“What are you thinking?” asked Luke. “Do you know something I don’t?”
“Hey, I’m just a bystander. A TV actor. A bystanding TV actor.”
Luke snorted. “Don’t undersell yourself. Something tells me you and Tina Chen are in this up to your elbows. Gotta go. My ex-stepmother just showed up in the harbor—like I have time to deal with her.”
What was Celine doing there? Surely that couldn’t be a coincidence. “Just a heads up, Luke. We’ve dug up some information about Celine that?—”
“You mean that she’s seeing Hendrik de Vries? Yeah, I know. She sure knows how to land on her feet.”
“Not that. Celine’s brother is the man who was engaged to Marigold, and also the man my sister was seeing.”
“What?”
“But I’m pretty sure all of this is connected. My sister’s disappearance, Celine showing up now, this task force, Clyde’s death…just keep your eyes open. And if you find out anything you think I should know…”
“You got it. We’ll have our own damn task force.”
“Exactly.” Jack spotted the exit sign for Harbortown. “Gotta go. Following up on a lead.”
“Listen to you. If you ever want to leave show biz, we might be able to use you here. So long as you don’t want to get paid.”
Jack laughed, and ended the call.
Following the directions given by his maps app, he soon found the house listed on the car’s registration.
He parked across the street and pulled out his phone as if he was making a call. In case anyone got suspicious of a stranger loitering on this quiet street lined with maple trees. Some of their leaves were starting to turn, and when the sun hit them, they shone a deep crimson red. The neighborhood was all single-family homes, many in a classic Cape style with gables and white clapboard siding.
The house in question, 2268 Berwick, had shiny black shutters and a front door painted forest green. He could just go up and knock on it, pretend he’d gotten the address wrong if someone answered. He’d be able to tell a lot just from that type of interaction.
He was about to call Tina and tell her his plan when the door opened. A young woman stepped out. The sun slanting through the maple leaves lit up her hair in a collision of auburn and scarlet and he gasped out loud.
It was Jessie.
And yet, not Jessie.
She wasn’t moving like Jessie. His sister had a way of carrying herself that he’d recognize on any street in any country—one shoulder slightly raised to protect herself, her head tilted to take in any absurdity that caught her notice. This woman walked as if she was lost in a dream. As she walked down the front porch steps, she didn’t look in any direction other than straight ahead. Was she sleepwalking? Would she even see him across the street?
He moved to roll down his window, then paused. Don’t be reckless. He could practically hear Tina’s warning. What if someone was watching her? Someone with a gun?
He stayed still, phone to his ear, as if he hadn’t even noticed the young woman walking down the street. Every nerve ending tingled with the urge to jump out of the car and grab his sister. But something else, even more powerful, was telling him not to move a single muscle.
As Jessie made her way down the sidewalk, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Why did she look so…off?
He pulled his key fob from the ignition and pressed the lock button. The sharp beep caught her attention and she looked his way.
And right through him. Completely indifferent. As if she’d never seen him before in her life.
35
Tina had no choice but to call on her police badge at the Concord Hospital. Only next of kin was allowed, unless you were law enforcement hoping to question him about the accident.
“He just regained consciousness,” the nurse told her. “He was real lucky. No broken bones.”
“That’s good news. Can I speak to him now?”
“Sure, but you’ll have to keep it short. He needs rest.”
“Not a problem.” All he had to do was tell her where Jessie was, explain his whole smuggling operation, and maybe reveal who had killed Benny Clyde, and she’d leave him alone.
