Chapter 18
Sam’s daughter, Ellie, and her son, Hudson, raced to Abby at the door. Ellie flung her arms around Abby’s legs. Abby had visited Sam enough for Ellie to get to know her, but not true for Hudson. He screeched to a stop and hung back, his thumb popped in his mouth.
“C’mon, Aunt Abby.” Ellie, a precocious, blond-haired five-year-old and spitting image of her mother, grabbed her hand and dragged her into the house. “I wanna show you the castle I built with my MAGNA-TILES.”
Hudson jerked out his thumb, creating a sucking noise. “I helped.”
The two-year-old was Griff’s Mini-Me with startling sapphire eyes and dishwater blond hair, and he puffed out his chest with pride.
“Not much,” Ellie said.
“Now, sweetheart.” Griff gazed at his daughter, pure love in his eyes. “Remember that your brother is three years younger than you and doesn’t have the same skills you have, so be kind to him.”
“If I haveta.” Ellie pouted and continued dragging Abby across the room to a pastel colored castle.
Abby dropped to the floor. “You did a beautiful job, sweetie.”
“I know,” she said. “I’ve been tested, and I’m advanced.”
“We really have to work on self-worth.” Griff laughed.
A knock sounded on the door, and he strode across the room to answer it. Abby heard Gabe introduce himself before stepping into the room.
“You’re here already.” Abby tried to stand, but Ellie took hold of her hand and held her in place. “Sorry, sweetie. I’ve got to make a sandwich for a guest I brought along and get my friend settled in his cabin. Then I can come back and play.”
She peered up at Gabe. “Is he your boyfriend?”
Abby chuckled. “We just work together.”
“Too bad.” Ellie let go of Abby’s hand and wrinkled her cute little pug nose. “He’s pretty.”
Griff snorted. “Out of the mouth of babes.”
“What does that mean, Daddy?” Ellie asked.
“I’ll explain it to you later.”
“I’ve never been called pretty before, but I’ll take it.” Gabe laughed heartily.
Abby shook her head. “Where’s Sam?”
“She went straight to her lab to test the lichen.”
“Then I need to get over there.” Abby turned to Griff. “Victor appreciates your invitation for dinner, but he’s pretty tired and wants to stay back at his cabin. I promised I’d bring him a sandwich. Could I impose on your hospitality even more and ask you to make one, then take it to him?”
“Sure,” Griff readily agreed. “If your buddy here can watch the kids while I deliver it.”
“Watch the kids!” A look of sheer terror widened Gabe’s eyes.
She’d never seen him express fear before.
Not in the many dangerous situations they’d found themselves in, and here he was afraid of two little children.
“No. No. Not a good idea. For any of us. I assure you. You don’t want me to be in charge of children. ”
Griff laughed. “No experience with kids, huh? Then maybe you can deliver the sandwich.”
“Take a short hike, sandwich in hand. Knock on the door. Hand it over. Yeah. I can handle that mission for sure. If I can resist the sandwich.” Gabe’s panic receded, and he grinned.
She didn’t let him relax for one second before asking another favor. “Burke will want to meet with Sam too. Can you babysit Victor while we’re gone?”
“Yeah, an octogenarian who doesn’t move at the speed of light like little kids is in my wheelhouse too.”
“Then I’m off.” Abby opened the door.
“Tell Sam not to be late for dinner,” Griff called after her. “When she gets in her lab, she doesn’t want to leave.”
Abby nodded and quickly exited before Ellie could try to stop her. She paused outside to text Burke about meeting her at Sam’s lab after Gabe got to his cabin, then she set off.
“Hold up,” Gabe yelled, catching up to her. “I thought you might want to know. I had quite the conversation with the ferry captain on our way back to the mainland tonight. I asked if he knew of anyone out of the ordinary recently visiting Lemoine.”
“And did he?”
“Yep. He said over the years he got to know Lemoine’s regular visitors. He thought we should know about one woman, though she’s a regular visitor. She’s a local botanist. He said something seemed off about her.”
“Botanist?” Where could this be going?
“The captain said her name is Dr. Melanie Shore. He got the feeling she initially came to answer questions Victor had about the island, but then they became friends.”
Could she have something to do with the lichen found in the library? “Did he mention how long she’d been coming and when she last visited?”
“He wasn’t certain when she last visited, but he said she’s been a regular since he’d taken over as captain.
That’s twenty-five years. The captain before him said she was already a regular.
It seems odd to me that no one we questioned has mentioned her.
