Chapter 24 June
JUNE
The morning after Lacey’s accident, June found herself standing outside the veterinary clinic with a handwritten sign that read, “For emergency animal care, please contact Dr. Lucy Tanner at Sandpiper Shores Medical Clinic.” While Lacey hadn’t been seriously injured, the doctors wanted to keep her under observation for two days to monitor her concussion and ensure there were no complications from her dislocated shoulder.
June taped the sign securely to the clinic door, double-checking that it was clearly visible to anyone who might need veterinary services.
With that task completed, she walked back to Carmen’s car, feeling a small surge of pride as she settled behind the wheel without the immediate panic that had plagued her for weeks after her own accident.
Her heart was racing for an entirely different reason as she drove toward the police station.
Today she would be working with Holt for who knew how long, navigating federal regulations and inter-agency agreements.
She took a deep breath and got a grip on herself as she steered the vehicle carefully through town.
She had been driving Carmen’s car for three days now without a major panic attack. Well, there had been a few minor ones, June admitted to herself, but she’d managed to work through them and continue driving. That felt like real progress.
As she approached the police station parking lot and began to turn in, a figure suddenly ran directly in front of her car.
June slammed on the brakes, the vehicle skidding to a complete stop as shock coursed through her system.
She found herself staring at Holt through the windshield, both of them frozen in what felt like suspended animation.
Then the world came crashing back, and anger exploded inside her like a volcano. She shoved the car door open and climbed out on unsteady legs.
“Are you completely out of your mind?” June couldn’t control her voice as shock and fury collided. “I could have killed you!”
Holt watched her, and a grin spread across his lips, which only made her more infuriated.
“I don’t think you would have even bruised my leg at the speed you were traveling,” he said with obvious amusement.
“You think this is funny?” June hissed, her hands shaking with residual adrenaline.
“I’m sorry,” Holt said, holding up his hands in surrender. “I need a ride somewhere, and I knew you’d be arriving this morning, so I waited for you.”
“So you thought you’d jump in front of my car to test my reflexes?” June snapped.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” Holt admitted, glancing back toward the police station. “I have a delicate matter that needs immediate attention, and I wanted to ask you to take me somewhere without anyone in the office overhearing.”
“And that prompted you to scare me half to death?” June was still seething. “Do you have any idea that I had a serious car accident not long ago? I’ve only recently been able to get back behind the wheel, and...”
“Oh no,” Holt said, the color draining from his face. “I’m so sorry, June. I wasn’t thinking about your accident.”
He looked so genuinely apologetic that June felt her heart soften despite her anger. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t stay furious with him.
“Where do you need to go?” June asked, her voice still tight but calmer.
“I’ll explain on the way,” Holt promised, glancing back at the station again, making June realize he didn’t want anyone inside to know what he was planning.
“All right,” June breathed, then turned toward the car and nearly collapsed as her legs suddenly turned to jelly.
“June,” Holt rushed toward her to steady her. “Are you all right?”
“Just a little shaken,” June admitted, grateful for his strong hands on her arms. “I’ll be fine in a moment.”
She looked at the open driver’s door and suddenly felt dizzy. The combination of the near-accident and the emotional shock was catching up with her.
“Why don’t I help you to the passenger side, and I’ll drive,” Holt suggested gently.
“I can walk,” June said, holding up her hands. Being in his arms was making her feel even more unsteady, though for entirely different reasons, and her pulse was racing.
He released her reluctantly, and she grabbed onto the car’s hood, keeping one hand on it to steady herself as she walked around to the passenger side. She gratefully sank into the seat as he took the driver’s position.
“I’m so sorry,” Holt said again as she buckled her seatbelt and he pulled out of the parking lot, heading toward the outskirts of town.
“Where exactly are we going?” June asked.
“To the next town over,” Holt told her. “We need to visit the automotive salvage yard.”
“Why are we going to a junkyard?” June asked, confusion evident in her voice.
Holt explained the situation with Clive and Harvey’s auto shop, describing the discrepancy between Clive’s story about minor parking lot damage and the photographs showing extensive front-end collision damage.
