40. Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty
D eclan
Nate Huntley's eyes flare open.
His throat bobs and his shoulders tense. His right eye also twitches when he said, "I don’t know what you’re talking about."
In hindsight, he’s a terrible liar. Whoever hired him should have hired someone else because all his tics tell me I’m on the right track.
"You made a mess in my office because you were trying to frame it as a break-in or robbery when in fact you were simply getting pictures of the building plans. Isn’t that right?"
His eye twitches even more.
"Who put you up to this?" I say. "Who hired you?"
"No one hired me." His eyes fly wildly across the room. "You’re insane. Where's Jensen?"
"Not here. But even if he were here, do you really think that old man can protect you from me?" I lean forward and Nate backs away from the cell immediately but not before I grab his shirt through the railing and shove him forward against the bars. I smell the bitter scent of metal and fear, and smile without humor. "Tell me who hired you."
"No one hired me. I already told you why I broke in."
"What’s your endgame? You guys delay the progress of the hotel until what? Until I give up and leave? And then what? You go to jail just to get rid of me?"
Nate's lips tighten and he looks away, but he doesn’t have to answer because my mind is already working.
"Or maybe you don’t plan on going to jail?" I cock my head. "That means whoever is behind this has the power to get you out of trouble."
That narrows my options considerably.
It could be the mayor, but the man didn’t show any sign of animosity toward me, and he didn't put up any opposition to my plan to demolish the Pink Hotel.
According to my father, it was the mayor who approached him and pushed for the sale anyway, hoping that revitalizing the town would help his reelection efforts.
He has nothing to gain from this.
Of course, it could be someone else using the mayor, but I don’t know enough about the town dynamics to make a judgment of that quite yet. I need more information.
"What’s going on here?"
The question announces Jensen's arrival. I didn't hear the door open or close, probably because I was caught in this intense back and forth with Nate that drowned out the sound of anything else.
I release Nate, taking a step back as he backs all the way to the opposite wall.
"It ain’t visiting hours, bud," Officer Jensen says.
I open my mouth to tell him that I can't wait for visiting hours, but a light bulb goes off in my head.
Instead, I ask, "Do you keep a record of all the visitors that have been here to see Nate?"
A quick glance at Nate shows a panicked expression that he quickly tries to hide under mere annoyance. Again, I’m on the right track.
"What do you need it for?" Officer Jensen asks.
"I’ll let you know once I see it."
Jensen hesitates for a second, then nods and walks back around the corner. I glare at Nate, trying to tease out more information from his expression until Officer Jensen returns holding a notepad in his hand.
Nate has only received about ten visitors since he's been here. Most of the names I don’t recognize but two of them I do.
Poppy Moon.
Rick Jovin.
That one was for a friend . Nate said that when I asked why he destroyed the wheel loader. There was no reason for him to admit that, and it seemed the only honest thing he said that day.
I have a feeling that whoever he’s colluding with is someone close to him. A friend.
Those two have visited him more frequently than anyone else.
I suppose Rick's visit makes sense because according to Jensen's report, Nate had a close relationship with Rick and Grandpa Crane.
But just to confirm...
"You told Rick about who broke into Emma's place?" I ask Jensen.
"I had to," he says. "Rick came here and chewed him out for hours. Begged me to let him into the cell so he can kick his ass."
That's what I thought.
"And what about Poppy? What's her relationship with Nate."
Jensen shrugs. "I don't know that they have one. Except in the same way we all relate to one another living here. It's a pretty small town. News probably got around and Poppy got pissed about what happened to Emma and wanted to say her piece."
Jensen was likely right.
It is a small town, so it wasn't weird for Poppy Moon to be visiting Nate. But something itched at the back of my mind.
I suddenly flashback to the older woman telling me that she was about to become my worst enemy.
Shit. Was this what she meant?
An ugly feeling turned my stomach. I might not know much about the woman or her relationship with Nate, but I know about her and Emma.
Emma clearly has a lot of affection for her, and it's going to break her heart if I go after someone she cares about.
Especially since the same person broke into her house too.
