It was the hottest day of the summer so far, although if the news was to be believed, relief was on its way in the form of multiple heavy storms traveling up the coast, and which threatened to join into one big humdinger. I pointed to the back wall. “There’s still time to add that window.”
“Maybe later. It’s mainly for storage anyway, so it’ll be fine.” As she bent over to pick up another box, her phone rang, and when she pulled it from her pocket she sighed. “It’s Patrick. I hope he doesn’t need me to go in. There’s so much to do here... Hey, boss, what’s up?” Her face fell as she listened, shaking her head. “No way, I can’t believe it. It must be a mistake.”
“What’s going on?” I whispered, but she held up a hand to silence me.
“Are you absolutely sure...? A million percent?” She went quiet again before apologizing profusely and hanging up. “Cash has gone missing from the register,” she said. “Six hundred and eighty-three bucks.”
“He doesn’t think you took it, does he?”
“Me? No...”
“Then who?” My eyes went wide. “Lily? No way. She wouldn’t.”
“That’s what I thought. But she was the last one there yesterday except for Patrick.”
“Then he misplaced it. Lily wouldn’t steal. She’s not that kind of person.”
“Are you sure?” she said gently.
“Yes, I’m bloody well sure,” I said, the anger I hadn’t felt for days making a sudden and fierce reappearance. “Why the hell would you ask that?”
Maya hesitated. “How often have you heard her say she’s broke?”
I didn’t answer. Last night Lily told me she was concerned about money, and we’d talked about her giving up her flat and moving to Newdale on a permanent basis. I’d kissed her when she said it was what she wanted, too, and as we’d tried to figure out how we could best pick up our things in Brookmount, our excitement had grown. She had to return her car to the garage, and we couldn’t afford to buy another, so we’d planned on asking Maya if we could borrow hers for a couple of days while we made the trip.
“Brad’s watch. Did you really misplace it?” my sister said to me now, scrunching up her face as if she couldn’t believe she’d even thought it, let alone said the words out loud.
“Yes.” Except while I may have been exhausted and confused, I knew I’d taken my father’s watch off and set it on the dresser, as I did every night before I went to bed. I sighed. “Actually, no...not exactly.”
“I didn’t want to say anything.” Maya’s voice sounded increasingly uncomfortable, and she wrung her hands without meeting my eye. “A pair of my earrings has disappeared.”
“Are you serious? Did you lose them?”
“No. I know exactly where they were. They’re not worth much, but they’re gone. And your watch is valuable. You had it looked at once when we needed to repair the roof. Back then, even with the scratched face, the pawnshop would’ve given you a few hundred bucks, but I wouldn’t let you part with it.”
“This is ridiculous,” I snapped, trying not to shout. “Lily wouldn’t—”
“With all due respect, how can you be sure?” Maya shot back, and I couldn’t come up with an answer fast enough. “If you didn’t misplace your watch and I didn’t lose my earrings, where are they? Where’s the money from the Cliff’s Head?”
“I don’t know.”
“Patrick said he’ll talk to her when she goes in for her next shift the day after tomorrow, but he wanted to give me the heads-up. She’s on her way home now. Before she gets here, do you think we should...” She grimaced and waved a hand. “No, we can’t.”
“Go through her stuff?” I said. Jesus, she was joking, right?
“No, I was going to say talk to her. But you’re right. Maybe we should take a peek.”
“Maya, we can’t.”
“Why not? It’s our house and she’ll never know. If we don’t find anything, there’s no harm done, but my ass is on the line if she took the money. I vouched for her. And if she has my jewelry and your watch...well, we have a whole other set of problems to deal with.”
Fuck. My mind took a few seconds to wrestle with the options, but Maya was right. If we asked Lily about taking our things, it would give her the opportunity to get rid of them. Worse, if she hadn’t taken them—and I didn’t for one second believe she had—she’d hate me for accusing her of being a thief. But if she didn’t know we’d looked, and it would shut Maya up...
“Let’s go,” I said.
Once we were in the spare room, Maya checked the closet. I searched through Lily’s clothes in the chest of drawers, feeling more and more like a traitor. I kept telling myself this was all a big misunderstanding, but, as I dug through her things, doubts crept in and I wondered how well I knew Lily after all. Yes, I could recall her favorite movie, that I’d given her a bracelet on Valentine’s Day and she loved blueberry pancakes, but did I know her?
“Found anything?” Maya said.
I shook my head. “I need to be sure.”
I got on my hands and knees and looked under the bed. Nothing. But when I lifted the mattress and ran my hand down the sides of the frame, my fingers butted up against something. When I yanked the item out and saw a rolled-up wad of cash in my hand, my heart sank.
“Shit,” I whispered, holding it up to Maya. “It’s a coincidence, surely?”
“How much is it?” she said.
I unrolled the notes and counted them. “Six hundred and eighty-three bucks. Jesus Christ, what the hell was she thinking? How could she do this?” I lifted the mattress again, told myself I’d find nothing, but the glint of something tucked down the side caught my eye. Dad’s watch and a pair of earrings, but those weren’t the only things, because nestled between them
