“Come to think of it, I have.” She tips her face toward the ceiling. “I think Ember said it once during one of those epic shouting matches she had with Flint. You know, for a man who is all smiles on the outside, he was sure capable of shooting off some verbal fireworks, if you know what I mean. Ember and Flint had their fair share of blowouts.”
Emmie inches in a bit closer. “What were they fighting over?”
“Couldn’t have been money.” Marigold shakes her head. “Ember was going to be set up for life. Her father’s fortune would have all fallen on her.” She wrinkles her nose. “Flint said something once about doing anything to keep her from embarrassing him.” A wry smile takes over her lips. “Okay, this is what I know, but I sort of feel bad telling you this.” She grimaces. “I heard about your sister being arrested yesterday. I wasn’t going to bring it up but, since it’s out in the open, I want to tell you how sorry I am.”
Emmie snorts. “Don’t be. We expected this from her eventually.” She looks my way. How am I doing?
A little too well, I want to say.
“She’s not wrong.” I shrug. “Go on.” I nod to Marigold.
“Well, it turns out, I heard the name Macy coming from Ember’s lips, too. She said something about that witch wasn’t about to get away with stealing her life. Her words, not mine. She also mentioned something about turning the tables and giving Macy a taste of her own medicine.”
“Turning the tables?”
Marigold gives a sorrowful nod. “Ember had found solid evidence linking your sister to Flint. I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you, but she was seeing Flint behind Ember’s back, knowing full well the man was in a relationship. Now don’t get me wrong, I know it takes two to tango, but I’d like to think a woman would know better.”
My shoulders sag. “I just discovered that myself. And sadly, my sister doesn’t seem to know better.”
Emmie does her best to wrangle all three kittens into her lap. “I bet that’s why Ember opened that knockoff candle shop across from Lather and Light. It was nothing more than a way to show Macy who was boss.”
“Wow,” I muse. “You got to hand it to Ember. She was a master at revenge. Hey? I bet Ember blackmailed Flint into sticking around after the fact.” That explains why he was looking to break up with her that day.
Emmie clutches onto my arm with a death grip. “I bet Ember knew that Flint did away with that Laurel chick!”
Marigold gasps. “He did away with her? I knew he was bad, but I had no idea he was dangerous.”
“I guess he is,” I pant. “I wonder how I could possibly track down anyone who knew that woman.”
Marigold shrugs. “I’m sure people aren’t that hard to track down these days with the internet and all.”
“You’d be surprised,” I tell her.
She twists her lips. “Have you thought of asking Flint? I mean, he may not give you a straight answer, but if he did something to another one of his exes, and that’s who I’m assuming this is, you might get a visceral reaction from him just by mentioning her name.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” I say.
A husky laugh trembles from Emmie. “Some men’s facial expressions are so easy to read, it’s almost as if you’re reading their minds.”
I nod her way. And that’s exactly what I plan on doing.
Georgie comes back, red-faced and sweating, and quickly tosses her quilt to the ground before pulling her kaftan off in one fell swoop as well.
“Georgie!” I panic at the sight of her in an old yellowing bra and a pair of white underwear that can double as a parachute. “What are you doing?”
“Relax, Bizzy. I’m just setting the tone for the rest of the night. Besides, people wear less to the beach.”
Why does it feel as if I’ve got an ornery teenager on my hands?
She scoops up my drink and downs half of it before three different men head this way and clamor for her number.
Emmie grabs the quilt and tosses it over Georgie while I fill Marigold in on the impromptu vigil Cider Cove is having for Ember this Friday night.
“That’s so nice of you, Bizzy.” She clutches at her neck. “Of course, I’ll be there.” And that means revisiting the scene of the crime. My God, how I never wanted to go back there.
“It’ll be in the front,” I’m quick to reassure her. “You won’t have to worry about setting foot in that alley again.”
“Thank goodness,” she says under her breath. “Good luck tracking down Laurel.”
“Thank you,” I tell her. “I’m going to need it.”
And as fate would have it, I need a bit of luck to pluck Georgie off of that dance floor once again.
All the way back to Cider Cove, Georgie petitions for a bar to be installed at the inn. And she swears on her life that she’ll keep her clothes on at the bar if I do. But I assure her it’s not happening. Just like the fact my sister isn’t going to rot in a prison cell.
Flint Butler has a skeleton in his closet, and it just so happens that her name is Laurel Crabtree.
I’m about to deep dive into the internet and see if I can’t rattle that skeleton yet. And if not, come Friday, I might just rattle Flint himself.
Whatever it takes.
That’s exactly what I’m going to do to free my sister.
Don’t worry, Macy. I’m about to make a grown man cry if I have to just to bust you out of that holding tank. And something tells me, my sister would enjoy that little watery-eyed fact as sure as if she did it herself.
Chapter 13
The November wind blows the last of the leaves
