The Secret She Keeps EPB
Page 17
He drained the glass before setting it on the kitchen island. “And by accident we could walk right up to a woman who wants to hurt you and hand you over. Make it very easy for her.”
An excellent point. One she decided to ignore. “Or she could be injured or not involved in this. There are hundreds of possibilities.” Okay, more like two, but this wasn’t about numbers. “This is really about ruling her out.”
“Your argument isn’t convincing at all.”
The blank look on his face told her that, but she kept trying. “Humor me.”
He didn’t say anything for a few seconds. He seemed to be engaging in some sort of mental debate about what to say next, but then he leaned back against the sink with his palms resting on the counter on either side of his hips. “You think you know where she is?”
“Yes.” Because when it came to hiding on Whitaker, she was the expert.
“Ben is out there with his volunteer crew. Evan—the supposedly most competent person on Whitaker, just ask him—is checking on places with two officers that landed on Whitaker this morning.” His eyebrow lifted. “Do you see where I’m going with this? In case you don’t, tell them and let them handle this.”
“The one person on this island who runs drills where she practices hiding and who hid out when the killings started over the summer is me.”
His mouth flattened into a straight line. “Jesus, Maddie.”
“It’s trained behavior. A reflex.” And weird. She could admit that, but not now. She needed him to listen and agree. “That’s not important.”
“It is to me. I hate that this has been your life.”
She needed his thoughts moving in a different direction, so she worked to get him there. “Your last two years haven’t been any better.”
“It’s not a competition.”
“Just trust me.” She sighed at him to let him know she was serious and had no intention of letting this go. With or without his help. “We search two places. That’s it.”
He hesitated but then held up two fingers. “Two houses only.”
“That’s not quite what I said.”
His arm dropped to his side again. “Maddie.”
She rushed to explain before he launched into a lecture sure to tick her off. “One is an abandoned prison.”
“Hell, no.” He stilled. “Wait, there’s a prison here?”
“The remains of one.” Kids drank there on weekends. A few people hiked around it. She was one of the few, and she thought only, who ventured over to the rocky side, past the gate. The part with all the warnings and signs that Ben and his assistant patrolled sometimes. The part with the hidden door that she knew how to open. “That was once the purpose of the island. But the good news is, the other hiding spot is a house.”
“Fine, we’ll do that one.”
She had a feeling it would be harder to sell him on the prison. “Agreed.”
“Why do I think I didn’t really win that round?”
That sexy smile of his got her every time. “Of course you did.”
He’d been played, but he knew that when he agreed to come to this house. Maddie kept secrets and handed out bits of information at a time. Connor went along because he wanted to see where this ended. He just hadn’t expected it to lead to a big house on the edge of the island. Finding it made him realize how little he’d explored Whitaker since he got there.
He could see the long drive and the two-story stone house at the end of it. The compound—and that’s what it looked like—sat behind a wall and a gate. Trees lined the front yard. And the landscaping said someone lived here.
“You forgot to mention the fence.” Kind of a big detail in his view.
She stood at the security box next to the gate where a car would normally enter. “It’s not electric.”
“Is that the test for disclosure?”
She glanced at him but kept fumbling with the lock on the box. “This house belongs to the person who owns the island. It was the first one built here.”
“It doesn’t look abandoned.”
She shrugged as she opened the metal box at the bottom of the panel, exposing wires and circuitry. “Gardeners come. Cleaning people come. Everyone else stays away.”
“Is it haunted?”
She froze before turning around to face him. “I can’t tell if you’re kidding.”
He guessed that would get her attention and wasn’t wrong. “It’s a valid question. As valid as this being the hiding place for a woman who only has been on Whitaker a few times. How would she even find this place?”
“No one touches the property because, of course, that’s not how people on this island act.”
“Of course. Them being so rational and neighborly and all.”
“And there’s a general fear that if you tick the owner off you’ll lose the lease on your house. No house, then you have to leave.”
The way ownership and housing worked on Whitaker didn’t make a lot of sense to him. The only thing he knew for sure was that one person owned all of this and everyone else lived here at his or her pleasure. Which made him wonder why they were running the risk of ticking off that person.
“That’s all very mysterious and weird. Totally fits with the rest of Whitaker.” He glanced up at the towering trees before looking at her again. “But seeing this place does make me wish we tried the prison first.”
Her eyes lit with excitement. “It’s amazing. The cells and the ruins.”
“We need to talk about your definition of amazing.” He heard a click and one of the gates opened. “Wait. We’re breaking in?”
“Did you think it would be unlocked?”
“Not sure what I thought.”
“We’re not knocking.” She pushed open the gate and started down the rocky path.
He followed because there was no way he’d miss this. The property also fascinated him. He could hear a stream and see the expansive water view behind the series of buildings—the house, the garage, and one he thought might be a gardener’s shed.
