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“The dinner?”
“I stole your chowder and then ruined your appetite.”
“You did do that.” She tapped her phone to accept a driver in the vicinity. “Your car’s on its way, a white Prius.”
“Thanks, Hailey, and I’m sorry I messed up your evening.” He held out his hand. “It was nice meeting you.”
She took his hand, and it enveloped hers in a warm clasp. “I appreciate what you did tonight—I mean, ensuring my safety. What’s next for you?”
“I’ll continue looking into the claim that Denver was part of the group that planted the bomb on your car.” He flipped up the collar of his jacket. “I might track down the journalist who was with you.”
“I told you, Andrew Reese is back in England probably working on other stories.”
“Do you have his phone number?”
“I do.” She searched through her phone. “What’s your number? I’ll send it to you.”
Joe recited his number, and she saved it in her phone before forwarding Andrew’s number to him. “Your car is one minute away.”
Hailey suddenly felt a rush of panic, almost as if she had to tell Joe something before he walked out of her life forever.
He started to turn and stopped. “If...if you remember anything else, you have my number now. Feel free to call me—anytime.”
Had he felt it, too, then? Something unsaid between them?
She clasped her phone to her chest. “Yes, yes, I will.”
When they reached the front door, he tapped the alarm system on the wall. “Set it.”
“I will. Goodbye, Joe.”
He raised his hand, and she watched him jog down the first few steps before he made the left turn and disappeared behind the bushes.
She clicked the door closed, locked it and punched in the code to set the alarm system.
She picked up Joe’s crushed water bottle and pressed it against her warm face. One brief encounter and she’d constructed a mental picture of Joe McVie as superhero to the rescue.
Snorting, she tossed the bottle into the recycling bin. She’d been fooled by that type before. She rinsed her glass in the sink and sighed at the silence of the house.
The wine had taken the edge off a little, but she still couldn’t believe Marten was dead...murdered. Maybe Joe had been wrong about everything.
She walked into the den and turned on the TV, flipping over to the local news. The ten o’clock version hadn’t started yet, so she ran upstairs and got ready for bed.
Her face washed, her teeth brushed and her hair in a ponytail, she went back downstairs and tripped on the last step when she caught sight of Marten’s hat on the coffee table.
What would’ve happened if Joe hadn’t been around to notice the man tailing her? Would that man have delivered the same warning he’d hoped to convey with the hat? Keep quiet.
It was not in her nature to keep quiet. Her father had found that out the hard way.
Helping to ID Marten’s body was not endorsing any change of heart he might’ve had about the statements he’d made regarding their abduction. She hadn’t even known Marten was going to retract what he’d claimed about Denver’s presence with their captors. Surely, giving a name to an unidentified dead man wouldn’t get her in trouble.
She sidled into the den, avoiding the hat, and curled up in a recliner with the remote in her hand. She turned up the sound when the local news started. The incident on the ferry was the top story.
Hailey drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped one arm around her legs. The coast guard hadn’t found the body yet, and nobody had reported anyone missing from the ferry. The check of tickets on the boat hadn’t completely matched up with the tickets sold. People on the boat must’ve slipped off without showing their tickets to anyone.
How would they ever identify the man who fell overboard? Would they even believe someone had fallen overboard? What evidence did they have?
Even the man’s black hat was gone.
Hailey sighed again and turned off the TV. She still had some work to do on a fund-raising gala taking place this week, which would be a good way to get her mind off Marten...and Joe McVie.
She swept her laptop from the kitchen counter and tucked it under her arm as she climbed the stairs. She threw back the covers on her bed and settled cross-legged on the sheet, placing her laptop between her knees.
