“There’s iced tea,” she said, pointing to the table with the refreshments. She resumed her seat in the swing. Tucking one leg under her, she sipped her tea and regarded them over the rim of her glass.
“Don’t mind if I do.” Earl poured himself a glass from the sweating pitcher. “Ah, nothing like sweet tea.” He settled in the rocker and took out a pen. “Hope you don’t mind if I record this? It’s easier than trying to write it all down.” He clicked a switch on the pen recorder without waiting for her to answer. “Can you take me through the events that led up to your friend’s disappearance?”
She blinked. “Okay.”
She plunged into the story about the client who wanted restoration estimates and ended with what she saw on the beach cam. She broke down again when she got to the part about the men taking her friend. Alec couldn’t imagine how he’d feel if he saw someone he cared about being kidnapped and couldn’t do anything to stop it.
Earl leaned forward. “Ms. Holladay, did you harm your friend?”
She sat upright, sloshing tea over the side of her glass onto her shorts. “Of course not!”
“You didn’t kill Nicole, dump her body in the Atlantic, then call the sheriff with some far-fetched story about an abduction?”
“No, no! You can’t possibly believe that.” She stared wildly from Earl to Alec, then back again. “Nicole is my friend. I would do anything to find her. Anything!”
“Yet the website with the cam is blank during the time your partner was supposedly kidnapped.”
How had he found that out? He must have talked to Tom. Alec wanted to interrupt, but he bit his tongue and let Earl continue his questioning. She’d survive. It was strange that the tape had been messed with.
Earl smiled. “I did a little research. You’re a computer expert. A person at the historical society said you’re their go-to person when they have any computer issues. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that you hacked into the cam data and erased that portion of the tape.”
“It was an accident.” She gulped and held his gaze. “I was trying to save the video. It wouldn’t let me, so I . . . I hacked into the system and tried to save it that way. Something happened, and the next thing I knew, the data was gone.”
“I see. I must say I thought you’d come up with a more believable story than that,” Earl said.
“It’s the truth.”
Alec watched her face, the way it crumpled, the way tears formed in her eyes.
“I think you’ve made enough accusations, Earl.”
Her fingers inched toward him but stopped before she touched his hand. “I didn’t hurt Nicole, Mr. Franklin. If you write a story suggesting that I did, you’ll only aid whoever took her.”
Earl turned off his tape recorder. “Let me know if you remember anything else.” He tucked the recorder into his pocket and strode to the waiting boat.
The boat carrying Earl back to Kitty Hawk cruised away, and none too soon for Libby. She wanted to throw something, to scream about the injustice of anyone even thinking that she might have hurt Nicole. His blue eyes watching her somberly, Alec continued to sit on the porch with her. He probably still suspected she had done something criminal.
She set her iced tea on the table and paced the expansive porch. “You said you’d give me the benefit of the doubt.”
His sip of tea seemed deliberate, as though he was fishing for extra time before answering. “I am. But it seems strange the data would be missing from the cam.”
His doubt was written on his face, and she fought to keep her voice level. “I swear to you I didn’t do it on purpose. Yes, I might have caused it. I don’t know.” She clasped her hands in front of her. “Did you talk to your cousin when we were in town? I want to do something! I have to find Nicole.”
“With the hurricane, Tom’s going to have his hands full. And to be honest, this kind of thing is much more serious than the domestic disputes and traffic tickets he normally deals with. He’s my cousin, but I think this is way over his head.”
“I’m going to have to find her myself. It’s clear no one else is going to do it.”
He raised a brow. “You? What do you know about looking for a missing person?”
“Nothing. But I can retrace her steps. Talk to everyone she spoke with. Surely I’ll find a clue somewhere. I can’t just sit here and wait!” Her voice broke, and she turned her back on him.
She was alone here, and it was time she faced it. The people in the inn shared only her blood. They cared nothing about her. Well, maybe Aunt Pearl cared a little, but her warmth might only be curiosity. Libby refused to entertain the thought that Nicole might be dead.
She sensed rather than heard his approach. His hand came down on her bare arm, and its warmth made her shiver. She didn’t turn to look at him. He had brought that reporter here.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Reporters and law enforcement are trained to look at the person closest to the victim.”
She whirled, jerking away from his touch. “Don’t call her that! She’s not dead, she’s not!”
His hand dropped to his side. The wind ruffled his dark hair. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. She’s still a victim of violence. Kidnapping is a violent act.”
She shuddered and moved farther away from him. “Earl is going to write a piece suggesting I hurt her, isn’t he? He really thinks I killed her and dumped her body in the ocean.”
“I’ll talk to him. I think he’ll be fair.”
The breakers rolled over the beach in a hypnotic rhythm. She turned to stare at him again. “Is that what your cousin thinks too? Is he going to taint the state’s investigation by implying that I’m guilty?”
“I don’t know what Tom is thinking. Look, I’ll help you, okay? I’ll take some accrued leave. I know everyone in town. It’s a good idea to trace Nicole’s movements. Someone has to know what happened.”
His words were so gentle. Even though she’d screamed at him, he stayed calm. “Why would you do that for me?”
