10. June #2
“June,” Shaun started, his voice quieter than she remembered, his breath slightly short.
“If you’re watching this, then what we feared is true.
There’s not much anyone could have done for us by then.
” He took a careful breath. “But I want you to know what happened. I want you to know the truth because you’re the only one who can get this to the authorities away from Sandpiper Shores. ”
June pressed a hand to her mouth.
“The four of us worked out who killed Cynthia,” Shaun continued.
“I don’t have a lot of time to explain it all.
But if you go through Gilbert’s videos, you’ll know who Victoria’s father and grandparents are.
That is who Gilbert was investigating, starting with who stole Cynthia’s crystal slippers.
” He took a breath and cleared his throat.
“The people who killed Cynthia are the same people who took over Victoria’s family business, which used to be Victoria Morrison’s family legacy.
And I need you to hear me on this clearly, June.
It isn’t Victoria. Victoria has nothing to do with her family’s criminal history.
She’s been helping us. She’s been brave.
Whatever the evidence says about her by the time you’re watching this, I need you to know she didn’t do any of it. ”
Shaun coughed. He pressed his hand briefly against his chest.
“The person her father passed the business on to is close to us,” Shaun went on carefully.
“Closer than any of us ever would have suspected, which is how they were able to get to us before we had the chance to get to them. There are two of them, actually. Two. They’ve been working together this whole time. ”
He paused to breathe.
“We’ve been poisoned, June. We have taken blood samples and sent them off to a lab in Miami,” Shaun told her.
“I don’t know if they’ll even get us the results in time or if there is a cure.
” He picked up a glass of water and took a sip.
“We only realized what had happened when four of us started getting ill, and the fifth one of us didn’t.
” He took some more water. “They’ve told us they have a cure but wouldn’t give it to us until we bring everything we’ve gathered to Gilbert’s cabin in three days, then they’ll give us the antidote. ”
Shaun smiled faintly, and the smile was the saddest thing June had ever seen.
“It’s been hard, trying to pretend nothing’s wrong in front of Willa and the children,” Shaun admitted quietly. “Willa noticed this morning that I was a little off. I told her I was coming down with the flu. I don’t think she believed me, but she let it go because I asked her to.”
June was crying openly now. This time, she didn’t bother to wipe her face.
“We’re going to meet them,” Shaun continued.
“I don’t know if the cure is real. I don’t know if they’ll keep their word.
But we have to try, and we have to bring the evidence, or they’ll go after our families next.
That’s the threat. If we don’t come, they’ll come for Willa and the kids.
For Judy. For Margo. For you and Carmen in Miami. ”
He leaned forward slightly toward the camera.
“I’m sending you this copy of the drive, June. The other copy will go to the people who poisoned us. They’re going to think they have everything. But you’re going to have the original. And if the worst happens, if the cure isn’t real, then I need you to get this to the authorities.”
Shaun paused, and his face softened in a way that broke something open in June’s chest.
“Please protect my family,” Shaun said quietly.
“I know you will. Willa and those kids are my whole world, June, and I know you’ll keep loving them the way you always have.
Keep Carmen safe, too. Make sure you’re both all right.
You’ve been the mother I always wanted. Thank you, June. For everything.”
He smiled again.
“I love you, Mom .”
The screen went black.
And then, slowly, a single image faded onto the screen.
It was a photo of a very familiar man and a woman, standing close together, holding hands, laughing at something off camera.
Their expressions were unguarded and familiar, the expressions of two people who loved each other deeply and thought nobody was watching.
June frowned. For a moment, she wondered why she was looking at the two people, and then the names appeared beneath the photograph.
Beneath the man was Fire Chief , and beneath the Woman was Cinderella .
Beneath that was a caption: The traitor and his partner in crime. The New Sandpiper Shores Thieves.
June stared at the screen. For a long moment, she couldn’t move. Her hands were shaking too badly to touch the keyboard. She stared at the two faces on the screen until her eyes blurred and she had to look away.
June closed her eyes for a moment and pressed her hand hard against her chest until she could breathe again. She wiped the tears off her cheeks, and then she reached for the burner phone.
She pulled out the scrap of paper with Lucy’s number and dialed it carefully.
“Hello?” Lucy’s voice was wary.
“Lucy, it’s me. It’s June,” she greeted.
“I was wondering how I’d get hold of you when I had some answers,” Lucy told her. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. But Lucy, they were poisoned,” June told her quickly, her voice low and urgent. “I have video proof. Shaun recorded a message for me before they went to the cabin. They knew they’d been poisoned. They knew they were walking into a trap.”
“Oh my word.” Lucy’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Did Shaun tell you what his symptoms were?”
“No, he didn’t mention any, but I saw a few,” June told her and went on to explain what she’d noted.
“From what you’ve told me about what you saw, it could be aconitine,” Lucy suggested. “Sweating, tremors, localized pain, progressive weakness. That all fits the symptoms.” She paused. “I’ll check for it first.”
“Oh, and Lucy, there is one more thing.” June glanced toward her bedroom door to make sure it was still closed. “I think one of the bodies in that cabin wasn’t who everyone thought it was. Can you ask Dean to do something for me, very quietly?”
“What do you need?” Lucy’s voice dropped.
“Do you remember who the fire chief was who ordered you to release the bodies to the morgue before you’d finished the autopsies?” June asked.
