Chapter 8
Even after the BMW disappeared around the corner, Jewel remained on the sidewalk for a full minute longer, her heart pounding against her ribs, the cool afternoon air doing nothing to soothe the heat rising in her chest.
Ashley and Robert clearly knew each other. But how? And for how long? And why hadn’t Ashley ever brought it up?
Her first instinct was to get back in her car and leave. Cancel the meeting, drive directly to Susan’s, and tell Cole everything she’d seen. But even as the thought formed, she dismissed it.
She took a breath and, with some effort, forced herself to slow down and think this through logically, rather than jumping to conclusions.
What if Ashley was still trying to help her?
The thought stopped her cold. A few weeks ago, Ashley had offered to play spy—to gather information from Rebecca and her friends and discover what they and Robert were planning.
She’d been willing to put herself in uncomfortable situations, pretending to be friendly with people she didn’t like, all to find out if they were plotting against her.
Was it possible that’s all this was? What if Ashley had somehow connected with Robert, probably through Rebecca, and was just pretending to find out what he was doing? To protect her?
It would explain the relaxed body language. Ashley was skilled at reading people and making them feel comfortable. If she were trying to get information from Robert, she’d need him to trust her and believe she was on his side.
She wanted to believe it. She really wanted to think that Ashley was still the grieving best friend who only wanted justice for Vivian and had been willing to help her deal with her ex-husband and his sister.
But then again.
Ashley had taken Robert’s business card with a smile. And she knew her well enough by now to recognize it was a genuine smile, not a fake one. There had been something in the way she touched his arm so casually that hinted at a relationship that went beyond a few days of strategic manipulation.
And why wouldn’t she have mentioned it to her? If she were playing spy, wouldn’t she have told her? Given her a heads-up that she planned to approach Robert and see what she could find out? How had Ashley even known that Robert was back up at Otter Creek? Jewel had only just found out herself.
Of course, maybe she was simply being cautious. She might not want to risk Robert discovering what she was doing—that she was playing him and his sister. Even Ashley would understand by now that it wasn’t a good idea to rile up Robert.
Her mind raced through the possibilities, each one seeming just as likely as it was unlikely.
What she needed was more information. She had to observe how Ashley responded, what she said, and whether her story would stand up to scrutiny.
Because if Ashley and Robert were working together and had somehow orchestrated planting the bracelet, and if this was all part of some larger plan, then running away wouldn’t accomplish anything.
They’d know she was onto them and would adjust their strategy and cover their tracks.
No. It was smarter to turn the tables. Better to walk into that coffee shop and act like she hadn’t seen a thing. She’d let Ashley believe she still had her trust, still had the upper hand.
And maybe, just maybe, she could figure out what was really going on.
So, she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and headed toward the coffee shop, her footsteps echoing loudly on the concrete sidewalk.
Inside, the coffee shop smelled like espresso and cinnamon, a scent she normally found comforting, but today it made her stomach turn.
A few tables were occupied. An elderly couple sharing a scone, their murmurs barely audible over the soft jazz playing from overhead speakers.
A woman hunched over a laptop near the window, fingers flying across the keyboard.
A teenager in the corner was scrolling through his phone, earbuds in, oblivious to the world.
She saw Ashley sitting at a corner table, two cups of coffee already waiting, with steam still rising from both. As soon as she entered, Ashley looked up, her face breaking into a warm smile that would’ve seemed genuine if she hadn’t just been laughing with Robert a few minutes earlier.
“There you are! I was starting to wonder if you were still coming.” Ashley stood and pulled her into a quick hug that made her skin crawl. She smelled like vanilla and something floral, the same perfume she always wore.
Forcing herself to return the hug, she smiled as if nothing was wrong. “Sorry, I’m late. I got held up packing Beck’s things. We’re heading to Susan’s tonight since the surgery is tomorrow.”
As they sat down, Ashley’s face shifted to concern. “Oh, right. It’s tomorrow. How are you holding up? That must be so stressful. And poor Susan! I can’t imagine what she’s going through.”
The concern in her voice sounded genuine.
The worry in her eyes looked real. But she’d just seen this woman take a business card from her manipulative ex-husband like they were old friends, so clearly, Ashley was a better actress than she’d thought, or she really was trying to help, and she was misunderstanding everything.
She wrapped her hands around the coffee cup Ashley had ordered for her. The ceramic was nearly too hot to touch, the heat seeping into her cold fingers. “We’re managing. Cole’s trying to stay strong for his mom and Beck, and his brother and sister-in-law have been amazing.”
“I’m sure they have. How’s Cole handling it? That’s a big deal, donating a kidney.”
Why did Ashley suddenly start caring about how Cole was doing? Shouldn’t she be praying that he never woke up?
“He’s scared, of course. But he’d do anything for his mother.” She took a sip of her coffee, the creamy warmth sliding down her throat.
“Of course he would. Susan’s always been the one good thing in his life.” Ashley’s tone made it clear she didn’t consider Vivian, or apparently Beckett, part of that category.
She held back the defensive reply that was on her tongue, instead taking another sip of her coffee. She used the moment to scrutinize Ashley’s face, looking for any signs of deception or anything that might explain what she’d just seen.
Ashley looked the same as usual. Vivian’s best friend, fierce and loyal, still mourning a loss that left a hole in her life.
Her reddish hair was pulled back into a messy bun, a few strands falling to frame her face.
She wore jeans and a simple sweater—nothing fancy, nothing calculated.
Her nails were short, unpolished, practical.
She looked exactly like someone she could trust.
