walked the Posse, with her best friend Scarlett, who was an accomplished lawyer, pulling up the rear.
“That was so disappointing,” Winter groused.
“I know.” Cari raised her hands and showed them to Cookie. “No fingerprints. No mug shots.” She let out a heavy sigh. “I was so looking forward to seeing my face on mugshots dot com.”
“Those pictures make the best holiday gifts,” Winter said, and she chuckled. “All my friends love their mug with my mug on it.”
Cookie snorted out laughter before she caught herself.
Blake said, “We may not have been booked but that woman is steaming mad. She’s not done with us.”
“What did she say?” Cookie asked.
“A bunch of nonsense,” Scarlett said. “Rain insisted on calling me to act as counsel, and I’m glad she did. June wanted to keep all of them overnight, and she wasn’t happy when I informed her my clients had answered all reasonable questions and we were leaving.”
Cari put her fingers on her forehead and said, “You know that little vein right here? Hers bulged and pulsed like it was going to explode any minute.”
“She melted down, Cookie.” Rain shuddered and added, “That woman has anger issues.”
“There, there,” Hale said as he tucked Rain into his chest. “I know just the thing to soothe your frazzled nerves.”
Rain’s eyes lit up. “You got the Maui Wowie?”
He nodded.
“Par-tay at the love shack, guys!” Rain cried out, and she began to walk back to the inn with a bounce in her step. Rain was a lot of things, not all good, but one of her best qualities was her resilience.
Maui Wowie, Cookie had learned recently, was a strain of marijuana from the eighties that Rain had been trying to track down since pot became legal in the state of Maine. While partaking of the herb wasn’t on Cookie’s list of preferred activities, she wasn’t about to give the five adults who’d strapped themselves to a pier, witnessed a devastating explosion, and then were restrained and corralled into the sheriff’s office for questioning a hard time for their recreational choices. Instead, Cookie linked arms with Scarlett. “Want to check out the explosion?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
There was another reason Cookie wanted to get alone time with Scarlett. Chances were good Hunter would come to the island for this investigation, and she didn’t want things to be awkward for Scarlett. Hunter and Scarlett had gone out a time or two, and while distance had kept things from progressing, Cookie feared Scarlett still carried a torch for Agent O’Neil. Like any good friend, Cookie felt giving Scarlett a heads-up that Hunter was involved with someone else would be the kind thing to do.
As they approached the pier, Scarlett slowed down to survey the situation. Two Coast Guard boats were already on the scene, and Dylan was on the shore talking to three men in scuba gear. A woman dressed in Coast Guard blues was rolling out crime scene tape. Scarlett let out a low whistle. “Holy Cow. That boat was turned into confetti. It’s going to be one involved investigation.”
“It sure is. I’ve already called Hunter,” Cookie said.
“Oh?” Scarlett asked as she looked down, suddenly interested in her manicure. “How is he?”
Cookie’s heart sank because her beautiful friend’s ego was definitely bruised. But Cookie knew she’
d want Scarlett to tell her the truth in this situation, so she forged ahead. “He’s doing well. In both his business and personal life.”
“Good for him.”
Cookie put a hand on her friend’s arm.
Scarlett gave her a sad smile. “I’m okay. He’s too bossy for me, anyway.”
Cookie chuckled. “He is.”
“Besides, I don’t need a man. I’ve got plenty of friends in my life to make me feel loved.”
Cookie pulled Scarlett into a hug. “That you do, my friend.”
Satisfied that Scarlett was okay, Cookie began to run her mental checklist. The item at the top was to contact the medical examiner and see if they could grab prints and ID the owner of the finger she still had in her pocket.
She pulled out her phone to make the call, and Jared Delgado picked up on the second ring.
“I was just thinking about you,” he said.
“Is that Cookie?” called out a woman Cookie assumed was Jared’s girlfriend, Frankie, who also worked part-time at the lab. “I want to hear what she says when you tell her.”
