Chapter 8 #2
He lit up with pleasure as he took the call from Katie.
“Hey, babe. What’s up?” His smile faded, and his expression grew serious, serious enough that the others stopped what they were doing.
“What’d they want?” Propping a hand on his hip, he said, “We’re cleaning up.
I’ll be there in ten.” He ended the call and stashed his phone in his back pocket.
“What’s wrong?” Luke asked.
“State cops are at my place looking for me. They wouldn’t tell Katie what they want.”
“What the fuck?” Finn asked, saying what they all were thinking.
“We’ll go with you,” Riley said. “Let’s go.”
“You don’t have to…” Shane’s voice faltered.
“Yeah, we do,” Riley said. “I’ll drive your truck.” He took his cousin by the arm and directed him to the main doors.
Luke took the time to lock up before he ran after them, jumping with Finn into the back of Shane’s truck for the five-minute ride to the house he shared with his fiancée, Katie Lawry.
A state police SUV along with the Gansett Island Police Department SUV that Chief Blaine Taylor drove were parked outside the house.
“What the hell is this?” Shane asked when Riley pulled up behind Blaine’s vehicle.
“Let’s go find out,” Riley said, filled with nervous energy. There was no way Shane was in any kind of trouble, so Riley wasn’t worried about that. But what could’ve brought the cops to his doorstep on a cold January day?
He followed his cousin inside, where Shane was greeted by a hug from Katie.
“What’s going on?” Shane asked Blaine before his glance shifted to Jack Downing, one of the two state cops who were stationed on the island. “Jack?”
“We got a call from Providence Police,” Jack said. “Your wife, Courtney—”
“Ex-wife,” Shane said sharply as Katie slid an arm around his waist. “What about her?”
“She was found dead in her home earlier today.”
Oh God, Riley thought.
Shane took a step back, reeling as if he’d been struck. “Did she OD?” he asked.
“We don’t know that yet,” Jack said, “but prescription pain meds were found in the home.”
After a long silence, Shane said, “Why are you telling me? We’re divorced.”
“You were listed as her next of kin, Shane,” Blaine said.
“What? Why? We split years ago.”
“I don’t know,” Blaine said. “Perhaps she never thought to update the info?”
“Her parents,” Shane said in a dull, flat tone. “Has someone told them?”
“Not yet,” Jack said. “We were obligated to tell you first. How would you like us to proceed? We can send someone to talk to her parents, if you’d like.”
Shane shook his head. “I’ll do it. I’ll call them.”
“Shane, honey, you don’t have to do that,” Katie said.
“I know, but I’ll do it anyway.”
While he conferred with Blaine and Jack, Katie dropped the arm she had around him and leaned in to whisper to Riley, who was closest to her. “Go get Laura. Please.”
Riley nodded, ducked outside and took off running the short distance to the Sand & Surf Hotel, owned by Shane’s older sister and her husband, Owen.
He went up the stairs to the Surf and burst into the lobby.
Laura and her mother-in-law, Sarah, were standing at the reception desk and looked up with surprise at his sudden arrival.
“Hey, Riley,” Laura said, smiling. She had a sleeping blond baby strapped to her chest, and her own blonde hair was piled into a messy bun. “What’s up?”
“It’s Shane.”
Laura’s smile morphed into concern.
“Courtney was found dead today.”
“Oh dear God.” Laura unstrapped baby Jonathan and handed him to Sarah.
“Katie asked me to come get you.”
“Where is he?”
“His place.”
“Sarah, tell Owen where I am. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Take your time,” Sarah said. “I’ve got the kids.”
“Thank you.”
Forgoing a coat, Laura headed straight to the door that Riley held for her. The two of them jogged down the street to Shane and Katie’s place. Laura went in ahead of him and walked straight over to hug her brother, who clung to her for a long moment before he released her.
Seeing his cousin in good hands, Riley decided to leave so Shane could have some space in the suddenly crowded house. “Let me know what we can do.”
Shane hugged him. “Thanks.”
“I’ll check in after a bit.”
Shane nodded. He seemed dazed, although how could he not be? Courtney was in her early thirties, like Shane, and far too young to die. But her struggles with addiction had led to the demise of their marriage and now this…
After expressing condolences and support, Finn and Luke followed him out of the house, and the three of them walked through blustery wind to the Wayfarer, where they’d left their vehicles.
“This is crazy,” Finn said after a long silence.
“Seriously,” Luke said. “He’s been through a lot with her.”
“For a long time after he split from her, we wondered if he would survive it.” Riley didn’t like to think about how worried they’d all been about Shane during that time. “He’s been so good lately.”
“He’ll be okay,” Luke said. “He’s got Katie and Laura and the rest of us. We’ll get him through it.”
Riley could only hope that was the case. Shane had descended into a deep, dark depression after his breakup with Courtney. That seemed like a long time ago now that he’d found a whole new life on the island with Katie.
At the Wayfarer, they parted company with Luke, who said he’d see them later at Janey’s.
Finn got into the passenger side of Riley’s truck for the short ride to their place.
“Is this gonna fuck Shane all up again?” Finn asked.
“I really hope not.”
“He’ll blame himself. She wanted to get back with him, and he said no.”
“He was with Katie then. He’d moved on.”
“Still… That’ll weigh heavily on him now.”
“Yeah, I suppose it will,” Riley said as a sinking feeling overtook him.