Page 70 of Tempt Me

“Still on vaca—oh, hold on, that’s him,” he exclaims as his phone begins to ring. “Fred! Great to hear from you…”

My own phone buzzes, pulling me out of the conversation.

It’s Luke.

Hey babe. What are you up to?

Just having a drink at the Screw,I reply.

With who?

With my book,I write back. It’s not really a lie. I didn’t plan on running into Caden here and I certainly didn’t come to have a drink with him.

How’s work?I ask.

Fine. Gonna be a late night. Not sure if I’ll be around tomorrow.

Okay,I say.I need to work on my croissant options for Magnolia Day anyway.

Don’t worry too much about that,Luke says.Whatever you make will be a hit—and more importantly, you’re getting married in three weeks!

That’s right,I reply, adding a heart emoji for good measure.Okay I won’t keep you from work. Have a good night!

I put my phone down and feel a strange sort of dizziness. Why is this suddenly overwhelming? I’ve known this day was coming. I’ve been in planning sessions with Lucille all summer. But the reality is hitting me in a way that’s disorienting.

I tune back into Caden and Noah and realize they’re having an argument.

“You can’t just go interrogate people,” Noah is saying.

“You’re the one who told me I had to get new evidence by the end of the summer,” Caden insists. “Thisis new evidence.”

“You don’t know that for sure.”

“It’s the best lead I’ve got and you keep throwing random rules in my face.”

“They aren’t random. Police have to follow procedure.”

“I’mnot a cop,” Caden snaps.

Noah’s face crumples. “At least don’t go by yourself. If itisCarl, as you seem so certain, it could be dangerous to confront him on your own.”

“What, you think Carl is going to shoot me?”

“That’s not funny,” Noah says. I agree. “Wait a few more days, until I have a day off and I can go with you.”

I also agree that Caden shouldn’t go by himself. I don’t know anything about police procedure, but don’t detectives work in pairs?

“I’ve been waiting for two weeks for this address,” Caden says. “I’m not waiting any longer.”

“I’ll go with you,” I say.

As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I feel like that was probably the wrong move—Luke wouldn’t be happy about it. But I want to help. Caden deserves answers. His whole family does. Heck, this town deserves to know what happened. We are all invested in this. Marion’s death affected everyone.

“Really?” Caden says.

I nod. “I just have to take care of some things at the Thorn first.”

“Are you sure, Isla?” Noah asks.

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