Chapter 12
With each day that passed, Jack grew more certain that something terrible was behind Jessie’s disappearance.
That pit in Jack’s stomach just wouldn’t go away, and it was getting harder to sleep at night.
He was starting to wonder if he was wasting his time on Sea Smoke, but didn’t have any better ideas about where to go.
He thought about the time Jessie had cut off all contact with their parents.
He’d been the intermediary that time, but what if she was doing the same thing again?
But no, he knew she wouldn’t do that to him.
She’d had a good reason when it was their parents; they hadn’t believed her about something very important.
This, now, was out of the blue. Sure, Jessie sometimes disappeared into her own world, but she would never make him worry this much.
And now the shooting investigation was taking everyone’s time and attention, bringing press to the island and distracting his one ally, Tina.
Of course it was important to solve that case too, but no one had died.
No one had even gotten injured beyond some cuts and bruises from shattered glass.
Jessie might be in real danger, and so far Jack had made zero progress in tracking her down.
It was while in this mood—on edge and impatient—that he’d agreed to meet with Luke Carmichael and a few others. He’d already submitted a statement to Marigold, who also happened to be Tina’s client.
On the surface, he saw no similarity between her and Jessie other than the fact they were both women. Jessie was a wisp of a girl who went out of her way to underplay her looks. Marigold was a tall, sturdy, athletic woman who could probably swing Jessie onto her shoulders like a child.
Jack liked her a lot, her directness, her no-nonsense attitude. But it was hard to find any commonality that would connect her to Jessie.
The meeting took place at the constable’s office, with the back door propped open to let in the September breeze, spiked with the scent of apples and wood fires.
The tiny office—little more than a desk with a computer, several metal folding chairs, and a wooden filing cabinet—felt crowded with people.
His gaze automatically went first to Tina.
Don’t forget about Jessie in all this, he wanted to scream.
She stood up from her perch on the edge of the desk and beckoned to him.
“This is Jack Finnegan,” she told the group.
“He was at the Bloodshot Eyeball, and he’s somewhat of a celebrity, which makes him a potential target.
That’s why we’re all here today. Any other group, I wouldn’t put you in the same room, I’d just interrogate you separately.
But between the podcast and Jack’s situation, we decided everyone might benefit from some information sharing.
Jack, meet Heather and Gabby. You already know Luke and Marigold. ”
Everyone gave him a wave or a nod, except for Gabby, whose brown eyes lit up. Tall and slim, with rich brown skin, she radiated intelligence. “Denver Black, it’s an honor.”
“Back at you, Gabby Ramon of Dirty Rotten Bastards.” Her mouth fell open. “I do my research,” he explained. “Excellent podcast.”
Gabby and Heather exchanged a high-five. He’d seen Heather riding her bike around the island, her brown ponytail flying from under a vintage pink helmet. But Gabby had just returned from a research trip, and this was his first time meeting her.
Tina clapped her hands together for attention. “Enough schmoozing. We’re here for one purpose only, and that’s to figure out who might have been the target of the Bloodshot Eyeball gunman.”
Jack leaned against the wall and watched her take charge—clearly that was her natural role in life.
Whatever room Tina was in, she would act like a leader.
He’d known women like her during his time in the Army, and also in Hollywood, and he was fully onboard with women in charge.
But this was the first time he’d experienced actual arousal from witnessing it in action.
“First off, Jack, do you want to fill us in on your situation?” They’d already talked about this. She thought he could benefit from bringing more people into his circle of trust, but it was his decision, not hers.
“Yeah. Sure. My sister Jessie has been missing for almost two weeks now. Her last known location was here on Sea Smoke, in the Sunderland house, for you locals. She was seeing someone who called himself Seth Baker. The last call she received on her phone was from a room at the Lightkeeper Inn, a room that was occupied by Marigold and the man she knew as Adam Johnson.”
“We think it’s the same guy,” Tina interjected, though everyone had clearly caught onto that fact.
“The asshole fiancé?” asked Heather. “Any chance he ran off with your sister instead and they’re too wrapped up in their love affair to surface?”
“It’s possible. But she would have contacted me.”
“I don’t tell my brothers shit, and vice versa,” said Gabby. “If I want to know about them, I call my mom.”
“This is different. We’ve always been close.
She has some anxiety issues. I’m her…rock, for a better word.
” He glanced around the room, seeing sympathy but no judgement in the faces around him.
Not that there should be, but you never knew.
“Is your theory that I was the target because I’m trying to find my sister? ”
“We have no theories yet,” said Tina. “Data first, then theories. Who all knows that you’re on the island? Is there any chance a deranged fan is stalking you? Or someone you beat out for a part?”
“Nah.” Jack shook his head. “I’m not at that level. I’m not being modest here,” he added, when he caught a few skeptical snorts. “I’m no one’s competition. Denver Black takes all my time.”
“Any overly persistent fans?”
“A few over the years. None currently. Also, they were all women, and I get the impression we’re hunting for a man.”
“We are,” said Luke. “All the kids on the dock said they saw a man, although that’s about all they agreed on.”
Jack folded his arms across his chest. “Unless one of my stalkers from years ago made their husband jealous, and he came after me, I’m probably not your guy.”
Tina jotted down a few notes. “We can’t rule it out since we don’t know what’s going on with Jessie. I advise you to watch your back.”
“Noted.” He gestured at Heather and Gabby. “How about our famous podcasters? What are you two working on these days?”
