Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
Predictably, Flynn didn’t reappear to help Lily in the shop. She hadn’t for one moment expected him to, and she was actually glad he hadn’t. As things quietened down, she nipped up to check on him, relieved to see him sleeping soundly.
He was still in a peaceful slumber when she trudged upstairs once the shop was closed and everything tidied up. After getting changed into her pyjamas, she had a momentary hesitation over whether to sleep on the couch before deciding against it. Flynn finally stirred when she slipped into bed beside him.
“Did I miss it?” he asked, then yawned widely.
“You missed it.”
His forehead wrinkled. “Sorry.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me,” he said, shifting onto his side. “Because now Ted will forever get all the credit for helping you.”
A smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. “Ted was very helpful. As were Kit and Seren. I really found out who my true friends were today. Some really went above and beyond… and some people just slept the whole day…” Her words turned into laughter as Flynn dug his fingers under her ribs.
“How did it go?” he asked seriously.
“I think it went well. Lots of people came, and everyone seemed to love the ice cream. As long as no one gets ill, I’ll call it a success.”
“No one will get ill. You tested all the ice cream yourself. I still think you’re crazy for doing that.”
“Ted and Sergeant Proctor also questioned Gordon about it and he swore he hadn’t tampered with the ingredients for the ice cream, but he’s hardly the most trustworthy person.”
Flynn sighed heavily and sank further into the pillow. “I can’t believe it was him. Why would he do that?”
Lily told him about her conversation with Sally, and they spent an hour chewing over all the details of the case.
When they’d finally exhausted rehashing it all, Flynn looked at her wearily. “Would you mind if I sleep here tonight? I don’t think I can face walking home.”
“It’s fine. I assumed you would.”
“I can move to the couch,” he said without enthusiasm.
“You can also just sleep there. Whatever you want.”
“It’s comfy here,” he said. “If you’re sure you don’t mind.”
“I don’t. Are you hungry? I can make you a sandwich or something.”
He gave a small shake of the head. “I’m not hungry.”
“That’s got to be a first,” she joked.
This time, when he reached out to tickle her, his fingers hit the exposed skin between her vest and her pyjama trousers and sent goosebumps rippling over her skin. She batted him away with a smile and a gentle admonishment.
After turning out the lamp, she sank back into her pillow, tired but entirely content.
“I should probably call my mum,” Flynn said while they ate a full English breakfast in Lily’s small kitchen the following morning.
“Does she know you were in hospital?” Lily asked, spearing a piece of bacon and dabbing it into the yolk of her fried egg.
“Apparently not.”
“What does that mean?”
He bit into a slice of toast. “She’d have called me about a hundred times by now if she knew. Not that it matters. It’s probably better she didn’t know.”
“How come you seem annoyed?” Lily asked. “What am I missing?”
His shoulders shifted in a nonchalant shrug. “My dad knew I was in hospital, but he clearly didn’t think it was worth informing my mum.”
“Has your dad been in touch?”
“Nope.” A muscle in his jaw twitched and he kept his gaze fixed on his food.
“That’s a bit weird, isn’t it?”
She thought back to the way Sergeant Proctor had looked when she’d asked if he knew Flynn as a child, and wondered if there was more to Flynn’s relationship with his dad than he let on. He’d mentioned that his mum had essentially raised him as a single parent and he’d only seen his dad sporadically growing up, but she didn’t know much more than that. She’d assumed there was some sort of connection, given that his dad was also a police officer.
“I’d probably have been more surprised if he had called.” He rubbed at his forehead with the back of his hand. “You’d think I’d be used to him by now and it wouldn’t bother me.”
“But it does?”
“He’s my dad,” he said, then took a deep breath and tucked into his breakfast again. “I forgot to tell you, I had an interesting conversation with the sergeant yesterday.”
“What about?”
His smile slipped and a flash of uncertainty hit his eyes and was gone again in an instant. “He told me I’m a good officer and he likes working with me.”
“That’s high praise.” Lily smirked. “Are we certain someone didn’t poison the sergeant? It sounds as though he was confused.”
“Shut up,” he said, giving her a playful kick under the table.
He loaded the last of his bacon and egg onto his fork and polished off his meal in one huge mouthful. His gaze was on the pin board hanging beside the table when he washed it all down with a swig of coffee. “Now that you’ve solved the mystery of the poisonings, we should get back to figuring out the other mystery.” Reaching out, he unpinned the picture of the cafe owner and set it between them.
“I told you, I think I want to leave it be. Besides, we’ve had no luck in finding her so far.”
“Don’t be so defeatist. I really think we’ll find her, eventually.”
