Page 72 of A Spot of Tea
Eliza nodded. “My sister saw that online.”
“Do you know why she left?” She set her pen down and clasped her hands on the table.
Eliza shook her head. “Do you?”
She laughed. “I do, but I can’t share it with you.”
“Oh, right. Sorry.” She smiled, wrapping her hands around her now lukewarm coffee. The barista had offered to sprinkle vanilla into it for her, and she had agreed without thinking. The artificial smell kept sticking in her nose.
“And the bag?” Ramona asked. “The one someone left at the tea shop. Did you bring it?”
It was nice of her to ask, since it was obvious it was sitting beneath them.
Eliza leaned down and pulled it from under her chair. “This is it. Do you think you can get fingerprints from it?”
She shrugged. “Maybe, but probably not.”
“I didn’t take anything, but I did touch the hat and the ski mask. I did not touch the money.”
“You sure about that?” the agent said with a wink.
Eliza looked down, her cheeks flushing red. “I’m sure. We were afraid there might be ink packs in it or something. Also, I knew it was stolen money, and I don’t want anything to do with it.”
Agent Ramona unzipped the bag and glanced inside. “I’m going to look into this. All of it. If anything else comes up, call me directly, okay?” She slid a small, plain card across the table.
Eliza reached to grab it. The paper stuck to her sweaty palm. “I will. Thank you for your help. You’re a lifesaver.”
“Happy to be of service. You take care.”
On her return flight to San Juan Island, Eliza had a different pilot who still wasn’t Joey. She still couldn’t help looking over at him every few minutes, her mind trying to fill in the details to make it him.
It was never him.
They landed and she stepped off the plane onto the dock in Roche Harbor. Her phone dinged with a text and her heart leapt. It could be Joey after all. He could have changed his mind.
She pulled out her phone and stared at the screen.
It was Mackenzie.
Don’t come home.
Eliza laughed, writing back,Why not?
Her sister’s response was a picture of something small and white. Eliza opened it, her smile falling as soon as she saw the black letters at the top:ARREST WARRANT.
She scanned, spottingELIZABETH DENNETand the signature of a judge.
Mackenzie texted again.There was evidence planted in your car.
“Everything all right? I hope that wasn’t too bumpy for you.”
Eliza looked up. The not-Joey pilot was speaking to her with his not-Joey face.
She realized her mouth was hanging open. “No, it was wonderful. Thank you.”
Anarrest warrant?Was she supposed to run? Where? Surely they would come looking for her. Was her phone being tracked? Would turning it off work, or could they still find her?
Maybe she watched too many movies. Or maybe, not enough, because clearly—