He caught up with her in a few steps. “You do realize we are, right now, increasing the crime rate on Whitaker.”
“How do you figure?”
“Do you think this is legal?”
“It’s a technicality.”
The L-shaped house had a small garden out front. In the right season, flowers likely bloomed. Now a piece of furniture sat there with a cover over it.
His gaze switched to the house. The dark red trim contrasted with the gray stone. A breezeway lined with doors seemed to separate one wing of the house from another. He couldn’t get a sense of the size, but this place loomed over the smaller cottages and cabins dotting the island.
“Nothing.” Maddie wiped her palms on her jeans after touching every inch around the front door and overturning the flower pots on the small porch that surrounded the oversized door.
“You thought the person would leave a key?”
“It was worth a try.”
He wasn’t sure he agreed. “We have two choices.”
“I pick the one that guarantees we get inside.”
She exhausted him in and out of bed. “You don’t know what the choices are yet.”
“Fine.” She crossed her arms over her chest, bunching her oversized jacket underneath. “Go ahead.”
He’d been on enough job sites and checked out enough abandoned and on-sale buildings to know how to get inside. Trespassing bothered him but so did the idea of her sneaking back here once he fell asleep and throwing a pot through one of these expensive windows. And they were. For a place where no one lived or visited, it was pristine. High-end and stunning, with an open view on all sides. The engineer side of him appreciated all of it.
Between the fence and the intimidating gate, the house was protected. Add in the historically low crime on the island—until recently, at least—that protection should have been enough without a deadbolt. He slipped his wallet out of his back pocket for this next part.
“What are you . . .” She leaned over his shoulder and watched. “Interesting.”
He slid the credit card into the gap between the door frame and the edge of the door, right by the lock. A few bends this way and that and the card slipped under the latch. He turned the knob and opened the door. “There you go.”
“Did they teach you that in business school?”
“You develop skills when you have siblings.” He and Hansen used to practice to see who could do it faster.
“Fascinating.”
They stepped into the two-story entry. The entire inside opened up and he could see straight through to the stone fireplace at the far end of the living area, to the water that was visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows on either side.
A curving staircase off to his left traveled to the second story. To his right was the kitchen, complete with every high-end appliance and an indoor pizza oven. The person who didn’t live here liked nice things.
But that was the problem. It didn’t take any snooping around to see the plastic bags on the oversized woodblock island or the travel bag resting on the floor by the sectional sofa.
Damn if Maddie wasn’t right. A person hid here . . . which meant they could still be there.
She smiled at him. “See?”
He didn’t share her amusement or satisfaction. “We should call Ben.”
“We’re already here.” Her smile dimmed.
“And so is someone else. Do you know what the word reckless means?”
“I do.” Then they heard footsteps.
He glanced up in time to see a woman descending the stairs. Walking slow . . . carrying a gun. She looked to be in her early thirties. Dressed in dark pants, a sweater, and rain boots. Nothing fancy, but there was nothing panicked or disheveled about her to suggest she was on the run.
He circled back to Dom’s words. He’d said something about the woman with Owen being younger and prettier, like maybe they didn’t match as a couple. This woman seemed to fit that description.
Owen had been about fifty. Every photo showed dark circles under his eyes and a strain around his mouth. Fit but not muscular. Tall but not too tall or too short. Utterly unremarkable.
She had a round face and big brown eyes. Very pretty except for the weaponry.
He said the first thing that came into his head. “You don’t make a sound, do you?”
“What are you doing here?” She got to the bottom step and stopped. That put about ten feet between them.
“Welcoming you to the island,” Maddie said.
The woman didn’t blink. “Try again.”
“I’m—”
“Maddie Rhine,” the woman said, filling in the very scary blank before Maddie could.
Maddie’s eyes widened. “Uh . . .”
“That’s upsetting,” Connor said, but the word didn’t come close to what he felt right then.
The woman looked at him. Let her gaze bounce up and down, as if assessing whether he would be stupid enough to dive for the weapon. “And you’re Connor Rye.”
Yeah, just as scary when she did it to him. “Want to tell us how you know who we are?”
“No.”
“Why are you here?” Maddie asked.
“Also not your business.”
“Call Ben,” Connor said to Maddie without taking his eyes off that gun.
The woman smiled. “Yes, call Ben.”
Maddie made a strange sound. “You know Ben?”
“You can tell him about your trespassing.”
“He knows we’re here.”
“I doubt that, Maddie.” The woman used the tip of the gun to point toward the front door. “Call him and wait outside. This time on the other side of the locked door.”
Ben got to the house ten minutes after the call. Maddie wasn’t sure where he had been or how fast he drove, but he had to break records. She appreciated the urgency. She hadn’t stopped shaking since that woman appeared on the stairs.
Now she was inside and they were outside and that didn’t work for Maddie at all. Not that they had a choice. In a verbal battle the person holding the gun tended to win. She’d stepped outside at the other woman’s command out of fear Connor might try to be a hero. She couldn’t let that happen.
