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36
FOR A FEW BRIEF SECONDS, EMMA WONDERS IF SHE’S THEvictim of a bizarre, incredible hoax, that Derrick really isn’t dead after all.
But she knows that can’t be true. She saw the photo of the body in the morgue, she signed the papers at the funeral home. It’s clearly someone with a haunting resemblance to her first husband.
The man seems to be studying something in his hand, his phone, she thinks. Leaving her duffel bag on the seat, Emma dashes outside for a better glimpse. After a couple of moments, he looks up and the movement causes the hood of the sweatshirt to shift backward a little. Emma squints, taking in his features.
No, it’s definitely not Derrick. It’sKyle.
Or at least she’s pretty sure it is. But what would he be doing on Block Island? She’d told him she was going to be here, of course, and that she might be hard to reach. What ifhe’s learned something critical about the paintings and hasn’t been able to get through to her?
Instinctively, she starts to lift her arm to flag him down but drops it just as fast. Instead she digs her phone from her purse and checks the screen. As it turned out, she’d had better reception on the property than she expected, so if Kyle had tried, he probablywouldhave gotten through, but there are no missed calls or texts on her screen.
When Emma looks back onto shore, she sees that Kyle’s glancing down again at what’s in his hand, perhaps GPS on the screen of his phone, trying to get his bearings. What on earth is he up to? And why is he dressed like that, instead of in his usual dated preppy gear?
A voice inside tells her to duck so he won’t see her, and she drops into a crouching position. Scrolling through her contacts, she locates Kyle’s number and taps it. She swears she hears the faint ring of a phone from the parking lot, though it might be her imagination. But a second later the man in black lifts his hand to his ear.
“What’s up?” Kyle’s voice says into her phone. So it’s definitely him, standing right there in plain sight.
“Hi, Kyle, I was just checking in. Have you come across anything about the paintings yet?”
“Yeah, maybe. I should know more in a day or two.”
“Oh, wow, what have you found so far?”
Is he about to tell her that what he’s uncovered is so big and shocking he’s hightailed it all the way to Block Island to fill her in?
“I don’t want to say until I dig a little deeper. We’re aboutto sit down for dinner, but I’m going to delve into things again tomorrow—and I’ll have something for you later.”
Her breath quickens. He doesn’t want her to know he’s here.
She clears her throat. “All right, let me know.”
“Anything more on your end?”
“No, just waiting to hear what you turn up.”
“Did you manage to get away this weekend?”
“Yes. It’s good to be here.”
“Enjoy. Unfortunately, I really need to run. Remember, let’s keep this between us until I know more.”
“Of course.”
She should never have admitted they came to Block Island, she thinks as she disconnects. Because he’s on some kind of clandestine mission here that must involve her.
Is he out for vengeance, still blaming her for Derrick’s murder? Seems unlikely since he’s had two years to come after her for that. Then what?
Still squatting, she replays their brief exchange. For the second time he’s asked her to keep it quiet for a few days about the possible forgery. Maybe he’s not really looking into the situation. Maybe he’s simply been buying time for himself.
The only way this makes sense to Emma is if Kyle doesn’t want her to reach out to Detective Webster, that... that he wants to shut her up. And it must have something to do with the paintings, that he was involved in the forgery himself somehow. She cautiously raises her head and peers through the railing, wondering what he’s doing now, but both Kyle and the bike have disappeared.
Something’s not right and she can’t simply sail away. Emma dashes back inside, grabs her duffel bag, and after returning to the deck, nearly scrambles down the stairs.
Reaching the exit, she sees a man about to remove the gangplank and tells him, please, she needs to get off.
“You can’t get back on, you know?” he says in a chiding tone.
