Sea Glass Sunrise (15 page)

Chapter Ten

“Of course we’re having a bachelorette party,” Kerry assured Fiona. “Why else would we get here four days before the main event?”

“Because some of us are putting together the entire event, which we can’t just whip out of our collective asses. It takes time, patience, and planning to create a memorable moment.”

“Hang some streamers, bake a cake, and throw some rice,” Kerry said. “The people make it memorable, not the color of the pebbles in the centerpiece. And what the hell are those anyway?”

“Terrariums. With little miniature tableaus set amongst the live plants and succulents. They’re called fairy gardens and they’re like little lasting wedding day memories. In this case, each one depicts a seaside scene, something meaningful to the bride and groom. Their centerpiece will feature our lighthouse.”

“By the time they see them, they’ll only be thinking about how fast they can ditch the after-party so they can hop a plane and go boink like bunnies.”

“Oh, thanks.” Fiona, who was lying flat on her back in the middle of her bed, moaned and put her hands over her eyes. “There’s another visual I never needed about my big brother.”

Kerry grinned. “I wonder if they like to do it in the shower.”

Fiona threw a pillow at her. “Hannah, make her stop before I need therapy. Or more therapy,” she muttered.

Hannah shot Kerry a quelling look, then hid her smile when Kerry very kindly stuck her tongue out at her oldest sister, adding a wink as she did.
Cheeky monkey
. Fergus had often called Kerry that, with exasperation, affection, and—far too often—admiration mixed in. Hannah identified with all of those feelings.

Hannah stared at her bare face in Fiona’s vanity mirror while her sisters continued to haggle over the bachelorette party, with Fiona insisting she knew what Alex wanted and Kerry equally adamant that she knew what the bride-to-be needed. Hannah tuned them out and made a frank assessment of her post-accident-trauma appearance.

The accident had happened Wednesday afternoon. It was now Friday morning, and the color under her eyes was turning a lovely shade of seaweed green with a
soupcon
of eggplant purple. It gave her a certain Zombies of the Apocalypse
je ne sais quoi
. “How does she get that color to look so . . .
Night of the Living Dead
?” she mocked under her breath. “Maybe she’s born with it.”
Maybe it’s Maybelline.
She smiled as the familiar jingle played in her mind. If only. There wasn’t enough Maybelline in the world to fix her face.

“Earth to big sister,” Fiona said. “Did Logan say what the verdict is on Blue’s boathouse?”

Hannah turned to find them both sitting on the edge of the bed, shoulders pressed together, hands joined and resting on Kerry’s lap. They’d always been like that, too. Fight like cats and dogs, then literally kiss and make up in the span of a breath. Then two seconds later, right back to Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robots. Good thing neither one of them could hold a grudge for more than a blink. Hannah wished she had their forgive-and-forget gene.

“Word is it’s arson,” Hannah said. “Not particularly cleverly disguised to look like anything else, either.”

“Why would anyone torch one of Blue’s boathouses?” Fi asked.

“Not just any boathouse,” Kerry added. “I heard it was basically his bait and tackle storage shed. Cost him large, losing that inventory.”

“I mean, he wouldn’t have done it himself for the insurance or anything, would he?” Fiona went on. “Blue’s is doing okay, right?”

Kerry gave her sister a knuckle in the shoulder, earning her a scowl as Fiona rubbed the spot. “
What?”
Fiona demanded. “Who else would have a motive to do that?” She looked at Hannah. “Unless he pissed somebody off, which, you know, we’re talking about Jonah. Has he fired anyone recently? Dropped a big-ticket vendor or something?”

“Why are you asking me?” Hannah wanted to know.

“Because you just absorb this kind of stuff,” Kerry said, “you know, through legal osmosis or something. I mean, you were always getting to the bottom of things when we were growing up.”

“What things?”

Kerry’s eyes twinkled. “You really need a list?”

“Oh, you mean we’re talking about me uncovering and deterring
your
shenanigans? Well, pardon me for wanting to keep my baby sister from getting a rap sheet longer than my arm. Before she was seven.”

“Suspects?” Fiona asked, pulling Hannah’s focus back to the point of the conversation. “Did Logan say they had any?”