All three of them stood on the front porch. Ben leaned on the buzzer for a second time after trying the knob again. He looked in the windows on either side of the door. “I don’t see anyone in there.”
“Break the door down.” That sounded like a reasonable response to Maddie, or Connor could mess with the lock again. She didn’t care which option so long as the woman didn’t sneak off before they could ask her questions.
Ben stepped away from the windows. “This isn’t a television show.”
“She knew our names,” Connor said in a firm voice.
“That’s—”
“Suspicious.” Connor nodded. “Yeah, exactly.”
Ben looked at the door, then down the lane to the gate. “I need you two to go.”
That was not happening. She didn’t come this far to turn back without talking to this woman. “Where is she?”
“I might have an answer if you hadn’t played amateur detectives and scared her away.”
“That woman didn’t scare easily.”
Ben frowned at Connor. “Do you see her now?”
Her patience expired. “This isn’t a joke, Ben.”
“No, it’s not.” Ben’s voice stayed even. “Sit this one out. That’s an order for both of you.”
Maddie usually appreciated Ben’s calm but right now it annoyed her. She needed him running and shooting . . . or whatever had to be done to end this. “She might get off Whitaker and we won’t—”
The front door opened and the woman stepped out. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Ben reached for his weapon but she no longer held one. She’d put on a jacket and held a set of keys.
“And you are?” Ben asked.
She took her time locking the house behind her before facing them again. “The person who owns this island.”
Chapter 24
Connor wasn’t sure how they made it back to the Lodge but the woman—and she still didn’t divulge her name despite repeated requests from Ben—insisted they talk there.
They sat in a small private dining room off the entry that Connor hadn’t even known existed until that moment. Since the tables weren’t set and no one came in and out, he guessed no one used it. But he and Maddie sat at a round table meant for a much larger party, with the woman on the other side. Ben being Ben, he manned the door.
Sylvia came flying around the corner and into the room. “What was so urgent that . . . Jenna?”
“You two know each other?” Ben asked as he straightened up and closed the door behind Sylvia, trapping them all inside.
“For a long time. She’s the . . .” Sylvia’s voice trailed off and she didn’t look inclined to finish the sentence.
Connor was tired of all the secrecy on Whitaker. The weirdness was cute at first. Now it made him want to yell. “Owner of Whitaker. Yeah, she told us that part before she suggested we all head to the Lodge to talk this out.”
Sylvia looked around the table. “Talk what out?”
“Wait a second.” Maddie held up a hand as she watched Sylvia take the seat next to this Jenna person and cross her legs as if they were all having a calm conversation. “You knew who the owner of Whitaker was and never said?”
Ben made a noise that sounded like a groan. “Good question.”
If Sylvia noticed the iciness in Maddie’s voice or the question in Ben’s, she hid it well. “Those aren’t my answers to give.”
“No, they’re mine.” The woman none of them except Sylvia knew finally piped up. “It’s part of the deal. We talk about island business. Sylvia votes my pr
oxy on the Board. I get to keep my privacy.”
That sounded like a convoluted mess to Connor. “Does that make sense to you?”
“I have my reasons, which aren’t your business.” The woman shrugged. “But the one thing people on this island appreciate is privacy about their pasts.”
“Including you?” Maddie asked.
“Including me.” The woman didn’t flinch from Maddie’s barking tone. “So, why did you break into my house?”
Sylvia’s leg fell and her boot thudded against the floor. “You did what?”
“We didn’t mean to . . . I mean, there are dangerous things happening on the island and we didn’t know if anyone was in the house or in trouble. Or maybe someone was using it as a place to stay while they ran around the island.” Maddie had lost the ability to do anything but babble.
“The door was locked.” Jenna looked at Sylvia. “So was the outside gate.”
“We can deal with the details later.” Ben pulled out the chair next to Jenna and faced her. “Right now I’m confused about why you’re here.”
“I live here.”
He shook his head. “You actually don’t. Since you’re technically my boss and it hasn’t been quiet around here, I think we would have met.”
She smiled at him. “That’s kind of the point. Over the last six months there have been more murders on Whitaker than during its entire history.” She ended the comment by glancing at Connor.
Connor’s defenses rose. “Why are you looking at me?”
“The last name of Rye seems to be connected to all of them.”
Maddie scoffed. “That’s not fair.”
“What exactly are you saying?” Connor asked. Because if he was going to be accused of something, he wanted to know what.
“I came because I was concerned that Whitaker isn’t the sleepy comfortable island it once was.” Jenna pointed at Connor and Maddie. “And I was welcomed by you two standing in my entry which did not ease my concerns.”
Ben didn’t look any more impressed than Jenna did as she shot Maddie a you’ve-been-warned look. “That’s why you should stay out of the investigation business.”