Page 66 of Light of Day
“It’s a podcast, not a TV show.”
“For now.”
Just then, the firefighters called Sally over to look at something, and Heather turned to find Luke at her side.
“Any other fires reported on the island tonight?” she asked him.
“Yes,” he said gravely. “It seems that Denton’s house has burned to the ground. No one was there to call the fire department until it was too late. My current theory is that these other fires were both a warning and a distraction to keep the firefighters occupied. More than one person must have been involved.”
“Oh my God. Why would they burn down a dead man’s house?” Her mind spun like a roulette wheel and landed on an answer. “They wanted to destroy something that they thought was in his house. Evidence. Maybe the North Point meeting was so he could deliver something, but he didn’t bring it and they killed him. Then they couldn’t find it in his house so they just burned the whole thing down.” She sucked in a breath. “What about his cat?”
“Savannah’s fine,” he said quickly. “I dropped her off at Carrie’s earlier. She said she’d take care of her for now, until someone permanent steps up.” He lifted his eyebrows at her.
“I can’t have a cat,” she said wistfully. “My entire life is up in the air right now.”
“Did I say anything?” He put on an innocent expression that she didn’t buy for one second.
“Your eyebrows did.”
“So you speak eyebrow?” he teased.
“I do. And some eyebrows should keep their opinions to themselves.”
He threw up his hands. “Forget my eyebrows said anything. Listen, I think we should get some sleep and regroup in the morning. We’re both exhausted.”
She nodded. “I can catch a ride with my mother. Text me when you’re ready to get going tomorrow.”
He hesitated, and she knew what he wanted to say—stay with me. Let’s finish what we started.
She wanted to, lord knew, but tonight, her mother needed her. She shouldn’t be alone. “Mom…”
“Of course.” He understood immediately. “I’ll catch you in the morning. I’ll be up early going through my notes, so don’t worry about waking me.” He took her hand and shocked her by bringing it to his lips. “It’s been a pleasure, Ms. Heather McPhee.”
She watched him stride toward his truck—which was starting to feel like a second home to her after all they’d been through over the past few days.
“That’s a good-looking man,” her mother murmured next to her. Soot smudged her cheek.
“Mmmm. Can we leave or do you need to stay here with the firemen?”
“No, they want everyone to leave. Would you mind driving? My hands won’t stop shaking.”
“Of course.” With that, she knew she’d made the right decision, even though watching Luke swing his long legs into his truck made her heart pump double time.
Her mother was too agitated to sleep. While Heather made some chamomile tea for her, she paced around the kitchen and popped one Nicorette gum after another.
Partly to distract her, Heather filled her in on some of the information they’d discovered about the island’s history. “You know how everyone says the hotel came first, before anything else was built here? Well, it seems that might not be true after all. There might have already been people here.”
“If there was, it wasn’t us,” Sally declared. “I have the family Bible. Grandpa Hector was born in nineteen-oh-seven in York, Maine. My father Arthur was the first one born on the island in the nineteen-thirties.”
“Hector was Hennessy’s son, right?”
“That’s right. He was my grandfather and he lived a long time almost to a hundred. I think you were six or so when he died. He’s the one who told you all those stories that scared you. You used to wake up screaming from nightmares after you spent any time with him.”
“Nightmares?”
“Oh yeah. You used to wake up talking about the house falling into the ocean.”
A shock ran through her. That dream. The one she’d had over and over, with only a few changes in the details.