He noticed Gabby shoot a glance at Tina before answering. How effortlessly she’d established her top-dog role in this meeting…truly impressive.
“Count us out. We’re working on a cold case from thirty years ago,” Gabby said. “The Night Light Murder.”
“Go on,” said Tina, clearly curious, though Jack thought it was a waste of time. What possible connection could it have?
Gabby shrugged her shoulders. “Go on with what? I was researching it at the literal moment when the shooting happened. The one can’t have anything to do with the other.”
“Indulge me,” said Tina. “What have you found so far? Don’t worry, I won’t interfere with your exclusive.”
After Heather and Gabby shared a long glance—clearly able to communicate wordlessly by this point—Gabby nodded reluctantly.
“I was following up on Naomi Martin, who worked at the inn and had lodged a complaint against James Schuyler, the murder victim. She said he sexually assaulted her. Her complaint was brushed under the rug, which often happened back then.”
“And now,” Heather added.
“And now.” Gabby nodded her agreement. “Schuyler was powerful, wealthy, and used to getting away with shit. Anyway, she and her kids moved away from the island about a week after the murder. I traced them to Vermont, where she now goes by Kate Mansfield.”
“You talked to her?”
“Yes. She owns a craft store in a little town called Woodstock. But she didn’t have much to say about Sea Smoke Island or the murder.
She said it was a very traumatic time for her and she’s done her best to put it behind her.
We talked for a bit, then she told me it was too triggering for her to think about Sea Smoke and she asked me to leave.
The only new information I got from her is that she was terrified they would pin the murder on her because she’d complained about Schuyler. She said that was why they left.”
Tina frowned. She was jotting down everything, even though so far, Jack hadn’t noticed anything especially relevant. “But wouldn’t that make her look even more suspicious?”
“I got the impression she was more worried about the gossip than the police. You know how people talk here. Anyway, I still don’t see a connection to this shooting.”
Luke spoke up from his position by the filing cabinets, where he was listening alertly.
“I did a little poking around about this case. As it turns out, that murder was the reason the island voted to have a constable. Our office has no records about it since we didn’t exist yet.
The Harbortown police handled it, but they kept getting stonewalled by the inn’s lawyers.
I don’t remember anything about the incident. At the inn it was kept very quiet.”
“My mom remembers,” said Heather. “But she’s a little traumatized now, so we’re not going to bug her. Anyway, we already interviewed her for our first episode.”
“Anything helpful there?”
“She said the whole island was buzzing with rumors and misinformation. She didn’t remember much about the Martins, except that they didn’t live on the island for long.
Naomi came out here to work at the inn and was very private.
You know my mom, she gets everyone’s life story in no time, but not Naomi’s.
She thought Naomi was hiding something, maybe an abusive ex, but that was just her speculation.
Naomi had two cute little blond kids, a boy and a girl, who loved to build sandcastles on the beach. ”
It took a moment for that to sink in, but when it did, Jack stood up straighter. “You said blond kids? And sandcastles?”
“Yeah, why?” Tilting her head, Heather flipped her ponytail over her shoulder.
“Something my sister painted, a watercolor.” He pulled out his phone and found the photo he’d taken of the piece of sketch paper that had slid under the refrigerator. “It shows a blond boy and girl building a sandcastle.”
Gabby got to her feet to look more closely at the photo. “I mean, it’s a common island activity, building sandcastles.”
The others came closer as well, everyone except Tina, who was scowling at him. He hadn’t mentioned the watercolor to her, mainly because she’d been busy with the shooting investigation.
“Cute kids, very blond,” said Heather. “But I’m not sure how this helps.”
Luke Carmichael was staring hard at the photo.
“That looks like the inn’s private beach, the one you can only access by the stairs cut into the bluff.
I recognize that rock formation.” He pointed to a rock jutting from the cliff, its profile like the beak of an eagle.
“Was your sister spending time at the inn, Jack?”
“I doubt it. Jessie sticks close to home. If she went to a beach, it would have been one close by. When we used to come here in the summers, we’d go to Tern Beach.”
“Which looks nothing like this watercolor,” Heather pointed out. “So either she did go to the inn or she was working off someone else’s description.”
Everyone started talking at once, until Tina’s clear voice cut through the noise. “Let’s get to the point here. Gabby and Heather, what do you know about the two Martin children? Anything? Gabby, did you talk to them?”
“I asked Kate Mansfield about them, but she refused to say a word. She said she wanted to protect them from all that drama.”
“I checked the school records in Woodstock,” said Heather. “Linette and Lloyd Mansfield both graduated from high school there, two years apart. She’d be about thirty-seven now, and he’d be thirty-five. I did an Internet search on them but didn’t find anything on either one.”
“I followed up, and same.” Gabby nudged Heather with her shoulder. “Nothing against the quality of your work.”
Heather rolled her eyes. Obviously this was a familiar dynamic between them.
Tina was writing all this down in her notebook. “Marigold, how old would you say Adam Johnson is?”
Jack had almost forgotten that Marigold was there. She was standing guard at the door of the lockup, following the convo but not participating. “Mid-thirties. He never said exactly.”
Tina snapped her notebook shut. “We need to find out more about this Lloyd Mansfield. I know it’s a stretch, but he’s someone who has a connection to the island and a traumatic incident at the inn. Maybe he came back under a different name for some kind of revenge?”
For the first time in a while, Jack felt a seed of hope bloom in his heart. Tina had been right. This meeting had been very much worth it. They had a solid lead to follow up on. He could have kissed her.