Chapter 18 June
JUNE
June stopped in front of Margo and Rad, her eyes narrowing.
“Were you spying on me?” she asked.
“Yes,” Margo admitted shamelessly. “I knew something was going on when you and my mother exchanged that look when she said something about a patient.”
“I didn’t want to.” Rad looked vaguely embarrassed. “But now I’m glad I let Margo talk me into it.” His eyes narrowed. “What is going on, June?”
June exhaled, long and slow, wondering whether she should tell them. She weighed it up quickly in her mind. Her eyes flicked between Rad and Margo. If she didn’t tell them, they would probably just try to find out for themselves.
“Fine,” June said. “I’ll tell you.” She glanced around at the people moving through the corridor and lowered her voice. “But not here. We never know who is listening, and this town is just far too small,” she added. “We can discuss it in the car.”
Margo perked up. “Oh, goodie. Let’s go,” she said, practically dragging them out the door. “I’ve been dying to find out what the heck is going on around here and why someone would burn down my coffee shop and bakery.”
“Slow down,” June grumbled, feeling a little out of breath as she nearly slipped on the overly shiny floor. “I can’t tell you anything if I have a heart attack and die.”
“We’re in a hospital,” Margo pointed out, but slowed her step. “I’m sure we’d be able to get you help in a matter of seconds.”
“Thank you for the wonderful concern, sweetheart.” Sarcasm dripped off June’s tongue. “It’s not from the fast pace, it’s from these darn slippery floors in the shoes I’m wearing.”
“These floors are quite a death trap,” Margo agreed, and amusement flitted through her eyes. “I’ve seen many an accident happen. Some are comical in their disaster.”
Rad quickly pushed them behind a wall. “There’s nurse stickler-for-the-rules,” he hissed. “The one that wants me to ride to the exit in a wheelchair.”
“Oh, here!” Margo peeked around the corner. “Yes. She’s been with my family in this place for as long as I can remember. She’s in charge of all the nurses and is a big stickler for the rules.”
“And you should be following them as your mother owns this place,” June pointed out. “You should be setting an example.”
Margo looked at her in horror. “We need to get out of here before the nurses realize we’re leaving.” She glanced around the corner once again. “I’m not big on setting an example for others. And I am not going to be wheeled out of here.”
“Me either,” Rad stated, glancing back toward June. “Are you ready to dash, June?”
She sighed and nodded, then glanced at the highly polished floor looking at her, and she could’ve sworn it had a smug, challenging smile. Here goes nothing, June thought as she dashed toward the front door, proud of herself for not skidding once.
They got to the parking lot a few minutes later without incident, and June unlocked Carmen’s car. She slid into the driver’s seat out of habit, Rad moved automatically toward the passenger side, and Margo climbed into the back.
They all buckled up, and June felt two pairs of eyes boring into her.
“Well?” Margo breathed impatiently. “Spill the news.”
“This doesn’t go further than us.” June looked between them, waiting for their promise.
“Of course,” Rad and Margo said in unison.
June filled them in as much as she could about the cases, including the fires and accidents. She told them about Judy’s room being disturbed, about her phone and laptop being left behind, and about her being found in that wrecked rental car.
Margo’s eyes widened.
“Dr. Vernon was attacked?” Margo asked, disbelief sharpening her voice. “Why?”
“Is it because she’s now associated with Dr. Tanner and Dr. Peltz?” Rad asked, his brow furrowing. “Because she’s linked to them now?”
June glanced from one to the other, and an idea flickered through her mind so quickly it almost startled her.
Then she berated herself immediately, because these two had just been discharged from hospital beds. They didn’t need to be dragged to the next town over, on what could very well turn out to be nothing.
“June,” Margo said, impatient now, “what aren’t you telling us?”
“We don’t think that’s the reason Judy was attacked.” June sucked in a breath, knowing once this was out, she couldn’t take the words back. But Rad was the detective in town. He was bound to find out. “Holt found out Judy Vernon is Gilbert Fry’s older sister,” June informed them.
Margo gasped.
Rad’s eyes widened, and he gave a low whistle.
“Then she’d have been my first suspect,” Rad said bluntly. “Except for the question: if Dr. Vernon is connected to all this, then why attack her? Why leave her for dead?”
