Chapter 21 Margo #2
“Shaun leaned in to kiss me before he left and whispered.” Willa’s eyes took on a faraway look. “I still thought, that’s strange, what’s in Miami?”
“Yes, I remember now,” Margo said, as it clicked. “You were frowning when he left because he said, ‘remember to look in Miami.’”
“When I asked what that was supposed to mean, he said, ‘Hopefully we’ll find out together,’” Willa said, and her head snapped around to her mother. “Mom, did you receive anything from Shaun or one of the other three firefighters back then?”
“No.” June frowned as she thought about it. “No, sweetheart, not that I recall.” Her frown deepened. “I would’ve told you about it.”
“What about Aunt Carmen?” Willa said, pulling out her phone, and her finger flew over the screen. “Maybe she received it.”
“I’m sure she would’ve told me,” June pointed out. “Where are you going with this?”
“What if we couldn’t find anything about what Gilbert was working on or uncovered because it had been sent to Miami?” Willa suggested, her eyes glued to her phone. Her brow furrowed. “Aunt Carmen said no as well.”
“It could’ve been sent to your old address?” Mina reasoned.
“No, the new owners were very good with forwarding anything to my mother,” Willa told her.
“Why didn’t you tell us what Shaun had said?” June asked her.
“It didn’t seem relevant at the time,” Willa answered. “But then I realized most of the people we suspected of being the criminal had or were moving to Miami.”
“Willa has a point,” Margo said. “That’s where I believe Alvin lives now, Clive is moving there, and soon Victoria will be going.”
“I can ask my housekeeper to look,” June offered. “But I’d have known, sweetheart.”
“I can fly you up when we’re back from the camping trip,” Ace offered. “Maybe a few of us could go. You have a big house, and we could all cover more ground.”
“That’s an excellent idea,” Mina agreed. “I volunteer as I can get some business that I need to attend to there done at the same time.”
“We could stay the night at my house,” June suggested.
“Even better idea,” Mina liked that plan. “Now, where were we with this case?”
“Nowhere,” Holt grated. “Just more talk and theories.” He glanced at June and then at his wristwatch. “Well, don’t the four of you need to be somewhere soon?” His eyes moved from Ace to Willa, then Rad, and finally Margo.
“What?” Ace’s eyes widened, and he looked at the time on his phone. “Oh wow.” He looked at the other three. “We need to go.”
“Good grief, is that the time already?” Willa was on her fluffy slippered feet in seconds. “Rad, have you got all the equipment ready?”
“Yes, I did that before I went to bed last night,” Rad told her.
“I have all the food, snacks, and beverages ready as well,” Margo assured Willa. “They’re in the kitchen in the inn.” She glanced at her outfit. “I just want to have a quick shower and change.”
“I think we all do,” Ace agreed with her. “I especially want to brush my teeth.”
“Same here,” Rad agreed, turning toward his father and June. “Are the two of you okay now?” He looked at his other three conspirators. “We all promise from here on out no more secrets, and we’ll put the YouTube channel on hold.”
“Yes, but Mom…” Willa’s eyes drifted accusingly between the two. “Holt, that goes the same for the two of you. You need to be honest with us as well.”
“Agreed,” Holt and June said together.
“Now go,” June said, shooing them out. “We’ll leave in a bit.” She looked at Margo. “If you don’t mind us finishing up in here with Mina?”
“No, not at all,” Margo said, sliding a look to Mina. “I can skip the shower if you need me to stay.”
“That is so sweet, honey,” Mina smiled at her. “But you go. I’m fine.”
“Well, yell if you need me,” Margo said, leaning in to kiss Mina’s cheek. The woman had always been like a grandmother to her and most of this town.
“I will,” Mina smiled again, and patted Margo’s hand. “Besides, I have the honorable Harvey here by my side.”
Margo turned and shot Harvey a warning glare. “He’s still in our bad books.”
“Geez, Margo,” Harvey said with a resigned sigh. “You’re all going to milk this, aren’t you?”
“Probably,” Margo nodded. “We’ll all catch up again when we’re back and make plans for a trip to Palm Beach and Miami.”
“Yes,” June said with a nod. “Oh, and Margo…”
“Yes,” Margo answered, catching June’s eyes.
“I don’t think the four of you should give up the channel.” June’s words surprised her.
“June…” Holt started, but she silenced him.
“We want whoever is behind this to think they’re still one step ahead of us,” June pointed out. “The only way to do that is to look as if we don’t know that they are watching us.”
“Okay,” Holt agreed, and his eyes met Margo. “But under no circumstances can you air that promo you all did about exposing what happened ten years ago.” He glanced at Harvey. “You will all need to film a new one.”
“Okay…” Margo’s brow furrowed. “We’ll all think of something else to air.”
“I know of a great one,” Mina said, and all eyes turned to her.
“What would that be, Mother?” Holt asked. “The manipulations of Mina Dillinger and the plot to bring me and June back together?”
Mina gave a deep sigh. “I was wondering when you were going to bring that up.” She shook her head. “That is, after all, the real reason I’m here.”
“As I said, we’ll get to you, Mother,” Holt drawled and asked. “What was your idea?”
“How about the case of the missing Cinderella shoes?” Mina told them.
“What did you say?” Holt asked his mother. His eyes were wide with shock.
“Yes, what slippers?” Suddenly, Ace was at the door again.
“Are you all on about my slippers again?” Willa wandered back into the room.
“Willa?” Rad called from the door. “You didn’t tell me if you could pop past and pick up some of the equipment.”
“Wait,” Willa said, “There’s something going on in here.”
Then Rad was back at the door. “What’s up?”
“We’re going to be ditching our last promo for Hidden Truths,” Harvey told them. “Mina is going to give us a story about missing slippers.”