He shrugged. “I was falsely accused once.”
“What happened?”
He folded his arms across his chest and moved back a step. “My older brother drowned. We were mulletting with a neighbor. I was about Zach’s age. My older brother was named Zach too. He was twenty.”
She heard the pain in his voice and wanted to tell him he didn’t have to describe what happened, but she found herself holding her breath and wanting to know more.
“Giles, our neighbor, was with us. He was supposed to have checked the fuel in the boat. We were pretty far out and the engine died. No gas. The ship-to-shore radio had broken the week before, and we couldn’t call for help. My brother was the strongest swimmer, so he decided to swim for help.”
“Oh no,” she said softly.
He sighed. “His body was never found. A fishing trawler found us the next morning. As soon as we got to land, Giles started railing at me, saying it was all my fault. If I’d filled the tank, my brother would still be alive. Everyone believed him. The pain and disappointment in my parents’ eyes haunted me for years. Still does. They believed Giles instead of me.”
“Have you talked with them about it since you’ve been grown?”
He shrugged. “Pointless now. Even if they believed me, it wouldn’t make up for their condemnation back then.”
“That’s so sad, Alec. It has to have been so hard for you to lose two brothers. And then your parents, in a way.”
He went silent for a moment. “Mom keeps the house like a shrine. Everywhere I look I see pictures of my brothers from babyhood to the year they died. In Mom’s eyes they are saints now. Something I’ll never be.”
“And your father?”
“He doesn’t say much. Mom rules the household. Her hero worship eventually drove Beth away too. Beth is my younger sister. I don’t think she’s been home in three years.”
“I’m so sorry.” She touched his hand. “I’ve always felt a little unlovable sin
ce my father abandoned me. I thought that’s what he did anyway. Now everything I believed is all jumbled.”
He held her hand in an easy grip. “You’ll figure it out.”
“So will you. I’m already sure that you’re a good man, Alec.”
A tinge of color stained his face. “Hardly. I was a wild kid. I guess that’s why I want to help Zach avoid my mistakes.”
“Most of us have to learn the hard way.”
Her skin was still warm from touching his hand. He knew what it was like to be misunderstood. She wasn’t in this by herself.
SIXTEEN
The rest of the house slept, but Libby paced the rug in the parlor. The grandfather clock in the corner chimed two, but she wasn’t a bit sleepy. She should have been. Her last full night’s sleep had been before this nightmare started.
What was she going to do if everyone began to look at her as a suspect? How could she clear herself?
“Libby?” Pearl stood in the doorway. A pink nightgown covered her bulk, and her hair was in a long braid. “Are you all right?” She stepped into the room. “You’ve been tense ever since dinner.”
“You’d be tense too if you were accused of harming Nicole.”
“What? Who accused you of such a thing?”
“Earl.”
“Oh, honey, he’s just snooping for something sensational. The truth will come out. You’ll see.” She beckoned for Libby to come with her. “You’re tall. I need some help in my room, if you don’t mind.”
Libby followed her up the stairs. Helping Pearl would give her something to focus on besides what other people thought of her. When they reached Pearl’s room, she looked around. It was very different from the way it had been when Nicole’s things were here. Now there were angels everywhere, spilling out of boxes, perched on the dresser top, and heaped on the bed.
She picked up one that held a child in its arms. “How many angels do you have?”
“Oh, I’ve lost count. Well over two hundred, I’m sure.”
“Did you bring them all?”
Pearl picked up an angel still in its box, which was lying beside the bed. “I could hardly leave them in the house, now could I?”
Libby smiled. “Of course not. Why angels?”
“I’ve always loved stories about angels. I’m sure I saw one once.”
Libby found she believed Pearl. “What did he look like? And how did you know?”
“I was ten.” She gestured to the window. “It was right out there in the water. I wasn’t a very strong swimmer and I got a cramp in my side.”
“Oh no.”
Pearl nodded. “The surf was high and I couldn’t keep my head up. I finally decided I would give up and just go to heaven. My grandpa had died two months earlier and I missed him anyway. So I quit swimming. I said, ‘I’m going to heaven now.’ ”
Libby sat on the edge of the bed with the angel in her hands. “What happened?”
“I felt a hand on my arm, and the next thing I knew I was on my knees in the sand vomiting seawater. I looked around and a teenage boy was walking away. I called out to him and he turned around and smiled.” She paused and her eyes were moist. “I’ve never seen a smile like that before or since. He said, ‘You’ll be fine now. It’s not your time.’ Then he turned and jogged away.”
“You’d never seen the boy?”
Pearl shook her head. “He wasn’t a real boy. There was something special about him.”
Libby wanted to believe her aunt. Even more, she wished she could have an experience like that. She touched the beads at her neck. Somehow God felt more real here, on this island. Almost as if he could whisper in her ear at any moment.
Pearl smiled. “How’d we get on that subject? You need to get some rest and I’m blathering about something that happened fifty years ago.”
“What can I help you with?”
Pearl pointed to the closet. “The disorder is driving me crazy. It’s why I’m still awake at this crazy hour. I want to put some of the boxes of angels on the closet shelf, but I’m too short. There are some boxes in there that could go to the attic. That would leave me enough room. Can you reach?”
