Meanwhile, Sean was worried that Bridey didn’t seem to be getting any better and wanted her to go to the hospital, but she was refusing, so now one of them was sitting with her nearly all the time.
Zach reflected now that somehow, during dinner, they had managed to keep the conversation light. They hadn’t talked about Eddie or the sabotaged blueberries, or anything evil.
Even Kat and Amanda had managed to be civil to each other.
They had all talked about the birds, though. Except for Caer.
Caer didn’t want to talk about the birds. She was quiet for much of the meal, pleasant when spoken to, but her mind was elsewhere.
Maybe on the letter? The letter that had clearly upset her earlier?
Back at the house, he’d put her out of his mind and called Morrissey.
Zach had been relieved to hear that the detective had gotten a man out to the island. “Gary Swipes. An old cop—guy’s been on the force since he was a kid, nearly forty years. He was glad to head on out, especially when I told him I was sure you’d pay a bonus on account of the cold. Big guy, tough guy. He’ll stay on until morning, and then there’s a kid, a new officer but a good one, relieving him.”
With things on Cow Cay well in hand, Zach had asked about the blueberries.
“I don’t have anything. Not yet. We’ve got no prints other than those of a stock boy, and those are smudged—looks like the jars were taken off the shelves, tampered with and returned. We’re looking through all the video from the last week or so. They track their stock well there, so we know the jars in question came in during that period. The thing is, the video shows the cash registers, not the aisles. Still, we’ll know who came in and out. It’s just slow, tedious work, and there are only twenty-four hours in a day.”
“I’ll head out by myself to Cow Cay again tomorrow and play with the metal detector some more,” Zach told him.
“On parkland. You know that’s illegal.” Morrissey laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m not looking and my man won’t be, either. And if you get the urge, come on down to the office—we can use some help staring at those tapes. At least the newspapers are full of articles about the blueberries. Hopefully no one else will wind up involved.”
Involved? Zach thought.
Innards cut to ribbons.
Dead.
Yes, hopefully no one else would wind up involved.
There was a tap at his bedroom door, light and hesitant. He frowned and quickly finished his conversation with Morrissey, then flipped his phone closed, walked to the door and opened it.
Caer was standing there, a strange, wistful look in her eyes.
“Hey,” he said. “Is anything wrong?”
She shook her head.
“Sean—is he all right? Where is he? Who is he with?”
“Sean is out with Tom and Kat, seeing that jazz trio she was talking about. Amanda is locked up in her suite, and Clara went back to the cottage.”
“Bridey?”
“Sleeping peacefully. I just checked on her,” Caer said.
He studied her with a frown.
“Are you going to ask me in?” she asked him.
He stepped back, stunned, realizing for the first time that she had prepared for bed. She was in a soft flannel gown and robe; small white roses fell lightly upon a creamy beige background, and there was lace around the collar and cuffs. Her hair was loose, falling like blue-black waves around her shoulders.
“Come in,” he said.
She entered and closed the door, and there was nothing coquettish in her manner. She rushed against him, burying her face against his cotton T-shirt and slipping her arms around his waist.
“Is this too terrible?” she asked quietly. “I feel…I feel time slipping away, I guess….”
Was what they were doing right? Wrong? He had no idea. But it was impossible not to welcome her. Everything about her was the ultimate in sensuality and seduction. Not contrived, not artificial. He remembered opening his arms, drawing her to him, feeling the rush that swept through his muscles and into his blood whenever she was close and the curves of her body were flush against his. He stretched his shirt to the ripping point, he was so eager to get it over his head and discard it. He was slightly more circumspect with the little buttons on her gown, seeing as at some point she would have to return to her own room.