Lily set her cutlery on the plate and let out a long sigh as she picked up the photo. “I wish I had your confidence.” Her eyes snagged on something at the bottom of the photo and she shifted her grasp of it slightly as her heart rate went haywire.
“What’s wrong?” Flynn asked.
She forgot to breathe as she shifted her thumb to partially cover the object at the bottom of the picture.
“Lily?” Flynn said.
“It’s not a crucifix,” she muttered, more to herself than Flynn.
“What isn’t?”
“The necklace… I thought it was a cross, but it’s an anchor.”
Flynn moved beside her to look at the photo. “It’s clearly an anchor.”
“Yes. In the picture it is…” She looked at him in a panic. “But I’ve seen it in real life… Or I think I have.” Feeling suddenly stupid, she shook her head. “No. That can’t be right. She wouldn’t still be wearing the same necklace, would she?”
“She might,” Flynn said. “Where did you see it?”
“The owner is called Gail,” Lily said, thinking aloud. “It can’t be her.”
“ Who? ” Flynn growled.
Lily’s pulse raced, and she thought of the day she’d been at Glynis’s house and the way Maria had been so adamant that someone was out to get them.
“She meant me and her,” she muttered, knowing she was rambling but unable to stop herself. “She thought someone was out to get us. And if she’s using a different name, that could explain why she got so stressed about the papers on the table. Maybe because it had her real name on it. And if the necklace is an anchor it explains why she was so confused when I asked if she was religious…”
Lily fell silent and looked at Flynn, who’d returned to the seat opposite her. His patient gaze made her shake her head in an attempt to straighten her jumbled thoughts.
“Sorry,” she said.
“Who do you think it is?”
“Maria.” She closed her eyes as she let everything sink in. “I think Maria owns the ice cream shop.”
“The woman who lives with Glynis?”
Lily gave a curt nod. When she finally opened her eyes again, she expected Flynn to ask if she was sure. He didn’t speak at all though, just looked at her in that way he did when she was investigating something. He trusted her judgement without questioning it.
“Maria moved to the island not long before I did,” Lily said, trying to fit all the pieces of the puzzle together. “And Glynis said they were old friends. Maybe from when Maria – or Gail, if that’s who she really is – lived here before. It also explains why she’s been keeping such a low profile and not going out much.” Her eyes flicked to Flynn. “Do you think Glynis knows? Has she been coming into the shop to spy on me and report back to Maria?”
“I don’t know,” Flynn said. “I wouldn’t rule it out.”
Lily pushed her fingers into her temples. “Maybe I’m wrong,” she said frantically. “I could be way off the mark.”
“Maybe,” Flynn said. “But I don’t think it will be difficult to find out.”
Lily nodded slowly.
“What were you saying about someone being out to get you?” he asked with a deep frown.
“When I visited Maria and she was ill, I don’t think she knew anyone else had received the welcome baskets. I think she had it in her head that it was only me and her who’d been targeted. At the time, I thought she was delirious from a fever or something…” She inhaled deeply as she thought back on Maria’s ramblings. “She thought someone was trying to kill us.”
“Why would she think that?”
“Good question.” Lily paused. “But we know there was a fire at the ice cream shop, around the same time that my parents died in a fire.”
“You’re thinking that might not be a coincidence…”
She shrugged. “Maybe that’s what Maria was worried about… that whoever started the fires is still out to get us.” Looking at Flynn’s bemused features, she slapped a hand over her mouth. “I sound crazy, don’t I?”
“No,” he said unconvincingly.
With her mind reeling, she looked bleakly at Flynn. “I keep wondering…” She trailed off, not sure she really wanted to voice what was on her mind.
“What?” Flynn coaxed.
“When I think about my childhood, I have this horrible feeling that maybe I grew up on the run.” She laughed at the absurdity of the words and dropped her head to her hands. “I realise exactly how this sounds, but when I look back, it kind of makes sense. The way we moved around so much and the way my uncle was always talking about needing to be prepared for anything. When he died, I found stuff at his house that didn’t make sense…”
“Such as?” Flynn asked.
She opened her mouth, then closed it again, feeling as though she’d said too much. “Such as the photo of the ice cream shop,” she said eventually. “He’d convinced me that my memories of it weren’t real.”
Sighing, she covered her face with her hands. After a moment, Flynn peeled her hands away and held them in his.
“We’re going to figure this out,” he told her plainly. “We’ll talk to Maria and get you your answers. I promise.”
Lily nodded, feeling as close to finding out the truth as she’d ever been.
She just wasn’t convinced she was going to like what she found.
To be continued …