“I think so.” Libby opened the closet door and eyed the boxes on the shelves. She stood on her tiptoes and pulled down the first box easily. “I think I need a chair for the one in the back.”
Pearl brought her the desk chair, and Libby climbed onto it. “Can you flip on the closet light? It’s dark in here.” When the light came on, she peered to the back of the shelf. “What is this?” She reached in and brought out an envelope. “It’s an old letter.” She climbed down from the chair and sat on the edge of the bed where the light would allow her to read.
The bed sank as Pearl settled beside her. “It looks like it’s addressed to Tina.”
Libby opened it. “Did she ever stay in this room?”
Pearl shrugged. “Not that I know of.”
Libby pulled out the letter inside the envelope. The writing was in a bold hand that suggested it had been penned by a man. The style was a little hard to read. She held it under the light and read aloud.
“‘Tina, I will ruin Ray. You’ll see what a huge mistake you’ve made.’”
Libby stared at her aunt. “Does this make any sense to you?”
Pearl gave a faint gasp. She snatched the note and crumpled it. “It’s so old. I don’t think we can possibly know what it means.”
When Pearl fanned herself, Libby knew her aunt was hiding something. “What do you know?”
Pearl pulled her braid over one shoulder. “Ray had some financial problems a few years back. I never heard what went wrong. He lost about half of his money.”
“He still had plenty to leave my siblings.”
“He’d already put that money for them in trust funds.”
“You suppose someone set out to harm him financially?”
“I can’t imagine something so sordid.”
“What wrong choice could Tina have made?” Libby wished she’d had the chance to look at the back of the sheet. “The letter is yellowed, like it’s old. How long were Dad and Tina married?”
“Twenty-five years the month before Tina died.”
“My father didn’t wait long to replace my mother.”
Pearl started to speak, then closed her mouth and shook her head.
“Was anyone else interested in Tina?”
Pearl rubbed her head. “I think there might have been, but it was so long ago. I just don’t remember.”
Libby sighed. It didn’t matter anyway. This was old news and had nothing to do with finding Nicole.
Libby lay in the comfortable bed with her eyes open. She’d expected to sleep until at least eight, but something had awakened her. Birds sang outside her window, though the sun was not yet up. The air had the sense that sunrise was just around the corner. She rolled over and glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table. Five thirty. The sun would be up in half an hour.
She listened again to the sleeping house. What had she heard? Or had it been a dream? She sat up. “Is someone there?”
The sound of running feet came from beyond the door. Her first inclination was to cower under the covers, but she wasn’t going to give the person the satisfaction of thinking she was frightened. It was probably Vanessa. Or Brent. She forced herself out of bed and went to the door. There was a folded sheet of paper lying on the carpet. Something inside made it bulge.
Libby nudged it with her foot, and the paper opened to reveal a black blob. She leaped back until she realized it was a dead jellyfish. Why would someone leave this for her? Though she hated to get close, she lifted the paper and carried it into the attached bathroom, where she dumped the jellyfish into the trash. The paper was blank.
She balled up the paper and tossed it into the wastebasket, then pulled on shorts and a top. Whoever had left the creature couldn’t make her cower in her room. The beach called, and she could watch the sun come up over the ocean.
The
sky was lightening as she stepped onto the porch. A figure loomed to her left and she jumped, then realized it was Alec. “What are you doing up so early?” Mercy, he was handsome in his crisp white shirt and the khaki shorts that showed tanned, muscular legs.
He grinned. “I could ask you the same.”
She told him about the jellyfish. “I’m not going to let her scare me.”
He lifted a brow. “Her? You think it was Vanessa?”
“Probably. Does a jellyfish have any symbolism?”
He shrugged. “The obvious one is that she’s calling you spineless. But that doesn’t apply to you. It’s clear to all of us that you’ve got backbone.”
She had to smile at that. “I’ll admit that it scared me this morning when I found it. But if you tell anyone, I’ll deny it.”
He grinned and made a zipping motion across his lips.
She pointed toward the whitecaps. “Want to take a walk?”
He pulled his hands from his pockets. “My thoughts exactly.”
They jogged down the steps and down the slope to the beach. “I found an old letter last night in the room where Aunt Pearl is staying.” She told him what the note contained.
“All that was before my time, but someone would probably know if Tina had another beau. I don’t see how that matters now though,” Alec said.
“It probably doesn’t. I guess I’m just interested in all the history.” She paused to peer at a black blob on the beach. “What’s that?”
“A mermaid’s purse,” he said, steering her around it. “Technically known as a skate’s egg sack.”
She shuddered. “Looks creepy, like some kind of alien.” She fell into step beside him again. The murmur of the sea was balm on her soul, and she ran into the gentle waves as far as her knees, letting the water wash away her worries.
“You look happy,” Alec said, watching her.
She splashed him with water. “The water’s warm!”
He grinned and jogged into the waves with her, then splashed her back. She licked the salt from her lips and smiled. “I’m not going to let Earl’s suspicious nature rob me of my peace of mind. I know I’m innocent.”