“Your father and I did have her high on the suspect list,” June admitted. “Until she ended up in that accident. Now we think she was taken from Cedar Keys for some reason.”
“Taken by who?” Margo chewed her lip thoughtfully as she watched June intently.
“That is what we don’t know yet,” June told them and shook her head in frustration. “I was about to go back to Cedar Keys to take a second look, as we found sea sand in her car. She was also wearing her running clothes when she was found in the car.”
“You think she was out running on the beach when she was abducted?” Margo guessed.
“Yes,” June confirmed her suspicions. “I was going to go back there because Holt couldn’t tonight. But he forbade me from going. I also wanted to stop by the inn at Cedar Keys, where Judy was staying again. I need to ask them how or who checked her out last night.”
“Well here’s an idea,” Rad said, a grin spreading across his face. “Why don’t…”
“We all go,” Margo finished for him, her eyes shining with excitement.
June blinked, then shook her head.
“No, I can’t put you at risk,” June declined their idea. “You’ve both just gotten out of the hospital from a near-fatal attack.”
“I’m the town’s detective,” Rad reminded her, his expression hardening and becoming serious. “I say we go.” Then he hesitated, and his eyes flicked to June and Margo, measuring. “Maybe I should go alone,” he added, “so I don’t put you two in danger.”
“No freakin’ way,” Margo said immediately, her voice teeming with stubbornness. “I’m coming.”
June glanced at both of them and felt a familiar mix of gratitude and worry.
“You’re not going to get there without a car.” June gripped the steering wheel. “And, I’ve got the car.”
“Fine,” Rad said. “But then I’m driving.” He gave June a small, sweet smile that softened the command without changing it. “No offense, June,” he added, “but I want to get there before the sun completely sets tonight.”
Margo leaned forward with a toothy grin.
“Rad has a point,” Margo pointed out. “I’m sorry, June, but you drive like a slow thing on a very slow day.”
June felt her cheeks warm, not because it was insulting, but because it was true. She laughed.
“I understand.” June and Rad climbed out of the car to swap seats.
Rad slid into the driver’s seat with a calm competence that reminded June of Holt in a way she didn’t want to think about too closely.
They headed toward Cedar Keys.
The drive felt longer than it should have, because June’s mind kept replaying everything she knew and everything she didn’t. She watched the road, watched the trees, watched the side mirrors more than necessary, because now every passing car made her stomach tighten with paranoia.
They checked two beach parking lots first, moving slowly, scanning the sand and the edges of the lot where things got trapped.
It wasn’t until the third lot that June spotted a clue.
It was half-embedded in the sand near the edge where the beach met the car park, a small, dark shape that looked wrong against the pale grit.
June stopped so suddenly that Margo bumped into her.
“There,” June said quietly, pointing to the object. “That looks like a smartwatch. Judy wears a smartwatch.”
Rad followed her gaze, and his expression tightened.
“Don’t touch it,” he murmured automatically and looked around.
“There’s some tissue paper in the car,” June told him.
“I’ll get it,” Margo offered, spun, and rushed off toward the car.
Rad carefully went down on his haunches in front of it. Took out his phone and snapped some pictures of it. Margo came back with the tissue paper and handed some to Rad. Once he was satisfied he had enough photos, he carefully lifted the watch with the tissue, holding it in case it might bite.
“That looks just like Judy’s watch,” June confirmed.
“This must be where it happened.” Rad stood and scanned the area. “I’ll have to call it and get the area sealed off.”
“There’s no blood,” Margo pointed out, looking around the ground.
If Judy had been subdued quickly, there might not have been blood here. There might have been nothing but the absence of her.
“Maybe this is where she was drugged and put in her car,” June offered an explanation. “Whoever took her would’ve taken off her watch as she could be traced with it.” Her eyes widened. “It’s probably why they left all her devices as well.”
“I’ll call this in and get the place taped off,” Rad said and walked a few paces away to make the call.
It wasn’t long before he came back. The police would be there in a few minutes. They waited until two police cruisers arrived. Rad gave them instructions before the three of them got back into Carmen’s car and headed toward the inn Judy had been staying at.
When they went there, they agreed that Rad would go inside while June and Margo stayed in the car. The two women watched him disappear into the establishment and sat in silence for a few seconds.
“Rad is a good guy,” June said quietly, breaking the silence.
