Harbour Falls

by S. R. Grey

  The shop was very small, and there was only one other customer—an exceptionally attractive blonde woman. The sales clerk placed a handwritten receipt in a tiny envelope and then handed that, and a bag, to the woman.

  When the blonde woman turned to us, Helena shot Trina a look I couldn’t decipher, and then she grabbed my hand. “We should just skip this store,” she said, pulling me toward the door. “In fact, I think I’ve maxed out my credit card.”

  Trina came up from behind me—blocking my view of the store—and nervously added, “Yeah, me too.”

  Something more was happening. I wasn’t buying the suddenly maxed-out credit card stories. My suspicion was quickly confirmed when a soft, very feminine voice rang out from behind us. “Trina? Is that you?”

  Trina groaned and stepped aside, and I came face-to-face with the petite, flaxen-haired beauty that’d been at the register. I stepped back, catching Trina and Helena glancing uneasily at one another before simultaneously looking to me. Apparently they were anticipating some sort of a reaction, though I had no idea why.

  At least I didn’t until Trina said to the diminutive woman standing there, “Hi, Lindsey. How have you been?”

  Lindsey? As in Adam’s Lindsey? Oh God, I instantly felt self-conscious. This woman was extremely attractive, although in a more subtle way than Chelsea. One thing for sure, Jennifer had not been lying—Adam had obviously dated nothing but incredibly beautiful women in the past. Chelsea. Lindsey. Who else? I couldn’t help but wonder, what in the hell does he see in me?

  After Lindsey introduced herself to Helena, she flipped her long, very straight blonde hair over her shoulder and turned to me. “I’m sorry. I don’t believe we’ve met, though you do look familiar.” She scrunched her beautiful face in thought for a second and added, “I’m Lindsey, by the way.”

  “I’m Maddy—”

  “Maddy, as in Maddy Fitch,” Helena interrupted. “You know, the best-selling novelist.”

  I knew what Helena was doing, trying to keep the conversation diverted away from Adam. But even with Helena proudly touting my vocation, I couldn’t shake the feeling of inadequacy in comparing myself to this stunning woman who, up until very recently, had been sleeping with Adam. Satisfying his—what had Jennifer said?—voracious appetite.

  Ugh. I felt ill as Jennifer’s words haunted me. Perhaps this woman had been Jennifer’s source of information regarding Adam. Did she know Lindsey? Maybe Lindsey had visited Adam on the island. After all, Helena recognized her. But Trina had introduced them as if they didn’t know one another. Had Helena seen a picture of Lindsey then? It was all too confusing.

  “Oh,” Lindsey said, some kind of recognition registering on her face. “So you are Maddy Fitch. Hmm…” She eyed me up and down. “…very interesting.”

  From her tone of voice, I knew she’d just realized I was Maddy Fitch—not so much the mystery writer—but rather Maddy Fitch, Adam’s new love interest. Guess word had gotten around to her.

  I glared at Lindsey, daring her to say more. Trina and Helena exchanged a worried look, and Trina said, “Well, we really should get going, it’s getting late.”

  “But you just got here,” Lindsey protested, in a sweet but phony voice. She turned to Trina, keeping her doe-like eyes trained on me. “How is Adam doing? You really must tell him to get back in touch with me.” She shot me a haughty look. “I miss all the fun we used to have together.”

  Trina rolled her eyes, and Helena flipped her own beautiful, blonde tresses back. “I wouldn’t hold my breath, Lindsey,” she interjected. “I do believe Adam has finally been tamed.”

  Trina glanced away, stifling a giggle. My own eyes widened. Leave it to Helena.

  Lindsey wrinkled her pert, little nose in disgust and stared directly at me. “Hmmm, perhaps he’s been tamed…for now. But Adam gets bored rather quickly, especially if one can’t keep up with him.”

  “Being in love is hardly boring,” Helena shot back at Lindsey.

  Lindsey bristled, clearly stung by Helena’s words. For a moment I almost felt bad for her. She’d probably been strung along by Adam, hoping he would fall for her. And all along he was just using her for his own pleasure.

