“I suggest you save the excuses for the lawyers.”
As Tina rounded the counter, withdrawing her handcuffs, Kate started laughing. “Do you know how ironic it is that you have now arrested everyone in my family, except the one who deserves it most?”
“Actually, Marigold Olson got the honor of arresting your son.” Tina paused before taking hold of Kate’s arm. “But would you care to elaborate?”
“Will it help me if I do?”
“Oh, for sure. At the least, it’ll help your guilty conscience. You’re talking about the Night Light murder, am I right?”
Gabby leaned forward with the recorder. Heather draped her arm around Gabby’s shoulders as they both tried to hide their excitement.
“Yes. That was Mark. He made me come with him so I could see how far he would go.” She was fully trembling now, shaking all over. “And so I’d be implicated.”
“How so?” asked Heather.
“I could have stopped him, but I didn’t.” She started to sob, then cut herself off with a visible hand gesture. “I won’t cry. I won’t. The truth is, I didn’t want him to stop. That man, Mr. Schuyler, was an abuser. I wasn’t the only one, either. Just about every woman who worked there had a story to tell, even the teenagers. But I was the only one who watched him die at the hands of my ex-husband. So maybe I deserve to get arrested. Go ahead.” She held out her hands for Tina to cuff.
But instead, Tina tucked them away and put a hand on her shoulder to guide the unresisting woman out of the shop. She didn’t know if Kate’s lifetime of trauma would make a difference in her defense. Her role was simply to enforce the law, not make a show out of it.
No offense to Jack.
42
Later, back in the cozy attic room of the Sunderland cottage, Tina snuggled next to Jack. Sure, it felt like sweet redemption to crack a major international drug smuggling ring. And yes, giving Marigold the opportunity to arrest her runaway bridegroom was quite satisfying.
But by far, the best part of the aftermath of the Night Light bust was that she and Jack agreed that they might love each other. For real. They were both fully onboard with exploring how deep that went. They were already working on creative ways to be together.
“I can commute,” he insisted. “When we aren’t shooting, I can live anywhere.”
“That’s sweet. But maybe I want to watch you shoot.” She rolled on top of him, loving the feel of his long body under hers.
“You can watch me any time you want. I’ll fly you to the set. You can stay in my trailer. You can be my own private personal consultant.”
“How personal are we talking?”
“The naked kind of personal, of course. Goddamn, you’re sexy.” He skimmed his hands along her sides and ended with his hands on her bare ass. “How’d I get so lucky?”
“I don’t believe in luck.”
“Fate, then?”
“Maybe.” She propped her forearms on his chest and thought it over. “Or maybe things just happen and you work with them. Even the traumatic things. If I hadn’t witnessed that corrupt sheriff as a kid, I never would have become a police officer, which means I never would have come to Sea Smoke Island and wound up chasing the same guy as you.”
He caressed the curve of her shoulder. “So we have Marigold’s broken heart to thank?”
“Yeah, that seems kind of unfair. She gets dumped, we get together.”
“You’re right. It’s not fair.” Smiling ruefully, he found that super-sensitive spot on her back and stroked it lightly until she squirmed. “We should make it up to her.”
“Well, I did make sure she got credit for how much she helped in the investigation. She even got offered a job in the Harbortown police department.”
“Is she going to take it?”
“I don’t know. She’s thinking about it. She’s also trying to screw up the courage to start dating again. Talk about traumatized.”
“She’s like a Viking goddess, she should have no trouble meeting a non-smuggling wierdo. She just needs to get off this island—hey, that’s it! We’ll give her a vacation.”
Tina burst out laughing. “You’re a genius. Hey, it worked for me. Took a vacation, found the light of my life.”
