by Renee George
That must have been what Barb the pharmacy tech had been talking to Leila about when she’d said donation drive. Tears burned my eyes and my nose started dripping again. Talk of chemo, failing immune systems, and treatments took me back to last year, when I had watched my mother fight for her own life. The cancer had won the war.
I hated to think of Leila winning so many battles, like Mom, only for none of it to matter in the end. “There’s hope,” I said to him. “I’m sure a donor match will be found. That’s something to hold on to.”
“You’re right,” he conceded.
In the background, a man said, “Here you go, Chief. That medical report you asked for.”
“I better let you go,” Shawn said. “Thanks, Nora. I’m sorry I bothered you with this.”
I felt a rush of empathy for Shawn. “It’s okay. I do care about you, and I like Leila a lot. I’ll keep you both in my thoughts.”
“I appreciate it.”
“One thing,” I said quickly before he could hang up. “I guess you heard I was the one to find Fiona McKay last night.”
“I heard. I’m sorry. I know it must have rattled you. I shouldn’t have called with my problems. I didn’t think… Are you okay?”
“Yes.” As far as I knew, Shawn wasn’t aware that Ezra and I were dating. I wouldn’t lie about it if he asked me directly, but I would avoid the subject if I could. It was a long shot that he’d tell me anything, but I had to try. “Do you think it was an accident?”
“I do,” he said, surprisingly forthcoming. “Fiona McKay was a troubled girl.”
“Has anyone figured out where she went into the water?”
He paused. “Not yet. Water patrol is searching up and down the lake today.”
“So, no evidence that it might not have been an accidental drowning?”
“Did you get some kind voodoo vision that showed you something different?”
“No,” I admitted. “It’s…well, she was just so young. I’m curious is all. I met the girl recently and she made an impression.”
“Don’t go digging around,” Shawn said. “You’ll just stir up things that are better left alone. Her family doesn’t need to know about all the stuff she got up to. They should be allowed to grieve for her without all that disillusionment.”
“Because of the drugs?” I asked.
“How did you know about the drugs?”
Great. I’d overplayed my hand. “I did get a vision when I first met her. Nothing about her death, but I witnessed an unsavory moment in her personal life that involved drugs.”
Shawn sighed. “I’m going to tell you something, but I’m going to trust you to keep it between us. You can’t even tell Gilly.”
“Whatever you tell me will stay between us,” I swore. I hated keeping anything from my best friend, but since Fiona McKay had nothing to do with Gilly, I didn’t see it being an issue.
“I’m looking at the medical examiner’s report, and Fiona had opioids in her system. Not enough to kill her, but enough to slow her reaction time. There was water in her lungs, no wounds on her body, except for some bruises on her upper arms that looked to be a week old and some fresh ones on her shins that could have been from anything, including an accidental fall off a boat. Other than that, no signs of a struggle, and the medical examiner and the coroner have ruled it was accidental. Normally, I wouldn’t care if you wanted to waste your time looking into a drowning, but Fiona McKay has other secrets that shouldn’t come to light, for her family’s sake.”
“Like what?”
He hesitated, then said, “I’m trusting you.”
“I understand.”
“Frank Lopez, a vice detective in Rasfield, arrested Fiona for methamphetamines three months ago.” Rasfield was a small lake town in the next county over, but only about fifteen miles from Garden Cove. It was a popular destination for people who liked to camp. “She had enough on her for a felony charge of possession with intent to distribute.”
“She was selling meth?” I inhaled a sharp breath. “Does Reese know?” Fiona had come from an affluent family with lots of money. Why would a girl like that turn to drug dealing?
“No,” Shawn said. “And I don’t want her to find out. Fiona gave up intel on her distributor that led to an arrest. Lopez was able to flip him for an even bigger deal. In exchange, he expunged Fiona’s arrest and kept her part of the investigation off the record. Her family didn’t know when she was alive, and there’s no reason for them to know now that she’s dead.”
