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She walked toward the door. “Lindsey, don’t.”
“I might as well face the music now. They’re not going to leave until I give them something. Might as well just get it over with.”
He grabbed her arm. “You don’t have to do this. I’ll...I’ll charge them with trespassing.”
“It’s over, Mike. I need to do it.” She lifted a hand and cupped his cheek, smiling up at him. “Thanks for trying so hard to be my knight in shining armor.”
“That armor’s a little tarnished right now.”
“Don’t you dare blame yourself. To be honest, this might be the best thing that could have happened.”
“I think Ollie falling off the ferry and sinking to the bottom of the lake would have been the best thing that could have happened.”
That got a tiny smile out of her, but it quickly faded. “It’s time to remember who I really am and do what I do best. I’ve got to be strong enough to take care of myself. Just as I wrote in my dissertation, women need to take things into their own hands, so to speak.”
He didn’t even crack a smile at her weak joke, too worried about her to find any humor in the situation. Unable to come up with anything that would stop her, he watched her walk away, noting the stiffness of her spine, and finding her strength as amazing and remarkable as the woman herself.
He followed her, joining her at the door. The moment she pushed it open, the reporter called, “Dr. Smith! Have you really been hiding out here on Wild Boar Island for the past few months?”
“Yes, she has,” Ollie said, a big, dopey grin on his face.
Mike’s last strand of patience with the man just snapped. He darted down the steps, went up to his officer and grabbed him by the front of the shirt. “Get in your car and go back to town, Officer Dickinson. That’s an order. Your presence here is not required.”
Ollie looked at Mrs. Franklin as if he expected her to rescue him. The woman stepped up. “Officer Dickinson is the only one who seems to understand his duty to our town. He brought this ugliness to me and is the one who will handle this investigation.”
Mike had had enough of the woman, too. He moved close to her. “What investigation? There is no investigation. There has been no crime!”
“Of course there has. That woman is in hiding.”
Feeling as though he was talking to a wall, a really dense one, he swung around to the reporter. “Would you please inform Mrs. Franklin that you are not here chasing a criminal?”
The young woman appeared confused, gazing back and forth between them. “Well, no, of course she’s not a criminal. She’s famous. I’m just trying to find out why somebody who’s so popular has spent the last two months twiddling her thumbs here on Wild Boar Island when she could be on any talk show in the country.”
Mrs. Franklin’s jaw unhinged. So did Ollie’s. They both looked like they’d been doused with ice water.
Mike couldn’t keep his mouth shut, and addressed all of them. “Do any of you have any comprehension that you’re tormenting a smart, decent, loving woman whose only crime was wanting to come here and help her oldest friend? You’re all pathetic.”
The reporter had the grace to look away. The others, well, he supposed grace was too much to ask of them.
“Now, I repeat, Officer Dickinson, get back in your car, get out of here and take her—” he gestured toward Mrs. Franklin “—with you.”
She gifted him with another of her sourpuss glares. “You might be giving the orders for now, Mr. Santori, but don’t expect to do so for long!”
Lindsey, who’d been watching from the porch, flew down the steps and intruded. “This has nothing to do with him. He came out here to tell me some strangers were asking about me in town, that’s all. Chief Santori should be left out of this.”
“Oh, sure, she’s taking up for her boyfriend,” said Ollie.
Sparks practically flew from her ears. She stalked toward the man, enraged and brilliant, and got right in his face. “I’m going to be going into town today and filing a sexual-harassment suit against you.”
Mrs. Franklin looked stunned. Ollie just looked ready to piss his pants.
“This man is a menace,” she snapped, staring down Mrs. Franklin. “He’s harassed me and other women in this community.”
“Now, listen here, lady, you just mistook friendliness for something it wasn’t,” Ollie said, the explanation sounding pathetic and weak.
Lindsey wasn’t finished. “Two of the other teachers at the school have told me he’s pulled them over for no other reason than to hit on them. I, for one, am not going to allow him to continue such behavior, and I’ll be filing a complaint.”
