“Oh?” June’s eyes widened. “You know I’ll never say anything.”
“I do,” Holt acknowledged with a nod. “Rad didn't lose the evidence from Lacey's accident scene," Holt said quietly.
“You said it was taken from the evidence room,” June remembered what Holt had told her earlier.
“Fake evidence was removed from the evidence room,” Holt told her.
June stared at him blankly. "Fake evidence?"
"Yes, fake evidence. Rad hid the real evidence and put a decoy set in the evidence lockup. When Tom went to review the file this morning, he found the empty bag Rad had planted there," Holt explained.
The implications hit June like a cold wave. "You're telling me Rad knew someone would try to steal the evidence?"
"He suspected it," Holt confirmed. "Since the first case Rad had when he moved here and took the detective position, evidence Rad has logged either got tainted, misfiled, or just vanished.”
“That sounds off,” June said, her brow crinkling. “If you combine that with the other incidents that have happened to him, like the filing cabinets toppling toward him, the shelf…”
"It looks like someone is systematically targeting Rad for some reason,” Holt finished grimly.
June felt pieces clicking together in her mind, forming a picture she didn't like. "Do you think that the same someone who is targeting Rad is targeting Lacey or Lucy?”
"And Margo," Holt added quietly. “While I have no evidence just yet, my gut says it’s the same person.”
June's head snapped toward him. "Margo? What's happened to Margo?"
Holt hesitated, and June could see him weighing how much to share. "There have been incidents around Teacups, like things being moved, the stove was switched on, and threatening notes. Margo asked me not to mention it to Lucy because she didn't want her mother worrying."
"I won't say anything," June promised immediately, understanding the protective instinct.
Holt gave her a brief smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I figured you wouldn't."
June's mind was working through the connections, trying to find the common thread. "What do Rad, Lucy, Lacey, and Margo have in common? Why would someone want to target all of them?"
She saw something flicker in Holt's eyes, a look she knew well, even after not seeing him in thirty-eight years. It was a look that said he had more to tell, but wasn’t going to.
"Is there something else I should know?" June asked him directly.
“No. That’s all I have for now.” Holt started the car instead of answering immediately. "We need to stop by the lighthouse first," he said, deflecting with practiced ease. “We need to pick up the surveillance cameras I have there.”
June recognized the evasion for what it was, but she also understood that Holt would share information when he was ready. Pushing him had never worked, even when they were married. But she made a mental note to try to fish it out of him subtly.
"Why do you have cameras at the lighthouse?" June asked instead.
"Force of habit," Holt replied as they pulled out of the inn's parking lot. "I was going to set up a security system at the lighthouse."
"For who?" June’s brows shot up, remembering how he had wanted to put security cameras in their small apartment in Cambridge when they were married.
"My son and grandson." Holt didn’t turn toward her as he answered her.
There was something in his tone that made June look at him more carefully. "Is there something specific you're worried about?"
Holt was quiet for several minutes as they drove through the residential areas of Sandpiper Shores. Finally, he spoke. "Rad was shot in New York," he said simply. "During a drug bust, his partner was killed."
June felt her breath catch. "Oh no, Holt. When did this happen?"
"It was just before he moved to Sandpiper Shores.” Holt glanced at her.
“Is that why he moved here?” June asked.