“Aren’t you worried that her death might be a result of someone finding out she was a snitch?”
“I called Lopez this morning. He says he retired her file after the arrests, especially since she wouldn’t have to testify. She shouldn’t have been vulnerable to any breach.”
“Do you think Fiona kept up her…side job?”
“Christ, Nora. No. She’s had to check in with Frank every month. He even made her do mandatory drug screens. According to him, she’s been clean since her arrest. He did say that she missed her appointment last week, though. It was the first time. Damn it. I’ve watched Fiona grow up in this town. For a while, I really thought she was pulling her life together.” I could imagine him scrubbing his face in frustration the way he used to do when he was aggravated with me. “Now, leave this one alone, okay,” he said stiffly. “The medical examiner says Fiona McKay’s death was accidental. Let her rest in peace.”
I believed Shawn’s motives. His protective nature was one of the things that had drawn me to him when I was fifteen. Being the chief of police’s daughter had its downsides, like the way kids used to call me a narc. Having Shawn in my corner had gotten me through the worst of it. But when we were married, his shielding nature had stifled me. He’d sometimes made decisions for us—for me—in an effort to “protect” me.
This phone call was evidence that not much had changed in Shawn when it came to the people he loved. Instead of talking to Leila and asking her why she’d been acting different, he’d gone behind her back to me to avoid adding to her distress. Now, he was doing the same thing to the McKays—protecting them from truths about their own daughter.
“Most people aren’t fragile dolls, crumbling at the first sign of pressure.” Maybe if Reese knew about Fiona’s past, it would give her some closure. Or maybe it would make her even more determined that Fiona had been murdered. “The truth is the truth, Shawn. Avoiding it doesn’t help anyone. Fiona’s family should know what was going on in her life. Let them grieve and accept everything so they can move forward.”
“I’m doing what’s best for everyone,” said Shawn, his tone final. “If you get one of your…er, visions that show she was murdered, call me. I’ll make sure we investigate. Right now, I don’t want to cause her parents any unnecessary pain. Promise me you’ll keep what I’ve told you to yourself.”
I didn’t want to make that promise because I didn’t feel right about withholding information from Reese. I worried that Shawn’s overprotective nature would lead to more grief for Fiona’s family.
“Nora?”
“I heard you,” I said. “I understand.”
“Good,” said Shawn. We said our goodbyes and ended the call.
In the corporate world, I’d learned a lot about the gray language of contracts. I’d told Shawn what he needed to hear, but I did not promise him anything.
In the end, I would follow my own conscience if it meant getting closure or justice for Fiona.
Chapter 8
The next day, I went to Gilly’s house to have a chat with Ari. My BFF wanted my visit to look like a happy accident, not a planned intervention, but when I arrived, Ari wasn’t home.
“She’s at a friend’s house. Jonathan Driver. His mom, Robbin, cuts hair at the Garden Cove Style,” said Gilly as she let me into the house. We crossed the living room and went into the kitchen. I sat down on a stool at the breakfast counter. “Ari should be back soon.”
There were several stylists who w
orked out of the shop. A young woman named Toni cut my hair every six weeks, but I didn’t know the other beauticians’ names. “Is she the one with the blonde A-line bob?” I asked.
“No, that’s Jennifer. Robbin is the one with the two-tone purple-pink hair.”
“Oh, sure. She’s always really nice. So, is this Jonathan a romantic interest?”
“You tell me,” Gilly scoffed. “The day Ari talks about her romantic life with me is the day snakes grow legs and go for a run.”
I laughed. “Why not wings?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why give the snakes legs to run and not wings to fly?”
She gave me an are you stupid? look. “Because the idea of flying snakes is terrifying.”
“This is true,” I said, smiling as I put my elbows on the counter. I looked at the space that used to hold Gio’s prized knives. After one of them, a filet knife, had been used to kill her abusive ex-boyfriend, Gilly had donated the set to an auction to support the local women’s shelter. They’d been worth almost three grand, and I was glad to see them sold for a worthy cause.