Hannah hedged, then figured what the hell, it was going to be common knowledge before the day was out. “He’s going to talk to Jonah’s great-nephew. Calder Blue.”

“The guy who ran you off the road?” Fiona said, eyes bugging wide. “I
knew
he was bad news!”

“He didn’t run me off the road. I ran the stop sign and almost hit him. And he’s not bad news.”
At least, I hope he’s not.

Fiona folded her arms. “Well, we’ll see, won’t we?”

“Why him?” Kerry wanted to know. “Because of that stupid ancient family feud? Does Jonah think he just suddenly came all the way down from Calais to firebomb one of Blue’s boathouses because a century ago, his ancestor ran off with one of Jonah’s ancestors? I mean, come on. And that doesn’t even make any sense. Calder’s ancestor was the villain in that little scenario, not ours. If anything, it would make more sense for it to be Jonah doing something to their side.”

“See? You’re just as bad as the rest,” Hannah said, then sighed. “It’s ancient water under a very old bridge and has nothing to do with this.”

“Tell that to Jonah and his firebombed warehouse,” Kerry said archly.

“Did Jonah accuse Calder of the crime?” Fiona asked.

“Jonah’s just . . . well, he’s a lot of things,” Hannah said.
Stubborn, mule-headed, looking for a scapegoat.
“He’s upset and not thinking clearly.”

“So, who else are they looking at?” Kerry asked. “I mean, who else could it be? It’s a little too much of a coincidence that someone from the Croix River Blues shows up after all this time, then
boom!
Up goes Jonah’s boathouse.”

“Which would make that coincidence seem a bit overly obvious, wouldn’t you say?” Hannah replied, trying to keep her calm. Actually, it was good listening to Kerry play devil’s advocate—her favorite role—because it was a useful preview of what she’d likely hear later today.

“So who else are they looking at?” This time it was Fiona asking.

“No one just yet,” Hannah grudgingly admitted. She planned to change that, however. Just as soon as she covered up the
Night of the Living Dead
face that was staring back at her in the mirror.

“Logan will figure it all out,” Fiona said confidently.

“Logan is getting married on Sunday,” Kerry reminded her. “Then he and Alex are heading out to destinations unknown for a week.”

Fiona’s indignant posture wilted slightly. “Damn. You’re right. Who’ll be in charge of catching the culprit then?”

Both sisters looked expectantly at Hannah, who looked at them via the mirror with eyebrows raised. “Once again, why are you looking at me?”

“You’re the closest thing we have to an investigator.”

“I’m a lawyer.”

“You worked on some fairly big criminal cases.”

“Corporate crime. Huge difference. I deal with things like fraud, embezzlement, intellectual property rights, the occasional insider trading scandal.”

“So this should be a piece of cake for you. Small-town arson. Your pool of suspects is limited.”

Hannah swore under her breath. No point in trying to keep secrets. Okay, more secrets. She still hadn’t told them she’d quit her job. Or about Tim. Or that she was moving home. “I’m not going to be doing any investigating. We’ve got a wedding to pull off. And . . . well, I’m sort of representing Calder Blue.”

Kerry hooted and Fiona’s mouth dropped open in outrage. Which . . . was pretty much exactly the reaction she’d anticipated.

“I thought you just said he was innocent?” Fiona demanded. “Why does he need counsel if he’s innocent?”

“I’m just helping to expedite the process, that’s all, so they can focus on finding out what really happened.”

“What do you think really happened?” This from Kerry, whose expression shifted from her initial delighted reaction to something more serious. It wasn’t a side of her Hannah had seen too often. “Are you sure he’s innocent, Han?”

Hannah felt a pinch in her heart, then she remembered that neither of her sisters knew about her colossal mistake in judgment where Tim was concerned. “Well, I can personally vouch for his whereabouts when the fire started. And given his reaction, I think it’s safe to say—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up.” Fiona raised her hand, palm out. “Last night was the rehearsal party. How could you have been—” She broke off, then looked accusingly at her big sister. “You said you went out for a ‘walk.’” She made air quotes around the last word. “What’s really going on?”

“I did go out for a ‘walk.’” Hannah mimicked the air quotes. “I ran into Calder—”

“How con
ven
ient,” Kerry murmured, the delighted look back in her glowing emerald eyes. “I’m liking this. Who’s involved in some shenanigans now, huh?”

