Page 129 of In the Pursuit of Haven
“C’mon, I’m not an idiot, Abby. How didtheyknow we were here?”
“You—you think I had something to do with—with it?” Abby stammered. “I was the one who found out you had trackers on your phones!”
Jessie’s eyes widened. “Did you know that when you gave them to us?”
“No! I did exactly what you said. I left them alone. It was stupid, but I did it, but you’ve got to listen to me. They’re not messing around anymore. Have you ever stopped to think that their informer is the one who got our uncles killed?”
“You don’t care about that!” Jessie snarled. “You just want out from under our old man’s thumb, and you’ll do anything to leave this town, even betray the ones who died for this. Do you even think before you do anything?”
“I came here to help you!” she exploded.
“I don’t want your help!”
That was the wrong thing for her brother to say. Abby unraveled. Her eyes flashed and she punched at him. “That’s right! Because you don’t need anyone. You don’t listen to me because you think I’m an idiot!”
“You got in over your head! What was I supposed to do?”
“Don’t throw me away, Jessie! I’m the one who gave you this lead. I talked to Davey, and—”
“You talked to Davey?” he interrupted. “So the whole town knows…”
“It’s fine!” she shouted. “He’s really smart. He’s not just a tour guide; he’s a writer! Look what he gave me on Jeggle Island!” She waved a slip of paper at him and tried to get him to take it. “We needed some brains on our team.”
He refused to accept the peace offering. “What I need is for you to go home.”
She laughed in his face. “Yeah, banish me to my room like a little brat; bulldoze over us all because you’re better than everybody! You don’t even let in Roxy, your own wife! Why don’t you tell her what’s really happening, huh? Just tell her!”
Jessie glanced worriedly back at me.
A shock of sharp suspicion jammed through my veins like an ice pick. I knew I was missing something—something wrong had simmered just below the surface that I couldn’t quite grasp. My doubts, my anger, my fear were all trying to warn me that things weren’t right, but I didn’t want to listen whenever misgivings came to break my fragile peace.
“Tell me what?” I asked. I’d avoided this until now, so afraid that whatever my husband had done couldn’t be taken back.
“Not right now,” Jessie said.
Hunter took a decisive step forward. “Quit yapping and get in the car!”
Jessie’s shoulders tightened. “Get away from my sister, Hunter! You gave me your word you’d stay away.”
“What’s going on here?” Bette Ann pushed through the crowded sidewalk. Her oversized German shepherd glared down the newcomers.
Hunter laughed in her face. “Run along, sweet little neighbor. It’s none of your business.”
“Don’t talk to me like that, little boy.” Her hands tightened on the leash, and Harry growled low under his breath. “I know rabble when I see it. I already called the cops. They’re on their way.”
Hunter leaned his head back and sighed like he was dealing with difficult extended family at Thanksgiving dinner. “You judged us without even talking to us. That hurts.” He turned back to Jessie. “The boss isn’t happy with you. I need you to pull back your people.”
“What people?”
“The ones that chased us off from the lighthouse!”
Caitlyn and Brecker? Or were these Shepherds of the Relics?
“I don’t know what people you’re talking about,” Jessie hissed
“You don’t, huh? Well, you haven’t been very cooperative. We need assurances that you aren’t going to do anything stupid.”
A patrol vehicle entered the street. Salem’s finest was on the job. “I wasn’t joking!” Bette Ann said. “You’d better move along. Get out of here!”