Gilly poured us both some iced tea then joined me. “How are you?” she asked as she set the tall glass in front of me. “It must have been awful finding that poor girl.”
“It was beyond awful,” I said. “I’m not squeamish. I’ve seen death before, but never in one so young or healthy. That’s the part that’s difficult to come to terms with.”
“I don’t know what you were thinking, Nora, jumping in the water like that.”
“I had to get her. I couldn’t leave her out there. You know?” I debated for a half a second about keeping my covert investigation into Fiona’s life from Gilly. “I’m going to Players tonight,” I said.
She stiffened. “To spy on Gio?”
“Uh, no. I have no interest in what that ass is doing as long as it doesn’t involve you.”
“Then why?” Gilly stretched her neck side to side. “He hasn’t called me or the kids since the other night. I’m just waiting for the really big shoe to drop.”
“My reasons have nothing to do with him, but you know that if I get any vibe about Gio, I won’t hesitate to clue you in.”
“I know. So, tell me why we’re going to eat at Players tonight.”
I cracked a smile. “I didn’t say we.”
“I’m pretty sure the we was implied.” She crooked her head at me. “How are we going to manage to get in? Portman’s on the Lake has flyers all over town about their brand-new, award-winning chef.” Her face soured as if the accolades tasted bitter in her mouth, but she quickly shrugged it off. “I can’t imagine they’ll have any openings for a while.”
“I didn’t see any flyers.” The resorts usually dropped off flyers to local businesses when they had a special event.
“I threw it away when Lucinda brought it by this morning. You were in the back. I drew dicks all over Gio’s name first and was going to tape it up outside, but Natalie, the spa manager at Portman’s, sends me her overflow when she’s heavily booked.”
I chuckled and gave her a wry smile. “I still would have put it up. We have a seven forty-five dinner reservation, by the way.”
She tucked her chin. “That’s amazing.”
“I’m that good.” I grinned. “At least my products are. Twyla Reynolds is the hostess for Players. I recognized her name when I called to see if there were any reservations available. She loves my face products. I promised her a jar of her favorite wrinkle cream in exchange for squeezing me in.” I’d dropped a jar into my purse before I’d left work to give her as a thank-you.
“You still haven’t told me why you want to eat there. It has to be a good reason if you’re giving away sixty dollars’ worth of product.”
“Because of Fiona McKay. She worked there as a waitress.”
“All right,” Gilly said with some caution. “And why is that important?”
“Reese dropped by the shop this afternoon after you left for the day. She wants me to look into Fiona’s death.”
Gilly’s frown deepened. “What? Isn’t that what the police are for?”
I tapped the side of my nose. “They don’t have my scent powers. Besides, Reese doesn’t believe her cousin died accidentally.”
“You can’t predict when or what you see with that super-sniffer of yours.”
“I told her that. She still wants me to try.” I shook my head. “Fiona called her a few hours before she was found drowned. Reese screened the call and let it go to voicemail.”
Gilly let out a noisy breath. “Wow.”
“Exactly. She’s devastated with guilt.”
“I can imagine.”
“And, if that isn’t awful enough, Fiona mentioned me in the message.”
“Really? I thought you had just met her.”
“Exactly. So, I have no idea why she told Reese I’d given her a hand. Frankly, I’m at a loss. I tried to talk her out of digging deeper. Fiona’s death is most likely an accident, and I’m afraid any memories I see will open wounds that have nothing to do with her drowning.”
“Like what?”
Like her stint as a drug dealer, I thought. “Drugs. Maybe worse.”
“What did Detective Hot Stuff have to say about you starting your own psychic detective business?”
“I’m not starting anything of the sort.” I picked at a stray hair sticking to my shoulder. “And I haven’t told Ezra. Yet.”
“Nora.” She said my name as if it were an admonishment. “You should tell him. Besides, he could help. After all, he’s got a direct line to the evidence.”
