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  “I can’t tell you what the police might find important,” Rachel said finally.

  “No. You’re right,” Denise said. “I should go tell them. Especially now...” She hesitated. “I’m sorry about your father, Rachel. I always thought he was a really nice guy.”

  “He and Val are really fond of you, too,” Rachel said. “Denise, it isn’t true, is it? You didn’t ‘forget’ about this. You hid it.”

  Denise hesitated again, then sighed and looked at her feet. “I don’t know what to say. I was so sure Ryan was innocent. I’ve known him so long — him and Valentina both.”

  “So what happened, exactly?”

  “Valentina asked me to forget about it,” Denise said. “She told me it might get Ryan into trouble for no reason. I was so sure it was Lily anyway…and I didn’t want to disappoint Val.”

  “Valentina asked you not to mention it? Are you sure?”

  Denise nodded. “I guess she didn’t think it was Ryan, either. She just thought she was protecting him.”

  “No.” Rachel’s voice was cold. “It isn’t just him. Don’t you see? She was out of the house for ten minutes. No one knows where she was. So far, I never even considered her a suspect because she had an air-tight alibi. Or so I thought.”

  “Valentina?” Denise stared at Rachel. “Are you mad? Why would Valentina kill Leon? She has absolutely no motive. Besides, I know my best friend. She—”

  “I know my father,” Rachel said. “If he says he didn’t kill Leon, then he didn’t.”

  “Maybe you want to believe him, too. But the police don’t,” Denise said. “I don’t, either. I couldn’t believe it at first, but now, it makes sense, in a twisted way. Leon and Ryan were always on that border between best friends and fierce enemies.

  “My Dad didn’t do it,” Rachel said, a stubborn look coming on her face.

  “Er…right. I mean, the investigation is still on. I’m sure the police will find the real killer eventually.” Denise tried to placate Rachel, but didn’t look like she believed a word she was saying.

  “Leon wasn’t very close to anyone, was he?” Rachel asked. “I mean, my Dad was his best friend but they were also borderline enemies. How about Tony?”

  “Tony?” Denise snorted. “Tony might as well have been Leon’s lapdog. The man doesn’t have a spine.”

  “Oh…he didn’t seem that way to me.”

  “That’s because you don’t know him,” Denise said. “He’s brilliant at math, Tony is. I believe a lot of the algorithms the firm uses to invest their funds are based on Tony’s own ideas. So he’s the technical guru of the firm in a way. But it’s your dad and Leon who took the firm from an idea to a reality. You know? They marketed it, they got the clients, they made sure things ran smooth.”

  Rachel nodded. “But from Tony’s point of view, wouldn’t it seem to him that, without his algorithms, the firm was nothing?”

  “That’s not untrue,” Denise agreed. “I suppose that’s why your father and Leon gave him as large a stake as they did. He doesn’t really do much on a day-to-day basis, you know. But every once in a while, he’d come up with some genius new idea.”

  “Is it possible that Tony resented Leon?” Rachel asked. “Or my father?”

  Denise shook her head. “Leon had a tendency to boss Tony around. As for your father, Tony loves him. Apparently, Tony had fallen afoul of a mafia boss when he unknowingly dated the boss’s ex wife. Your father helped smooth things over and saved Tony from a real beating. Or worse.”

  So that’s what Tony had been talking about! That’s how her father had “saved his life”.

  “My father is good to his friends,” Rachel said. “That’s how he’s always been. Generous, always ready to help.”

  “It is true,” Denise agreed. “That’s why I was so sure it couldn’t be him at first. It had to be Lily. But now…what choice do I have? I have to believe what everyone else says. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Lily wasn’t even on the island when the killer bonked Dr. Gomez on the head with the clock.”

  “How about Mason?” Rachel asked. “He wasn’t very close to Leon, was he?”

  “Mason...” Denise sighed. “He’s a bit of a lech, to be honest. He’s even made a move on me. Can you imagine? So gross. Then he had the nerve to blame me for flirting with him when I said ‘get lost’.”

  “I had that experience, too,” Rachel said. “Seems to be his signature move. Hitting on women who have no interest in him.”

