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“Mrs. Carruthers is due to land shortly. What do you need?” Archer’s voice was icy.
“Mrs. Carruthers is the least of your problems.” Flynn went on to explain everything he’d heard omitting the detail that Harper had been with him. No need to drag her into this. “Davis seems to have something big planned for you. He told them that you wouldn’t be the head of the Society in the not-so-distant future.”
Archer was silent for a moment. “I’ve heard rumors of this before, small whiffs of it here and there. I knew there was something more than ghosts going on in Maine. I sent you to see if you could get a line on it without me telling you what it was.”
“Are you serious? You don’t trust me to do my job?” Flynn was more than insulted. He was seriously pissed off.
“You misunderstand. It’s not you that I don’t trust. I hear things all day every day. Most of it is bullshit but some”—he sighed—“some is real. If you discovered this on your own, I know it’s real. I don’t trust myself. When you’re at the top, you start to see conspiracies everywhere.”
Somewhat mollified, Flynn asked, “How do you want to handle all this?”
“Unfortunately, Fisher and Davis have not done anything at this point that is actionable. I would be inclined to let this play out but I’m not sure how much longer I can control the outcome. I’ll handle things on this end and kill their real estate deal. They’ll have to start all over somewhere else, which will buy time.
“Gina is yours. She’s a disaster. Make it look like an accident if you can. Suicide would be a good option as well. Nothing to raise suspicions. And we need to know who the silent partner is. Find out. We need to deal with him.”
For a brief moment, Flynn said nothing. Normally this part didn’t bother him and he didn’t feel any sympathy for Gina, but this time there was hesitation. Harper. She was making him hesitate. Not good. He needed to destroy what he felt for her because his job and his life depended on him not hesitating. Not ever.
Flynn cleared his throat. “There’s one other thing.” He proceeded to fill Archer in on another score.
“Okay. I’ll have Ryker deal with that. You should know, I have help for you in the area. I sent someone up a while ago to keep an eye on things as rumors began to swirl. Say the word and he will come out of hiding.”
“Okay. I’ll let you know.”
“How is Harper?”
That caught Flynn completely off guard. How did Archer know, or a better question was, what did he know? “She’s at her parents’ place. I think she’ll be fine. I’m trying to keep her controlled, but she’s a wild card.”
“See that she doesn’t get in the way,” Archer said and then he was gone.
Flynn let out a breath he’d been holding. Rush had said Archer knew far more about he and Kat than he’d realized. The man had eyes everywhere or maybe he had the sixth sense and a crystal ball. However he knew, his last words had been a warning. And he wasn’t just talking about her physically getting in the way. She was in his way mentally and he needed to stop that from happening. Distractions in his line of work could get him killed. Or worse, get her killed and he wasn’t about to let that happen.
* * *
Harper curled up on her side and tried to get some sleep, but the effort was useless. The conversation they’d overheard played again and again in her head. She should call the police but Flynn was right, who could she trust? Now that she was sure Jason had broken into her place, did that confirm that he was crooked? Or was Chief Clark on their payroll? He’d certainly done a quick about-face after Susan spoke to him. Had she promised him something or had she informed him they were on the same side?
And what about the mayor? Was she willingly going to go along with whatever zoning changes they wanted? Was she being blackmailed? It could be either or a combination of both. Susan had her issues but until now, Harper thought she was doing a good job. Was there more to it?
Everything swirled around and around in her head. And then there was Flynn. What the hell had she been thinking? He told her he was a killer and she’d eagerly hopped into bed with him. Should she be worried about her safety? Some instinct made her believe Flynn wouldn’t hurt her. He would protect her as much as he could, but he couldn’t be with her all the time. Had she put her parents in danger by running home to them? Anxiety was a dreadful bedfellow. She rolled to her back and butted her head against her pillows.
She heaved a gigantic sigh as the litany of unanswerable questions continued. That was the Lock and Key Society. The more she thought about it, the more the Rainy Day Club seemed similar. Was the Rainy Day Club just a front for the Lock and Key? That was a very scary thought. That meant that Flynn worked for the Society.
There’d been rumors about the Lock and Key Society for years. But one night when her boss had gotten blackout drunk, he’d confessed to being a member, saying that all the stuff that went on there scared him sometimes.
Flynn had told her to sit tight and let him handle Gina. But she had to believe Gina was the key. She knew who killed Astrid. Was it the same person who’d killed Calli? Harper had an idea of who it might be, but she needed confirmation. And then what? If she couldn’t trust the police then who could she trust to help her? Which brought her full circle back to Flynn.
Several sleepless hours later, Harper rolled out of bed. The air was crisp as the sun came up over the ocean.
“Coffee?” her mother asked as Harper walked into the kitchen.
“Please.” She sank down on a stool at the kitchen island.
“Not much sleep, huh?”
“No.” Harper rubbed her face with both hands.
Her mother put the mug of coffee down in front of her. “What’s keeping you up? Is it Astrid’s death? The police are investigating. They’ll figure it out.”
Harper grunted. “Maybe.”