I wrinkled my nose at her. “I’ll tell him.”
“Good. Nothing ruins a relationship like secrets.”
Unhappily, secrets seemed to be the soup of the day.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Fiona’s biggest secret. How in the world had a girl like Fiona McKay, from a good family, ended up selling drugs?
The instant the thought entered my head, I knew it was silly. There were plenty of law breakers who came from good homes and just as many upstanding folks who had crappy childhoods. But with a cop for a cousin, and parents who leased most of the commercial real estate in town, how did she think she could get away with illegal activities without anyone finding out? Maybe she’d wanted to get caught. Some kind of cry for help. She wouldn’t be the first person to act out self-destructive behavior in order to get her family’s attention.
I wondered if anyone at Portman’s or Players knew about Fiona’s old side business. Reese had said her cousin had been a waitress there for two years. It seemed like she would have bonded with one or two co-workers.
I sighed. I hated to think about drugs infiltrating our little resort town. I’d lived in urban areas where stuff like drug trafficking was always on the news, but I guess I’d never considered Garden Cove a hotbed of vice. But since I’d returned, I’d discovered blackmail, arson, murder, and now drug dealers. Unfortunately, now that I knew it existed, it was hard not to let it color my view of the town.
Every time I thought about organized crime in this area, I just assumed it had to do with Phil Williams. But maybe he was just one of many bad seeds in Garden Cove. Carl Grigsby, the dirty cop who’d tried to kill me, had confessed to me that Phil Williams had been behind the fires that consumed two of our town’s most beloved restaurants, including my favorite barbeque place. He’d gotten Grigsby on the hook with blackmail. But that didn’t make the guy a criminal kingpin, did it?
I knew one thing for certain, I’d sleep a lot easier when Ezra found enough evidence to put Phil away. If the guy had anything to do with Fiona’s death, accidental or otherwise, I would find a way to have him crucified. But really, the quickest solution to the Williams problem would be for Carl Grigsby to wake up from his coma and testify against the Godfather of Garden Cove.
Wouldn’t that be a nice win for the good guys?
“A dollar for your thoughts,” Gilly said.
“I
do love a good cost-of-living increase,” I told her. “But I’m not sure my thoughts are worth a whole dollar.”
She smiled. “I don’t like seeing you troubled like this, Nora. I know it’s for a reason, but still. You’ve been through a lot, and you deserve a break.”
“Unfortunately, life doesn’t come with a pause button.” Her hand was on the counter, and I cupped it with mine. “We’re okay,” I told her. “The two of us. Life has dealt us both crappy and awesome hands, and we not only survive, we thrive.”
Gilly laughed. “I’m getting that put on a t-shirt.”
“I’d prefer a t-shirt that says, I love tacos.”
She shrugged. “Same thing.”
I took a sip of my tea. Sweet and no hint of bitterness. Just like Gilly. “So, you’re coming with me tonight, then?” I was actually relieved. I had no idea if I would uncover anything at the restaurant, so I hadn’t wanted to go to dinner alone. Having Gilly for backup in case things got super creepy was a good idea.
“Yes. I wouldn’t miss it.” There was a distant bang sound. Gilly unexpectedly stood up. “Did you hear that?
“Car door, maybe.”
“It’s probably Ari,” she said in a hushed voice.
“Okay.”
“Act natural.”
I smirked. “Take your own advice, girl.”
She smacked my arm.
“Ow.”
“Oh, I didn’t hurt you,” Gilly said dismissively. We heard the front door open. A few seconds later, Ari walked into the kitchen.
The teenager’s short hair was slicked back on the sides and the top styled into a ’50s quiff. She wore cut-off jeans, a white t-shirt with rolled-up sleeves, and a pair of light blue Converse low tops.
She barely glanced at us as she walked over to the fridge, opened the door, and grabbed a juice. She popped the top and took a sip. Gilly and I watched her as if she were a rare species of animal on Wild Kingdom.
