I set my almost-empty glass down and leaned against the table, appearing to lose my footing for a second.
“Don’t worry,” he said, watching me intently. “It’s just the sleeping pills kicking in. They’re quite potent when mixed with alcohol.” His lips curved into a smirk. “We’ll be pushing off in a few minutes. I want to get out into the channel before I dump you overboard. You won’t be needing this.” He leaned forward to unhook the orange life jacket, but his features suddenly seemed to melt and he sagged against the table.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “It’s just the sleeping pills kicking in.” He tried to fight the growing grogginess, but his legs buckled and he collapsed on the deck. I reached in my pocket for my cell phone, but before I could dial, a boat approached and I heard a voice through a bullhorn.
“Put your hands on your head, Mrs. Pink.” Adele and Deputy Daniels were in the front as it pulled alongside the
CHAPTER 31
“SEE, PINK, AREN’T YOU GLAD I CAME WITH,” Adele said as I sat behind the counter in handcuffs and she stood in the lobby watching. “I saw you on the boat and knew you were in trouble. Pretty clever on my part that I told him I thought you were stealing it. As soon as I mentioned your name, he double-timed it.”
A moment later Deputy Daniels came out of a tiny back office holding the keys. Mason followed him out and gave me a thumbs-up. When my hands were released, I shook them out gratefully. Mason took my arm, and the deputy unlocked the door and let us out. Adele came out through the lobby, and the three of us made our way through the crowd. Everyone was talking about what had happened and pointing at me. I had become the center of the island story of the year.
“Free again,” I said, taking a deep breath of the fresh air as we walked toward the water. “How did you get him to let me go?” Even though our relationship seemed to have faltered, Mason came over by helicopter when I called him.
“Good lawyering,” Mason answered with a smile. “And my cell phone.” He held it up to demonstrate. “And good work on your part.”
“More like a lucky break,” I said, shaking my hands again to make sure they were free. I had been so concerned about bumping into the deputy, I had punched Mason’s number into my cell phone just in case. In the midst of the episode with Hunter, I’d pushed the send button without even knowing it. Mason’s voice mail had answered and had recorded Hunter’s whole confession. When Mason played it for the deputy, he finally realized who the bad guy really was.
I knew that Hunter had already been flown by medevac helicopter to the hospital at Long Beach. But Mason added that when he came to, he was going to be arrested.
When we got to the dock, Mason stopped. “How did you manage not to drink the wine laced with sleeping pills?”
“Yeah, Pink, how did you manage that?” Adele piped in. I told him the story of how Dinah and I had reversed our drinks by mistake during our first trip to the island. “We didn’t realize it, but we had gone to the other side of the round table and what had been on my right was now on my left and vice versa. I noticed the imperfection on the doily next to the glass Hunter had prepared for me. When he set down his glass to grab me and followed me to the edge of the boat, I went back to the other side of the table. He was so intent on watching me, he didn’t notice that the drink on his right was now the one he’d made special for me.”
Adele was speechless. I noticed the
“Are you sure you won’t come with me? There’s room on the helicopter,” Mason said, loosely gesturing toward the heliport just around the bend. I’d had enough heart-stopping action for one day and passed.
“How can I thank you?” I said to Mason.
“I can think of a few ways,” he said with a warm smile.
“Beginning with giving me a do-over of yesterday.” I knew he meant the phone conversation when he’d mentioned his grandson’s birthday party. But I also knew the do-over was more about phrasing than changing his girlfriend-family policy. “It was fun playing the white-knight rescuer flying in on my trusty-steed helicopter. Life is never dull around you.” He kissed me softly on the cheek.
“C’mon, Pink, we’re going to miss the boat.” Adele started walking. Mason squeezed my hand and let go, and I rushed after Adele. When we got on the boat, I looked back toward the dock. Mason had gotten into the golf cart cab and was driving away.
“THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING, HONEY,” MY mother said as I walked my parents out to their SUV. The bags were already in and they were ready to head back to Santa Fe—for a short time, anyway. The She La Las had aced the audition. Not only would they get to do their famous “My Man Dan,” but they would also be doing covers of “Hug Me, Kiss Me, Love Me” and “From One Night to Forever” because the Nonpareilles and the Peaches and Creams didn’t want to leave their retirement communities. The ten-city Nostalgia Tour was culminating in a stop at Carnegie Hall—my mother’s dream come true. And my son Samuel was going along as their musical director.
“You’ll come to New York, won’t you?” my mother said, stopping at the curb.
“Miss my mother’s debut Carnegie Hall appearance? Are you kidding? I’ll be in the first row.” My father hugged me and pressed another tube of sunscreen in my hand before he climbed into the driver’s seat. “My daughter the detective. Who would have thought?”
My mother hugged me for a long time and thanked me again for the cooler with a whole noodle pudding. She started to climb in the SUV but came back. She slipped off one of her silver and turquoise bracelets and put it on my arm. “Honey, you need a little color.” Then she got in and a moment later they drove off. Good-byes were always hard for me, I started to tear up as I walked back to the house.
AS EXPECTED, HUNTER WAS CHARGED WITH Mary Beth’s murder and an attempt on me. Alexander Rhead sent out a press release announcing that he was staying on as president and that Hunter was taking an extended leave of absence. Camille stuck by Hunter long enough to handle bail, organize a legal team and set him up in a condo before filing for divorce.
Alexander Rhead appreciated his daughter’s abilities for the first time and was so impressed at how Camille took charge of everything, he offered her the position of coproducer of Rhead Productions’ new show
“I want to thank you for my first experience being part of a regular group,” Camille said when she came to her last group meeting. She dropped off a slightly crooked blanket for our project and apologized for not having made a bookmark but the thread crochet just wasn’t her thing. “I’m afraid with my new job, I just won’t have time now. I do plan to keep crocheting, though.” She produced a ball of yarn and the beginning of a scarf. She had thanked us for the support during her ordeal. She turned to CeeCee. “By the way, it was Hunter who wanted to replace you. I told my father that you are the show, and A. R. said he’d make sure your contract was straightened out before they tape the season opener here at the bookstore.” When Camille left, CeeCee looked around the table.
“I told you she was a spy. But, thank heavens, one with good sense.”
ALTHOUGH I HAD PROMISED IRIS I WOULDN’T tell Ali who her parents really were, after everything that had happened it didn’t stay a secret. When she was faced with the DNA tests that confirmed her parents were Mary Beth and Hunter, Ali was shocked, particularly when she heard Mary Beth’s original plan to adopt her. Iris stood by her and helped her get through it. I made sure she got the filet piece that Matt Wells had given me, since it had her name on the envelope. Ali didn’t know how to feel about it, but I noticed that she didn’t turn it down. She didn’t want to see Hunter even if he was her father.
Roseanne and Hal weren’t pleased to find out they had a new niece because as Mary Beth’s closest blood relative Ali inherited her real mother’s share of the Lance Wells estate. Matt Wells took it fine, however. Ali was much nicer to work with than Mary Beth’s sister and her husband, and Ali was okay with him running things.
