by Cate Conte
It took us about fifteen minutes to get there, mostly because the evening crowd wasn’t out in full force yet, but the late-lunch crowd still packed the streets. Moe’s dining room was still pretty empty when we arrived, which was a relief. I didn’t want to have any more conversations about Holly Hawthorne today. We got a seat near the window, overlooking the water, and I was totally looking forward to my food as Ethan and I launched into a working session. We rehashed the weekend, studiously avoiding the fight and its aftermath. We talked about where we could make improvements, what we could do differently, and what had gone really well. I’d reached behind me into my bag to take out my notebook when I realized that one of the only other occupied tables had my old classmate and nemesis seated at it. Debbie Renault.
We spotted each other at the same time. She was with her husband, a former football legend at our high school. Debbie had decided she hated me for life when this same dude had abandoned her at the prom to dance with me. But that had been his idea, not mine. She’d never let it go, even after I’d moved away and he’d married her. She’d been more than happy to be the Realtor representing the people trying to buy my grandpa’s house out from under him earlier in the summer. The depth of people’s silly grudges never ceased to amaze me. Maybe it came from living in the same place all your life and never expanding your horizons.
As for her hubby, like most high school football players, he hadn’t aged well. Where there’d been brawn and muscle before, now there was a layer of fat. He didn’t look as bad as some, but it would only get worse. I thought of how adorable Lucas was and allowed myself a small smile.
Debbie noticed me catch her eye, said something to her husband, and made a beeline over to our table just as the waitress delivered our food. I muttered a curse under my breath.
“What?” Ethan glanced up from his own notebook, where he’d been jotting down notes.
“Nothing. Just keep your head down, for your own good.” I pasted a fake smile on as Debbie swooped over in her four-inch yellow stilettos, coming to a wobbly stop at my side. “Debbie. How are you?”
“Maddie! I’m great, thank you. So good to see you.” She’d turned the saccharine on full blast. Which meant something was coming. I braced myself. “And who is your friend?” She gazed at Ethan with unabashed curiosity and a gleam of nasty in her eyes. I watched her appraising every inch of him.
“This is Ethan Birdsong, my business partner. Ethan, Debbie Renault.” I offered no further description.
Debbie stuck her hand out. “Lovely to meet you,” she said. “I’m a Realtor on the island.” She shoved a card into his hand. “Have you found an apartment or a house yet?”
“Uh, no,” Ethan said, glancing at me with a questioning look in his eyes.
I opened my mouth to respond but before I could she laughed. “Please don’t tell me you’re all living in that old house with all those cats.”
“As a matter of fact, Ethan and I are both staying at my grandfather’s house,” I said coolly.
Her smile faded, replaced by a triumphant gleam. I could only imagine the stories she’d be passing around town about this.
“Well. I’m sure you just haven’t had time to look for a place, right, Ethan? Don’t worry about it. That’s what I’m here for. Please call me.” She winked. “I can hook you up.”
“Uh, thank you,” Ethan said, pocketing the card.
It took all my willpower not to throw my fried scallops at her. But that would’ve been a waste of good food, so I refrained.
When she got nothing further out of Ethan, she turned her attention back to me. “How was your first weekend with your little cats? Eventful, I heard?”
I sighed. Of course she’d want to talk about Holly. “We had a very good opening weekend,” I said.
“Aside from the catfight. Literally. Right?” She giggled at her own joke.
Disgust flooded my body. “That’s pretty tasteless, Deb. Considering what happened to Holly.”
She flushed. “Of course; that was unfortunate. But it was your crazy cat lady who killed her, wasn’t it?”
“I’m sorry, who would the crazy cat lady be?” I stared into her eyes, unflinching.
“Well, Adele of course,” she said with a huff. “Your friend. The one who threatened Holly.”
I stood, closing the height gap between us. She wasn’t that much taller, even with her stupid shoes. “Adele isn’t crazy,” I said. “Nor did she threaten Holly. She wants what’s best for the cats.” Adele didn’t deserve that label. And she certainly didn’t deserve an automatic reputation as a murderer. Unless she did it, that annoying little voice reminded me.
