“Should I be?”
“No! I’m the good guy.”
“Really? Does Marigold Olson know that?”
He jerked against her arm, but she had the upper hand and he got nowhere. A few minutes later they were safe inside the Escalade she’d picked up at Avis—the only vehicle available—with Seth stretched out on the back seat, seemingly exhausted.
“I never meant to hurt Marigold. Ending an engagement isn’t a crime, is it?”
She started up the Escalade. If only it was her official vehicle with the flashers, she could get out of here more quickly. She eased out of the parking spot, keeping an eye out for more potential South African security firm employees.
Something touched the back of her neck—soft, like a bug flying against her skin—and she brushed it away.
“Where are we going?” Seth asked from the back seat.
Good question. Now that she’d made it into the car, she felt exhausted and out of ideas. Her mind seemed frozen in place. She wanted to interrogate Seth about Jessie and Marigold, about the car that had caught on fire in the Rutland Hospital parking lot, and the map that was in Jessie’s pocket. The smuggling…right, that too. What were they moving in and out of Lightkeeper Bay? Why was a South African ultra-kazillionaire getting involved?
But she couldn’t even get her mouth to open. Maybe she should just take a nap first.
“See, I’m thinking we should go to Sea Smoke Island,” said Seth. His voice sounded oddly compelling. Hypnotic, as if she could listen to it forever.
“Wh…why?” she managed to ask.
“You said you wanted answers. All the answers are on Sea Smoke. We should go there now.”
That made all the sense in the world. Who needed a nap? The only thing that mattered was getting to Sea Smoke Island.
She exited the parking lot and made the turn that would take them east, toward Maine. She was feeling so funny…not bad, really. No, not bad at all. Happy, even. A smile spread across her face. She was going back to Sea Smoke! She was going to get answers! Best of all, she didn’t have to make any decisions about any of it!
She looked in the rearview mirror, and blinked. Why did Seth look like a bear? She blinked again, and he turned into a balloon. Another blink and he was back to himself. Smiling at her. So beautiful, like an angel from heaven.
“What…what did you give me?” she whispered.
“I gave you just enough, no more. Don’t worry, you’re going to love it. I know policing is a high-stress profession. Lots of trauma, right? I bet you’ve been through a lot, especially as a woman in a macho type of environment. Throw in the challenges of being a minority, possibly an immigrant…life has been tough for you, hasn’t it?”
His empathetic tone told her he understood just how difficult her life was.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“That’s why you’re the perfect candidate for Night Light. Wouldn’t you like to erase all that trauma from your life? You got so lucky, running into me.”
“Night…light?” That term had come up before, but the way her head was swimming, she couldn’t quite remember where or how. It really didn’t matter, anyway. She felt so good, so free…all that old stuff from the past should just stay there.
“We’ll talk about it on Sea Smoke. I’m going to sleep now, wake me up when we reach the harbor. Oh, and just to be safe, better give me your phone.”
She couldn’t think of a single reason not to, so she handed him her phone. He turned it off, and a moment later was asleep. She kept driving.
36
Jack tried Tina’s phone yet again, but still got no answer. Shit. Something must have happened, because she’d insisted he call her before he did anything with respect to Jessie. Why would she then not answer her phone?
On foot, he followed Jessie to the little Cumberland Farms grocery store several blocks away. She bought a carton of eggs and a loaf of bread, then added a Recharge Gatorade.
She hated Gatorade and she avoided gluten because it affected her mood. Why was she buying things she normally wouldn’t touch? When she got back to the house, she punched in a code and disappeared inside.
Should he knock on the door and confront Jessie face to face?
He tried Tina one more time, and once again got her voicemail. Damn it. He couldn’t just do nothing. Not when Jessie was acting so strange.
