Page 109 of By the Time You Read This

“You tell me.”

With that, Delaney could sense she was losing Essi.

“I haven’t even talked to her in months,” Delaney said. “I’m calling because I think you’re in danger from the person who killed Emily Logan.”

“Why would I be in danger?” Essi asked slowly.

“Where are you?”

There was a beat of silence, but apparently curiosity won out. It usually did; it had killed the cat, after all.

“I’m on a boat in the harbor,” she said. “Your sister thinks I left, but I just switched to a different yacht.”

No way would someone like Essi leave town in the midst of all this chaos.

“But there are tons of police here,” she continued. “So I’m pretty sure I’m safe from whatever murderer you’ve dreamed up.”

Of course the police were there, Delaney realized. The “suicide” had been at the harbor. “What is your boat called?”

“Nacho Boat,” Essi said dryly. “I kid you not.”

Delaney stared into the middle distance as part of her soul died a little at that. Then she shook it off. “I’m going to come to you.”

“I take it you don’t want a police greeting,” Essi said, and Delaney realized only then that she was putting a lot of trust in this stranger. Up until now, she’d been counting on the fact that she was a rare commodity for Essi, but depending on her personality, she might very well view calling the cops as the smarter bet for something dramatic to happen.

“I’d appreciate it if they weren’t there, correct,” Delaney said stiffly, trying to listen for any deception in Essi’s voice.

But it came out as neutral when she said, “Okay, well, I’m here. Slip twenty-seven.”

Delaney almost hung up before she realized she was falling for a logical trap. Gabriela hadn’t talked to Essi this morning. She wouldn’t know Essi had switched boats. “What was your other boat? The one you were staying on before?”

“Big Deck Energy, slip thirteen. Why?”

“No reason,” Delaney murmured.

She hung up and jammed the keys in the ignition. Someone in complete control of themselves wouldn’t try to sneak on a boat in the middle of a busy police scene in order to try to kill someone.

But she had no doubt that Gabbi was going to try to do just that.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Delaney

Day Seven

The police presence at the harbor was heavy. The woman who had talked to Delaney at the bar—Maeve St. Ivany—stood at the far end of the pier overseeing it all.

Delaney parked behind a bakery, then made her way on foot to whereBig Deck Energywas docked.

If this were a bigger city, the police might have locked down the whole harbor, but they’d concentrated on the one side where the body had been found. Luckily for Delaney, it was on the opposite side of where she needed to be.

Delaney slipped through the dozen or so people gathered just at the edge of the water, thankful Essi’s boat was right there.

She leaped aboard theBDEand steadied herself as it swayed beneath her feet. If someone was waiting for her, they would know she was there, immediately.

The cabin door was closed. Delaney paused outside it, in a slight crouch. She knew she would be at a disadvantage sliding down into the cabin itself. There would be at least a half minute when she wasincredibly vulnerable. But she was hoping Gabbi wouldn’t shoot her before she even saw her face.

Delaney took a precious thirty seconds to put the AirTag back together so that it was live, checked her recorder one last time to make sure it was on, and then opened the cabin door.

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