Which made what she had seen outside much more disturbing or potentially more strategic if Ashley really was playing spy again.
Ashley placed her cup gently on the saucer with a soft clink. “So, what did you want to talk about? Your text sounded kind of urgent.”
This was it—the moment to either confront her or go along with it. Ashley clearly wouldn’t tell her about meeting Robert. She looked up and made her decision, feeling her pulse quicken and her palms becoming sweaty against the warm ceramic.
“I wanted to ask you about a bracelet.”
Ashley’s eyebrows rose. “A bracelet?”
“Yeah. I saw it in a picture. One of Vivian, actually. It was silver with turquoise stones. Really pretty.” The words flowed smoothly, honed over years of investigating and learning to gather information without revealing what she already knew.
Something flickered across Ashley’s face, maybe recognition, but there was also something else—something she couldn’t quite read.
Her voice grew softer, tinged with what sounded like genuine sadness.
“Oh. Yeah, I know that bracelet. It was Viv’s favorite.
One of a kind. Cole bought it for her on their second anniversary. ”
Her mind fixated on that detail. Cole had said the bracelet was from Vivian’s grandmother. Or maybe her mother had given it to her when she graduated from college. He mentioned he couldn’t remember the story, but he was sure it was something from Vivian’s family, not something he’d bought.
So why was Ashley saying Cole had given it to her?
Her heart was pounding now, but she kept her gaze steady. “That’s sweet. It looked really special in the photo.”
Ashley’s fingers traced the rim of her coffee cup, her gaze distant as if she were seeing something no one else could see. The soft music shifted to something slower and sadder. “It was. She wore it all the time. I don’t think she ever took it off. Why are you asking about it?”
Here was the real test.
She met Ashley’s eyes, keeping her expression open and mildly embarrassed. “This might sound a bit crazy, but I could’ve sworn I saw it the other day at the grocery store in town. A woman was wearing a bracelet that looked exactly like it.”
It happened so quickly that if she hadn’t been paying close attention, she might’ve missed it. One moment, Ashley looked relaxed, even nostalgic, and the next, she’d turned pale, her hand frozen in mid-air over her coffee cup.
“What?” The word came out strangled, barely more than a whisper.
She watched Ashley’s reaction closely, noticing her breathing quicken and her pupils dilate.
“I know, it’s probably just a coincidence.
There are lots of other bracelets with turquoise and silver.
But it just looked so much like the one in Vivian’s picture.
I just thought it was odd seeing one so similar, and I wondered if she’d ever sold it or given it away, or something. ”
Ashley’s voice was sharp now, urgent, slicing through the soft music like a knife. Her eyes had widened, and her pulse thrummed in her throat, a quick flutter beneath her pale skin. “Are you positive? Are you sure you saw it?”
Ashley’s sudden rising tone made the elderly couple at the nearby table look over.
“I’m quite certain. I mean, I only saw it for a second while the woman was reaching for something on a shelf, but it looked identical.”
“What did the woman look like?” Ashley leaned forward, forgetting her coffee, her entire body tense with an energy that almost seemed frantic, like a wire pulled too tight.
Jewel blinked, pretending to be confused by Ashley’s intense reaction. “I… I don’t really remember. She was just a woman. Brown hair, maybe? Average height? I wasn’t paying much attention to her. It was just the bracelet that caught my eye because it looked so similar to Vivian’s.”
Ashley sat back abruptly, one hand coming up to cover her mouth. The coffee cup rattled slightly against the saucer as she set it down with shaking fingers, the liquid sloshing dangerously close to the rim. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, like she’d just run a race.
“Ashley?” She reached across the table as if she might touch her friend’s arm. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to upset you. Like I said, it was probably just a similar bracelet.”
“No. You don’t understand. That bracelet was one of a kind. It was custom-made. There’s no other bracelet like it.” Ashley’s voice was barely above a whisper, muffled behind her hand. She dropped it, revealing that her lips had gone pale, too.
Another lie. Or at least, another contradiction to what Cole had said. The bracelet wasn’t custom-made; it was supposed to be family jewelry unless he’d been lying, too. Unless everything everyone had told her about this bracelet was a lie.
Outside, the first drops of rain began to hit the window, producing soft pattering sounds that seemed unusually loud in the sudden silence between them.
“Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it only looked similar.” She tightened her grip around her coffee cup, trying not to squeeze too hard.
Ashley’s hands were clenched into fists on the table now. A muscle twitched in her jaw. “When did you see it? What day?”
“Um…two days ago? Maybe three? I’m not sure exactly.”
“And you’re sure it was at the grocery store? In town?” Ashley’s voice had taken on an edge, almost accusatory.
“Yeah, the one on Main Street. Why? What’s wrong?”
Ashley suddenly stood up, nearly spilling her coffee. The chair scraped loudly across the floor, causing the woman working on her laptop to look up in surprise. “I have to go. I’m sorry, I just—I need to go.” She hurriedly grabbed her purse, fumbling with the zipper.
“Ashley, wait.”
“I’ll call you later, okay? I’m sorry, I just remembered something I need to take care of.
” She was already moving toward the door, her face still pale and her movements jerky with barely contained panic.
She almost bumped into the teenager’s table, mumbling an apology without really looking at him.
And then she was gone, the bell ringing frantically as she dashed out onto the sidewalk, leaving her sitting alone at the table with two cups of coffee and a dozen new questions.
Through the window, Jewel could see her practically running down the sidewalk, her purse pressed to her chest, her hair coming loose from its bun in the wind.
What had just happened?