by Lena Gregory
Her mental to-do list was getting longer and longer. If she didn’t start writing this stuff down somewhere, there was no way she’d remember to do it all. She hadn’t even remembered she was supposed to go away in less than a day.
“Maybe we could ask Savannah and Leo and Hunt too. Just to make sure we get a range of opinions,” Cole said.
Gia warmed to the idea. A nice night with friends over dinner. “You know what? I’ll be back Friday morning; why don’t we do it after I close on Saturday night? We’ll invite everyone.”
“Works for me.”
With that decided, and the lunch rush coming to an end, Cole handed the spatula over to Gia, stripped off his apron, and washed his hands. “If you’re good now, I’ll go home and put together a menu and list of what we’ll need.”
“Perfect, thanks, Cole. For everything.”
“Anytime.” He winked. “And don’t worry about a thing. Willow and I will keep this place running while you’re gone. You just relax and have some fun.”
I wish. Between leaving Thor, leaving the café, and the whole situation revolving around Ron Parker’s murder, she couldn’t imagine lying on a beach somewhere sunning herself would in any way relax her.
“Oh, Cole,” she called after him.
“Yeah?”
“You’ll remember to leave Harley’s dinner out back, right?”
“Of course. Don’t worry, Gia. We’ve got this.” He waved as he walked out.
“Gia?” Willow poked her head in the door. “Do you have a minute?”
She still had to get everything prepped for the week, but it was early enough. And the worst of the day’s rush should be over. “Sure.”
She tugged off her apron and headed out front.
Willow stood behind the counter, two cold brew coffees in front of her.
A few customers still lingered over their lunch and coffee, but no new customers had entered.
Gia plopped onto a stool and gratefully accepted the coffee Willow offered. She sipped the cold brew. She could definitely taste chocolate, but there was something else too. Something she couldn’t quite place. “Mmm…what kind is this?”
“It’s something new I tried, cocoa and almond milk. Do you like it?”
“It’s delicious. I’ll add it to the menu.”
“Awesome.” A slight flare of excitement tinged her eyes but dissipated just as quickly.
Gia took another sip, then lowered her cup to the counter. “How are you doing, Willow?”
She swirled her straw, creating a small whirlpool in her coffee. “Things are weird.”
“What do you mean weird?”
She shook her head and spread her hands wide. “I have no clue what’s going on with my mom, but she’s acting completely irrational, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
Gia looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was paying attention before speaking quietly. “Irrational, how?”
“Take yesterday, for instance. I’m so sorry for not showing up without calling.” She seemed on the verge of tears.
“I already told you not to worry about that.”
The poor girl apparently had enough on her plate without the added stress of having missed one day of work.
“I know, and thank you, but I do worry about it. My mother is the one who taught me to be so responsible, but yesterday, she wouldn’t let me come in. She wouldn’t even let me call you to let you know. She confiscated my phone while I was sleeping, then woke me up and told me to get dressed because we had to go out of town.”
“Out of town? Where’d you go?”
“That’s just it; my mom spent most of the day driving around central Florida. We drove up into the forest for a few hours, drove down the East Coast, then cut back across past the airport and the theme parks. It seemed aimless to me, like she had no clue where she was going, but she kept checking the rearview mirror as if she expected to see someone back there. I swear she spent more time looking behind her than she did where she was going. She wouldn’t even stop somewhere for lunch, just grabbed something at a drive-thru and kept on driving. The only time she got out of the car was to pump gas or use the restrooms.”
Gia didn’t know what to say to Willow. While she was mature beyond her years, she was still only eighteen years old and obviously scared for her mother. Scared. That was it. Skyla’s behavior was that of a woman who was scared, but of what? Donna Mae had said Harley was in danger. Harley was keeping an eye on Donna Mae. Could Skyla be in danger too? And Willow?
“What did your mom tell you?”
“Nothing.” Willow chewed her thumbnail, her gaze darting between the few tables that were still occupied. “She wouldn’t tell me anything, and when I pushed her on it, she blew up and told me she had a lot on her mind and couldn’t I give her a break and do what I was told just once without asking questions.”
“That doesn’t sound like Skyla.”
“No, it doesn’t. Mom has answered every question I’ve ever asked since I can remember. Anything. No matter how uncomfortable, no matter how personal, no matter how…” She stiffened.
“What?”
“My father.”
“Your father?”
“That’s the only question my mother never answered. When I was around twelve, I asked about my father, who he was, why I didn’t know him. She told me he was dead and it was too painful for her to talk about. She begged me to let it go.”
“And did you?”
“Yeah.” She returned to stirring her coffee. “I figured it didn’t really matter, since he was gone anyway, so I dropped it. No sense upsetting her, right? I hoped she’d talk more about it when I was older.”
“But she never did?”
“Nope. Not a word.”
A group of five customers entered, ending the conversation as Willow went to greet them.
Gia’s mind reeled. Skyla had never struck Gia as secretive, and yet, there were obviously some kind of skeletons buried in her past.