I think she’s worth looking into. Maybe she knows something more about the lichen Sam found. ”
“I’ll mention it to Burke to see how he wants to proceed.”
Gabe let out a long breath. “Now, back to my babysitting duty, right after I fulfill my role as a DoorDash delivery guy.”
“I’ll try to find something more interesting for you to do, I promise.”
He shrugged. “It is what it is.”
As he walked back to the cabin, she hurried to the training facility and skirted around the building to the back. The lab started out as a tiny room in this building, but quickly outgrew the space. Gage built an addition not only to provide a bigger lab but an exterior entrance too.
Abby pulled the thick metal door open, revealing expensive equipment on stainless steel shelves ringing the room. Tall, stainless steel tables stood in a row in the middle. Wearing a white lab coat, Sam sat on a barstool at the nearest one while she looked into a microscope.
When the door closed behind Abby, Sam jerked her head up. “Abby. Thank goodness. You scared me.”
“Sorry, I should’ve told you I was coming or knocked on the door.” She joined Sam. “Burke is coming too.”
“Good,” Sam said. “Because I can’t share anything without his presence.”
“So you did find something.”
Sam nodded.
Abby’s interest piqued, she shoved her hands into her pants pocket to try to control her building excitement. “Two interesting things I should mention before we get started.”
She retrieved the key to the gun cabinet from her pocket and handed it to Sam, asking her to process it.
“Also, the ferry captain told Gabe a local botanist has regularly visited Victor for over twenty-five years. The captain thought her first visit was for business reasons, but then they became friends.”
“That is interesting.” Sam’s eyes narrowed as she pocketed the key. “Maybe she was discussing the lichen with him.”
“If it’s the one found by graves, do you think she has something to do with Estelle’s disappearance?”
Sam shrugged and opened her mouth to speak, but a knock sounded on the door.
“Must be Burke.” Abby crossed the room to answer.
Burke, his jaw tight, stood darkly handsome in the shadows. “I wish you would’ve waited for me for the results.”
“Don’t worry,” Abby said. “Sam’s a professional all the way, and she wouldn’t tell me what she found without you being here.”
“Doesn’t mean you wouldn’t have let her give you the information if she was willing, right?”
Really? He was going there? “Well sure, but it’s not like I’m trying to hide anything from you. I did text you and ask you to come over here, so you would’ve heard it a few minutes later.”
He cocked his head and studied her with an intensity he’d never trained on her. “True, but what happens in the future if I’m not by your side?”
The same distrust he’d previously expressed came back to his eyes. Man, she thought she’d made progress with him on the trust issue, but clearly she hadn’t.
Did it really matter? She wasn’t sure she trusted him either.
Two people falling for each other, and yet not trusting each other. Made them quite the pair. It also made this investigation harder.
But if she tried to alleviate his distress, things could go better for them. “Would it help if I promised never to ask Sam for information without you present?”
His shoulders visibly relaxed. “Yes, and if you forget, I’ll try my best to give you the benefit of the doubt.”
Good. He was willing to try to change, and that’s all she could ask at this point. “Then you have my word. Now let’s get to Sam’s findings.”
Burke moved past her and crossed the small room to Sam. “Thank you for honoring our contract.”
“Of course,” she said. “I wouldn’t violate it no matter who asked for information.” She bit her lip. “Well, I might consider it if someone’s life was in immediate danger and I had information that could save them.”
“I would understand sharing it then and wouldn’t have a problem.”
“So what did you find?” Abby asked, anxious to hear the information.
Sam crossed her long legs. “I’ve confirmed the lichen is Cladonia arbuscula.”
“The one found near graves,” Burke stated, his tone low and somber.
Sam folded her gloved hands in her lap. “I know discovering the locket made you question if Estelle is buried on the property. This lichen could mean there’s a clandestine grave there. Maybe Estelle’s. Seems like the next step is to find someone skilled in finding such graves.”
“Say we do find a grave,” Burke said. “We have to connect the lichen to our suspect to prosecute them. Can you figure out who tracked it into the house?”
Sam’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, but only if I have your suspect’s footwear and it still contains traces of the lichen.”
“Aren’t we missing the obvious here?” Abby glanced between the two of them. “Just because someone picked up the lichen, doesn’t mean they had anything to do with killing and burying a body. For that matter, they could’ve picked it up anywhere, couldn’t they?”
Sam leaned back on her stool. “It’s possible they tracked it in from another property, but it’s highly unlikely. With this lichen being so unusual in this area, I doubt we would find it on another property around here.”