“I’m putting you on speaker phone,” Jared said, and Cookie heard fumbling that made her think he dropped his cell before he added, “So. You know Frankie and I’ve been dating for a while, and I’m still not sure why she—”
“We’re getting married!” Frankie cried out, apparently too excited to wait for Jared’s long-winded explanation.
“Oh, wow! Congratulations!” Cookie glanced at Scarlett, who had raised her eyebrows in question. “Jared and Frankie are getting married.”
A smile covered Scarlett’s face. “That’s fantastic news.” She leaned toward Cookie’s phone. “Congratulations you two!”
“We don’t have a date set,” Jared said.
“But you’re most definitely invited,” Frankie called.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Cookie sighed with happiness for the couple. “This is so exciting.”
“Thanks. I still can’t believe it myself.” Jared’s tone got serious when he changed gears. “Got another murder?”
“We had a barge blow up off the pier on the island today.”
“Oh no!” Jared gasped out. “Are we talking multiple bodies?”
“Not exactly. So far, I only have a finger. But the Coast Guard is combing the area, and we’ll find out soon enough if there are more. Right now, though, I was hoping you could come get what we have and run the prints on the finger for an ID.”
“I’m on the next ferry,” Jared said.
“Thanks. I appreciate it. See you soon.” Cookie turned her phone off with a click, and Scarlett’s started ringing.
The blonde frowned as she glanced at the caller ID and then picked up the call. “Rain. What’s going on?” Scarlett paused to listen, and her expression turned notably stern. “Do not let them touch a thing until I get there.”
“June?” Cookie asked as Scarlett began to walk briskly.
Scarlett nodded. “She’s got a search warrant. And we both know that won’t be good.”
Cookie’s brow knit with concern because Scarlett was right. One never knew what might turn up when it came to Rain. Cookie just hoped that whatever June found, they’d all be able to weather the storm.
Chapter 4
Cookie and Scarlett beat feet to the inn. When they got there, they found June strutting back and forth on the porch like a peacock, talking on her phone as Zeke and Ned flanked the door.
“I guess Rain wasn’t feeling too neighborly,” Scarlett said to Cookie before she climbed the steps and nodded to the deputies. “Gentlemen. May I see the warrant?”
June approached them. “I’ll call you back,” she said into the phone then trained her gaze on Cookie. “No fancy lawyer’s going to help your mother when I’m done.”
Cookie stared the woman down. “You can’t seriously believe Rain had anything to do with the explosion?”
“Why not? She and her friends had front row seats,” June said. “Arsonists love that sort of thing.”
Cookie glanced at Scarlett.
Her friend held up the warrant and said, “It’s legit.”
Gritting her teeth, Cookie placed her hand on the doorknob to let them inside. They stepped into the foyer and were engulfed with the familiar smell of air freshener. Cookie almost kissed Scarlett on the lips when she realized her friend had given Rain the time she needed to clean up the Maui Wowie celebration, allowing for one less complication surrounding her mother. Even though the state had legalized marijuana, stores had yet to open, and the last thing Rain needed was Loon asking questions about where the pot had come from.
Hale stood next to Rain, and she held onto his hand as if she were a child afraid to ride the school bus for the first time. He straightened his shoulders and mustered what Cookie knew to be false confidence and said, “You’re wasting your time. My Rain here hasn’t got a thing to hide.”
“Well,” Rain interjected. “There’s that rather embarrassing battery operated—”
Scarlett interrupted her. “My clients are instructed to speak only when I say so. Got it?”
Rain pursed her lips and gave Ned a sideways glance. “Excited to go through my underwear?”
“Seriously, Mom?” Cookie asked. “What did Scarlett just say?”
Rain let out a huff and opened her mouth before she thought better of speaking and shut it again. She repeated the actions more than once, making her resemble a fish gasping for air.
Cookie glanced around as June instructed Zeke and Ned to start in the kitchen. She noticed a vase was overturned and that a framed picture was askew, and she wondered if her mother had rushed around clearing out her stash of pot. She assumed Rain had given it to Blake, Winter, and Cari for safekeeping, considering the rest of the Posse, who should have been here celebrating with Rain, were absent.
