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Or what if it wasn’t so innocuous?
“It could also be that whoever lifted the evidence from Neil’s house did itbecauseof the explosion, but they were not the person who put the bomb on the boat,” Ryder said.
“Could be.”
“You don’t think so.”
“Nope. Just call Matt, tell him we need to fully secure this room, or move everything to the house. I have an interview scheduled. I’ll be back.”
26
Kara looked around the small, tidy house that Jamie Finch shared with her fiancé and daughter. It was cute, a little too frilly for her with lacy curtains and flowery flourishes, but clean and comfortable.
“Thank you for meeting with me.”
“Cal said you wanted to talk to me, that we’re not in trouble or anything, you’re just trying to find out what happened. It’s awful.”
A little voice came from the adjoining room, joining in with singing from the television. “PAW Patrolis the only thing that keeps Hazel entertained for more than five minutes,” Jamie said. “But it’s cute, so I don’t mind.”
“She’s adorable,” Kara said and meant it.
Jamie beamed. “She’s a handful, but I wouldn’t trade one minute. She’s the best thing that has happened to me, Hazel and Cal. Cal told you why I went to my dad’s on Friday, right?”
“Yes. But in your words would be helpful.”
“I don’t understand why. I mean, it has nothing to do with the bombing, right?”
“I need to verify all information surrounding West End Charter and theWater Lily. Cal was supposed to work that night, so the fact that he didn’t, I need to make sure it makes sense.”
“I have a really bad habit of running when confronted with conflict. This isn’t anything new for me, and I’m trying to change—really trying. Like, when my mom had an asshole boyfriend—instead of telling her he hit on me—I was fourteen—I went to my dad and begged him to let me move in with him. Everything finally came out, but only because my dad knew I wouldn’t just want to move here for no reason. And my old boyfriend—I stayed with him a lot longer than I should have because I didn’t want the fight. Anyway, that afternoon I’d taken Hazel to the park when she woke up from her nap. It was a beautiful day, and one of the neighbors has three-year-old twins, so we try to meet up when I’m not working. They had to leave early and so I watched Hazel play in the sand, and then Marcy Anderson ran by.”
“She was jogging through the park?”
“Yeah—I’d seen her a few times. Cal pointed her out once, when she said hi, and I asked if he knew her, and he said they were in the Coast Guard together. I asked if we should invite her to dinner, and he said no, he didn’t really like her, and that was that. But this time when she passed I smiled at her and she stopped, drank water, and asked if she could sit for a minute. Sure, I said. She commented about how cute Hazel was, how she looked like Cal—which is true, the dark curls and big blue eyes. And then she said something like when she and Cal were together, she didn’t think he wanted kids. And I said, together? Like, together together? I know, stupid, but I don’t think well in confrontations, either, and I knew what she’d meant but had to ask. She said yes, didn’t Cal tell me? They dated for a while when they were in the Coast Guard, split, but got together a few times after. Including a few years ago in Seattle when they were at a mutual friend’s wedding. She said that was probably before he met me, but it wasn’t—and I guess I thought then that sheknewit wasn’t, and she was being mean. I remembered that weekend—Cal and I had gone out a couple times, and he asked if I wanted to go with him to the wedding, but I thought it would be too much, too fast, so said I couldn’t get off work. But it was after he came back that we really, I don’t know, got serious, I guess. But the way Marcy said it then made me think she and Cal had this mutual attraction thing even now, and I left. I mean, not right that second, but I left Cal a note in the morning and took Hazel to my dad’s. He wasn’t there—he has a condo in Seattle he stays in most of the time, because of his schedule. But I needed to think, you know?”
“Cal mentioned that Marcy had pulled him over for speeding but didn’t give him a ticket. Do you know about that?”
“No. I mean, not specifically. This weekend he told me that she’d been popping up in odd places since she moved to town and he should have told me everything from the beginning, but after that wedding he didn’t see her or talk to her until she moved here. He loves me—I believe it. And I just let my insecurities get the better of me.”
Hazel ran into the room. “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, I’m hug-ry.”
“It’s not lunchtime yet.”
“Snack?” she asked, her eyes big and wide. She looked over at Kara and put her head in her mom’s lap, then looked back over at Kara and climbed into her mom’s lap. The little kid didn’t stop moving. “Peez?”
“WhenPAW Patrolis over, we’ll have a snack.”
“Okay!” She climbed down and ran over to Kara. “Name?” She pointed to herself. “Hazel.” Then she pointed to Kara.
“Kara,” she said with a smile.
Hazel grinned. Her teeth were tiny with a little space between the two front teeth that made her even cuter. “Hi!”
“Hi.”
“Sweetie, go back to thePAW Patrol, okay? We’ll be done in five minutes.”
“Five minutes!” Hazel exclaimed and ran back into the other room.