  “Yeah, but still, I’m his stepmother. So gross.” Denise shook her head. “To be honest, if it was me, I’d have bet Mason did it. He had the most to gain, didn’t he? Most of Leon’s money will go to him. Plus he’ll inherit a 25% stake in a pretty wealthy firm. Money is a strong motivator.”

  “You’re not too fond of Mason,” Rachel commented.

  “Would you be? Who knows what he’s capable of.”

  “Being a lecher doesn’t make you a murderer, necessarily,” Rachel mused.

  “Fair,” Denise said. “But like I said… it’d make us all more comfortable if it turns out it was him, you know? Not Ryan. Good ole’ Ryan. I’m sorry, I know I’m being horrible but I can’t help thinking that way.”

  Rachel nodded. She knew exactly what Denise meant. If it was Mason who’d been arrested, with the same amount of proof stacked against him as was stacked against her dad, Rachel wouldn’t have been going around the island talking to people. She’d have been taking the next flight out to California, content that the police had caught the right man.

  She wasn’t being objective. Far from it. Maybe that was blinding her from seeing an obvious truth. Or maybe, she was deliberately keeping herself in the dark because the truth was too much to bear.

  *****

  Chapter 19

  Scott Returns

  She left Leon’s cottage with an idea forming in her mind. There were two obvious victims in this whole mess. That much was certain. Both Dr. Gomez and Leon had suffered. Although, only Leon had paid the ultimate price. As of now, according to a text Mason had sent everybody on the island, Dr. Gomez was in a coma, but in a stable condition.

  There were really only two possibilities. The first, that her father was the killer. This, Rachel didn’t even want to consider. If it was true, she’d deal with the fallout of that as best as she could. But, if her father was telling the truth, if he hadn’t done it, then it meant that her father was as much a victim as Leon and Dr. Gomez. Someone had deliberately framed him, setting him up for jail.

  “It’s the only possibility,” Rachel said out loud, as she fumbled for the key to her own cottage. The door opened, and Scott stood there, leaning against the doorframe.

  “What’s the only possibility?” he asked.

  “Scott...” Rachel was speechless. Part of her wanted to hug him and smooth the tiredness away from his forehead. The other part of her remembered how he’d attacked her father, accusing him of murder, and wanted to back away from him.

  He could read her like a book, she knew it. He took a step back, leaving her a wide path to enter the cottage. There were no hugs, no kisses, none of his usual wise-cracks. The dark stubble on his face gave him a fierce look, rather like a pirate who was moments away from sacking an unsuspecting town. His eyes were shadowed, showing no emotion.

  But she could read him, too. He wanted to talk, and not just about her father.

  “I met your mother at the Key West Police Station,” Scott said. “They’ve dropped the charges against her for now. She was headed back to her resort last I saw.”

  “Thank you for that,” Rachel said. “I mean, with everything that’s going on, even I’d forgotten to check up on her. So thank you.”

  Scott shrugged. “It was the least I could do. You know I escorted your father to the station.”

  There was a challenge in his words and in his eyes. Rachel turned away from him.

  “I helped them arrest him, Rachel,” Scott said. “You’re going to have to face that.
Sooner or later.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Rachel whispered.

  “Doing what?”

  “Picking a fight with me,” Rachel said. “Do we really need to get into this right now?”

  “What other choice do we have?” Scott asked. “I’ve let a lot of things go unsaid. But, clearly, I shouldn’t have.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You think that I helped your dad get arrested because I dislike him,” Scott said. “Somewhere, deep inside, you really do believe that.”

  “I...” Rachel bit her lip. “Don’t you see it that way?”

  Scott shook his head. “I only see the facts.”

  “My dad didn’t make it much of a secret that he disapproved of you,” Rachel said. “That had to sting.”

  “It did,” Scott said. “But not as much as this, Rachel. You’re doubting my integrity.”

  “I’m not…” Rachel shook her head. “I’m not doubting your integrity. I mean, I understand totally why you think he did it. I understand that all the evidence is against him. I get that.”