Willow hurried past to get the coffee pot.
Gia stopped her. She didn’t want to overstep, but someone needed to figure out what was going on with Skyla. “Do you want me to try to talk to your mom?”
“Oh, would you?”
“Of course. I’ll try to get her tonight, but if I can’t, I’ll talk to her as soon as I get back.”
“Thank you so much, Gia. I’m worried sick, and I have no idea where to turn.”
Chapter 13
Gia had tried calling Skyla several times throughout the evening with no luck. By the time she had everything prepped for the week, after picking up Thor, it had been too late to drive by Skyla’s house. There was no way she could call at this time of the morning, so she’d have to call later on. It could probably wait until she got home, but Willow had been so worried.
She made one more circuit of her house to make sure she hadn’t forgotten to turn anything off, dragged her bag to the foyer and left it beside the front door, then knelt down and petted Thor. “You be a good boy for Joey, you hear me?”
Thor tilted his head into her hand.
Leaving him was breaking her heart, but what choice did she have? She couldn’t take him with her. The thought of rescheduling their trip popped back into her head, but she ignored it. Savannah needed this trip, and truth be told, Gia could use some time to clear her head as well.
The doorbell rang, and she blew out a breath before peeking out the window and opening the door for Joey. “Hey.”
“Hey there.” He bent to pet Thor. “Hey, big fella. Looks like it’s just gonna be you and me for a few days.”
“Thanks for picking him up, Joey. I could have dropped him off.”
“I know. But it’s no problem. I just finished playing my new video game, which I have no doubt I’ll regret while I try to stay awake all
day, and I’m getting ready to head to bed for a few hours before I drop Thor off at day care and go to work. Savannah’s running a little late, though. She said to tell you she’d be here in a little while.”
Gia laughed. When Savannah had said three thirty, Gia knew she wouldn’t be there until at least four, maybe later. Despite wanting to get an early start, so they’d be there by lunchtime, Savannah was not a morning person.
“Thanks.” She clipped Thor’s leash to his collar, second-guessed her decision to leave twelve more times, then hugged him goodbye and handed the leash and Thor’s bag to Joey. She watched them until they got into the car and Joey waved and pulled out of the driveway. Then she shut the door and stared around the foyer, empty but for her bags. She missed Thor already and had to resist the urge to call Joey and tell him to come back.
She needed something to occupy her mind before she followed through on the thought.
Savannah still wasn’t there, so she flopped onto the couch and opened her laptop to check the weather for the week. The chart of suspects she’d started fluttered out onto the floor. She picked it up and studied it for a moment, then grabbed the pen she’d left on the coffee table and jotted Harley Anderson and Donna Mae Parker to the right bottom of the chart. She drew a line from Harley to Mitch and wrote “Brothers” on it, then drew one from Harley to Donna Mae and wrote “Couple.” She considered drawing a line connecting Donna Mae to Ron, but she couldn’t be sure there even was a connection between the two, though she suspected they were siblings, or perhaps cousins since they shared the same last name.
Even with the addition of those two names, staring at the chart brought no great revelation. But there was some connection. There had to be. She looked at Skyla’s name on the bottom right. She needed to get in touch with her, not only because she’d promised Willow, but because she was worried about her.
Then her gaze fell on Trevor’s name. What in the world did he have to do with Ron Parker’s murder? Although she had no doubts at all he wasn’t the killer, the fact that Ron had been killed in Trevor’s shop couldn’t possibly be a random coincidence. Could it?
A horn beeped out front, and Gia shut the laptop and laid the chart on top of it. She grabbed her bags, locked the door behind her, and ran to the car, careful to check for any scary critters along the way.
Savannah opened the trunk and put Gia’s bags in next to hers. “Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” She smoothed her skirt as she climbed into the passenger seat of Savannah’s blue Mustang, the leather interior cool against her bare legs.
Savannah got behind the wheel, then shot her a grin. “How many times did you think about calling to cancel?”
Gia laughed. She couldn’t help it; Savannah knew her all too well. “I didn’t, though. That’s all that matters.”
Savannah shifted into reverse and backed out of the driveway. She flipped on the radio, and soft rock filled the car.
The thick woods gave the appearance of black walls lining either side of the road, swallowing them whole.
Gia shook off her sense of claustrophobia. She hadn’t had more than a few hours’ sleep, and her eyes started to drift closed. As soon as they did, thoughts of Trevor flooded her open mind. “Have you talked to Hunt or Leo?”
“I saw Leo tonight. Didn’t Hunt come by to say goodbye?”
“No.” And Gia had been more than a little hurt. She understood there was a lot going on, but she’d hoped he’d be able to get away for a little while to come see her before she left.
“Probably just busy.”
“I’m sure,” Gia agreed, because what else could she say?
“Have you had the news on?”
“No.” Gia rarely turned on the TV at home, usually only when Savannah or Hunt were at the house and wanted to watch a movie. Or when she was having trouble sleeping in all the quiet, which happened sometimes. Then she turned on the TV to save herself from her own thoughts. “Is something new going on?”