Debbie nodded earnestly, entirely too willing to see my side of things. I was immediately suspicious. “I can see your point. After all, the big question is really Cole Tanner, right? How is your sister holding up? Poor thing. To find out like that.”
I froze. How did Debbie know about Cole? And what did she mean, for my sister to find out like that? Did she mean finding out that he was at Holly’s and calling in her body, or was she confirming there was an ongoing affair? I worked hard to keep my face blank. I would not give this cretin the satisfaction of knowing she was getting to me.
“My sister is fine,” I said. “I’m sure everything will get sorted out and there’ll be a good explanation.”
“Mmm.” Debbie made a noncommittal noise. “I’m sure too. Please tell Val I’m thinking of her.” She squeezed Ethan’s forearm. “So nice to meet you. I have an open condo overlooking the water right in Duck Cove. You should really come see it.” With one last wink and smile, she sashayed back to her husband, who hadn’t looked up from his phone once to see what his wife was doing.
Gritting my teeth, I turned my back on her.
“What was that all about?” Ethan asked.
“Nothing,” I murmured. I wished I could keep my sister out of the gossip mill, but in a place like this that was impossible.
Chapter 20
I dropped Ethan at home with the leftovers, put JJ’s harness on and led him outside. We set back out in Grandpa’s truck. I needed to see my sister and find out what exactly was going on. I was halfway across the island—which would normally take about ten minutes, but in the height of summer it ended up being more like forty—when my cell phone rang. I hit the speaker button and answered, uttering a curse as the guy in front of me jammed on his brakes for the third time in as many seconds. A bike veered through the traffic. Its operator would get wherever he was going a heck of a lot faster than the rest of us.
“Maddie,” my mother said. “Where are you?”
“Mom? What’s wrong? I’m driving.”
“Where are you?” she repeated.
“I was heading to Val’s house, actually,” I said.
“Oh, thank goodness.” My mother sighed. “I was going to ask you to go over and talk to her. She’s completely withdrawn from all of us and I have no idea how to help her. I’ve half a mind to go find that son-in-law of mine and tell him what I really think. Of course that won’t help Val, so I won’t. She won’t answer the phone though, and I’m getting worried. I knew you’d be on it. If anyone can get through to her you can.”
I wasn’t sure why my family thought I had this superpower. I would try, but Val and I weren’t even especially close. I knew it should make me feel good that my family depended on me. And I sort of knew coming back home would put me right back in my ongoing role of Family Fixer, a job I’d accepted early on as both the oldest daughter and someone who naturally liked taking charge. But really, I hadn’t expected there would be so many problems since coming home.
“Not sure what I can do, but I figured I’d at least see how she is,” I said, trying to keep my tone light. “I brought JJ with me. He can help.”
“Maybe,” my mother said doubtfully. “I’m not sure what’s going on, Maddie. She won’t say a word.”
“Then how do you know about Cole?” I asked.
“Grandpa, of course,”
Mom said. “You think he wouldn’t tell me? I’m his daughter.”
“Well, he told me not to discuss it with anyone,” I said.
“I’m sure he means outside of the family.”
“I guess,” I said.
My mother was silent for a beat. “You know, I always kept my opinion to myself,” she said finally. “About Cole. Val’s a big girl with a good head on her shoulders, but I always thought she sold herself short with him.”
“You did?” I knew I wasn’t the only one, but I was glad to hear her finally say it. My parents had put on the happy faces when Val announced she was marrying Cole, but they weren’t stupid. I knew they could see through him.
Val and Cole had started dating when they were in high school. He was two years older than her, which made him a year younger than me, and when they’d first started going out he’d taken her to the prom. And then he’d spent the entire night, except for one or two dances, with every other girl in the room. He’d made a sheepish excuse to Val, saying that his parents expected him to dance with their friends’ daughters. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he took some other girl out to the afterparty because Val had a curfew. Val defended him. I thought it was crap. My mother agreed with me. Val didn’t care what we had to say about it and decided she was in love.
