Chapter 8 Ryan #2
There was a knock at the door, and before either of them could respond, it swung open.
Sally Lane swept in like she owned the place.
Ryan felt his stomach drop. Of all the people he didn’t want to see right now, Sally Lane was at the top of the list. She was dressed impeccably, as always, in designer jeans, a silk blouse, and expensive jewelry that was just on the edge of being too much.
Her hair was perfectly styled, her makeup flawless.
She looked like she’d stepped out of a catalog for wealthy women who summered on Nantucket.
“Ryan!” Sally exclaimed, her voice dripping with false surprise. “I had no idea you were home! What a wonderful surprise!”
They both knew she was lying. Sally Lane made it her business to know everything that happened on this island, especially when it came to his father. There was no way she hadn’t heard about Ryan’s truck being parked at Sunrise House.
“Sally,” Ryan said with a curt nod, not bothering to pretend warmth he didn’t feel.
She turned her attention to Mitch, and her whole demeanor shifted into something Ryan could only describe as predatory concern.
“Mitch, darling,” Sally cooed, moving to his bedside. “I was absolutely horrified when I heard what happened. A fall on the beach? How terrible! Are you in much pain?”
Ryan caught his father’s eye and saw the trapped expression there. Mitch looked like a man who’d just realized he’d walked into a cage, and the door had locked behind him.
“I’m fine, Sally,” Mitch said, his voice carefully neutral. “Just a minor accident.”
“Minor?” Sally placed her hand on Mitch’s arm, her fingers lingering longer than necessary. “You have stitches, Mitch. That’s not minor. You need someone to take care of you. You shouldn’t be alone right now.”
“I won’t be alone,” Mitch said, trying to subtly pull his arm away. “I’ll be at home with Piper. And Ryan’s here for a few weeks.”
Ryan couldn’t take another second of this. His father’s eyes were practically begging him not to leave him alone with Sally, but Ryan couldn’t resist the opportunity for a little payback for all the times Mitch had subjected him to uncomfortable family dinners with this woman.
“I’d better go collect Piper,” Ryan said, standing abruptly. He gave his father a smug smile. “I’ll see you later, Dad.”
The look Mitch shot him was pure betrayal, but Ryan just grinned and headed for the door. “It was nice seeing you again, Sally,” he lied as he left.
Ryan felt a little bad leaving his father alone with the viper, but not bad enough to go back. Mitch could handle Sally Lane. He’d done it before.
The drive to Emma’s house took about fifteen minutes. It was a modest home in a quiet neighborhood, with a well-kept yard and children’s bikes in the driveway. Ryan knocked on the door, and Emma’s mother answered with a warm smile.
“Ryan! Good to see you. Piper’s just finishing up breakfast with Emma. I’ll get her for you.”
A few moments later, Piper came bounding to the door, her face lighting up when she saw her uncle.
“Uncle Ryan!” She threw herself at him for a hug. “What are you doing here? I thought Grandpa was picking me up!”
Ryan thanked Emma’s mother and guided Piper to the truck before answering. Once they were buckled in and pulling away from the house, he turned to his niece.
“Grandpa had an accident on the beach yesterday,” Ryan said, keeping his voice calm and matter-of-fact.
“He slipped and fell, and he hit his head. He’s okay,” he added quickly, seeing Piper’s eyes widen with alarm.
“He’s at the hospital, but they’re releasing him this afternoon.
He just has a few stitches in his head.”
“I want to see him,” Piper said immediately, her voice firm. “Take me to the hospital. Now.”
“Piper, he’s fine. You can see him when he gets home—”
“Uncle Ryan, please take me to the hospital,” Piper insisted, crossing her arms. “I need to see for myself that Grandpa is okay.”
Ryan recognized that stubborn set to her jaw. She’d inherited it from Grady, who had inherited it from Mitch himself. There would be no reasoning with her, and he did understand how she must feel. Piper hated hospitals, as it was where she’d last seen her parents.
“All right,” Ryan sighed, making a U-turn at the next intersection. “But just for a quick visit as visiting hours are nearly over.”
