“And what message is that?”
“That we’re all horny or something,” I said, laughing.
“Well, then I’ll build a booth for just you and I to use,” Landon teased. He leaned over and gave me a kiss. “How about I come to the newspaper in time for lunch and we eat at the fair?”
“You want to eat carnival food?”
“I love a good elephant ear.”
He really is too cute for words sometimes. “I think I can carve out some time for you this afternoon.”
“Good,” Landon said. “Get all your work done early. I want your undivided attention this afternoon. That means no Thistle. No Clove. No crazy mothers. No disappointed fathers. And definitely no Aunt Tillie.”
“Whatever will we do with all that alone time?”
“I have a few ideas.” Landon kissed me again. “Be good.”
I FELT a momentary twinge of guilt when I parked in front of the Dandridge. I’d known I was going to head straight for the lighthouse when I left The Overlook. I also knew Landon wouldn’t be happy with that decision, so I’d purposely avoided telling him.
Sam sat in a chair on the side patio. He seemed surprised to see me. “Aren’t I the popular one this week.”
I forced a weak smile as I approached him. “I just wanted to see how you were doing.”
“I’m fine,” Sam said. “You didn’t need to come out here.”
“I did,” I said. “I … I want to talk to you.”
“Is this where you warn me to stay away from Clove?”
The question caught me off guard. “No.”
“Then why are you here?”
I settled in the chair next to him and glanced at the surrounding area. There were potted plants on each side of the patio, and someone had planted a blue hydrangea on the far end. That was Clove’s favorite plant. “Clove did this.”
“We did it together,” Sam said. “She picked the hydrangea. She liked the color.”
“She always has,” I said. “Her mother let her plant as many of them around the house as she wanted when she was a kid.”
“I’ve seen them,” Sam said. “They grow quickly, and they’re beautiful. They remind me of Clove.”
His words were earnest, and they touched me. “You care about her, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“Then don’t shut her out, Sam.”
Sam shifted his eyes to me. “I’m not shutting her out. She wanted to go home and make up with you guys. I didn’t feel … comfortable … being there with you and Landon. It had nothing to do with her.”
“I get that,” I said. “Just so you know, though, you’re welcome at the guesthouse. I know we set up some rules when you and Clove started dating, but we’re past them. You’re welcome there.”
“I needed some time to think.”
We sat silently for a few minutes, the only sound coming from the birds chirping in the nearby trees. I came here with a goal, and I hadn’t achieved it yet. Part of me thought what I was about to do was a betrayal. The other part of me thought Clove needed it.
“When Clove was little, she had the easiest time fitting in,” I said, leaning back in the chair. “Do you know why that is?”
“Because she’s sweet,” Sam said. “She’s tough when she wants to be, but she’s also sweet. People like her because she’s approachable. No offense to Thistle, but the only people who want to approach her have a death wish … and you’re standoffish.”
“I’m not standoffish.”
“You are,” Sam said. “I knew it from the moment I met you. You don’t trust people. I didn’t get it then, but I do now. You’ve been burned by people your whole life because of your gifts. You especially. You couldn’t always hide yours, especially when you were a child. That made things hard for you.”
“I guess that’s true,” I said. “I didn’t come here to talk about me, though. I came here to talk about Clove. You’re right. She’s sweet. She’s the sweetest one in our family. She was born that way.
“When she was a kid, she’d find every wounded bird and rabbit on the property and nurse them back to health,” I continued. “She was broken-hearted when some of them died. She was also thrilled when they survived so she could set them free again. She’s always made friends easily. She’s always … trusted … easily. She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.”
“Are you going to tell me that’s a bad thing?” Sam asked.
“Absolutely not,” I said. “I wish I was more like her sometimes. We all have our lot in life, though. I’m not telling you this as a warning. I’m trying to make you understand.”
“Understand what?”
“I haven’t been at my best this week,” I said. “The thing is, I had very low self-esteem as a child. People wore me down. I found myself when I was away from Hemlock Cove, though, and I brought back what I learned when I returned.
“Clove is different,” I said. “She’s never been sure of herself. She makes friends easily, but she’s always questioned her worth. That’s because she’s in a family of loudmouths. Her voice was often drowned out by the rest of us screaming at each other.”
“I’m waiting to hear how this applies to me,” Sam said.
“Just because she’s the quiet one, that doesn’t mean she has nothing to say,” I said.
“Are you saying I don’t listen to her?”
“I think you probably listen to her more than anyone else ever has,” I said. “That’s why you’re a good match for her.”
Sam waited.
“I also think you have the propensity to shut her out if you’re not careful,” I said. “Because Clove is sweet, that doesn’t mean she’s not tough. You want to protect her, and I’m grateful for that. If you try to protect her too much, though, you’ll destroy her.”
“I’m not trying to hurt her,” Sam said. “I just … I’m an only child. I need time to think sometimes.”
“And you’re dealing with a lot,” I said. “You went to dinner with her last night even though I bet you wanted to be alone.”
“The worst dinner ever.”
“That doesn’t even rank in my top ten,” I said, laughing.