“He is,” Margo agreed. “Rad and Tyler have been a real gift to the town.”
June glanced at her in the rear-view mirror and saw the softness in Margo’s expression, saw the way she tried to hide it behind sarcasm and briskness.
June almost said something. Almost nudged the conversation toward what she’d noticed between them. The way Rad looked at Margo was like she was a bright spot in a dark week. The way Margo’s whole face changed and lit up when Rad walked into a room.
But June let it go. Not because she didn’t want to know, but because she didn’t want to push when everything else was already pressing on them.
Instead, she changed the subject.
“I’m so sorry about Teacups,” June said softly.
Margo closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them again, they were dark with mixed emotions.
“I can’t believe that happened,” Margo said through gritted teeth.
She turned her head slightly, looking at June for a long moment.
“Do you really think it has to do with whoever is after my mother and you?” Margo asked.
June’s stomach tightened.
“Honestly,” June replied, “I’m not sure.” Her jaw clenched in unison with her gut. “I didn’t even know someone could dislike me enough to want me gone.”
“Do you think the threatening notes and the incidents that happened to Willa were because of this same person?” Margo’s question was more like a statement.
“I don’t know,” June admitted again, and she hated how often she was saying that lately.
Before she could say more, Rad came back out and climbed into the driver’s seat.
“Well?” Margo asked immediately.
Rad started the engine, then looked at June.
“The night clerk said Dr. Vernon called and said she was checking out,” he explained. “She didn’t go to the front desk. But he noted that she sounded… strange.”
“Strange how?” June asked, her gaze sharpening.
“He said she sounded hoarse,” Rad replied. “Like Dr. Vernon had a cold, or like she’d been crying, or like her throat hurt.”
Margo leaned forward, squeezing part of her body between the gap in the seats so she could hear and be heard better.
“Maybe it wasn’t Dr. Vernon who called at all,” Margo suggested.
“That’s what I thought too,” Rad agreed with Margo and then glanced at June. “I was told you and my father got the items left in Dr. Vernon’s room.”
“Yes,” June said. “They’re in the trunk. We haven’t checked them into evidence yet.”
“Don’t,” Rad said immediately. “I’ll take them and do what I’ve done with the other evidence, so it doesn’t go missing. I’ll also send the devices to someone I trust to go through them.”
“Maybe talk to your father first,” June suggested hesitantly.
“My father is supposed to be on recovery leave,” Rad reminded her. “And this is my town, and my investigation.”
June stared at him for a moment and saw Holt so clearly it almost made her chest ache. Same posture. Same rigidity when the stakes rose. Same fierce need to protect what was his.
She didn’t argue. She just nodded slowly, and made a mental note to message Holt later because Holt deserved to know that June had brought Rad and Margo into this, and that Rad was now holding the reins.
As they drove back toward Sandpiper Shores, Margo spoke again, voice quiet but steady.
“You know this could all be about what happened ten years ago,” she said.
“None of this started until Willa and I started looking into it again and we got Rad to help us.” She turned to June.
“A few days after that, you had your accident, June.”
“Then all the incidents started happening to me,” Rad added.
June’s pulse thundered as they found a trail of dots that seemed to be connecting just a little too smoothly for her liking.
“If we go by that logic,” June told them. “The first fire didn’t start until I arrived.”
“Actually, they started the day my father arrived in town,” Rad corrected her.
June went still.
Margo leaned forward, her eyes wide.
“That’s true,” Margo said. “The first one at the campground. Then Henderson’s. Then the vet clinic. Then Teacups.”
June stared at the road ahead, but she wasn’t seeing it. She was seeing a timeline forming, lines connecting, motives still hazy, but patterns becoming harder to ignore.
“And then things escalated,” Rad finished quietly. “Fast, just after Dr. Vernon started working with Dr. Peltz at the vet clinic.”
June felt cold, not the way you felt cold from weather, but the way you felt cold when your body recognized danger before your mind had fully named it.
She didn’t speak for a few moments, because her thoughts were colliding. June swallowed slowly and forced herself to breathe.
She wasn’t going to panic. She wasn’t going to spin into fear.
But she was going to stop pretending the pieces weren’t trying to form a picture. One that put her and her best friend in the center stage of everything that had happened in Sandpiper Shores lately.