They drove back to the hospital in silence, Piper staring out the window with worry etched across her young face. Ryan’s heart ached for her. She’d already lost so much—her father and mother eight years ago—so the thought of losing her grandfather, too, must terrify her.
They parked, and as they approached the main entrance from the parking lot, the automatic doors slid open, and Clara Stark came walking out.
She spotted them immediately and smiled brightly. “Ryan! Hello!”
Piper looked up at Ryan, confused about who this woman was.
“Hi,” Ryan said, frowning and wondering why she was at the hospital. “What are you doing here?”
Clara held up her left hand. It was wrapped in a white bandage from wrist to mid-palm. “I’m afraid I had a little accident yesterday.”
“What happened?” Ryan asked, his instincts immediately on alert.
“Oh, it was so foolish of me,” Clara said with an embarrassed laugh.
“I couldn’t resist going to the beach yesterday afternoon.
I know you warned me not to.” Her eyes widened.
“But there’s this particular species of plover that’s best observed in the late afternoon light.
I was climbing down the rocks to get a better view, and I slipped.
I caught myself with my hand and twisted my wrist pretty badly. ”
Ryan’s mind was already calculating. “What time did this happen?”
“Oh, around four-thirty or five, I think?” Clara said, tilting her head thoughtfully. “I wasn’t really paying attention to the time. I was so focused on getting the perfect shot with my camera.”
That was long before his father’s attack. Ryan felt his suspicions ease slightly. Unless Clara was lying about the timing, which seemed unlikely given how freely she’d offered the information.
“What brings you two to the hospital?” Clara asked.
Before Ryan could deflect, Piper spoke up. “My grandfather tripped and fell on the beach last night. He hit his head.”
Clara’s expression shifted to alarm, and for just a split second, Ryan saw something flash in her eyes. Something sharp and calculating. But it was gone so fast he couldn’t be sure he’d really seen it at all.
“Oh no, that’s terrible,” Clara said, her voice filled with concern. “Is he all right?”
“He’s fine,” Ryan assured her.
“Well, that’s a relief,” Clara said, adjusting the strap of her purse on her shoulder. “Please give him my best wishes. I hope he recovers quickly.”
Ryan moved so the door would open as he and Piper walked around Clara. “Thank you. I will.”
Clara gave them both a cheerful wave and headed toward the parking lot. As Piper stepped inside, something made Ryan glance back over his shoulder.
That’s when he saw him.
The man in the tan windbreaker was standing near the parking lot entrance. He was partially obscured by a pillar, but Ryan could see him clearly enough. Average height, average build, sandy brown hair. The same man whom he and Tessa had seen the previous day.
The man’s head turned, and his eyes locked with Ryan’s for just a moment. Recognition flashed across his face, followed immediately by alarm. He turned abruptly and disappeared into the parking lot, moving fast but not quite running.
Ryan’s hand tightened on Piper’s shoulder. His heart rate kicked up, that familiar adrenaline response flooding his system.
The windbreaker guy was here at the hospital. At the same time his father was. At the same time Clara was here with her conveniently injured wrist.
Ryan’s mind raced, trying to connect the dots. Could Clara and the windbreaker guy be working together? No! That didn’t make sense. His eyes caught sight of Clara climbing into a taxi. If she and the windbreaker guy were partners, wouldn’t they have left together?
Ryan gave himself a mental shake. He was just looking for invisible connections now.
Seeing patterns where there might not be any.
The hospital served the entire island. It wasn’t strange for multiple people to be here at the same time.
But as he led Piper through the hospital corridors, Ryan couldn’t shake the feeling in his gut that was screaming at him to look into all threads, no matter how far-fetched they might be.
Because the one thing he didn’t believe in was coincidence, and Clara’s damaged wrist seemed like too big a coincidence.
Which begged the question—was she lying about the time she got injured?
And was that piece of cloth found on the rocks hers?
Was she the one calling for help right before his father was knocked out?
If she was… that meant she could’ve witnessed the incident.
He needed help finding out, but he knew she wasn’t the one Clara would tell.
A smile lifted his lips. He knew someone who was a master at getting people to talk, and it so happened they lived right here on Nantucket.