“Not just any slippers,” Mina said. “Cinderella slippers, and they’re worth a small fortune.”
“Are they glass with jewels in them?” Rad pushed his way into the room and gaped at Mina.
“Mother,” Holt said, standing and pulling out his phone, then flipping through some photos. “Would these be the slippers?”
“You found them?”
Holt walked toward her and showed her the picture.
“Oh, yes, that’s what they looked like,” Mina said.
“Looked like?” Rad asked. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“That pair is clearly the knock-off pair,” Mina told them. “It’s easy to spot. The knock-offs had a normal diamond on the front of them; the real pair had rare pink diamonds on them.”
“Are you sure these are knock-offs, Mother?” Holt asked. “They look kind of real to me.”
“Oh, yes, honey, I’m sure,” Mina told him. “Because I had them commissioned the same time I had our jewels done.”
“Grandmother…” Rad walked toward her and looked at his father’s phone. “Did these shoes belong to our family?”
“No,” June said. “You see, the knock off went missing around the same time our family jewels did. The real ones went missing about eleven years ago.”
Margo’s spine straightened as tingles started to zap through her fingers, and it had nothing to do with how close Rad was now standing to her.
“So the real ones were stolen?” Margo asked.
“Yes, and the owner of them was convinced they knew who’d taken them and sold them,” Mina told them.
“Okay, so Holt, where did you get that picture from?” Willa asked, then turned to Rad. “And how do the two of…” Her eyes widened. “These are the glass slippers from the safe?”
“Sienna’s safe?” Ace and Harvey asked at the same time.
“Yes,” Mina said. “But, I still don’t think that Sienna is keeping that safe for her father, and if those shoes are in that safe, it probably proves my point about Tom not being the thief.”
“Why, Mother?” Holt asked, and Margo could now hear the impatience in his voice.
“Because, dear,” Mina tilted her head. “The actual crystal and rare diamond sprinkled glass slippers, known as the Cinderella Slippers, were designed and made for Miss Sandpiper Shores from forty years ago!”
“Oh my word,” June breathed, her hand going to her mouth as her eyes shot to Holt. “I remember now.”
“Want to fill us in?” Ace asked. “We’re on a timer here.”
June turned and looked at them. “I think Gilbert Fry was looking into a cat burglar that I’m guessing stole both the heirloom jewelry set and those glass slippers.” June swallowed. “Only he opened a can of worms when his prime source of information died in a car crash.”
Margo’s eyes widened at the words cat burglar and taking a back seat to a car crash.
“Those slippers belonged to Cynthia Frost!” Margo realized, and both June and Mina nodded in unison.
Ace gave a low whistle as he said. “So, do we still do the segment or not?”
“Not!” Holt cracked down.
“No!” June shook her head and looked at them. “Do the segment.” She glanced at Mina. “We’ll make it a segment about the town’s founding family and the theft of their missing heirloom.”
“June, that’s brilliant,” Margo agreed. “Because if we do the promo just right…”
“Other people from Sandpiper Shores might come forward, especially if we ask them to,” Mina picked up on the thread of thought. “And I can do that.”
“No!” Holt boomed. “We can’t use civilians as bait.”
“We don’t have any other options,” June told him lightly. “And Mina can be the one everyone comes to to tell their story, so the avatars of the show don’t get exposed.”
“Okay, but I want Margo under protection twenty-four seven,” Holt ordered. “Let’s not forget that whoever’s behind this may already have figured out who three of the avatars are.”
“I’ll make sure Margo is protected,” Rad stood up, and despite the fear and her trying to be brave, that made her heart go wild.
“I’ll keep an eye on you, Mother, and get someone to be with you when I’m not around,” Holt stated.
“Oh, yay, a bodyguard,” Mina mocked.
“We’d better go,” Margo said.
“Please keep checking in,” Holt demanded.
“We will,” all chorused as they headed for the door.
Margo walked with them.
“Rad, give me thirty minutes, and I’ll pop past the lighthouse,” Willa told him.
“I’ll meet you all at the campsite,” Ace said. “With the boat.”
“Margo…” Rad began and glanced down the hallway before pulling her out of sight and onto the front porch. “I know my timing sucks, but I learned the hard way that there is never a good time for this.”
“A good time for what?” Margo’s pulse once again picked up speed.
“When we get back from this camp,” Rad said. “And I know it’s not ideal. But I’ll have to be with you a lot until this is resolved.”
Margo didn’t mind that at all, and she swallowed, trying to still the butterflies flapping around in her stomach. “I don’t mind that.” What the heck, Margo? The words had popped out before she could stop them.
“That’s good,” Rad said with a sexy smile. “Would you go on a date with me?”
“A date date?” Margo asked him. “Like dinner, movie, and a walk on the boardwalk type date?”
“Yes, a romantic date,” Rad said. “One that I hope after the first, you’ll want to repeat many more times over.” His eyes caught hers. “I’m not going to mince words here. Things are getting crazy with this case.”
“I know, right?” Margo croaked, her nerves intensifying and her breath becoming a little ragged with excitement.
“I’m falling for you, Margo,” Rad told her, and her heart nearly exploded in her chest. “I have been from the moment I first saw you, and you smiled at me.”
“I…” Margo’s voice seemed stuck in her throat. She cleared it and tried again. “I feel the same, and yes, I’d love to go on a romantic date with you.”
“That's good,” Rad said with a relieved laugh. “Then I hope you don’t mind this.”
Before she knew what was happening, Rad stepped forward, pulled her gently toward him, and his lips crushed hers, and the world faded around them. That was until the alarm on her phone sounded and they jumped apart like teens caught in a compromising position.