  Yes, for a moment I felt bad for her, but then it quickly passed. Instead I began to feel empowered. Adam loved me. My own subtle beauty had somehow captured his heart. I stood up a little straighter and declared, “Sorry, Lindsey, but Adam isn’t going to be calling you, getting back in touch, whatever.” I waved my hand dismissively. “After all, he’s going to be too busy keeping up with me,” I added with a wink.

  That seemed to be the final straw for Lindsey. She dispensed with the snarky comments, said good-bye to Trina and Helena, nodded curtly to me, and scurried for the door.

  “Way to go, Maddy,” Helena said proudly as the door swung shut.

  Trina laughed. “You definitely got the best of her, that’s for sure.”

  Though I felt victorious, part of me was less than thrilled to have run into one of Adam’s past hookups. It seemed like every part of his past was always catching up to us.

  What next?

  An hour later, after we’d returned to Trina’s place, Adam arrived to pick me up. Trina pulled her brother inside and started whispering to him. Adam leaned against the closed door, listening intently, and I knew, without a doubt, Trina was filling him in on the details of our run-in with Lindsey.

  Helena caught me watching them and, in an effort surely designed to prevent me from eavesdropping, began to help me gather my many shopping parcels. She paused as she pressed the bag handle of one of my purchases into my hand. “Maddy, Adam loves you. He never had feelings like that for Lindsey. You remember that.”

  I nodded, appreciating Helena’s vote of confidence.

  Helena made so much noise with the bags (surely purposely) that I couldn’t hear, but my eyes were still drawn to Adam as he listened attentively to his sister. He was as striking as ever in his dark gray suit, leaning casually against the door, loosening his tie. He must have sensed my eyes on him, because he looked over and met my gaze, smiling one of those amazing smiles that I loved so very much.

  In that moment it was like we were the only two people in the world. Only Helena’s nudge to my arm brought me back to reality. “See,” she said softly, leaning close. “Now there is a man clearly in love.”

  Yeah, and I love him. Hell with Lindsey, I thought.

  After Trina and Adam wrapped up their conversation, they rejoined us in the living room. Before we left, Helena, Trina, and I gushed about how much fun we’d had throughout the day—the run-in with Lindsey excluded—and how we’d have to do it again soon. Once Adam finally extracted me from the love fest, we made our way down to the waiting limo parked at the curb. As soon as the driver saw all the bags, he rushed out to load them into the trunk.

  Slipping into the backseat, Adam draped his arm around my shoulders and asked cautiously, “Everything go OK today?”

  “Everything was fine,” I replied, meeting his deep blue eyes, filled with concern as he searched my face. “Why do you ask?”

  “Trina told me you ran into Lindsey.” He sighed, raking his fingers through his hair. “Maddy, I don’t want my past upsetting you.” He pulled me close, kissing the top of my head, and whispered, “You’re the only one for me. You know that, right?”

  I tilted my head and leaned my cheek to his. “I know, Adam. And I’m fine.” And in that moment, I was fine. In fact, everything was fine.

  If only it could have lasted.

  Chapter 20

  When we reached the small regional airport we’d flown into that morning, Adam went out to the tarmac to where the Gulfstream was waiting. While he checked on things for our flight back, I was left to my own devices in the hangar. Remembering that my cell was still on vibrate, since I’d not wanted my day with the girls to be interrupted, I fished the phone out of my bag and began scrolling through the texts.

  There was a new one from Helena—sent
just minutes ago—reiterating how glad she was that I had joined her and Trina for the shopping trip. Smiling, I shot a quick text back, assuring her that I’d had a great time as well.

  With a smile still lingering in recollection of what a fun day we’d all had, I checked voicemail. There was a short message from my dad, just asking me to call him when I had some free time. Nothing urgent. So far, so good.

  But then I began to listen to a voicemail from Jimmy.

  With a shaky voice, he began with, “Maddy, hey it’s me, Jimmy. From the bar.” Nervous laughter. “I ain’t found that picture yet, but I’m still lookin’. But I got some other info I think ’ya might wanna know. Call me, ’kay?”

  He’d left the message at 11:20 this morning, probably during the start of his shift at Billy’s.