“Cookie,” Rain said in a small voice as she wrung her hands.
Cookie walked over to her mother and put an arm around her shoulders. “It’s going to be okay, Mom.”
“No. It’s not!” Rain cried. “They’re going to put me in the slammer. I just know it.” She squinted at June, who was tossing the contents of a utensil drawer onto the counter with a clash of metal, and Rain whispered, “That woman is going to plant evidence. She’s out to get me, Cookie. Just look at that evil aura of black surrounding her head.”
Cookie chuckled. “I thought only Winter could see auras.”
“Well. I don’t have to see it to know she’s got one that’s cold and black and ugly.”
June opened a cabinet that had spices in it and turned to glare at Rain as she stuck a hand inside it and swiped her arm out with force, effectively smashing the contents onto the floor. A few containers were glass jars that shattered, spewing seeds and powdered herbs everywhere. “Oops. Tsk, tsk. That’s going to be quite the mess to clean, isn’t it?”
Rain inhaled deeply through her nose as Cookie and Hale gripped her arms tightly.
Scarlett whispered, “Don’t react. She’s only trying to get a rise out of you.”
“That’s right, honey,” Hale said, pulling her in close with a sideways hug. “Be the strong woman I fell in love with.”
Rain turned her head and looked up at him adorningly. “You’re my entire heart and soul. You know that, right?”
“Of course, love.” He patted her arm.
“Will you write to me when Looney Bin over there snaps and I end up in the slammer? I won’t be able to survive without some serious sexting, old-school style with pen and paper. Polaroid’s would help. You better practice taking art shots of your junk. I’m going to need visuals to keep my motor running if you know what I mean.”
“I do. Don’t worry. If it comes to that, I’ll keep you stocked with pictures of my love stick,” Hale said, tightening his hold on her.
Cookie squeezed her eyes shut as Scarlett snickered behind them. Had Hale actually called his junk his love stick? Of course he had. A slight case of nausea hit C
ookie as she tried to force the visual from her mind. When she opened them, she found the deputy glaring at them, her lips twisted in disgust.
“Your mother is depraved,” June Loon said to Cookie. “I’m actually shocked she’s managed to keep herself out of jail this long.”
Anger flared to life in Cookie’s gut. “My mother is an upstanding citizen.” Mostly, she thought to herself. “I know you have a job to do, but if you keep trashing our inn and harassing my mother, you’re going to have a lawsuit on your hands.”
June’s face turned a dark shade of maroon, and she looked as if steam was going to blow right out of the top of her head. Cookie wished she could stuff her words back down her throat. Her mother was already in a precarious position. She didn’t need Cookie stepping in and making things worse. But she couldn’t help it. The woman was insulting her mother and trashing the inn. Cookie wouldn’t stand for it.
Cookie sucked in a deep breath. “I’d appreciate it, Deputy Loon, if you’d just continue with the search. We’ll stay out of your hair if you’ll try to respect our property.”
June glanced at the broken spice bottles on the floor, shrugged, and held her hands out, palms-up. “Oops. That was just an accident. Sorry.” But the woman’s tone of voice indicated she was anything but apologetic. After giving Cookie a tight smile, the deputy pushed past her and stormed toward the door to the dining room. “Stay out of my way or I’ll have you all arrested for obstruction.”
“You can’t arrest Cookie. Who will run your investigation for you?” Rain called after her.
June paused, apparently contemplating Rain’s question. But instead of answering, she pushed the door open and disappeared into the next room.
Everyone was silent for a moment. Then Dylan leaned toward Cookie and said, “Rain’s right. She wouldn’t arrest you. Then she’d have to find someone to do her job, and we both know it’s far too complicated for her.”
“Probably not,” Cookie agreed. “But she’d take Mom, Scarlett, and Hale in a heartbeat. The petty, power hungry—”