  “But?”

  “But. You tried so hard with my mom, you know? The evidence was against her, too.”

  “Your mom didn’t have a motive,” Scott said. “She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Your dad, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time not once, but twice. I didn’t think he’d killed Leon until he attacked Dr. Gomez. After that… I’ve got no doubt.”

  “My dad said it was someone else!” Rachel protested.

  “In all my years of police work, I’ve never seen such a paper thin excuse,” Scott said.

  “But that’s the thing. It’s the killer’s M.O. My mom made the same paper-thin excuse, remember? She went to another room, the next thing she knew, there was a gunshot and Leon was dead. My dad went to the kitchen to fetch water, the killer crept in and clocked Dr. Gomez over the head.”

  “The difference is, I was right outside,” Scott said. “I’d made sure the backdoor was locked from the inside, and I was standing guard in front. There’s also the fact that Dr. Gomez himself told me he believed your father had done it.”

  “He did?”

  “He told me everything about your father’s rivalry with Leon and the shares when I offered to guard him,” Scott said. “The three hours were running out and your father got desperate. I’m sorry. I really understand how much this must hurt you but—”

  “You don’t understand anything!” Rachel exclaimed.

  “I don’t want to fight,” Scott said. “We’re on the same team. Right, Rachel? We both want to see the killer behind bars.”

  “You just want to see my father behind bars,” Rachel snapped.

  “Come on, Rach. Don’t be cruel. Let’s work together on this.”

  Rachel took a deep breath. He was right. The last thing they needed to do was fight right now. She gave him a rueful smile. “It’s so much easier to fight, though. Gets all these trapped emotions out.”

  “Boy do I know,” Scott said.

  They were still standing at a distance from each other, instinctively defensive.

  “When Dr. Gomez made his announcement at lunch today,” Rachel said, “did he really mean to have my father arrested in three hours?”

  “It was a pretty credible motive, and your father definitely tried to hide it,” Scott said.

  “There was nobody else Dr. Gomez suspected?” Rachel asked.

  Scott shook his head.

  “OK, tell me everything you know,” Rachel said. “Then I’ll tell you everything I found out from Abuelita and Denise today.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Scott sounded more enthusiastic now. “Ok, let’s start with Dr. Gomez. Do you remember the layout of his cottage?”

  “Not particularly.”

  “Right. Dr. Gomez, Mrs. Gomez and Abuelita were in the biggest cottage on the island. It was actually Leon’s cottage in the beginning, I learned, but Leon swapped it so that they’d have more space.”

  “Nice of him.”

  “Indeed. Now, unlike our cottage, Dr. Gomez’s cottage opens out into a living room. The kitchen is to the right, a small study with a backdoor to the left. Upstairs are two bedrooms. Dr. Gomez was sitting in the study speaking to your father. This was around 2pm. Your father insisted I leave the cottage so I was standing outside the main door, just killing time.”

  “Go on.”

  “I heard a crash not five minutes later. I opened the door and rushed in. Your father was in the study. A vase lay shattered around him. Dr. Gomez was slumped on his desk.”

  “How much time did it take you to get in?” Rachel asked.

  “Two minutes,” Scott said. “The key was a little sticky.”

  “So it’s plausible that my father was in the kitchen, heard something, went running in and the killer ran out the backdoor.”

  Scott sighed. “Plausible… but unlikely.”

  “But still possible,” Rachel said, holding on to that thin glimmer of hope.

  Scott changed the topic. “What about you? Tell me everything you learned today.”

  Rachel told Scott all about Abuelita’s mysterious man in the green shoes and Denise’s story of Valentina being gone ten minutes.

  Scott tapped a finger on his chin. “I don’t need to tell you this…but it doesn’t look good for your father that Denise was asked to cover up for him.”

  “She didn’t cover up for him. If anything, she destroyed Valentina’s alibi!”

  “Ah, but you remember, your father initially insisted that he had remained in the cottage all night. Why did he lie? He also acted surprised to see your mother. Another lie, since he’d clearly seen her before with Leon.”