“Your family is frightening.”
“We are,” I agreed. “We’re also loyal, and there’s not one of us who wouldn’t burn this town down to protect Clove.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Give her a chance,” I said. “If you need to talk, let her listen. If you need time alone, tell her without hurting her. If you need someone to lean on, she’s stronger than she looks. She may be tiny, but she has so much power that it awes me sometimes.”
“You’re a good cousin to her,” Sam said. “You’re a good … sister … to her.”
“People always thought we were sisters when we were growing up, even though we look nothing alike.”
Sam rubbed his forehead. “I’m doing the best I can right now,” he said. “I would never hurt Clove. Not for anything.”
“I believe you.” I honestly did. “Don’t shut her out. Please.”
“I have no intention of shutting her out,” Sam said. “In fact, we have a date to go to the fair this afternoon.”
“Good,” I said. “That will make her happy. Make sure you take her to the House of Mirrors. She loves it. She likes the ones that make her look tall.”
“Thanks for the tip.” Sam got to his feet. “Thank you for coming here. I appreciate the effort it must have taken you to put aside family loyalty and give me a little insight.”
“I don’t think that’s what I did,” I said. “I think I was being very loyal to my family when I told you this. Clove likes you. She believes in you. I want you to understand her.”
“I’ve always understood her,” Sam said. “I think I might understand her more than you do sometimes.”
That was entirely possible. “Just make her happy, Sam. If we’re lucky, this whole thing will be over within a few days. Landon will solve the case –
he always does – and we’ll be able to go back to our normal dysfunction and let the surreal dysfunction go by the wayside.”
Sam smiled. “I’ll walk you back to your car.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I think I’ve been feeling sorry for myself for long enough,” Sam said. “I’m going to walk you to your car and then I’m going to go inside and take a shower so I look presentable for Clove this afternoon. I might even cut off a bouquet of hydrangeas for her.”
“Chocolate couldn’t hurt either,” I offered.
“I’ll take that under advisement.”
Sam and I walked toward the parking lot in amiable silence. During the stroll, a hint of something dark in one of the bushes on the far side of the lighthouse caught my attention. Before I realized what I was doing, I stepped off the paved walkway and headed for the bushes.
“What are you doing?” Sam asked.
“Don’t you see that?”
“What?”
“There’s something in the bushes,” I said.
Sam followed me, squinting. “What is it?”
When we were close enough, I reached for the item and pulled it out. When I held it up, Sam’s face drained of color and my heart dropped. It was a knit balaclava, exactly like the one the robber wore when he fled from the bank.
Crap. Instead of helping Clove I’d just tipped this investigation into devastation territory. Why don’t I ever ignore my curiosity?
Sixteen
“That’s not mine,” Sam said.
“Okay.” I didn’t know what else to say. It seemed like an odd spot for a winter mask, but I was in an even odder spot. If the mask did belong to Sam, and he was trying to cover his tracks, I would be an obstacle in keeping his secret. If he was innocent, someone was working overtime to implicate him.
“Seriously, that’s not mine,” Sam said.
I took a step away from him, hoping my face didn’t betray the jolt of fear coursing through me. “I … believe you.”
“No, you don’t,” Sam said. “You’re sitting there wondering whether I’m planning to hurt you. I can see it on your face.”
I always was a terrible liar. “Sam … I need to call Landon. We need to report this.”
“If you report this, he’s going to arrest me.”
“You don’t know that.”
“We both know that,” Sam snapped.
I took another step back, and the motion was enough to still Sam’s surging rage. “Are you afraid of me?”
Afraid wasn’t the right word. I was definitely uncomfortable, though. “Sam … just … calm down. It’s going to be all right. Just let me call Landon. He’ll figure it out.”
“You can’t call Landon,” Sam said. “He’s going to believe I’m guilty.”
“I have to call him, Sam,” I said, working to keep my voice neutral. “This is evidence. Amy Madison was murdered. He needs all the evidence for his investigation.”
“And you need to be in the middle of everything,” Sam spat.
“That’s not true.”
“Oh, shut up,” Sam said. “Go ahead. Call him.”
I pulled my phone from my pocket, uncertain. “Sam, Landon will do his best to solve this. You have to have faith in him.”
“I don’t,” Sam said. “He’s had it out for me since we met. You do what you have to do, though. I’m not going to hurt you, Bay. No matter what you think.”
He seemed so earnest I wanted to believe him. I also knew that I had to call Landon. “I’m sorry,” I said. I pulled Landon’s name up in my contacts. “I really am sorry.”
“WHERE was the mask exactly?” Landon asked, his hands on his narrow hips as he stood in front of the Dandridge.
I pointed to the clump of bushes and watched as Landon and Chief Terry stalked to the spot. Chief Terry had bagged the mask upon arrival, and Landon’s questions were short and terse. I could tell he was angry with me, but he was trying to rein it in until we didn’t have an audience. That was the only thing I was thankful for at the moment.
“And you didn’t see the mask before?” Chief Terry asked Sam.
“No,” Sam said. “I didn’t notice it until Bay headed in that direction.”
