“I... um.” Cordelia’s cheeks flushed. They’d gotten off track. Damn those inconvenient pheromones. “It’s a toxic substance.”
“A what now?” His forehead furrowed as the spell he’d been under seemed to lift. “What does a toxic substance have to do with anything?”
“That’s what killed your daddy.” Cordelia took a deep breath. Here went nothing. “Someone slipped palytoxin into a bottle ofwine, hoping Corbin Abernathy would drink it, but he gifted it to the pastor instead. I’m sorry.”
“Hold on.” Archer stood, holding his palm out as he pinched his brow. “How do you know any of this?”
“Your daddy didn’t die in the church.” Cordelia pinched her lips together, knowing what she said next could ruin everything between them. “He died in Daisy’s room after drinking poisoned wine. We moved his body because we thought he had had a heart attack and should be found someplace more respectable. For your momma’s sake.”
“Son of a—” He began pacing. “And you’re just telling me this now?”
“We thought you’d pin it on Daisy.” Just saying it out loud made Cordelia realize how wrong she’d been about not telling him from the get-go. “We tampered with a body and evidence and all that.”
“Hell, Delia. What am I supposed to say to that?” He buried his hands in his hair. “I knew y’all were lying to me, but I thought he’d gotten sick at Daisy’s and she kicked him out and felt guilty about it or something. Not this.”
“I know.” Cordelia could feel the panic rising in her chest, her breath getting shorter. “I screwed up, and I’m so sorry, but I’m trying to be a hundred percent honest with you because we’ve got a bigger problem on our hands now. Sean O’Leary kidnapped Edna Abernathy tonight. Don’t worry, she’s fine, but now I’m certain he plans to take us all out.”
“For crying out loud.” Archer collapsed in his chair. “What exactly have y’all gotten yourselves into? Sean O’Leary is not someone you want to mess with.”
“It started when you told us your daddy had been poisoned.”
Cordelia went on to explain the steps they’d taken to find the real killer. From the trip to Bramble Park, Val’s winery and the stolen guest book and their sudden appearance at church, why she’d been so distracted on their date, the whole fiasco at Benedict’s, why they’d broken into the Abernathys’ warehouse, how they’d gotten mixed up with Sean O’Leary, what he suspected about the Chickadee’s history, what she suspected about the sheriff, and how they ended up rescuing Edna out in the brush country. She spared no details. By the time it was all said and done, he knew it all.
And he was not pleased with her.
“You know how much trouble this would’ve saved if you’d come to me immediately?” Archer swore under his breath. “Do I even need to ask if you destroyed the wine bottle?”
“It went out with the trash that week.”
“That’s just great. I’m going to guess you’ve also got a perfectly reasonable explanation for why Daisy didn’t end up poisoned as well?”
“She doesn’t drink on the job. It’s in her code of ethics.”
“Of course it is.” He got on the phone with someone and sent them out to round up Sean and Jameson, then hung up. “Chances are, he’s long gone by now. I don’t want any of you ladies staying at the Chickadee tonight. A B&B just opened up in town. I’ll get you a guard.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Cordelia muttered.
“Unfortunately, I do.” Archer flung his phone on the desk. “Tell me more about this palytoxin. Knowing you, I assume you’ve researched all the ins and outs of it.”
“It grows on coral, so it can only be found in saltwater tanks. It can be deadly to humans and causes cardiac arrest, which is why Daisy thought your daddy had a heart attack.” Cordelia knotted her fingers together. “It was how we initially tried to track down the killer. Saltwater tanks are hard to maintain and not a lot of people have them.”
“You said this toxin is only found in saltwater tanks?” The color drained from his face. “Are you sure about that?”
“I mean, I suppose it could grow on coral in the Gulf, but that seemed less likely.”
“Damn it.” Without warning, he jumped to his feet and stormed out the door.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
CORDELIA DIDN’T KNOW WHERE ARCHER WAS GOING OR WHY, ONLY THATsomething inside her drove her to follow. He didn’t even get in his truck, just took off down the street. Wherever he was headed had to be in town. She thought about calling out to him, to ask him where he was going, but she hesitated. She didn’t know if he’d even want her company, so in the end, she stayed silent as she trailed him. He was so focused, she doubted he would’ve heard her anyway.
At the end of the street, he turned the corner, and the chain-link fences and squat single-story homes gave way to older, more established architecture. Cordelia’s stomach twisted as her old neighborhood came into view. She hadn’t taken the time to drive by here since she’d returned to Sarsaparilla Falls, unsure of what memories would be waiting to ambush her.
The Arts and Crafts–style homes with their wide cement porches and thick columns were largely unchanged, as if the neighborhood had a duty to preserve the historical integrity of the properties. Cordelia’s daddy had inherited his place from his parents and left it behind when he fled. It was the only reason why her momma had been able to make a fresh start in Dallas. The sale of the premier home in a hard-to-enter area of town had set them up good in their new life.
Cordelia wondered if they’d grown up in another part of town, maybe someplace less fancy, if her momma would’ve felt asostracized. Lord knew, she hadn’t been perfect, or even acceptable, but being surrounded by people who made it their purpose to act as though they had it all together had to have weighed even more heavily on her. She couldn’t keep up with the Hatfields and Conroys in the poorer neighborhoods, let alone the Joneses.
Despite Cordelia’s belief in the contrary, stepping back in time and seeing her life from a fresh angle didn’t bring old hurts roaring back. Instead, it allowed her to view her childhood through a different lens. Her momma hadn’t done right by her, but she’d done the best she could. Maybe that was all any of them could do.
