Chapter Fifteen
Callie
You are so much more devious than I ever gave you credit for.”
Sipping the icy mojito that had been waiting for her on the rooftop deck, which, unbeknownst to Callie, Trey had been working on day by day since before she’d arrived on the island, she glanced around at the luxury surrounding her.
“I have hidden talents,” he said smugly from the lounge chair beside hers.
The light breeze off the water ruffled his sun-gilded brown hair, and Callie was reminded once again just how handsome he was. And when he smiled at her like that, it was impossible to ignore the attraction between them.
“Hidden talents, huh?” She’d never been particularly skillful at witty banter—there was always some part of her that seemed to stand to one side and critique her performance and remind her of how silly she sounded—but with Trey it was easy.
“What else are you hiding from me, sir? Are you a magician too?”
“I think you must be the one who brings the magic, Callie.” Trey’s voice deepened with innuendo, and for several seconds there was silence between them as they looked into each other’s eyes.
Then, as if they’d rehearsed it, they both burst into laughter.
“Oh my God,” Callie breathed out, “I can’t believe you said that.”
“Neither can I,” he said, wheezing. “I swear you bring out the cheese monger in me.”
“Cheese monger?” She laughed. “That’s a really good line. Bravo.”
“I aim to please, Miss Jameson.” He gave her a little bow. “It’s good to know that mojitos are the drinks that bring out your inner smart aleck.”
“I promise I’m only this rude with you,” she said with a tilt of her head.
“That’s good to know,” he said wryly. “I’d hate to think you were out there deflating the egos of a bunch of other guys out there.”
She was about to reply when they both heard a shout from the ground below them.
“Callie! LeBlanc! Come let me in!”
Trey leapt up and went to look over the rail bordering the perimeter of the roof and shouted, “Be right down!”
Turning back to Callie, he explained, “It’s Alex Autry. Wonder what’s up.”
Putting her drink down, Callie stood and smoothed the sarong she’d put on after her shower earlier. “Maybe he has some news about the ghost?”
They were silent as they descended the stairs to the foyer. Callie went to turn on the lights in the den, and waited for Trey to bring Alex up from the lower level.
When they stepped into the room, Callie, who’d been staring out the window at the moon shining down on the water, turned to face them. Unable to stand chitchat when she was so keyed up, she quickly cut to the chase. “Detective Autry, have you got news about our ghost?”
“Hello to you too, Callie,” Autry said with a slight smile. “And I thought I told you to call me Alex.”
“Don’t be an ass, Alex,” Trey said with impatience. “You didn’t see us on the roof and decide to drop by. You must have news.”
Sighing, Alex crossed to the sofa and said, “OK, I do have news but can we please sit down at least? I’ve been running all over the island tonight talking to other homeowners.”
Exchanging a look of excitement with Trey, Callie dropped into the chair opposite the detective, while Trey went to stand behind Callie, his hands resting on the back of the chair.
“We caught some kids breaking into Sonny and Celeste Richard’s place down on the other side of Tricia and Bobby’s house tonight,” Alex said without preamble. “We’re pretty sure they’re the same ones who’ve been behind all the pranks in the library.
Callie closed her eyes; the relief she felt running through her was almost overwhelming. Clearly, she’d been more worried about the attacks than she’d realized.
But Trey wasn’t convinced. “What makes you think they’re the ones who’ve been breaking in here?”
“Well, for starters,” Alex said with a scowl, “one of them was Will Sumner’s kid. And he had his daddy’s key ring with him.”
Will Sumner was the only plumber on the island and most of the homeowners had given the man copies of their keys in case something flooded or broke while they were off island.
With so many rentals on the island, and so many of the owners living far enough away during the offseason that it would take hours to reach the island if something happened, they’d decided it made sense to give the man access.
Callie frowned. “But we haven’t had a plumber here. Certainly not since we had the locks changed.”
But Trey was shaking his head. “I got him to come look at the sink in the suite I’ve been working on about a week ago. I think it was the day you went to the spa at the Jean Lafitte with Tricia.”
At her irritated look, he shrugged. “I didn’t think it was a big deal,” he said with a frown. “I gave him a new key because that’s how we’ve always done things.”
“But I’m the homeowner,” Callie said, frustrated to learn that he hadn’t considered that might be something he should talk to her about. “I need to know these things.”
“Well, I’m telling you now.” It was clear Trey didn’t understand why she was upset by his failure to tell her about the matter.
Deciding to drop it, Callie turned back to Alex. “So I’m guessing that the keys—first the old one, and then the new one—are how they’ve been getting in here?”
Having watched the byplay between them with interest, Alex now focused on his reason for the visit.