Speaking of which...
I turn back to Nate
"So what did Emma's break-in have to do with it? What were you trying to hide then."
Nate Huntley seems to have decided that silence is the best option because he turns to face the wall and simply ignores me.
I could probably convince Jensen to let me in there so I can beat the answer out of him, but before I can decide on the course of action, my phone rings.
I pull it out of my pocket, feel a flare of happiness when I see that ID and answer.
"Emma."
"Declan, where are you?" It sounds like she's close to hyperventilating and worry immediately kicks to the forefront of my mind.
"Emma, what’s wrong?"
"I need to see you," she says. "I’m on my way to the Marriott with Cross. I just left the Tiki Bar."
"Okay? I'll be there shortly. But what happened?"
"I can't talk. I barely got away, but I'll tell you when I get there."
"Okay, I'm coming." I hang up and push the notepad into Jensen's hands, walking away. I ignore his calls at my back because suddenly, none of this shit matters anymore. All that matters is Emma.
She sounded panicked over the phone, and she said she barely got away. What the fuck did that mean?
I break various traffic laws to get to the hotel and let myself into our suite to find her pacing on the carpet, while Cross and Monty observe her from the couch.
"What’s wrong?" I ask. "What happened?"
"I think Xavier has something to do with the break-in."
"What?"
"I overheard him talking to someone on the phone about it." She’s talking so fast she can't take a breath, her fingers moving agitatedly. "I was supposed to meet him for lunch. But then I caught him talking about the break-in and the Rainbow Pearls. And then I had to get away before he saw me but –"
"Wait, slow down." I take her by the shoulders and run my hand down her arms in calming strokes. "You said, Xavier was talking about the break-in?"
She nods aggressively.
"What exactly did he say?"
She purses her lips. "He told whoever he was speaking to on the phone that they botched the break-in and didn't find the pearls. Also, he said something about making the big man leaving town. I don't know it didn't make a lot of sense to me, but I'm almost certain he was talking about my break-in. He may have planned the whole thing."
"Why would he do that?" I mutter more to myself than her, but she answers anyway.
"Look," Emma swallows. "I didn't tell you everything before because I was embarrassed but...remember the stalker I mentioned? Well, that was Xavier."
It's like a shot to the throat, but before I can recover, she continues, "I'm sorry I hid that from you and pretended it was a random stranger, but I just...it's a long, weird story and I didn't think anyone would believe me. But please, let's not focus on that right now. I'll give you all the details later, but I have to figure this shit out right now because I'm losing it. God, I truly thought he changed. But he didn't. Not if he's staging a break-in just to..." She waves her hand around. "I don't know what his plan was, but it can't be good."
"Emma....okay." I take a deep breath, breathing in through the sudden flare of anger. I make a concerted effort to table the stalker discovery for later. Later I will resummon back the rage that I feel, and that bastard will undoubtedly pay for every single tear Emma has shed, for every nightmare.
But right now, she needs me to focus on something else.
"Did Xavier and Nate Huntley meet when Xavier came to visit you years ago?"
If Xavier is behind her break in, then why did Nate Huntley take credit for it? Was it to cast further confusion on the case? Or was he an accomplice? Why would he do something like that to Emma of all people? Is there a personal vendetta?
She shakes her head. "No. Xavier only stayed a few days, and Nate...well, he doesn't come around unless there's trouble."
Shit. So that shattered that link. It might be unrelated, but it probably isn't. I just can't figure out the links between all these layers of weirdness.
I run my hands over my face. "What the fuck is going on?"
"I don't know," Emma breathes. "But this has been the strangest couple of days. Just last night, I figured out that there are two different Vs in Madam Thornley's diary."
"What?"
She shrugs. "Yeah. I mean I'm not as excited about it as I was yesterday, but those letters to Madam Thornley were definitely written by two different people. And I think that one of Vs in the diary might be associated with the thieves who stole the pearl years ago."
"I think so too." The door to Amelia's room opens and she stands in the hallway with her eyes sparkling. "And boy do I have a theory for you."