  I touched the screen to replay the message, but then I heard Adam approaching. I hastily threw the cell back into my bag and spun to face him. He eyed my bag and hesitated, a flicker of suspicion crossing his face. “Everything all right?”

  Feigning innocence I replied, “Mm-hmm, I was checking messages. You just kind of startled me.”

  “Sorry,” he said, but he didn’t sound sorry in the least. His blue eyes were intense, trained on me. “Have any?” he asked curtly.

  “Any what?”

  “Messages, Maddy.” Impatience colored his tone.

  “Oh,” I answered, hoping to appear nonchalant. “Yeah, actually, um, Helena texted, and my dad left a voicemail.”

  Adam looked as if he didn’t entirely believe me, but just as he was opening his mouth to say something more, his own cell phone buzzed. Thank God. He raised the phone to his ear and began to talk.

  I shifted and blew out a breath of air. Adam glanced at me, so I pointed to the restrooms in the far corner of the hangar to let him know that was where I’d be. He nodded and then redirected his attention back to whomever he was speaking to on the phone. Hurriedly I raced to the ladies’ room. Not because I had to go. I just needed a private place from which to call Jimmy back.

  The ladies’ room was sparse and industrial, one stall, a metal wash basin with a plastic soap dispenser attached to the wall, and a hand dryer that looked as if it had seen better days. Standing just inside the door, I dug my cell phone back out of my bag. But then I paused. The bathroom door, made of some kind of metal, seemed kind of thin and flimsy. Someone standing on the other side would surely hear anything I said. To prevent that very thing from happening I stepped over to the basin and turned the water on full blast. In such a small space, the water echoed noisily off all the metal surfaces.

  With a hand over one ear so I could hear Jimmy and not the water torrent, I raised my phone to my other ear, calling Jimmy in the process. “Hey, Maddy,” he said, answering on the first ring.

  “Jimmy,” I said softly, hoping he could hear me over all the noise. “I only have a minute. What’s this info you have for me?”

  Jimmy laughed. “I can barely hear ’ya. Where ’ya callin’ from? A damn rain forest?”

  “Ha-ha,” I replied. I didn’t have time for jokes, so I hurried him along. “Just tell me why you called. I’m really in a hurry.”

  “Sure thing.” Jimmy’s voice grew serious. “Thought ’ya might be interested to hear your friend was here at Billy’s last night.”

  “Huh? What friend?” For a minute my heart stopped, thinking it’d been Chelsea.

  But then he said, “That dude you was askin’ about.” He sounded exasperated. “He was at the bar. First time I’ve seen ’im here since before that girl disappeared.”

  Well, this was certainly a curious development. His first day out of rehab and J.T. O’Brien shows up at a bar. And not just any bar but Billy’s.

  “Was he drinking?” I asked.

  “Maddy, the dude was at a bar. What do ’ya think he was doin’?” Jimmy scoffed. “Thought you might also wanna know he spent some time with Zeb too.” He didn’t come right out and say it, but I knew he was trying to tell me J.T. had bought drugs.

  Looks like Adam was right; rehab doesn’t stick for J.T.

  “By the way that guy is a real dick,” Jimmy added, almost as an afterthought, but with a suddenly venomous edge to his voice.

  “Why?” I asked. “What happened?”

  “I had to shut the dude off. Wasn’t holdin’ his liquor. At all. He was fallin’ off the stool, real pathetic-like. So I tell him, ‘That’s it, bud. You’re done for the night.’” Jimmy lowered his voice. “Dude didn’t like that one bit. Told me I’d better watch my back. He sounded pretty serious, if ’ya ask me.”

  Interesting. Since J.T. had been messed up, I probably would have told Jimmy it was just an empty threat and not to worry. But after experiencing an enraged J.T. firsthand at the café, I wasn’t so sure. J.T. O’Brien had a dark side and was capable of violence. But I didn’t know where J.T. drew the line. Or if he ever even did.

  “Did he say anything else?” I asked.

  “Nah, but that was enough. He had a look in his eyes”—I knew that look all too well—“Dude just gave me the creeps, that’s all.”

  The bathroom doorknob began to jiggle. Damn, it had to be Adam.