Then, instead of pursuing her own dreams after they got married—Val had always wanted to design clothes—she shelved her plans to move to Boston. No one ever heard for sure that Cole told her to forget working, but I was convinced he had. My mother had brushed those concerns aside.
“I did. I guess I did a better job of hiding it than I’d thought,” my mother said with a chuckle.
“I’m surprised you never said anything to me,” I said.
“It hardly would’ve mattered if I’d told you, Maddie,” my mother said. “I knew you didn’t like him, and I thought if I said anything it would fuel the flames. If Val felt like we were ganging up on her, she might have gotten very distant from the family. We didn’t want that.”
She was right. I’d been silent too, even when I’d noticed upon my return for Grandma’s funeral how unhappy my sister seemed. And it was only two years into the marriage. I’d initially attributed her mood to what was going on in our family, but I’d recognized it was more than a situational unhappiness. Plus Cole had barely been around when Grandma was dying, even though Val could’ve used the support. I’d had more support from Craig, my ex-boyfriend.
“And Dad? Does he feel the same?” I asked.
“You know your father. He rarely says a harsh word about anyone. And he has to be extra careful, since the Tanners are large hospital donors and Mira is on the board. Plus they have such status around the island.”
I made a face. People like the Tanners rely on their status more than anything else, and in cases like this—especially where my family was involved—it aggravated me. “Well, it sounds like their relationship might play itself out,” I said. “I’m guessing that whatever reason Cole had for being at the Hawthorne place, it wasn’t a good one. Grandpa said there may have been a party or something there, but still. Why wouldn’t he have brought Val?”
“A party?”
“Those are my words. I guess the cop gave Grandpa some vague answer about other people being at the house, but they weren’t sure if those people were around when Cole called in the death. Anyway, Mom, I’ll call you when I’ve seen Val, okay? I have to go.”
I disconnected from my mother and told Siri to call Craig. He answered on the fourth ring, sounding distracted. “Tomlin.”
“It’s Maddie.”
“Hey. What’s up?”
“Question. Do you know who was at Holly Hawthorne’s house the night she was found dead? Ellory made a comment to Grandpa about other people being there, but he wasn’t sure if they were there when Cole called in the body. Was it just her sister, or other people like a houseful of crazy partiers?”
A pause. Then, “Do you really think I’m going to answer anything about the investigation? I’m not that much of a rookie.”
I sighed. “Come on, Craig. I’m on my way to see my sister. I know Cole found the body. If they were having a party, it won’t look as bad that he was there, right?” I counted on Craig’s loyalty to my family. He knew how much this would hurt all of us, not just Val. Just like he knew when my grandpa was going through that rough time how much it was killing me to watch. I had no shame in certain situations—this was one of them.
Still, silence from the other end of the phone. But I heard footsteps and then the creaking of a door. Then street sounds. He must be at the station and had gone outside to talk freely.
“I shouldn’t be telling you anything, but it’s not like it’s a secret. Plenty of people saw who was over at the Hawthorne house that night.” He sounded like he was trying to convince himself. “I’m not sure who was there the whole time, but there were enough people at that house to make our lives difficult.”
“Really?” I felt hopeful for the first time. That might make Val feel better, and it might actually explain why Cole was there. Maybe he hadn’t been doing anything bad, and really had just stopped by a party. Even more promising, if there was a houseful of rich people, someone would have had to notice Adele Barrows sticking out like a sore thumb, if she’d been there. So maybe both of them were off the hook. “So this could’ve been just a terrible accident, right? A bunch of drunken people playing stupid games?”
“Maddie. Beer pong is one thing but what the hell kind of game would that have been? Who can swallow a catnip toy whole first? That doesn’t even make sense.”
