“Cass and Tosh are eating. Zach’s on a job site, and I found myself heading this way. No one wants to be alone. I didn’t want you to be, either.”
“I like being alone,” Mary said.
Harmony sat opposite her. “You shouldn’t right now. Candy’s death has everyone raw. You and her were close.”
Mary’s gaze flicked to her. “Not really.”
Harmony looked surprised. “But, you sang at her birthday—”
“That was a performance, not closeness. No one here truly knows anyone. Everyone performs.”
“What’s your role, then?” Harmony asked.
Mary smiled without warmth. “I’m the grieving soul. It’s a good one, isn’t it? People forget what really happened, then label you for how you act. They also forgive whatever you say if they think you have a good enough reason to say it. Pain makes us holy, doesn’t it?” The words were spoken with sarcasm and disgust.
“Pain gives people tolerance and forgiveness,” Harmony said.
“Pain makes a person dangerous.” She paused. “Holy is far from what it makes you.”
The air between them went still. Something in her tone made Harmony’s skin prickle; it wasn’t a metaphor to Mary. It sounded like a verdict. For the first time, Harmony wondered if Mary was closer to the center of this story than she’d let herself believe.
Then, without warning, Mary stood.
“Do you want something to drink?”
Harmony looked like she wanted to argue. Mary knew people thought she was drinking too much. She didn’t care. Harmony finally shrugged. “Sure, it might take the edge off.”
Mary grabbed a bottle of wine and started opening it. Before she filled the two glasses, Cass appeared in the doorway like chaos in human form.
“This is officially the creepiest week of my life,” she declared. She paused as she studied Mary and Harmony. “Mary, you look like death’s understudy. You could be her twin, Harm. We have to stop this, or I’m going to start thinking we’re cursed. Pour me wine before I lose my mind.”
“It’s too late to stop anything. We’ve been cursed since the first ferry docked on this damn island,” Mary said.
Cass gulped wine. “Everyone is whispering around every corner. Some think Torie killed Candy. Others say it’s you, Mary. Some have even saidme. A few say Zach. Harm is in the top three. It’s crazy.”
“What about Tosh?” Mary asked.
“He’s one of the few I never hear mentioned, which is insane. The guy can be as cold as ice,” Cass said.
“If we didn’t have gossip, we’d have nothing,” Mary said.
“They’re scared,” Cass said.
“They should be scared,” Mary said, her voice eerily calm.
Harmony tucked that away. Calm people with nothing to lose were always the ones to watch.
Another shadow darkened the door. Then Zach stepped into the room. He frowned. “Everyone is at each other’s throats in town. Tosh almost got into it with one of the deputies. He thinks the cops are covering things up.”
“Maybe they are,” Harmony murmured.
Zach snorted. “Or maybe you like the sound of a good conspiracy.”
Cass crossed her arms. “Maybe she’s right. Every time something happens, there’s less evidence than there should be. It’s like the island cleans up after the killer.”
Mary’s voice was soft but sharp. “Maybe the island is simply keeping what belongs to it.”
They all looked at her. Something in her tone sent a chill through the room. Zach cleared his throat.