“I can check,” Lucy said.
“Would you then ask Dean to find out if there’s a fire chief by that name somewhere in Florida?”
“I’ll check the report and then ask him,” Lucy promised. “Can I reach you on this number?”
“Yes. But please, nobody else can have it.” June made her promise.
“I won’t tell anyone,” Lucy said goodbye and then hung up.
June sat with the phone in her hand for a long moment, breathing through what she’d just watched.
She needed to change. She needed to move. She needed to get this evidence to Holt before anything else happened.
June showered and changed into jeans and a cotton blouse from the hotel boutique bag. She pulled her hair back neatly, applied the bare minimum of makeup from the small travel kit she’d picked up, and looked at herself in the mirror. It was the best she could do at the moment.
June tucked the burner phone, the thumb drive, and a thick roll of cash from her purse into the pockets of her jeans. She deliberately left her handbag and most of her identification behind, locked in the safe of her bedroom closet.
She cracked the bedroom door open.
The suite was quiet. Alfred was at the small kitchen counter pouring steaming water into two mugs.
“June.” Alfred turned and smiled at her. “Would you like a cup of tea? I’m bringing Victoria one before she turns in. She’s exhausted.”
“You go ahead, Alfred,” June told him warmly. “I’m going to stretch my legs a bit and go for a walk on the beach.”
Alfred gave her a kind nod. “It’s been quite a day.”
“Yes.” June managed a smile. “Quite a day.”
“Be careful,” Alfred told her with a warm smile. “Do you have your burner phone?”
“I do,” June assured him, then moved to the suite’s main door, eased it open, and let herself out.
She took the elevator down to the lobby, keeping her head slightly turned from the cameras, and crossed the wide marble foyer toward the street.
Her phone rang as she cleared the lobby doors.
She didn’t recognize the number.
“Hello?” June answered cautiously.
“June, it’s Dean.” His warm voice echoed through the receiver.
“Dean.” June’s heart lifted slightly. “That was quick. What did you find out?”
“Nothing, June,” Dean told her quietly. “That’s what I wanted to tell you. There is no Fire Chief Brandon; the name on the order was. Not anywhere in the state that I can find.”
June stopped walking.
“Are you certain?” she asked.
“I checked three separate state databases,” Dean confirmed.
“No fire chief named Brandon has existed in Florida in the last twenty years. But I did find something.” He paused.
“There was a Lieutenant Brandon. Serving in Sandpiper Shores. He transferred out the day after the cabin fire to a small town called Alachua, about forty minutes from Gainesville, which runs its own fire department completely separate from Zane’s district. ”
“Thank you, Dean,” June said, her mind reeling as it clicked back to the photo of the traitors, and her blood went cold as a terrible thought struck her.
June stood on the sidewalk outside the hotel with the warm Miami evening air moving around her and felt all the remaining pieces click into place at once.
“June? Are you still there?” Dean asked.
“Yes, sorry, Dean,” June said. “Please don’t tell anyone but Lucy about this. Could you also please ask her to check if one of the bodies was Lieutenant Brandon?”
“What?” Dean spluttered. “Why would you want her to do that?”
“Because I have reason to believe one of the firefighters wasn’t in that cabin,” June told him. “And might now be living Lieutenant Brandon’s life.”
After a few more minutes on the phone with a now worried Dean, she ended the call.
Then she dialed a number she’d memorized during the last few weeks in Sandpiper Shores. The number rang five times before it was answered.
“Director Dillinger,” Holt answered.
“Holt, it’s me. It’s June,” she greeted him.
“June.” His voice dropped immediately. “Thank goodness. We’ve been tearing Miami apart looking for you. Where are you? We’ll come to you right away.”
“No,” June said firmly, glancing back at the hotel. “I’ll come to you. Where are you?”
“We’re at your house,” Holt told her. “Willa is beside herself. Bring Victoria and Alfred with you. I already know they’re with you. I found out about Clive and his fiancée staying across the road from your house.”
“I’m not bringing them, Holt,” June said with stubborn conviction.
“June—” Holt warned.
“Not until they’ve been cleared,” June continued, keeping her voice steady. “They didn’t do any of this. I have proof. But there’s more to this than we thought, and until we’ve worked the whole thing out, Victoria and Alfred stay where they are. That’s not negotiable.”
“June.” Holt’s voice hardened slightly. “You know what the legal implications are of what you’ve just told me. As an attorney, you know exactly what you’re doing here.”
“I’m protecting innocent people,” June replied without missing a beat. “And there are a few more people I’d like protected before I hand over what I have to you. Holt, please. Trust me. You’re going to understand when you see what I have.”
There was a long silence.
“Where do you want to meet?” Holt finally asked.
“I’ll come to my house,” June told him. “I’ll be there in thirty minutes. Have Willa ready. She needs to see this, too.”
She ended the call before he could argue.
Then she stepped to the curb, raised her hand for a cab, and slid into the back seat when one pulled over.
“Where to?” the driver asked.
June gave him her home address.
She leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes for a moment.
Shaun’s face was still there, waiting for her behind her eyelids.
I love you, Mom.
“I love you too, sweetheart,” June whispered to him. “I’m going to finish this.”
The cab pulled into Miami traffic and carried her home.