“Correct,” he said. We haven’t been able to search their houses yet to see if we can find anything they might have stolen or used to play their pranks with, but we found some Bluetooth speakers in one of the girls’ backpacks.
So they’ve definitely been playing the same kinds of tricks.
You never said anything was stolen, but it’s possible they were doing it for the thrill and not to loot. We’ll see.”
“It’s so reckless.” Callie knew there weren’t all that many things for teenagers to do on the island, but breaking into houses was a dangerous, and illegal, way to pass the time. “They could have been shot. Especially with the number of guns people have these days. It’s a wonder nobody was killed.”
“Yeah,” Alex said, rubbing the middle of his forehead as if it was hurting him.
Clearly, he’d had a long day. “It was definitely not the smartest way for them to get their kicks. And Josh Sumner is probably going to be on restriction indefinitely. His daddy is madder than a Louisiana hornet. And his mama’s not much happier. ”
“Better be on the lookout for electronic scent diffusers in the kids’ rooms too,” Trey said, and Callie was glad he’d remembered. She’d been so happy the kids had been caught, she hadn’t thought to tell him about the perfume.
“Why?” Alex asked. “Has something else happened here y’all haven’t told me about?”
Quickly, Trey told him about the four diffusers they’d found in Callie’s bedroom that afternoon and how they’d been awash in Khaki’s favorite perfume.
At the mention that they’d both been in Callie’s bedroom when it happened, Alex raised a brow but didn’t comment.
When Trey was finished with the story, the detective gave a low whistle.
“That’s really mean,” he said with a shake of his head.
“Like, what teenager would think to find out Khaki’s favorite perfume and use that to torment y’all? ”
“That’s what we thought too,” Callie said, shivering at the memory of the feelings the perfume had invoked.
“But,” she added, “I did a search online for the most common signs of haunting. And one of them was scents, along with sounds. So clearly, they’ve been doing their homework.
And I suspect falling objects would have been too difficult to pull off so they chose not to use that one. ”
“Good point,” Alex said with a nod.
Trey looked surprised. “Why would you look that up without telling me? It would have been useful information to have.”
“It’s hardly the same thing as neglecting to tell me, the owner of this library, that you’d given the key to a virtual stranger,” Callie said with a tilt of her head.
Turning to Alex, she added, “Thanks for letting us know about the arrest. Please keep me posted about what you find from the searches.”
Standing, she gave a yawn, suddenly exhausted. “I’m going to bed. Good night.”
And without a backward glance, she walked from the room and out in the hallway in the direction of her suite.
“Callie, wait,” she heard Trey call after her, but she ignored him.
She wouldn’t be ready to talk to him until she got a handle on her hurt over him not telling her about the plumber and the key. It was such a silly thing to feel betrayed about, but there was something in how he just hadn’t considered her at all when he’d done it that felt like a stab in the gut.
Maybe it was because it reminded her of how her dad used to run roughshod over her mom when it came to things like that.
Maybe it was because before she’d finally had enough of his BS, one of Gabe’s favorite ways to control her had been to make decisions about her own life without consulting her about them.
From accepting invitations for them both to political events for his boss without asking if she wanted to go, to intercepting her mail before she saw it.
It was galling to her that she’d put up with his behavior for as long as she had, but Callie had been sure she’d be able to talk him out of the things that so upset her. As if egocentrism and condescension were problems of logic and not giant red flags.
She’d thought Trey was so completely different from Gabe that she’d never have to worry about him trying the same things, but she needed to really think about whether it was reasonable for him to decide about the key on his own or whether it was the first step in a slippery slope toward Callie being stuck in another relationship where she felt trapped.
When she reached her room, she was glad to note there was only a faint trace of White Linen lingering in the air.
Thank the gods. The reminder of Khaki had been so emotionally wrenching for both her and Trey that she’d wondered if either of them had really worked through their grief over her loss.
She certainly hadn’t. And she suspected Trey, for all that he’d seemed to finally accept that she was the one who owned the library now, wasn’t as sanguine about it as he let on.
Certainly, the decision about giving the new key to the plumber seemed to indicate he still considered himself the one in charge of things here.
What a mess, she thought, shoulders sagging. She didn’t like being upset with him. She liked it when they got along, darn it.
She was about to shut the door and lock it when Stella slipped in and she was suddenly grateful she had at least one loyal friend here with her. “Hey, little girl,” she said, leaning down to pick up the cat and cuddle her. “Did you come to keep me company?”
The cat rubbed her face against hers and Callie was overwhelmed suddenly by all the changes that had happened in the past couple of months. When the tears sprang, she let them fall.