Before I could answer, she turned and left, and after I finished my water, I walked to my room, head spinning. Who were Celine and Kate? Why had Fiona’s brother been happy to see Ash leave? What the hell had happened here? I sank onto the bed, grabbed my phone and ran more searches. There was nothing about a Celine, but a little over two years ago, a young woman called Kate Jansen had accidentally fallen off some local cliffs while out running and had died. I wanted to go back to reception, demand Fiona tell me if this was the Kate she’d mentioned, but I didn’t have the nerve in case she said yes.
Still, I needed someone to talk to, someone who could help me figure stuff out. I flicked through my contacts and dialed Sam’s number, hoping he’d forgiven me for swearing at him.
“Lily,” he said, answering right away. “How are things?”
“I found him,” I said, still unable to believe what I was saying. My words tumbled out as I told him everything. The library book, locating Maya and my trip to Maine.
Sam couldn’t believe it, and after asking a million times if I was sure this man called Ash really was Jack, he let out a long whistle. “This is unbelievable. You’ve called Heron, right?” I hesitated a beat too long. “Lily? What’s going on?”
“Before I left Brookmount they told me they thought Jack, I mean, Ash, might have been involved with some shady guy. Something to do with illegal gambling.”
“What? That’s impossible.”
“That’s what I told them. I mean, we both know he liked playing cards and was super competitive at it. But gambling? It’s nuts.”
“I agree, he’s not the type,” Sam said. “He’s always been timely with his rent, never asked for an extension of any kind. Maybe they were mistaken?”
“I’m sure,” I replied, trying to believe it as I pictured the cookie-tin cash tucked away in my duffel. “But I’m not calling them. Not before I see Ash again. Don’t mention any of this to them, please. If he did owe someone money, or stole from them, they can’t know he’s alive and living in Maine.”
Sam went quiet for a while, before saying, “All right, but be careful, please?”
“There’s nothing to worry about,” I said, ignoring the whispers in my head saying Sam had a point, I had to be wary, not because of the guy who’d been at the apartment, or the break-in, but because, although he was alive, the Jack Smith I knew and loved might no longer exist.
20
MAYA
After working in the garage for a while I wondered if Ash might be asleep on the sofa following today’s events, but when I peered through the kitchen window, I saw he was still wide awake. Frowning, I walked to the front door, not daring to open it until my pulse settled. I’d forced myself to the garage earlier, feared if I didn’t, I’d give in to my frustrations, shout at Ash, demanding to know all about Lily. Who she was, how they’d met, if she’d been the real reason he hadn’t come home. I knew he wouldn’t have been able to answer, and so I’d retreated, left him alone with my laptop, his brow furrowed, fingers darting over the keys as he tried to uncover the last two years of his history.
Now, balling my fists by my sides, I forced my nails deeper into my palms. Lily arriving in town was unexpected. I thought I’d thrown her with my cover story, most definitely hadn’t expected her to show up in Newdale. Her arrival was something I’d have to handle swiftly, before she wheedled her way back into Ash’s life. Before he remembered her or she could contradict any of the fibs I’d told him already.
I’d overheard Ash’s conversation with Dr. Adler about Lily. Maybe “deliberately eavesdropped” was a more accurate description. Finding out what Ash really thought about his supposed girlfriend being here had been my entire reason for pretending to go to the bathroom, but Dr. Adler suggesting Ash spend time with her hadn’t been something I’d bargained on. Ash was conflicted, yes, and by the sound of it considering my feelings, but I had to make sure it stayed that way. I didn’t have much time. In a little over two hours Lily would show up here, at the house, and I hadn’t yet come up with a proper plan of how to get rid of her. I pushed the front door open, let an innocent look settle over my face and headed to the kitchen.
“Hey,” Ash said, as soon as I walked in.
I gestured to the pages of scrunched-up paper strewn across the table, the laptop he’d pushed to one side and the empty soda bottle. “Did you find anything?”
“Jack Smith from Brookmount, Maryland,” he said, almost in a daze, his left leg bouncing up and down, fingers drumming the table. I tried not to blanch as I wondered if his nerves weren’t because of what he’d found, but because I hadn’t performed a good enough purge of my search history and he’d realized he was telling me something I’d known for days.
“Come and read this,” he said, waving me over, and when I looked at the screen, saw the same article I’d found on OceanCityToday over a week before.
HOPE FADING FOR MISSING BRITISH SWIMMER
The U.S. Coast Guard’s search for British man Jack Smith is unofficially being called a recovery operation. 32-year-old Smith went missing while swimming off the coast of Brookmount (MD) Friday evening. His partner, Lily Reid, raised the alarm the next morning. Efforts to locate Smith have remained unsuccessful. Owing to violent storms and heavy rainfall, the search efforts have been postponed. A source from the Coast Guard said if Smith was in distress, they had to give him the best possible chance for rescue, but
