Page 21 of Fire Harbor

She knew Pelican Pointe didn’t exactly offer her single son the nightlife he sometimes needed, but she had hoped that one day he’d find that special someone and settle down, maybe give her a few grandkids along the way before her time was up.

“Sheesh. How do you know that already? Lake barely left out of here five minutes ago. I really wish you and Mrs. Beaumont would stay out of my private life.”

“Oh, don’t be such a fussbudget. Martha and I are both happy as clams that you finally made your move. Now start working on bringing Lake over for dinner. Do it, Linus. I’ll give you a week to make your case. She’s pretty, smart, and she’s funny. What more do you want? Get on with it.”

“I don’t need dating advice, Mom,” Linus insisted.

“Oh, really? Says the man who finds a way to sabotage every relationship.”

He tried for patience, knowing that living two streets over, she would likely have found out eventually about Lake. “Jess and I weren’t right for each other, and you know it.”

“Of course, I know it. I’m the one who said that you can’t move in with someone who’s already complaining about what you do for a living.”

“Look, just because you and Mrs. Beaumont think you’re always one step ahead of me in the rumor mill department doesn’t mean you both shouldn’t be ashamed of yourselves for butting in.”

“If you’d tell me these things first, I wouldn’t have to hear them from Martha,” Annette refuted.

He had never truly understood just how close the two women were until now. “What do you want me to do? Send you a play-by-play of last night before going to bed. We had dinner. That’s it. Instead of being so pushy, how about letting things play out for once, letting nature take its course? Or you could just butt out altogether. That’s the second option. I like that one best. Yeah, tell your friend if she could just butt out of my life and stop spying on me, that would help.”

“What’s the big deal about inviting Lake over to the house for dinner? It’s a natural progression in any relationship.”

“Not this soon,” Linus argued. Was it wrong to want to savor their budding romance a little longer without interference from anyone? “Look, chill out, okay? If I make a move too soon, Lake might run the other way. Is that what you want? Our relationship is brand new. Since last night new. Get it? Give me time to work my way up to bring her to dinner.”

“Fine. I’ll give you a week, Linus. One week. Then I’m inviting her myself. I know you. You’ll take forever. It isn’t like she’s a stranger. I see her every time I go into the library. She’s good at her job. She’s outgoing. She helps everyone who comes in there. I like her. Don’t mess this up. If the last few weeks have taught me anything, it’s that I don’t have years to wait.”

Linus draped an arm around her shoulder and steered her toward the kitchen. “Come on, Mom. You’ll live to be ninety. The doctor said so. How about a nice cup of decaf for your heart and a bowl of oatmeal?”

“I don’t want to wait until I’m ninety to have grandkids. And since I’m not dead yet, I’ll take a regular cup of coffee and some scrambled eggs.”

Linus knew arguing with his mom wouldn’t get him anywhere. His only defense was to change topics. “What do you know about all the missing women who disappeared on or around that bridge south of town?”

“If women are going missing, two words,” Annette replied as she rounded into the kitchen. “Serial killer. You think the latest one, this Gabby Moreland, was taken by a serial killer?”

“I don’t know. But since I was the one who found the skull yesterday, Lake and I were thinking about digging into Gabby’s case. There’s speculation the skull could belong to her. I was thinking you could tell me everything you know about the rogue cop you told me about after you moved down here. What else do you know about him?”

Annette went to the fridge and took out a carton of eggs. “Rick Hackford was his name. I got my information about him from Martha, who has lived here for forty years. She told me that before Hackford died in 2019, he was known for stopping women, just women mind you, on or near the bridge, flirting with them, and then asking them to drive underneath the bridge so they could have more privacy. You know what that means, right?”

“Yeah. Are you scrambling eggs? Because I’ve already eaten. Lake brought me breakfast.”

Annette’s lips curved. “That sounds promising—her bringing you breakfast. See? She isn’t dragging her feet.”

“Don’t make a big deal out of it. She wanted to tell me about the missing women. That’s all.”

“Are you sure that’s why she stopped in?” Annette asked, sending him a sideways look.

“Could we focus, please?”

“Well, if you insist. But think about it. Can you imagine getting stopped by a cop like that on a lonely stretch of road when you’re by yourself with nowhere to go and not being able to figure out how to get out of that situation? If you ask me, Hackford was the worst kind of cop.”

“Wait a minute. Hackford died in 2014. That was ten years ago. Eastlyn told me that. If that’s true, he couldn’t have been the guy who started the string of disappearances. In Lake’s research, she discovered that they began in 2014 with Joanna Hawkins. Odd that this started the same year Hackford died, though. And there’s another earlier woman who went missing—Joely Harrison.”

Annette stared at her son in disbelief. “Hackford could be responsible for that one.”

“Maybe.”

“But if he didn’t take them, then it really could be a serial killer living in town and hunting in the area. Women within fifty miles of here should be warned. Somebody should say something.”

Linus held up his hands. “No, Mom, you can’t repeat any of what we just talked about to anybody, especially not Mrs. Beaumont. You can’t. Okay?”

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