Chapter 3 #2
“I think he’s just going to fix it out of his own pocket,” Mitch stated. “He doesn’t want to file a claim and have his insurance rates go up over a broken window.”
“Wise decision,” Tim said, nodding. He closed his notebook and tucked it back into his pocket. “Well, thank you both for your cooperation. We’ll try not to be too long sweeping the grounds of Seabird Cottage.”
“Take as long as you need,” Lori told him sincerely.
Her phone rang suddenly, making her jump. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw Maggie’s name on the screen.
Then she froze, staring at the phone in confusion.
Wait. This wasn’t her phone. She’d borrowed Tessa’s phone to call 911 because she couldn’t find her own.
She answered quickly. “Hello, Maggie. It’s Aunt Lori.”
“Hello, Aunt Lori!” Maggie’s sweet, cheerful voice came through the line, and Lori felt her heart squeeze. The girl sounded so happy, so carefree. “How is Nantucket? Are you having a wonderful time?”
“It’s lovely,” Lori said, putting as much joy into her voice as she could muster. She turned away from Tim slightly, not wanting him to hear the strain she was trying to hide. “The weather’s been beautiful. Are you still enjoying Florida?”
“Yes, it’s so great!” Maggie said enthusiastically. “We went to the beach yesterday, and I found the most amazing shells. Gran says we can make a shadow box with them when we get home. Is Mom there?”
“Yes,” Lori said, glancing at Mitch and mouthing “sorry” for the interruption. He nodded his understanding. She walked around him and headed toward where Tessa was speaking with another officer. “Tessa, it’s Maggie.”
Tessa’s face lit up immediately. She smiled and reached for the phone, taking it from Lori with a grateful nod before excusing herself from the officer. “Sorry, but it’s my daughter.”
Lori walked back toward Mitch, a frown creasing her forehead. “I’ve left my phone somewhere. I just realized I was using Tessa’s to call 911.”
“When’s the last time you remember having it?” Mitch asked.
Lori thought back through the chaotic morning. “At the coffee shop this morning. I remember checking it for information about paint I’m waiting for from the local art supply shop.”
“Let me help you look,” Mitch offered.
Ten minutes later, they still hadn’t found Lori’s phone. They’d checked her purse thoroughly, gone through Seabird Cottage room by room, and even searched Mitch’s SUV in case she’d left it there during one of their trips.
Nothing.
“We’ll keep looking,” Mitch assured her as they walked back into Sunrise House. “It has to be somewhere.”
As they entered through the front door, Marcus suddenly appeared from the office. His face was ashen, his normally composed expression replaced by something Lori had never seen before.
Alarm.
“The files,” Marcus said without preamble. “They’re gone.”
“What files?” Mitch asked sharply, immediately on alert.
“The files we left on the desk about Sally,” Marcus said, his jaw ticking with barely controlled anger. “And the ones that were in my briefcase. All of them. Gone.”
Shock waves hit Lori like a physical blow. She felt Mitch stiffen beside her as the implications sank in.
Someone had come into Mitch’s house while they’d all been at the cove dealing with Elias Dane’s attack. Someone had walked right into this house and taken all the information Marcus had gathered about Sally Lane.
Just then, Mitch’s phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, glanced at the screen, and his expression darkened.
“It’s Sally,” he said.
Lori instantly felt her stomach clench. Of course, it was Sally. Before more angry thoughts about the woman formed in her head, she saw Mitch frown and hold the phone out to Lori.
“Sally wants to speak to you,” he said, confusion evident in his voice.
“Me?” Lori was astounded. Why would Sally want to talk to her? They barely knew each other. She took the phone hesitantly. “Hello?”
“Lori,” Sally’s voice came through, sounding strange. Lower than usual. Almost fearful. “Are Mitch and Marcus near you?”
“Uh... yes,” Lori said slowly, looking from Marcus to Mitch. Both men were watching her intently. “Why?”
“Look, can you come meet me at Patsy’s coffee shop and bakery?
” Sally asked, her words coming out in a rush.
“And come alone. There’s something I need to show you.
Oh, and I have your phone. You left it here this morning.
Patsy saw you talking to me, but before she could get it to you, the three of you had left.
I mentioned I was coming over for the barbecue tonight, so I took it to bring to you. ”
“Uh... thank you,” Lori said, startled. So that’s where her phone was. “But can’t you just bring it—”
“Lori,” Sally interrupted, her voice dropping even lower. “I don’t think Mitch and Marcus are who they say they are.”
Shock shot through Lori like electricity. “What do you mean?”
“Please,” Sally said, and now Lori could hear genuine distress in her voice. “Just come meet me. I’ll be here waiting. I can’t explain over the phone.”
Lori turned away from Mitch and Marcus, walking a few steps away to put some distance between them. Something in Sally’s voice had her worried. Not afraid, exactly. Just worried.
“I’ll be there in about fifteen to twenty minutes,” she said softly. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know. But thank you, Lori,” Sally said, relief evident in her tone. “Please, don’t say anything to Mitch or Marcus about coming to meet me. I’ll explain everything when you get here.”
“Sure,” Lori agreed, though unease was curling in her stomach.
She hung up and turned back to hand Mitch his phone. “Sally has my phone. I left it at the coffee shop this morning.”