“Did you notice it when you walked up from the parking lot?” Chief Terry asked, turning to me.
I racked my brain. “I don’t know,” I said. “I wasn’t paying a lot of attention. I … Sam was sitting on the patio, and I saw him right away. I headed straight for him. I wasn’t looking around.”
“And why were you here?” Landon asked. “Didn’t you tell me … not two hours ago … that you were spending the morning at the newspaper office?”
“I only wanted to talk to him,” I replied carefully. “I … we had some things to discuss where Clove was concerned.”
“And what were those things?”
“I don’t think now is the time for this conversation, Landon,” Chief Terry said. “You two can fight that out later.”
“She wanted to make sure I didn’t shut Clove out because I was feeling sorry for myself,” Sam said. “She was determined to make sure I understood where Clove’s head was in all of this. It wasn’t anything … nefarious.”
Landon’s face softened, but his eyes glittered as he studied me. “You could have told me that.”
“I didn’t want it to be a big thing,” I said.
“We’ll talk about it later,” he said. He took the bag from Chief Terry and looked over the mask. “Is this the mask the robber was wearing?”
“How can I possibly know that? It’s a black mask. The robber was wearing a black mask. If it had any identifying marks, I would have told you.”
“Don’t get snarky,” Landon said. “You’re in no position to have attitude with me.”
I made a face.
“Don’t do that either,” he ordered. “I don’t like it when you make that puppy-dog face.”
“I think it’s cute,” Chief Terry said, patting my shoulder. “That’s how you wrapped me around your finger when you were a kid.”
“See, this is why she thinks she can get away with murder,” Landon said. “You cater to her.”
“You cater to her,” Chief Terry argued. “That puppy-dog face works better on you than it does on me.”
“That’s only because she has ways of making me do things that you’d better not be doing with her,” Landon said.
Chief Terry cuffed the back of his head. “When I look at her, she’s still ten years old. You know that, right?”
“That’s not how I look at her.”
“I’ve noticed.”
Sam cleared his throat. “As cute as this conversation is, I want to know what this means for me.”
“It doesn’t mean anything yet,” Chief Terry said. “We’re going to send it to the state lab and have it tested.”
“You’re not going to arrest me?” Sam seemed surprised.
“Not yet,” Chief Terry said. “If I’m being honest, I’m bothered by the mask showing up here. I’m fairly certain it wasn’t here when we questioned you yesterday. I scanned the property when we were here. I think I would’ve seen it.”
“Me, too,” Landon said.
“What does that mean?” Sam asked. “Is someone trying to frame me?”
“That’s my initial instinct,” Landon said. “I’m going to stress for you, though, that I’m not ruling you out as a suspect. But I have trouble believing you’d be stupid enough to put a mask that implicates you in the bushes behind your home.”
“Well, I guess that’s something,” Sam said, rubbing his chin. “I just don’t understand. I haven’t been here long enough to make enemies with anyone.”
“There are a lot of new faces in town,” I said. “Well, a lot of new old faces. Maybe someone from out of town robbed the bank and is trying to blame it on the outsider?”
“That’s a possibility,” Landon said. “We don’t have enough information to go on, though. For now, it’s just a mask.”
“I’ll have one of my deputies drive it over to the state lab this afternoon,” Chief Terry said. “Until then, I agree with Landon. It’s just a mask until we know it’s something else.”
“See, I told you,” I said to Sam. “Landon will figure it out.”
“I’m glad to see you have faith in me,” Landon said. “We’re still going to talk about your little white lie this morning.”
My face fell. “Fine.”
“We can do it over lunch at the fair,” Landon said. “I wasn’t joking when I said I wanted an elephant ear.”
“WHAT do you really think?”
Landon, Chief Terry and I sat at a picnic table in the town square, assorted carnival goodies spread before us.
“I think what I already said,” Landon said. “I don’t think Sam is stupid enough to leave evidence out like that. If he were guilty, he would have burned the mask. He wouldn’t have thrown it in the bushes.”
“Sam isn’t stupid,” Chief Terry said. “The question is: Who would want to set him up?”
“I think the question is: Who would know enough about Sam to set him up?” I countered. “He doesn’t spend a lot of time with anyone except Clove.”
“He used to be tight with Brian Kelly,” Landon pointed out.
“He did,” I agreed. “I don’t think they spend much time together now, though. Sam is kind of a loner.”
“Which brings me to the argument portion of today’s festivities,” Landon said. “What were you thinking going out there alone?”
“I thought I was talking to my cousin’s boyfriend about shutting her out,” I said. “Clove can’t take that. I was trying to make him understand how upset she was.”
“I admire your love for Clove,” Landon said. “I really do. I’m fond of her myself. That doesn’t mean I think it was a good idea for you to go out there alone. Sam is still a person of interest in a bank robbery that resulted in a murder.”
“How did you know Sam wouldn’t hurt you when you found the mask?” Chief Terry asked.
“I didn’t,” I admitted. “I just … it was a feeling.”
Witch Me Luck (Wicked Witches of the Midwest Book 6) Page 12
