To her eye they appeared to be a perfect match.
Willow looked up, glanced around to make sure no one else was watching, then got up and quickly walked into the empty break room to call the sheriff’s office.“Hi, it’s Willow.I need to speak to the sheriff.It’s urgent.”
“I’m sorry, Willow, he’s out of the station on an investigation.But I’ll message him and let him know to call you when he’s free.”
“Thank you.”She ended the call and texted Rafe herself, taking and sending a picture of the bookmark.As soon as it went through, she returned to her desk and flipped through the rest of the book to see if there was anything else hidden in it.
Finding nothing else, she created her own library account and checked it out herself to hand it in as possible evidence.She held off on texting Tripp, knowing she would see him in a few hours anyway.
She continued with her work, watching for anything else suspicious, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the bookmark.The script was odd.She couldn’t make sense of it.
Nothing more tripped her radar, and she was actually a little disappointed.She’d been hoping for some other clue that might give them more information or maybe help them break the code.
By the time she’d finished up, it was a little after one.She messaged Tripp to say she was done and was heading over to the sheriff’s office.
Everything okay?he answered.
I’ll fill you in when you get here.
She tucked the book into her bag, said her goodbyes, and headed up the street toward the sheriff’s station.Partway there, she heard someone call out her name and turned to find a familiar figure striding toward her.“Earl!Oh my goodness, how are you?”
“I’m just fine.”He gave her a gentle hug and set her away from him to smile at her.He looked the same, fit and well-groomed, his short gray hair and beard trimmed neatly, wearing his trademark Marine Corps hat.“How are you, young lady?I guess the rumors are true.You’ve moved into your grandmother’s place?”
“I have.Mae tell you?”
The hint of a grin tugged at his lips.“Good guess.”
“Ha, sure it was.”
“Also heard you had a bit of trouble at your place last night.”
“Wow.Word travels fast.”
“You know how it is here.It’s a small island.”
She narrowed her eyes at him.“Yeah, but you have a way of always knowing what’s going on.”
“I know all kinds of secrets,” he said with a wink, but something in his words struck her as slightly troubling.“Are you being careful?”
A tiny ripple of unease skittered through her.What did he know that he wasn’t telling her?“Of course.Tripp’s helping me.”
His expression darkened when she said his name.
The abrupt shift in his mood, his palpable disapproval or even anger startled her a little.She’d always viewed him as a sort of protective, grandfatherly figure.Had never seen this side of him before and didn’t like it at all.
“Tripp?”he said.
“Yes.”She frowned at him in confusion, not understanding his reaction.“He let me stay at his house last night, and he’s looking into getting an alarm and cameras set up for me.”She glanced left just as Tripp’s truck pulled over to the side of the road, relief sliding through her.“There he is now.See you later, Earl.”
“Sure.You take care of yourself.”He looked past her, staring directly at Tripp as he said it.
“I will.”So weird.
Tripp popped the passenger door open for her.She climbed in, smiled at him to dispel the strange tension in her belly.“Hi.”
“Hey.”But he was staring past her through her open window at something.
She glanced over.Earl still stood on the sidewalk where she’d left him, his expression hard and icy as he held Tripp’s stare.“Tripp.”
