The ringing in my ears had become a roar. I blinked in confusion at the man standing in the doorway. “Alex?” I had to say it. Get it in the light. “Poisoned.”
Then I fell forward into his arms.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
I became aware of the beeping sound first. Fighting through the grogginess, I forced my eyes open. My stomach felt like someone had stomped all over it with lead shoes and my throat was on fire. Turning my stiff neck, I surveyed my surroundings. Tubes and wires were connected to me everywhere. But, I managed a smile. I was alive.
“Hi,” I croaked.
Devon jumped out of the chair and fell onto the bed beside me. His eyes were shot through with red veins and glistening with unshed tears. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”
“What happened?” I forced the words past the fire in my throat.
He poured me a glass of water and maneuvered the bed so I could sit up to sip it. “You solved the case, and it almost bloody well killed ya. Do you remember anything?”
I searched through my foggy memories.
I had woken up sick as a dog. The cold bathroom floor. The vomiting. The knocking. The struggle to answer the door. Angel. Alex. I glanced at Devon. “Alex?”
He nodded. “He got you to the hospital in time. You told him you’d been poisoned. If you hadn’t figured that out, you might not be here now. The doctors were able to work fast with that information to save your life. When Alex called me, and told me what you’d said, we knew it had to be the same poison used to kill Leo ... oleander made into a diffused tea. And the same person.”
I tipped my head so I could see the foot of the bed. Angel was there, stretched out and looking very pleased with herself. She’d tried to warn me. If only she could speak. I would’ve been able to understand she was trying to tell me not to drink the tea. I silently thanked her.
Turning my attention back to Devon, I said, “Sunny Spillman. I didn’t realize it was her until it was too late. I remembered the plastic dog bowl in her sink right before I passed out. There were two tiny ceramic bowls on the kitchen floor so the plastic bowl wasn’t Leona’s.”
Devon squeezed my hand between his and nodded. “Leo had been paid to destroy the glass statue, but by Sunny, not Eva. Sunny was the one who’d confronted Talia about the statue in the first place, remember? When Talia didn’t remove it, Sunny took it personally. In her mind, it had escalated into a feud.”
“A feud? That’ll be news to Talia.” I would’ve laughed if it all wasn’t so tragic. “So Diggs died because Sunny thought Talia was defying her personally? Way to make it all about you, Sunny.” I winced as my stomach tightened and ached with the rush of anger. “People like her shouldn’t have any power. Not even being on the board of an HOA.”
Devon gently smoothed the hair off my forehead and then stroked my arm. “Agreed. And we were right. Snatching Ginger wasn’t part of the plan. It was a crime of opportunity. Leo took Ginger to Sunny’s house that night, not Eva’s like we’d thought. The police found Ginger’s fur and saliva in Sunny’s boathouse, where they’d kept her.”
I recalled standing in Sunny’s livingroom, staring out the window at that boathouse. If only we’d known Ginger was in there. At least she was home now.
I was relaxing under Devon’s touch. “So why poison Leo?”
“Because Sunny got spooked. She wasn’t sure she could trust Leo to keep his mouth shut about it bein’ her idea to destroy the statue. Plus she figured if Leo died in possession of Ginger, the police wouldn’t look into it any further and would close the case.”
“So, she poisonened Leo and made it look like he was trying to leave Moon Key with Ginger?
Devon nodded and entwined our fingers. His expression darkened. “And she poisoned you because of some conversation you’d had with her at the HOA Christmas party. Apparently she got the idea that you suspected she was involved.”
I recalled my conversation with Sunny that night and cringed inwardly.
“She had asked me about a private lesson, right after I’d mentioned something about a board member being an accessory to murder, if they were involved in destroying the statue.”
Note to self, bluffing is not a good idea. Especially when you don’t know you’re talking to a cold-blooded killer disguised as a dainty southern belle.
I shifted my sore body in the bed. Trying to put these pieces together was taxing my brain. “What about the boat? Was Georgy in on it, too?”
“He wasn’t. Leo still lived at home and had access to his father’s boat. Georgy is pretty devastated.”
I did feel bad for him. I couldn’t imagine losing a child. “And what about Sunny’s boyfriend, Valentino? Did he know what she’d done?”
Devon shook his head. “Salma has interviewed him and doesn’t think he knew. He seemed pretty shaken up.”
I nodded, letting my eyes drift closed. Then I forced them open. “Oh, what about Alex? Why was he at the house?”
Devon smiled, which confused me because any mention of Alex would usually elicit a stormy expression.
“He dropped by because he wanted to let us know he’d thought about what you’d said and decided you were right. He doesn’t want to be a coward. He’s going to tell the police that his original statement stands, and he’ll testify to the conversation in the bar that night. He actually apologized to me.” He squeezed my hands. “You did that. There are no words, Elle. You’ve given me a bloody miracle. Between Alex’s testimony and the GPS information we’ve found on that second boat used, we can nail those bastards.”
I blinked, trying to see through the blur of happy tears. A miracle indeed. “Merry Christmas,” I whispered.
Devon’s eyes lit up. “Speaking of. You better get well quickly because your Christmas present won’t open itself.”
***
The following day there was a parade of visitors through my hospital room.
Lulu was happier than I’d ever seen her. Her face glowed as she told me how good it felt to be cooking again and how the law firm believed they could beat the lawsuit. She’d even placed my hand on her belly to feel the baby move. She was really getting excited about their future.