I sniffed. It wasn’t the best explanation, I had to give him that, but it felt way better than anything else they were thinking. “Maybe you should look at all the guests, then,” I said haughtily. “And not just Cole. Or Adele, who wasn’t even a guest.”
“Thanks for the tip,” he said, unable to hide the sarcasm. “Did you want to pass any helpful job secrets on to Sergeant Ellory too?”
Ellory. Ugh. “No, thanks,” I said.
“Great. I have to go.” And he disconnected.
I made a face at the phone before tossing it back into my cup holder.
Chapter 21
My sister’s house was dark when JJ and I pulled up, but her car was in the driveway. Val lived on the west side of Duck Cove, in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods on the island. I assume Cole’s daddy had bankrolled the place. Not that Cole didn’t earn money for putting in an appearance at his father’s office, but he couldn’t make this much before he hit thirty. Could he?
With a heavy sigh, I dragged myself out of the car and up to the door, JJ tucked under my arm. I hadn’t called first. Not that she was answering the phone, apparently. But she might not even let me in. I rang the bell and waited. Rang it again. Finally, it opened.
My sister peered out at me from the dark hallway. “What are you doing here?” Even in the dark I could see she looked very un-Val-like, wearing a pair of baggy gym shorts and a T-shirt. She looked like she’d lost weight, and she barely weighed anything in the first place. Her reddish-brown hair was pulled back off her face with a headband, and it looked limp. The headband had dragonflies on it.
“I wanted to see how you were. Can I come in?” I picked up JJ’s paw and waved it at her. “JJ wanted to see you too.”
She sighed and swung the door wide to let me in. I stepped into the dark hallway. It felt different in here. The museumlike decor was the same, but there were shoes piled up near the door. A sweatshirt was balled up on the floor. Totally unlike my sister. I toed it out of the way. “Um. So how are you?” I asked.
Val frowned at me. “Great. How are you?” Without waiting for an answer, she turned and walked back into the living room where the giant TV that was as big as my bureau was paused on some show. It looked like Orange Is the New Black. Aside from the still images from the TV, this room too was in complete darkness. I put JJ on the floor, reached over and switched on the light.
“Do you have to do that?” She held a hand up to her face as if she were a vampire.
I could see her red eyes and pale face before she covered them with her hand. “Val. Talk to me.”
“What do you want to talk about?” She flopped onto the couch and crossed her arms over her chest. JJ immediately jumped into her lap and settled in. She gave him a startled look, but didn’t attempt to move him. Instead, she awkwardly petted his head. “Did you come over to ask me stupid questions? Shut off the light. I’m watching something.”
She was worse off than I expected. I had to think. There had to be something I could do to help her. While I thought, I wandered over to the TV. “This is cheery,” I muttered, the irony of the show not escaping me.
Val must’ve realized it too, because she jabbed the remote at the TV. It went dark.
“Val. Seriously?” I got up and switched on a softer lamp, turning off the larger light. “I know Cole called in Holly’s death. What’s going on with him?”
She crossed her legs as best she could with JJ on her lap and jiggled one foot, staring straight ahead.
I moved so I was in her direct line of sight. “Ignoring me isn’t going to make me go away.”
“I don’t want to talk.” Her petulant tone gave way to a quiver at the end of the sentence. I could see tears welling in her eyes.
I felt sorry for her. She must be feeling like absolute crap. Whatever happened to put Cole at Holly’s house the other night, I’m sure a thousand things led them to this point—things that caused my sister pain. My anger flared up, swift and hot. I hated when people messed with my family.
I slid onto the couch next to her and hugged her. JJ, who’d apparently had enough of being jostled around, moved to the other end of the couch. “So. Have you talked to him?”
She sniffed. “No. He does this. Runs away and hides like a little boy when things don’t go his way, or when they get scary. It doesn’t matter that he dialed the stupid phone. That’s the least of the story. He shouldn’t have been there in the first place. But that’s typical of Cole. Everyone on this stupid island is talking about me, do you know that?” She handed JJ to me, got up and paced the room.