  “I don’t know why he lied. I think he panicked. I know it makes this more difficult...”

  “Difficult? Rachel, I couldn’t ask for a more iron clad case as a detective. Well, I could. Dr. Gomez could wake up and testify that Ryan did it. That’d be ideal. But short of that, you have to realize how bad it looks. Why can’t you even consider that your father did it?”

  “Because we have to believe our hearts, don’t we?” Rachel asked. “And my heart says he didn’t do it.”

  Scott’s eyes filled with pity again, and he reached out to hug Rachel. She evaded him. “Don’t give me that look, Scott. Don’t. You think I’m an idiot.”

  “I think you’re rightfully upset, and trying your hardest to deny reality,” Scott said.

  “You just don’t get it sometimes!” Rachel exclaimed.

  “No. I guess I don’t. Like I don’t get why you never mentioned Mason hit on you. I wouldn’t even have found out if you hadn’t told me about your conversation with Denise.”

  “My…oh, yes…that…” Rachel shrugged. “I didn’t think about it.”

  “I’m your boyfriend,” Scott said. “I wouldn’t have let him get away with disrespecting you like that.”

  “It was stupid of him, but I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s mood,” Rachel said. “He tried to hit on me but I pushed him off, no harm done.”

  “Really? No harm done?” Scott narrowed his eyes. “Next time I see the creep, I’ve a good mind to punch his lights out.”

  “See, that’s exactly why I didn’t tell you. These things happen, Scott.”

  “Oh, really? These things happen? In your father’s fancy circles where marriage is just a contract, maybe. Where I’m from, we protect our own. We’re loyal to each other.”

  “This has nothing to do with loyalty or protection or my father’s beliefs about marriage,” Rachel said.

  “Oh, yes it does. Our entire relationship does,” Scott said. “Leon’s death isn’t the only mystery that’s been occupying my mind, you know. There’s also the mystery of why doesn’t my girlfriend, who very clearly loves me, want to move in with me?”

  Rachel groaned. “Now is not the time.”

  “Sometime has to be the time,” Scott said. “Might as well be now. Let’s just lay all o
ur cards on the table. The way I see it, there’s two reasons you don’t want to move in with me. First, you love me but you’re not sure if you’ll always love me. Second, you know that as sheriff, I’m never going to move out of Swaddle, and you’re not sure about yourself. You were tempted by your father’s offer to join his firm. I know you were. Your father was right about that much — you have too much ambition to be truly happy owning a small bakery in small town California. It was a happy, perfect life for your Aunt Rose, but you’re not your Aunt Rose. You’re your parents’ child, and your career matters to you. I heard your mom say it, too. You moved to Swaddle to lick your wounds after your business and your love life imploded in San Francisco. You distanced yourself from your parents because you couldn’t bear to talk about it. You were ashamed to show yourself to them, in a way. But you can’t hide from them forever.”

  “You really think that?” Rachel asked. Her head was thrumming and a red film seemed to have been cast over her eyes. “You think I’m ashamed of my bakery? Of my life with you? Of my friends in Swaddle?”

  “Seems that way to me,” Scott said. “Here. This is where you belong. Fancy islands and private helicopters. I’m a nobody here. You saw how your father and Mason treated me. But you slipped right in and fit like a glove. Part of you wants this life, and would thrive in it. Admit it.” He looked at her with big eyes, almost like he wanted her to deny it all.

  Rachel’s first instinct was to deny it. But his words had worked into her heart like a corrosive acid. What if Scott was right? Her father and mother thought the same thing, too — that she was wasting her life in Swaddle, hiding from reality, instead of achieving all she could. Rachel felt her throat tighten.

  “I don’t want to talk about this,” Rachel said. “I don’t know who you think you are, but in case you didn’t notice, I’ve had the worst few days of my life this weekend. First my mom and then my dad gets arrested for murder. Then my boyfriend, the one person who’s supposed to have my back, turns on my father. And now you’re accusing me of not loving you? All I asked when we came here is that you be on my team, Scott. But no. You had to put on your sheriff’s hat and go around saving people. I wanted you to support me! What about that?”