Hope was helping Beth Anne plan a huge baby shower for Lulu, months in advance, so I could only imagine how over-the-top it was going to be. I even got a visit from Talia in disguise, who’d made me promise we’d try another doga lesson with Ginger as soon as I felt up to it.
Angel disappeared after that first night. I dreamed of her, though. We were running on the beach, her nipping at my heels, until I fell and she covered my face with kisses. It felt so real. I woke up once and the scent of her damp fur still lingered in the air.
I had plenty of time to wonder how my life had become filled with all these magical women, one amazing guy and two dogs, whom I missed greatly. Gratitude seemed like too small a word.
***
I was discharged on Christmas Eve, which was also the evening of the boat parade. Devon and I skipped the parties we’d been invited to and instead planted two lawn chairs in the sand. Sharing a blanket under the stars, we talked and laughed as we waited for the decorated boats to make their appearance.
The dogs were stretched out happily at our feet. Actually, Buddha was lying directly on my feet, apparently letting me know I wasn’t going anywhere without him again.
Devon pulled an envelope out of his jacket pocket and held it for a moment. Then he looked at me, his expression a mixture of excitement and apprehension. “I’m going to give you this. It’s your Christmas present, but I also want to give you the option not to accept it. You won’t hurt my feelings.”
I pushed my hair out of my eyes, letting the breeze blow it back from my face. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I accept it?” My heart skipped a beat. “Is it a trip?” I didn’t think I was ready to take a trip yet. I was still working on my anxiety. Oh no, what if it’s a plane ticket?
“Because.” He licked his lips and took my hand un
der the blanket. His eyes held mine. “Because this is information on ... well, I found your da, Elle. That’s the secret case I’ve been working on these past few weeks.”
I let my gaze drop from his face to the envelope in his hand. A mixture of fear, disbelief and curiosity welled up and froze my thoughts. Do I want to meet my father? The decision was much easier when that wasn’t an option.
“Say something,” Devon whispered. “Are you upset with me?”
I got my mouth to work. “No, of course not. It’s an amazingly thoughtful gesture. I’m just ... unsure. I’m still really angry with him. No, maybe angry isn’t the right word. From what little my mom has told me about him, I’m not sure he’s worth getting to know. And he obviously didn’t want anything to do with me. I don’t think I could take the rejection.”
But, I found myself reaching for the envelope anyway. I held it, still sealed, as the first boat rounded the island and came into sight. It was a yacht outlined in gold twinkling lights; three animated reindeer were planted up front and a giant blow-up Santa sat on top.
“And it begins.” I rested my cheek on Devon’s shoulder.
Petey and Buddha suddenly stood up, ears alert. They were staring behind us, toward the bungalow.
I turned in my chair to see what had caught their attention and smiled.
Hope and Ira were making their way through the sand, beach chairs slung over their shoulders. The bungalow’s Christmas lights were flashing now, in sync with the rest of Moon Key’s lights and with the music being pumped over high watt speakers from the guest dock.
I remembered taking the boat tour with Hope and her dad back in tenth grade. It was one of my fondest memories. And now, here I was, on the other side of the poverty line. Life was strange.
“Hello!” Hope called, waving.
As they got closer, I noticed a small figure trotting along behind them.
“We’re not intruding, are we?” she asked, eyeing our cozy blanket set-up.
“Not at all. Who’s this?” I leaned over to pet the wiry-looking brown dog with bat ears. He sat down, his head low while Buddha and Petey sniffed him over like two Hoover vacuums. “Oh, he only has one eye. Poor baby,” I said.
“This is Jack,” Hope said, unfolding her chair and situating it in the sand next to mine. “As in one-eyed Jack.”
Ira shook Devon’s hand and then placed his chair on the other side of Hope’s. “We decided that, while no dog could ever replace Jelly-Belly, we were ready to give another dog a chance at a better life. So, we went to the shelter today and said, give us your most un-adoptable dog. And they brought out this guy.”
“Not the cutest dog in the world, but isn’t he sweet?” Hope cooed.
“He really is.” I stroked his large bat-ears. He perked up. “And such a good boy,” I whispered to him. “Well, congratulations on your new baby. I thought you guys were going to Beth Anne’s party?”
“We were but we didn’t want to leave Jack alone the first night in his new home,” Ira said. “You sure you guys don’t mind us crashing your private party?”
“Not at all.” Devon squeezed my leg affectionately under the blanket.
“Oh, look at that sailboat!” Hope pointed excitedly and clapped, just like she had when we were growing up. “It looks like a floating Christmas tree. Now that was a lot of work.”
As the dogs coaxed Jack into a game of chase on the beach, we watched the parade of boats float by under a quarter-moon. My foot tapped to the beat of music and I sighed in contentment. This was pure Christmas magic.
When the tour boats came, they turned the tide on us, and Moon Key was suddenly the spectacle, with air-horns being blown to show their appreciation. We could also hear the distant whistling and clapping floating on the evening breeze.
I decided I would just enjoy this moment, this night, and not make a decision yet about whether I wanted to meet my father.
Tomorrow was my first Christmas with Devon, and I wasn’t going to let anything interfere with our happiness. I breathed in the chilled, salty air. A shooting star streaked across the dark sky. I made a wish. I wished that I could freeze time and stay as happy as I was at this moment. A girl can dream, can’t she?
***
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Dog Gone Page 19