“Not really. Mitch Anderson issued a statement mourning Ron’s loss. And someone did leak how Ron Parker was killed.”
“Oh? How?”
“Rumor has it he was stabbed with an ice pick, though they were careful to remind everyone that has not been officially released or confirmed.”
“Huh.” An image of Trevor running into the café flashed before her. She hadn’t noticed any blood on him, not that she’d been looking for it, but still. “I just can’t picture Trevor stabbing anyone.”
Savannah switched the radio off. “Me neither, and I’m not saying he did, but you hear people on the news all the time saying they can’t believe their neighbor was a killer, he was such a nice guy…”
“But Trevor? He wouldn’t hurt a fly, Savannah. You know that.”
The tires hummed softly against the pavement in the early morning silence, every so often thumping over a crack.
“Yeah, I guess I do. But if he was innocent, why didn’t he just answer Hunt’s questions?”
And wasn’t that the million-dollar question? What could have made Trevor so reluctant to talk to Hunt? “Maybe he was protecting someone.”
Wasn’t that another motive for murder? Could Ron have been killed—not by Trevor of course—to protect someone? But whom? And, more importantly, who would Trevor lie to protect? Could he know who the killer was?
“You think maybe he knows who the killer is and didn’t say anything?” Savannah’s thoughts, as usual, followed Gia’s own.
“It doesn’t seem likely, huh? And why? Why would he keep his mouth shut if he knew who killed Ron?” She tried to put herself in Trevor’s place. Who would she lie to protect? Savannah, for sure. She’d do anything to protect Savannah, but would she cover up the fact that she’d committed a murder? Would she take the blame and allow herself to be arrested to keep her secret? She honestly didn’t know. The idea of Savannah killing anyone was so far-fetched she couldn’t even contemplate it as a serious scenario. “Would you lie to protect someone you love?”
Savannah remained quiet for a few minutes before answering. “I would lie to protect you, or Leo, or Hunt, or anyone in my family really, but to cover up a murder? I just don’t know. I guess it would depend on the reason. But let’s say you killed someone, and I felt it was justified. Why not just tell the detectives what happened?”
“That’s just it; I can’t think of a reason he’d stay quiet.”
“Me neither.”
Gia stared out the window as miles of dark wilderness passed by. “Do you know where Trevor lives?”
“No, why?”
“I thought maybe if it’s not too far out of the way we could drive past.”
“For what?”
She really had no good reason. “Just to see if he’s home, I guess.”
“Don’t you know where he lives?”
“No.”
“With all the time you two spend together, you’ve never been to his house?”
She hadn’t thought about it before, and it hadn’t seemed strange until he’d been accused of killing someone. “I guess we usually meet in town, either at the café or Storm Scoopers. In all fairness, he’s never been to my house either…well, except to drop me off a few times.”
Savannah looked at her from beneath her lashes.
“Well, he’s never come in.”
“Mmm…hmm.”
Gia opened the search engine on her phone and typed in Trevor’s name and Boggy Creek. “Maybe it’s because he’s a guy. I’m friends with him, but I don’t invite him to the house, and I don’t go to his house, you know?”
“I guess that could be why,” Savannah relented. “It would probably be weird to curl up on the couch with a blanket and a bucket of popcorn to watch an old movie with Trevor.”
Gia laughed, thinking of all the times she and Savannah had done just that. “Do you
know where Lakeshore Cove is?”
“It’s a development, right? North of town?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m pretty sure I do. Show me the map.”
Gia held out her phone.
Savannah waited until the road was straight for a few miles, then slowed and risked a quick glance at Gia’s screen. “Yeah. I’ve never been up there, but I do know where it is. If I remember correctly, that’s a pretty exclusive area.”
“Is it?” Gia hadn’t lived in Florida long enough to know much about the surrounding towns.
“As far as I know.”
They drove in silence for a while, Gia contemplating how little she actually knew about Trevor. “He never talks about his past. Or anything personal really.”
“Trevor?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s not so unusual.”
“You don’t think?” Gia had been friends with Savannah for years, and she’d only just recently learned the details surrounding her mother’s death. “Maybe you’re right.”
“For instance, I don’t know anything about your mother, and all I know about your father is that he threw you out. There’s probably no deep dark secret there, and yet, for whatever reason, you don’t talk about them.”
“That’s true.” She didn’t offer any more details. Her parents were a topic she chose not to discuss. She didn’t really remember her mother, though she’d seen pictures of them together, and her mother seemed to love her very much, always smiling, always doting on her. But she’d passed away when Gia was young, leaving her at the mercy of a father who didn’t want any part of her. Said he’d never wanted kids in the first place, but he’d put a roof over her head until she graduated high school, and true to his word, he’d thrown her out that very same day, and she hadn’t seen him since.
“There.” Savannah gestured toward a sign that said Lakeshore Cove, then hit her turn signal, despite the fact the roads were deserted at that time of the morning, and turned into the development.
