Chapter 7
Unfortunately, or fortunately—Tina was torn on that question—Marigold had no problem with Jack Finnegan being involved in the search for Adam Johnson.
“I’m an open book,” she explained, as she drove through the little town center where most of Sea Smoke Island’s businesses were located. “Everyone knows my business that wants to know it. Lucky for me, I’m not all that interesting. So you’re saying Jack Finnegan is on the island right now?”
“You’re a fan?”
“No, but in the course of my work as an assistant constable, I’ve heard that he has a history here. It’s the Sunderlands, right? They owned that little house back there? I heard they left it to their grandkids.”
Tina would never stop being amazed at the encyclopedic memory islanders had regarding real estate on this pile of rocks. “Yes, he’s one of the grandkids. Apparently his sister has been staying here, and now she’s missing.”
This next part was delicate. She hesitated, giving Marigold a surreptitious side-eye scrutiny before speaking. Would she burst into tears at the thought of her fiancé two-timing her? Or was she past that stage, given that he’d skipped out on their wedding?
“Marigold, would it shock you to learn there’s a chance Adam was seeing someone else on the island?”
They were just entering the town square, an open area where three gravel roads converged around a flagpole surrounded with vivid plantings of geraniums and zinnias. To get almost anywhere on the island, you had to drive around that flagpole; it started to feel like déjà vu after a while.
“Wait, what?” Marigold pulled over to the side of the road and jerked the truck to a stop. “You mean while we were engaged?”
Shit. Maybe she should have waited until they weren’t in a moving vehicle. “Sorry to spring it on you like that.”
“Yeah, you should be. I nearly ran into the freaking flagpole. You’re saying he was seeing someone else on Sea Smoke? How? This island’s about the size of a sandwich.”
“Footlong or… never mind.” Tina cut off her natural urge to crack a joke. “I know it sounds unlikely, but is it possible? Apparently Jack’s sister Jessie is a bit of a shut-in.”
She related the essentials of what Jack had told her about Jessie, and the man she’d been seeing, and the phone call from the Honeymoon Suite that night. As she listened, Marigold’s open, sunny face darkened.
“I gotta think about this. It’s not like we were together all the time, so I don’t know what he did when he was alone. I thought he was working. Maybe not.”
“What work did he do?”
“One of those jobs that require high-speed internet and lots of Zoom meetings. He said he was a financial consultant for high-net-worth individuals. Sometimes he would have to take a call in private because they insisted on complete confidentiality. He took business trips to places like Hong Kong and Tokyo…” She trailed off, her shoulders slumping.
“At least that’s what he said. I don’t know where he actually went, now that I think about it.
Maybe he went down the road to the Sunderland house. Geez Louise, I’m a fool.”
Tina touched her shoulder briefly. There was solid muscle under that pale blue work shirt.
She hated the fact that someone as down-to-earth and real as Marigold had gotten tangled up with a fucker like Adam/Seth.
“Look, the last thing you should do is beat yourself up. These guys are experts in manipulating and fooling people. I guarantee you aren’t the only one who fell for whatever he was selling. ”
“Can you guarantee I’m not the only assistant constable who did?” Marigold made a face. “I think I’d better demote myself back to constable’s assistant.”
Tina hated seeing her so down. What would she do if Marigold was one of her friends? How many times had she talked her friends off a self-esteem ledge?
“Absolutely not. Here, look in the mirror.” Tina twisted the rearview mirror so Marigold faced it.
“See that strong, capable, confident woman there? I know us women like to internalize things, but let’s not let that happen.
I need you in the game, Marigold. You were savvy enough to suspect something beyond a basic runaway fiancé, and you were smart enough to call me in.
Now let’s get this bastard. He deserves the beating, not you. ”
Marigold blinked a few times as she faced her reflection. “I’m strong.”
“You’re strong.”
“And capable.”
“Very.”
“But I’m no model.”
“Excuse me?”
“And I’m not wealthy.” Marigold shoved the mirror back into place and turned to face Tina.
“Do I look like the kind of woman a hotshot financial consultant would want to marry? No. Do I have the kind of money that would make up for it? No. So what the hell was he doing with me? What was he after? That’s what I can’t figure out. ”
At least she was turning the focus back to Adam. “Excellent question. I’ve been thinking about that too. What about your job at the constable’s office? Anything there?”
Marigold tilted her head back with a hoot of laughter. “My job making coffee and filing paperwork?”
“Oh come on. I know you do more than that. You’re Luke’s backup, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but we’re talking teenagers smoking weed in empty summer houses and the occasional D.V.
incident. Those are my specialty. For some reason a six-foot-tall Norse maiden showing up at your door makes men think twice.
Women too, since that’s been known to happen too.
In the middle of winter, when it’s blowing a gale, people can go a little crazy out here. ”
“I believe it, though I don’t plan to find out. So did Adam ever express any interest in your job?”
“Not really. We did have sex in the office a couple times. Once we did it in the lockup. It was part of a role-play thing. Pretty sexy if you ask me. I always had a fantasy about that, so he offered to—”
“Okay, I think I’m good on the details,” Tina said quickly. So Adam had spent time at the constable’s office; that seemed worth noting. “Quick question. Does the name Sally or Sandy ring any bells?”
“The only Sandy on the island is Sandy Clyde, who married Brendan a few years ago. No one sees her much since she’s busy with her two little kids.”
That didn’t sound promising as another potential lover of Adam/Seth.
“As for Sally, there’s Sally McPhee, of course.” She waved at the Bloodshot Eyeball, the café perched on a rickety deck overlooking the dock. “I’m sure you know her. Heather’s mother. There’s Heather now, in fact.”
As if on cue, they spotted Heather McPhee walking her bike around the flagpole toward the café.
Perfect timing. Tina had hoped to run into Heather or Gabby, who’d uncovered a lot of dirty secrets since they’d been on this island.
“I’m going to hop out here. I’m going to want to see the place where Adam was staying. Want to go there tomorrow?”
“Sure, but he cleared it out completely when he left. I searched it myself. He owed two months of rent, too. God, I’m an idiot.”