“At midnight,” Fiona went on, shooting a glare at Kerry. “You just happened to bump into him. At midnight. By the harbor.
Where the fire started
.” She slapped her palms on her thighs. “And you think he’s
innocent?”

“Which is exactly why I’m representing him,” Hannah said calmly.
That, and because I apparently can’t say no to the man.
Which was something she was going to have to get past and quick. “I do think he’s innocent. And because he was down by the docks, it does look suspicious.”

“
Look
suspicious?” Fiona barked. “It
is
suspicious. And hold on another minute. If you were down there with him, then how can you represent him? I mean, aren’t you like, what do they call it, like an accessory? Or something? Aiding and abetting?”

“We were walking, Fi. And talking. No one was doing any aiding or abetting.”
We were too busy trying to keep our hands off of each other. And failing.
Well, his hands had been on her. And sure, he’d just been doing some kind of acupressure voodoo, but there had been that kiss at the end. And holy . . . wow. There had been that kiss there at the end, all right. She cleared her throat. “Like I said, I was there. I saw his reaction. Which was the same as my reaction. And the first thing he did was to race down there and save Jonah and his great-granddaughter. Which no one seems to be mentioning.”

“Well,” Fiona said, stalling, wheels clearly turning. “What better way to make himself look innocent? I mean, you have to admit it’s a rather extreme coincidence that he was down there when this happened.”

“He was scoping out the harbor, trying to figure out Winstock’s plan.”

And then it all clicked in Hannah’s brain, even as Fiona added a sarcastic, “At midnight? Really, Han? Did he try to sell you some swampland while he was at it? Or maybe a bridge for the harbor?”

“Winstock,” Hannah breathed. Now her wheels were turning and she tuned her sisters out and focused on the trail that was forming in her mind. She turned to Fiona. “How fast can you work your magic on this?” She made a circular motion around her face with her hand.

“What are you going to do?” Fiona wanted to know. “We have a bachelorette party we’re apparently hostessing this evening.”

“I’ve got that covered,” Kerry said with an airy wave of her palm.

“That’s what worries me,” Fiona said.

“Just get my face to look more professional and less zombie and then the two of you can carry on with the wedding and bachelorette party plans. I should only be gone a few hours. Three max. Or four. Adding in drive time,” she said, since she was out at the Point. “Are you doing the bachelorette thing in town? Because then I could just meet you.”

“It’s nine in the morning,” Fiona told her. “Whatever we do won’t be until later this evening.”

“Unless!” Kerry bounced on the bed. “What if instead of girl bonding over drinks and half-naked male strippers—or all naked, if we’re lucky—maybe we could do a spa day? Mani, pedi, facials, massages, lunch, the works.” She batted her eyelashes at Fiona. “Would that meet your oh-so-prim-and-proper standards of bachelorette party acceptability?”

Fiona opened her mouth for the usual retort, then stopped, looking momentarily stunned. “Uh, yes. Actually, it would. That’s an awesome idea.”

“Then why are you frowning at me?” Kerry wanted to know.

“Because you’re the one who came up with it, so I’m going over the plan in my mind to see where the loopholes for inappropriateness are. Because we both know there are some.”

“You mean other than a spa day would be done by dinnertime, so plenty of time for us to get our freshly mani-pedi’d selves all dolled up for the drinking and half-naked men part later? That kind of loophole?” Before Fiona could sputter her reply, Kerry threw an arm around her sister’s shoulders and pulled her close for a shoulder-to-shoulder hug. “Oh, and make sure Delia can come with us today. She’s free this evening, but not sure what she has going on today. Something, I’m sure, because when is she ever not working?” Kerry lifted her hands, palms out, leaving the previously leaning Fiona to sprawl heavily across her sister’s lap. “So, I’m totally not kidding, but how about this? How about we take the spa day, and feel Alex out about the evening plans, and if she’s into it, we go, and if not? We respect the bride’s wishes.” She grinned even more widely. “And go by ourselves!”

Kerry waggled her eyebrows, which was when Hannah noticed the tiny silver ring that was pierced through the outside corner of the left one. How had she missed that?
Oh, I don’t know. You missed an entire pregnant wife, so an eyebrow piercing isn’t all that surprising.