“Please, call me Lori,” Lori told him.
Jake nodded in acknowledgement, but before he could reply, Tessa marched him toward the kitchen, leading him to the basement door. Lori watched them go, noting the easy way they talked to each other, the comfortable familiarity. They’d clearly known each other for years.
As soon as they disappeared down the basement stairs, Lori pulled out her phone and stepped into the small study off the living room, with Misty following her. She pushed the door slightly closed. Misty flopped down in front of the desk as Lori pulled up Carrie’s number, her thumb hovering over the call button.
Lori stared at Carrie’s name, wondering how much Jim knew. How much he’d told Carrie. There was only one way to find out. She took a breath, then hit the call button and lifted the phone to her ear. It rang once. Twice. Three times.
“Hello, Lori!” Carrie’s cheerful voice came through, and Lori felt some of her tension ease. Carrie didn’t sound worried or upset. “How are you? Are you still enjoying Nantucket?”
“Oh yes,” Lori lied, forcing brightness into her voice. “It’s beautiful here. How are you? How are things in Florida?”
They chatted for a few minutes about the weather, about the neighbors Carrie had been spending time with, and about a new restaurant Carrie had discovered. How Maggie and her new best friend were getting along. How much Luna missed Lori, but had taken to Maggie and was always with her, Cody, and Muttley, Cody’s dog. All pleasant, normal conversation that made Lori’s guilt deepen with every passing second. She hated lying to her best friend. Or at least not offering Carrie all the news and happenings that were going on at Pelican Bay. But Lori knew telling Carrie anything would only ensure that her best friend would be on the next plane out of here. And Lori had already gotten too many people involved in this. She didn’t want to entangle Carrie and anyone else in it.
Finally, Lori worked up the courage to broach the subject. “So, I understand Jim called you about the fuse box?”
“Oh yes!” Carrie said, and Lori heard her friend sigh. “I meant to call you about that, but we’ve been so busy. My neighbors have been taking me on all these boat rides, and the days just get away from me.” She paused. “You should have called me when all those fuses blew. I felt terrible when Jim told me you’d had a complete blackout.”
“Oh, it wasn’t a problem,” Lori assured her quickly. “Jim got the fuses for us right away. The power was only out for a few hours.”
“Well, I’m glad he could help,” Carrie said. “But I’ve been meaning to get that old system changed since I moved into that cottage ten years ago. It’s ancient. I just kept putting it off because, you know, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. But I guess it is broken now.”
“I really don’t mind supervising the replacement work,” Lori told her. “Jake is here right now looking at everything.”
“Jake’s there?” Carrie’s voice perked up with interest. “Oh, he’s such a nice young man. And so handy. If anyone can figure out what needs to be done, it’s Jake.”
“He seems very capable,” Lori agreed.
“Thank you for being so understanding about this,” Carrie said warmly. “I’m sorry to have repairs being done while you’re on vacation. That’s the last thing you need to deal with. But I just don’t want another blackout because a fuse blows again. Especially with Tessa there too now. The last thing I want is for you two to be stuck in the dark.”
Lori felt relief wash over her like a wave. Carrie didn’t know anything else. Jim had only mentioned the blown fuses and the blackout. Nothing about surveillance or attacks or any of the truly frightening things that had been happening. That meant he probably didn’t know. Which made sense, as Lori didn’t think that Mitch or Ryan would make public in Nantucket what was going on at Pelican Bay. Mitch hadn’t even called the police when they’d found the dead seabird displayed on the porch. When Ryan had called the police, it was to a friend who did him a favor. A wave of shock zapped through her. She’d forgotten about that. Tim Moore, who was standing in as Chief for Carrie, had been the one to look after the houses the night Mitch had been injured. Thank goodness he hadn’t said anything to Carrie either. Lori made a mental note to tell Ryan to thank Tim for her. Once this was all over and sorted out, Lori would tell Carrie all about it.
“It’s really not a problem at all,” Lori said. “I’ll make sure everything goes smoothly with the upgrade.”
They chatted for a few more minutes before saying their goodbyes. Lori promised to send photos of her paintings, andCarrie promised to call more often. Then they hung up, and Lori stood in the study for a moment, letting out a long breath.
One crisis averted. Carrie didn’t know about the danger. That was good. That meant they could keep her safe by keeping her in the dark.
Lori had no sooner set her phone down on the desk when Misty gave a bark, shot up from where she was lying in front of the desk, and shot out of the room toward the front of the house. Lori walked to the front door and observed that Misty was once again wagging her tail and sniffing excitedly at the door. Whoever was on the other side was definitely a friend.
She opened the door to find Ryan standing on the porch with Piper beside him.
“Hi,” Ryan greeted her with that easy smile of his. “Is Tessa here?”
“We want to know if she wants to come with us for a ride to drop me at camp,” Piper finished for him with a big smile. She stepped forward to hug Lori before she dropped to her knees to pat Misty, who was beside herself with joy at seeing Piper again. Piper’s head turned toward the pickup truck in the driveway, and her smile faded slightly. “Is that Jim’s truck? Is he here?”
“No,” Lori told them, “Jake, his son, is here.”
“Jake’s here?” Ryan asked, and the abruptness of his tone drew Lori’s full attention. “Why?”
She looked at him more carefully and realized he didn’t seem happy about Jake being there. His jaw was tight, and that easy smile had become rather fixed.
“He’s here to take a look at the fuse box,” Lori told him, frowning slightly. “To give Carrie a quote on upgrading it. Tessa took him to the basement.”
“Of course she did,” Ryan muttered under his breath, so softly that Lori nearly missed it.
But she didn’t miss it. And suddenly everything clicked into place. Ryan was jealous. That’s why he’d been so abrupt, why he looked so unhappy. He was jealous of Jake. Lori hid a smile, finding this development rather endearing.
Ryan seemed to shake himself, and his expression cleared. “Well, if she’s busy?—”
