Chapter 8
“Thanks for lunch, Sheriff.”
“Tommy. Just call me Tommy. Since we had lunch, I think we’re informal enough now. Right?”
“Oh.” Willow’s eyebrows raised and a smile controlled the lines on her face. “I guess you’re right. Well, thanks for lunch, Tommy. I had a nice time.”
She could tell he had had a good time too. He had lightened up even more after they left. He became more talkative and open about his life and how much he hated his job, but loved it at the same time. She loved hearing his stories. They talked about what made him “him” as they drove back toward the beach. Honestly, after a horrible start that day, things turned out better than she expected them to.
“Hey, do you want to tag along with me while I speak with Monica? No pressure but she can be a bit of a tough one to crack. It seems you two have been hitting it off pretty well; maybe you can give me a hand with that?”
“Was that what this was all about?” she laughed. “You were trying to butter me up to help you do your dirty work?”
“Did it work?”
Willow knew he meant no harm by what he said. And he was right; Monica did hold a lot of things in, especially about her life with Christoff. She may have talked to Willow about some things, but she knew she still kept things to herself. Even Willow had a hard time getting her to let them out.
“So, is that a yes?” Tommy asked again. “It’s okay if you say no. I”ll tiptoe into the wilderness myself.”
“I’ll go with you,” she said. “It’s been a couple of days since I’ve seen her anyway. She might like a visit.”
She sent Monica a text to let her know they were stopping by. It would have made Willow feel uncomfortable to just surprise her with the sheriff. The last thing she wanted was for Monica to be suspicious of her hanging around Tommy.
When they arrived at Monica’s place, she was ready and waiting for them.
She had those famous tacos she knew Willow loved so much and a pitcher of lemonade, since Tommy was on duty. Monica and Willow had mimosas, of course. Willow even planned to hang out with her for a while after Tommy finished asking her questions.
“Wow.” Monica nodded when she looked at him. “It’s been a while, huh, Sheriff? Still looking good.”
“It has been a while,” he replied. “How are you, Monica? Aside from everything that happened?”
“I’ve been okay. Would be better if you would have found Christoff by now. Greg. Charlie. Whatever he goes by now. Why hasn’t he been found yet, Tommy? Are you protecting him? Is that what the islanders here do, protect each other?”
Willow couldn’t tell whether Monica was being serious or if she was only trying to get a rise out of him. Her tone was very condescending, but also unexpecting of anything.
“I’m doing everything I can to find him,” Tommy finally replied. “You know how things work around here. This isn’t some huge city or foreign country where we let civilians take matters into their own hands. We have order… we have to do it by the book. Unfortunately, it’s just taking some time.”
“Some time?” Monica laughed. “It’s been years of this. I’m getting the same answers over and over again. And he’s been able to do the same thing to another woman, so it isn’t like he’s gone very far. I just don’t think you’re looking hard enough. And that’s fine. Pretty soon, like you said, I”ll just have to take matters into my own hands.”
Willow felt a knot in her stomach. Monica’s threat to take matters into her own hands sounded a lot more serious than her insults to Tommy. Willow thought she was serious, and when that time came, she hoped Charlie was already caught.
“No need for that,” Tommy said. “We’ve gotten further than we have in the past few years. I just need to ask you a few questions. Refresh my memory with all of this.”
“Refresh your memory?” she scoffed. “What questions do you need to ask me, Tommy? I’m starting to get frustrated, so don’t push it.”
“The day you flew here to meet up with Greg, where did you go?”
Monica sat quietly as if she were trying to refresh her own memory. She began to looked annoyed with the both of them being there, so Willow sat quietly as well. There was no need for her to chime in anyway. She knew nothing more than what Monica told her.
“Some old shack,” she said. “I remember because he told me he was going to buy it, but it already looked like someone lived there. I remember thinking it was probably him that lived there, but I took his word for it because he told me he was some rich man from Greece.”
“Do you remember where that shack was?” Tommy asked. “I know his old man owns a lot of property here and I’ve been to every single one of them, but can never find a single shred of Greg.”
“It was so long ago, Tommy. That was my first time here. I’m not sure where it was. He drove, so there was no need for me to keep track of the location.”
Monica paused to think again about where that shack could have been. Willow never knew about any shack, so she was no help. She never even knew that the old man from the antique store was Charlie’s grandfather.
By the time Tommy finished going down memory lane with Monica, Willow had a headache. There was so much missing information and facts about Charlie that she felt like she knew him less than she already did. She needed time to herself to process everything she learned that day, so instead of staying to hang out with Monica, she went back to the cottage to wrap her mind around hers and Charlie’s twisted love story.
Willow took a nap that afternoon and woke up around six o’clock. The sun was setting and Brandi was still at her office, so she figured she’d lounge around for the rest of the evening. She thought she might have heard from Richy during her wind down time, but his number was radio silent. His father probably took his phone away the minute he found out he had one.
Around nine that night, Willow got a call from a private number. The first time it rang, she didn”t answer. Private numbers normally belonged to bill collectors, spam callers, or someone who wanted to talk to you about your extended car warranty. None of those were people she wanted to talk to.
But then, they called again. And again… until she finally answered to see who it was.
She hoped it was Charlie.
“Hello?” she answered. “Who is this and why do you keep calling?”
No one said a word, but she knew someone was there. She could hear light breathing and the sound of a TV in the background.
“Hello?”
Still, no one said a word. After a minute of straining to hear something, Willow sighed and hung up.
Immediately after a call came through again.
“We need to meet.” A woman’s voice boomed in Willow’s ear as soon as she answered. “And I”m not asking, I”m telling you.”
She had a southern twang to her voice. Willow had never heard her voice before, but apparently, they knew who she was. Willow sensed she had some kind of ties to Charlie. Who else would have called her and demanded a meeting?
“Who is this?” Willow’s voice nearly trembled when she asked.
“I’ll soon be your worst nightmare if you don’t do exactly as I say.”
“Charlene?”
It had to be Charlene. She said the same thing in the threatening letter she left at Willow’s doorstep.
“Ding. Ding.” She sounded as bland as unsalted rice. “Now that we’ve got the introduction out of the way, get on your shoes, get into your car, and meet me at the address I just texted you. I’m here now, so don’t keep me waiting all night. And if you don’t show up, I”ll just have to shimmy past your detective friends and come to you.”
Willow googled the address Charlene sent her. It was a place about an hour away. Some old bar, it looked like. She wondered if that could have been the place Monica tried so hard to remember earlier that day, but she didn”t ask any questions. Other than how Charlene expected her to shimmy past her detective friends without them following her straight to the destination.
“Figure out a way,” she said. “I don’t need those cops snooping around no more than they already are. If you’re as smart as you think you are, you wouldn’t want them snooping around, either. I’ve got news for you.”
She hung up before Willow could ask anything else. She was in a whirlwind about how to get past the detectives, and also nervous about going to see Charlene alone. It could have been a set up.
For all Willow knew, Charlie could have already been there with Charlene, waiting for her to walk in so they could silence her for good.
Willow paced back and forth for a couple of minutes before she finally came up with a plan. It would take a good chunk of change for her to pull off, but it could be done. She left lamp on and the TV running, while she snuck out of the back door of the cottage and made her way through the bushes. Once onto the side street that led over to the beach, she got in the uber she had ordered.
It cost her almost one hundred dollars to get to Charlene. She asked the driver to wait around and take her back too. When she finally arrived, it was time to see if the money was worth it.