“It’s a no.”
I fill a bucket from the water pump between the old cabin and the old outhouse while we talk. Don’t want to leave Sloane alone too long, so I need to get the campfire handled.
“You sure?” I ask my sister.
“My organization doesn’t work on American soil. I just happen to live here and like puzzles. I’m personally curious. That’s it.”
“But you checked to see if Sloane had a record.”
“Yeah. Duh. Not the first time for any of you yahoos, and I’d like it known it took immense self-control to let Tripp figure out Lila’s secrets on his own, but I did it, and I’m proud of myself. So. Patrick Dixon. He went south of town this morning, circled back, ransacked Sloane’s house, and then disappeared into the ether again. How good are the witnesses?”
“Four total. Three of them picked him out of a random group of pictures.”
“Gotta love small towns.”
“Only if you don’t love boundaries.”
She snickers. “You really tell an old lady your dick’s a biological weapon?”
And people think I hear everything. How the fuck did she know that? “Not my finest moment.”
“I’m looking into this Nigel guy too. What do you know about him?”
“He’s a dick.”
“What else?”
What else matters? I pour the water slowly over the fire while I continue filling Vanessa in on anything she might be able to use to find dirt on him. “Pastor at a small church in a town called Two Twigs, Iowa.”
“What’s he doing in Shipwreck?”
“Tormenting Sloane.”
“Why now?”
“She told her grandmother we’re getting married and Grandma doesn’t like me.”
“What did you do to Grandma?”
“Breathe.”
She snorts.
“Didn’t even talk to her until tonight.”
There’s a pause.
And then— “Tell me you didn’t verbally eviscerate an old lady.”
That’s not happening. I keep emptying the bucket. The fire sizzles and smokes, just like it should. And when I breathe through my irritation with Sloane’s grandma, I know I’m on even ground again. That my temper has been locked back up where it belongs, and I’m in control.
“I need more information on this Nigel guy,” I say. “I don’t like him.”
“He’s a preacher, Davis.”
“He gives off Uncle Gerry vibes.”
I feel my twin shiver on the other side of the phone.