June was shocked, her eyebrows shooting up in disbelief. “You think Clive ran Lacey off the road?”
“I think he might have,” Holt clarified carefully. “It’s suspicious that one minute he’s telling Tom someone backed into him at the Henderson farm parking lot...”
“Then Harvey shows you photographs of a completely destroyed front end,” June finished for him. She was quiet for a while, processing this information. “Why would Clive deliberately run Lacey off the road?”
“I’m not certain he would,” Holt said thoughtfully. “Clive might have many faults, but I’ve never known him to be a reckless driver.”
“Maybe, if it was him, the collision was accidental,” June tried to reason. “He knew how it would look to Tom, so he crashed the car into a tree afterward to cover up what really happened.”
“I’m not going to speculate until I have more evidence,” Holt said reasonably. “That’s why I needed to examine the vehicle before it gets crushed into scrap metal. I couldn’t reach anyone at the salvage yard by phone, so I have to go there in person.”
“That’s why you jumped in front of my car, taking at least five years off my life and setting my recovery back to where I was before I came to Sandpiper Shores,” June said with a mixture of exasperation and understanding.
“Again, I’m truly sorry.” Holt glanced at her with genuine remorse.
“It’s fine,” June said, taking a steadying breath. “I’m still a little shaken, that’s all.” Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, “So when is your big romantic dinner with Victoria?” Then she immediately wanted the seat to swallow her whole. Where the heck had that come from?
Holt glanced at her with confusion for a moment. “Oh,” he said with an understanding nod. “I see Sandpiper Shores’ gossip network is as active as ever.”
“I’m sorry,” June said, mortified. “It’s none of my business. I shouldn’t have said anything. My nerves are still rattled from nearly killing you, so my brain disengaged, and my mouth just took over.”
Holt laughed at that description. “It’s perfectly fine,” he said, looking at her with concern.
“Do you need to stop somewhere to get some water or something to calm your nerves? I wasn’t thinking straight when I jumped in front of your car earlier.
I just wanted to reach you before you were seen by anyone at the station so I could. ..”
“Sneak out of town?” June offered.
“Exactly,” Holt nodded. “Now you understand why. I didn’t want anyone at the station to know where I was going. I’m not sure who might be loyal to Clive or who might inadvertently mention my activities.”
Something dawned on June as she studied Holt’s profile. “You think there’s something more significant to this situation.” She saw his shoulders stiffen. “If Clive was involved, you don’t believe it was accidental.”
“I didn’t say that,” Holt reiterated carefully. “But...” He cleared his throat. “Tom mentioned to me this morning that Victoria confronted Lucy at the veterinary clinic yesterday, apparently thinking she was Lacey.”
“Yes, I know. I was there. Victoria was being her usual arrogant self. I can’t believe she is unable to tell Lacey and Lucy apart,” June told him before her eyes widened with realization.
“You think Victoria might have had something to do with Lacey’s accident, thinking it was Lucy behind the wheel of the truck? ”
“Harvey stopped by to see me at Margo’s this morning when Rad dropped me off before going out on a call,” Holt explained. “Harvey said he was going to call me later as there was something he needed to tell me that he didn’t want to discuss in front of Tom yesterday.”
“And that was?” June asked slowly, her eyes narrowing as she watched him. A chill ran up her spine.
“According to Harvey, it wasn’t Clive driving the car when it got totaled,” Holt told her quietly.
June felt the blood drain from her face. “Then who was driving?”
Holt met her eyes with a grim expression. “It was Victoria.”
A message from Amy Rafferty:
Hi sweet readers, thank you so much for joining me for another series!
I’ve always thought beach towns have a certain mystique to them, don’t you?
The ocean represents to me a sense of grace and renewal, but hidden depths that can pull us under if we’re not careful.
That’s why I set so many stories here — because my characters have to go through their own ‘tides of life’ before finding their forever.
It’s also a message of hope…that no matter how dark it may seem, the sun will rise over the horizon once more.
I’ll see you in the next book!
xoxo Amy
Yes, I want to read Book 2 — Secrets of Sandpiper Shores: Beneath the Ashes!