Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
I t’d been six hours since Ida cleared the funds from the Nantucket Sunset Cruisers’s account and put them into her own account. Six hours since I took control. Since then, Ida had fielded seventy-three calls from Shelby. There were more than fifty text messages—some begging Ida for answers and others calling her names that Ida never imagined her best friend would call her. Nightmare names. Names I wouldn’t ever utter, even to my worst enemy.
The minute the name-calling began, Ida had been crystal clear on the truth. Shelby was the one taking the money. But why?
Ida was on the veranda with Rick and Nellie. Sophie and Katrina had gone home, ordering them to call if they needed anything at all. But Ida was grateful to be at home with what was left of her family. She listened to the waves roll up on the beach and, for the first time in four days, imagined that she might sleep tonight.
Susan Sheridan was busy in Martha’s Vineyard, building a case against Shelby. One that saved the Nantucket Sunset Cruisers from Mr. Grayson. One that saved the business from closing its doors for good.
The cops had been called, but they said they still needed more proof before they made an arrest. Of this, Susan had said, “I’m working on it.”
“I just can’t understand why Shelby would do that,” Nellie breathed.
Ida filled her lungs and told herself not to sob.
Rick touched Ida’s hand. Ida wanted to burrow her face against his chest.
Suddenly, Ida’s phone buzzed with a call. This was a surprise. She’d blocked Shelby’s number for now and couldn’t imagine anyone else would call her tonight. Not this late.
The caller ID read: Hilary Salt.
Ida showed the name to Rick. “What’s she calling about?” he asked.
“No idea,” Ida said.
Hilary Salt lived in a sprawling estate that had once belonged to her movie star mother, Isabella Helin. Ida and Rick had once been invited to a Christmas party there and had left understanding what luxury and wealth really meant.
“Answer it,” Rick urged her.
Ida did.
The first thing she heard was, “Mom?”
Ida was on her feet. Her blood pressure spiked. “Frankie? Frankie, is that you?”
Rick and Nellie followed her lead, gaping at Ida as she pressed the phone harder to her ear. It felt as though she wanted to crawl through the speaker and into the arms of her eldest daughter.
“I’m fine,” Frankie rasped. “I’m at Hilary Salt’s place.”
Ida’s throat was thick. She could hardly breathe. Why are you there? What on earth are you doing? Why are you trying to kill me?
But Ida took a deep breath and said, “We’ll come get you. If that’s what you want.”
“I do. I want that.” Frankie let out a wail that shattered Ida’s heart.
Ida, Rick, and Nellie fled the back porch like people from a burning building and leaped into Rick’s truck. Ida insisted on keeping Frankie on the phone; she was too terrified to let her go. Like she might disappear the second she cut the call. Questions ran through her, but Ida kept them in and focused on easy things. “You’re safe? You’re okay?”
“I’m fine. Hilary’s feeding me,” Frankie said.
“Good! Good.” Ida’s breathing was ragged. She wanted to tell Rick to press the gas pedal as hard as he could.
Hilary Salt’s estate opened its gate as soon as Rick’s truck appeared outside. Ida had her hand on the door handle, watching as a beautiful young woman ran out the door and shot down the driveway. Rick’s headlights flooded this image of Frankie, safe, barefoot, bug-eyed. That’s my girl. That’s my darling girl.
Ida leaped out of the truck before Rick put it in park. She couldn’t wait.
A split second later, Frankie was in her arms. She shook violently and sobbed into Ida’s shoulder. Ida was awash with memories: memories of the first hours she’d held Frankie, memories of when Frankie had busted her knee in a tricycle accident and cried and cried, just like this. But right now, Frankie’s cries were far more complicated. They dealt with the weight of the world. They dealt with evil.
“Shelby,” Frankie sputtered now. “Shelby is dating Zane.”
Ida gaped at her. She was speechless.
“I think they’re stealing from you, Mom,” Frankie said. “I saw them. He’s so angry with her, Mom. He’s using her. I think he’s, like, a sociopath. Or something?”
Rick wrapped his arm around Ida’s shoulders, holding her upright. Nellie approached to hug her sister. Frankie went limp in her sister’s arms.
“We have to get to the police,” Frankie breathed. “We have to stop him as soon as we can.”
It clicked into place, then. Zane was angry because Ida had hidden the funds from Shelby. Shelby was no longer useful to him.
Profound sadness draped over Ida. It felt terribly heavy.
Oh, Shelby. What have you done?
Hilary Salt had come outside to say hello. She wore a bathrobe and a pair of flip-flops, and her hair was still styled beautifully, as though she’d just spent the night at a fabulous restaurant.
“We can’t thank you enough,” Rick said to Hilary, extending his hand to shake hers.
“When I saw her coming down the beach, I didn’t know what to think. She scared the daylights out of me,” Hilary said, tugging absently at the tie of her robe. “But growing up in Hollywood meant I knew more than my fair share of men like Zane. I hope you can put him away.”
Frankie hugged Hilary goodbye, and Hilary whispered something in Frankie’s ear. Another secret, Ida thought darkly. This summer has been plagued with them.
Frankie and Nellie sat in the back seat, just as they’d always done on family drives, just like normal. Rick backed the truck out onto the road. Frankie ducked from left to right, searching through the darkness. Ida wondered what she was looking for. Does she think he’s going to come after her?
“What did Hilary say to you just now?” Rick asked. His voice wavered dangerously. Ida wondered if he was trying not to cry.
Frankie was quiet for a moment. The air was taut.
But it seemed like Frankie knew she owed her family the truth now. Now that she’d put them through so much.
“She told me to keep my head held high,” Frankie offered finally, cupping her elbows. “She told me not to apologize too much. To be kind to myself. To remember it wasn’t my…” She burst into tears again, and her shoulders shook and shook.
It was Nellie who finished Frankie’s sentence. “It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t your fault.” She said it over and over again until they reached the police station.
It was ten thirty at night. It was as good a time as any to accuse the man who’d manipulated your daughter and best friend. Ex-best friend. Ida shivered. Rick parked the car and cut the engine, then turned around to look at his eldest daughter. “Are you ready?”
Frankie set her jaw. “I’m ready.”
Ida thought she’d never seen her daughter braver in all her life. She felt a jolt of pride.