“Is she bringing it to the barbecue tonight?” Marcus asked. His eyes were narrowed, watching Lori with an intensity that made her feel like he could see right through her.
Lori’s mind was reeling. She was confused. This was all just a little too much to process. Sally was calling right now, right after Elias Dane had been nearly killed? What did Sally know about Mitch and Marcus? What did she mean they weren’t who they said they were?
“I... uh...” Lori cleared her throat. She really wasn’t good at this spy stuff.
She could feel heat creeping up her neck and knew she was probably turning red the way she always did when she tried to lie.
“Yes, she said she would.” She cleared her throat again.
“I’d better go and see how Tessa is doing.
Make sure she’s okay after everything that happened.
” She frowned, latching onto a thought. “Shouldn’t we cancel the barbecue now?
I mean, with everything that’s happened? ”
“No,” Marcus and Mitch said in unison, their voices firm.
“It’s more important than ever that we talk to Sally tonight,” Mitch added.
Lori nodded, trying to look natural. “Okay. I guess then I’d better...” Her eyes suddenly widened as a thought struck her. “Oh no! My bread! I had bread in the oven…”
Without waiting for a response, she spun around and rushed out of the house.
Twenty minutes later, after having had to threaten Tessa with tying her to a chair and gagging her, Tessa had finally agreed to let Lori go to meet Sally without telling Mitch, Ryan, or Marcus.
Now Lori sat in her car in the parking lot of Patsy’s coffee shop and bakery, having a serious talk with herself about the absolute stupidity of what she was doing.
But at least Tessa knew where she was. That was something.
She glanced over to where Tessa’s car was parked a few spaces away. She could see Misty in the back seat, her German Shepherd face alert and watchful. Tessa was in the driver’s seat, her phone in her hand.
Lori waved. Tessa waved back.
The only way Lori had been able to get Tessa to agree to let her do this alone was if Tessa followed her and kept her distance. Tessa would stay in the parking lot as backup and had her phone ready to call for help if needed.
It was just her, Tessa, and Misty right now. But at least Ryan was somewhere in town getting his truck window fixed, and Lori knew that Mitch and Marcus had gone to see whoever the forensic contact was, to whom Marcus was taking the blood evidence.
Taking another deep breath, Lori climbed out of her car, telling herself to look confident. Chin up, shoulders squared. Project the kind of calm she definitely wasn’t feeling.
This had been such an awful week. She glanced back at Tessa and Misty one last time, drew strength from knowing they were there, and then headed toward the coffee shop.
Through the large front windows, she could see Sally sitting at a table at the very back of the shop, tucked away from the main seating area. Almost hidden from view.
Lori hesitated at the door. This was stupid. She should turn around, go back to Tessa, tell Mitch and Marcus what Sally had said, and let the professionals handle it.
But it was too late. Sally had spotted her and was waving, beckoning Lori inside.
Lori plastered on what she hoped was a natural smile and walked forward.
The coffee shop smelled wonderful, like fresh-baked bread, cinnamon, and rich coffee. Under normal circumstances, Lori would have loved it. Now, it just made her stomach turn.
“Lori, thank you so much for coming,” Sally said as Lori approached the table.
Sally looked terrible. Distraught. Her face was pale, almost gray, and there were dark circles under her eyes.
Her hands were shaking slightly as she reached into the impossibly large tote bag sitting on the chair beside her.
“Before I forget...” She pulled out Lori’s phone and handed it across the table. “Here’s your phone.”
“Thank you,” Lori breathed, relief flooding through her. She took the phone and set it on the table in front of her, leaving it within easy reach. Ready to dial 911 if she needed to. “What was so urgent that you needed to—”
“I did something foolish,” Sally interrupted, her voice barely above a whisper. Her eyes kept darting to the door, to the windows, back to Lori. Like she was expecting someone to burst in at any moment. “I... I...”
She swallowed hard, clearly struggling to get the words out.
“What did you do?” Lori asked. Her alarm was growing with every passing second. Her heart started to pound in her chest. Was it Sally who had nearly killed Elias Dane? Was that what this was about? Was she about to confess?
Lori’s hand moved to her phone, ready to grab it.
“Sally,” she said carefully. “What is going on?”
Sally lifted the big tote bag from the chair and placed it on her lap. Lori could see that there was something heavy in it. Multiple somethings. The bag sagged with weight.
Her fear grew. Did Sally have the murder weapon in there? A rock, maybe? Or something else she’d used to hit Elias Dane over the head?
“I took something,” Sally said, her voice so low Lori had to lean forward to hear her.
“I know I shouldn’t have, but when I saw it.
.. and then I found the others...” Her voice was coming out in a panicked rush now.
“I just... I just grabbed them and ran. Then, when I calmed down, I realized I needed to tell someone. So I called you.”
“Sally,” Lori said slowly. “You’re going to have to give me more details. What did you take?”
Sally’s hands disappeared into the tote bag. When they emerged, they were holding files.
She pulled out four of them and set them on the table.
Lori’s eyes widened. She recognized one of them instantly. Her heart pounded so hard she thought it might burst from her chest.
That file. She knew that file. The label on the tab read SL.
“Where did you get those?” Lori breathed, unable to look away from the files.
“From Mitch’s office,” Sally told her, her eyes meeting Lori’s with something that looked like fear. “I took them from Mitch’s office.”