“She said you call her ‘Belle,’” Kate said.
“What?” he asked.
“Beauty and the Beast,” Kate said. “You’re the Beast, and she’s Belle. The great love story, your own private fairy tale.”
“I have no idea what that means,” Conor said. “I’ve never called her anything but Belinda.”
“That’s not what she said.”
“She lied about everything,” Conor said. “Tell me you believe me.”
Kate gazed at him, wanting to say yes, but feeling churned up and unsure in a way she never would have thought she could feel about Conor.
“Kate, thanks for letting us use the radio,” Tom said, interrupting them. “We’ve got the police and Coast Guard on their way out here. You might as well head back to Westerly.”
Conor moved toward Kate, as if he was going to get into the plane with her, but she stopped him. “You’re staying here with them, aren’t you?” she asked quietly, so Tom and Joe couldn’t hear.
“I want to be with you,” he said.
“I don’t know what’s happening out here,” Kate said. “But someone was held prisoner on that boat, and Suzanne plays some part in it. The dockage receipt is in her name. We’ve gotten pulled into a nightmare, and we need to get out of it.”
“You want me to stay out here and work the case with them?” he asked.
Kate wasn’t sure what was right—all she knew was that she wanted to get back on even ground with Conor, and that couldn’t happen with the mysteries of Belinda and Suzanne and murder and lies swirling around them.
“Yes,” she said. “I want that.”
Conor nodded, then turned to Joe and Tom.
“I’m staying,” he said.
“It’s my crime scene,” Joe said. “This is Rhode Island, remember. And you’re not off the hook.”
“Then let’s solve the case and get me off the hook,” Conor said.
Kate saw Tom smile. He knew that once Conor made up his mind to do something, there was no talking him out of it.
And so did Kate.
Tom and Joe looked at her, waiting for her to get into the plane and take off, but she didn’t move. Her eyes were locked on Conor’s. She had always been able to read him, since the beginning. She could sense hismood, read his thoughts—as he could read hers. Sometimes it seemed they shared a heart, the way their emotions synced.
Tom and Joe began walking back toward the dock, leaving Kate and Conor alone.
“Maybe I won’t go either,” Kate said. “I can stay and help however I can.”
“Before you decide what to do,” Conor said, “I need to hear you say something.”
“What?”
“That you believe me. That you know I never had a child with Belinda.”
Kate stared at him. Her heart was racing because she knew they were at a crossroads and that everything that would happen in the future would begin right here.
“She was obviously troubled, messed up,” Conor continued. “She wasn’t living in reality. She had some kind of fantasy that began when we lived next door to each other. For the longest time, I had no idea how seriously she took it. It was never real.” He moved so close to Kate, she could feel warmth pouring off him. “Please, Kate. Believe me—I am telling you the truth.”
“And you won’t lie to me, ever?” she asked.
“I promise,” he said.
