“But his sister...” Lori prompted.
Tessa shook her head. “All I can tell you is that when Sally first moved back here and Mitch caught her eye, she didn’t like Mommuch. There was a lot of tension between them, but Sally had to be careful as Mom is the police chief.”
“How did your mother handle her?” Lori asked, trying to recall if Carrie ever mentioned Sally Lane. But she couldn’t think of any conversations about the woman. But then again, Carrie had barely mentioned her handsome neighbor either. Her best friend wasn’t much of a gossip and respected other people’s privacy and right to live their own lives without others sticking their noses into their business.As long as no one is getting hurt or breaking any rules or laws… what they do is not my business, was Carrie’s motto.
“Then, when Sally started dating Mitch, and once she realized my mother was not a threat to her relationship with him, she backed off and became a little more civil to my mother,” Tessa told Lori. “But on the odd occasion I came to visit Mom and Sally was next door, I saw the disdain in the woman’s eyes.” Her brow furrowed. “She does seem to have a jealous streak.”
Alarm shot through Lori, cold and sharp. “Do you think that’s why she’s hired that man?” Her voice wobbled slightly despite her best efforts to keep it steady. “To find out about me? To see if I’m a threat?”
“I think that’s a bit excessive,” Tessa stated, but her tone wasn’t entirely convincing. “To hire a private investigator to look into someone just because they think the woman threatens a romance. That seems like a lot of effort and expense for jealousy.”
“Love makes people do weird things,” Lori reminded her. She thought of Trevor, of the lengths he’d gone to in trying to protect her from knowing about the Stanstead investigation. “People docrazy things when they think they’re going to lose someone they care about.”
“Yes, but I don’t see Sally threatening you with a dead bird,” Tessa pointed out, her voice practical and logical in that way lawyers had. “That’s so... old-fashioned gangster. Like something out of The Godfather. Sally Lane is a lot of things, but I don’t see her wading through a beach in designer heels to plant a dead seabird on your porch.”
Lori tried not to remember that poor, dead bird displayed on the porch. The cold, glassy eyes staring at nothing. The way its neck had been twisted at an unnatural angle. The smell of death and salt water. “I guess you’re right. It doesn’t seem like her style.”
“Did Mitch’s contact mention the name of the company the windbreaker guy works for?” Tessa asked, leaning forward with interest now.
“Barstow Security,” Lori told her.
Tessa’s brows crumpled together, her expression shifting to something Lori couldn’t quite read.Concern? Recognition?“Are you sure that’s what it said?”
“Yes,” Lori said, wondering at Tessa’s reaction. “Why? Do you know them?”
“Yeah, they are not a nice security firm,” Tessa told her, her voice dropping lower. “They’re known for their shady dealings. They operate in a legal gray area most of the time, and there are rumors they’ve crossed the line into illegal territory more than once. My firm has run into them a few times on opposing sides of cases. They’re the kind of company that people hire when they want results and don’t care too much about how those results areachieved.” She blew out a breath. “And they tend to take cases that other security or PI firms won’t touch.”
That cold feeling in Lori’s chest intensified. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s not.” Tessa leaned forward even more. “The message didn’t give the name of the windbreaker guy, did it?”
“Elijah or Elias...” Lori racked her brain, trying to remember the exact wording of the message. “Dane, I think. Yes, Elias Dane.”
“I can see windbreaker guy with that name,” Tessa said, and there was something grim in her expression now. “Sounds like the kind of name you’d find in a noir detective novel.”
Tessa glanced at her wristwatch, and her eyes widened. “Oh shoot, is that the time?” She downed the rest of her coffee in three large gulps and shoved some eggs and toast in her mouth, chewing quickly. “I’m sorry, Lori, but I have a conference call for work in five minutes. I completely lost track of time.”
“No problem,” Lori told her, though she felt a twinge of disappointment. She’d hoped to talk more about this Sally situation. “Go ahead. Take care of your work.” But then she shook her head in mock despair. “Although, Tessa, remember what you said. When you’re on vacation, you’re on vacation. That means no work either.”
“I know, I know,” Tessa said, already heading for the stairs. “But this client is important, and I promised them I’d be available for this one call. After this, I’m officially off the clock. No more work. I promise.”
Lori watched her go, then turned back to her own breakfast. The eggs had gone cold, and they didn’t look particularly appetizinganymore. She pushed the plate away and reached for her coffee instead, cradling the warm mug in both hands.
Sally Lane. Barstow Security. Elias Dane.
The pieces were starting to come together, but the picture they formed wasn’t one Lori liked at all.
Tessa
Tessa waited in her room, counting the seconds in her head. She’d closed the door loudly enough for Lori to hear, and now she stood by the window watching for Lori to move to the back of the cottage.
It took three minutes. Finally, she saw Lori walk past the window below, heading toward her studio at the back of the house. Lori had her coffee mug in one hand and her phone in the other, probably planning to work on one of her paintings while Tessa was supposedly on her conference call.
Perfect.
Tessa grabbed her phone and slipped out of her room as quietly as possible. The old cottage stairs creaked under her feet, but she moved quickly, keeping her weight on the edges of the steps where they were less likely to make noise. She’d learned that trick as a teenager sneaking out to meet friends.
She reached the front door and eased it open, wincing at the slight squeak of the hinges. But there was no sound from theback of the cottage, no indication that Lori had heard. Tessa slipped outside and closed the door softly behind her.