  Desperate to wrap things up, I whispered, “Jimmy, I gotta go.”

  “Cool,’ he said, unperturbed. “I’ll call you if I ever find that picture.”

  The doorknob jostled more urgently. “Thanks,” I said quickly and then added, “And Jimmy, please be careful.”

  Jimmy was laughing and saying, “Sure thing, see ’ya around,” when I hit the end button.

  Adam’s voice rang out from the other side of the closed door. “Maddy? Are you OK in there?”

  I tossed the cell into my bag, crossed the small space, and flipped the lever to unlock the bathroom door. Instantly it flew open, and Adam, standing on the other side and not looking happy, eyed me up and down. “What’s going on? You’ve been in here for an awfully long time.”

  “Uh,” I began. The water was still blasting away, making things look even more suspicious. Adam walked over to turn it off, and I followed him, saying, “Nothing is going on. I was just…washing my hands.”

  Adam was no fool, and the look he gave me confirmed it. “Madeleine, the water’s been running for a good ten minutes. I could hear it outside the door.”

  Our eyes met. “Can we just get out of here?” I asked, sighing. “We can talk about it on the flight back.”

  He held my gaze and then relented. “Let’s go. But, Madeleine, you are going to tell me exactly what you’re up to. Is that clear?”

  I reluctantly nodded, and Adam turned away. I walked behind him, keeping my eyes on his broad shoulders, tension evident in every stride. Damn! He was not going to be pleased to find out I’d been corresponding with the bartender at Billy’s, especially now that J.T. O’Brien was back in the mix.

  We boarded the plane in silence, no witty bantering in the cockpit this time.

  Once we were airborne, Adam switched the controls over to autopilot and swiveled in his seat to face me. “So, what were you doing in the restroom back at the hangar?”

  Here we go.

  “Talking on the phone,” I replied, staring beyond Adam to watch the sun sink on the horizon, a fiery orb of red that appeared to sizzle into the skyline.

  “And to whom were you speaking that you felt the need to leave the water running at full power? You obviously wanted to keep someone from hearing what you were saying, and I’m sure that someone was me,” Adam said coolly, but the accusation burned as hot as the sinking sun.

  I swallowed hard. “Um…”

  “Madeleine.”

  “OK, OK.” I met his gaze. “Remember when I told you about the bartender at Billy’s?”

  Adam rolled his eyes. “That place again,” he muttered to himself and then asked, “The guy who supposedly has the alleged photo of my ex kissing some blonde, correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “And this was why you were on the phone with him?” Adam’s
tone turned mocking. “Because, let me guess, he still can’t find this alleged photo. But nevertheless he had the burning need to check in with you. Surely to keep you engaged in whatever game he’s playing.”

  Either Adam didn’t believe a picture of Chelsea kissing a blonde woman existed, or he was trying to downplay its significance by focusing on Jimmy and his supposed ulterior motives. Good thing I hadn’t told Adam about the cash I’d given to the kid, or he’d really have something to run with.

  “He didn’t find the photo,” I softly confirmed. “But he called to tell me about something else that happened at the bar.”

  Adam was starting to look quite aggravated. “Really, Maddy, I’m running out of patience here. Just tell me why you were talking to that guy?”

  I took a deep breath. “You’re not going to like this.”

  “No doubt,” he chuckled.

  I took a deep breath. “He told me J.T. O’Brien was at Billy’s last night. He was really drunk, maybe even doing drugs.” I paused. “Wait, you do know he got out of rehab early, right?”

  Adam shot me a look that said, “Are you serious?”

  I still wanted an answer, so I waited and he confirmed, “Yes, I’m well aware of O’Brien’s early release.”

  Of course.

  “Well, anyway,” I continued, “he threatened Jimmy. That’s the bartender’s name, by the way.”

  Adam shook his head. “Nice to know you’re on a first name basis with the lowlifes at Billy’s,” he chided, his voice laced with disapproval.

  I bit down on my lip to keep from uttering some kind of a smartass retort. Adam was irritated enough with me. I ignored his comment and instead asked, “Do you think J.T. meant it? Do you think Jimmy is in any danger?”

  “No, I’m sure your new pal will be perfectly fine.”