At Maria’s, Mary sat alone at the bar, an untouched glass of white wine in front of her. Harmony slid onto the stool beside her.
“You don’t usually drink this early,” Harmony said.
Mary’s lips curved without humor. “I do now.” The lines around her mouth looked deeper, her beauty carved into something fragile.
“I’m worried about you,” Harmony told her.
Mary didn’t meet her gaze. “She was just a girl,” she murmured. “And they’ll say it was her fault. They always do.”
“You mean Lisa?” Harmony asked.
“I mean all of them,” Mary said. “My daughter, too. They fed her poison and called it a party.” She turned, eyes bright with fury and grief. “They killed her, and now they’ve done it again. The same circle. The same sins.”
Harmony’s pulse thrummed, but her voice stayed soft. “Who’sthey?”
Mary looked at her wine. “You’ll see soon enough.”
“You think the murders are connected?”
“It’s a small place,” Mary said. “Small enough that the same people keep ending up in the middle of everything. Same faces. Same uniforms. Same shrugs.”
Maybe it was just that when a person lost as much as Mary, they saw patterns everywhere. Harmony couldn’t fault her for that.
A stool down, Sue was talking to a couple. She wore a short platinum wig today—it changed every few days. No one seemed to know her real hair color, or how many of the stories were real. Some said she’d been an actress. Others whispered she’d come to the island to disappear. A few swore she was a witch. She loved every rumor.
Her laughter was light, but her gaze kept flicking to Leo, the tattooed pool shark who sometimes called herhis. Matt walked up and joined them, his easy gait hiding the weight of a hundred tasks he needed to finish before sunset. Avalon might be shaken, but people still had work to do.
Mary went quiet. Harmony rubbed her back once in silent acknowledgement, then moved away with Cass.
“How are you doing today?” Sue asked when they reached her.
“I’ve been better,” Harmony admitted.
“I’m doing terrible,” Cass said.
“I’m sorry,” Matt said, giving them a concerned look.
“Being a writer means I don’t handle it well when I’m not controlling the outcome,” Harmony said. “This isn’t something I get to have a say in.”
Matt gave a small smile. “There’s only one person controlling anything in this situation.” Instinctively, he glancedtoward the street, where a patrol car eased past Maria’s before rolling on. Harmony couldn’t tell if he meant the killer, the cops, or the island itself.
Sue nodded. “They’ll figure out who it is. We need to have patience.”
“I guess so,” Harmony replied.
They said their goodbyes and left the restaurant.
“I’ve always liked Sue,” Harmony said as they walked. “She’s everything people pretend not to be. She doesn’t try to control the ending.”
“Do you think that means she could be dangerous?” Cass asked.
“No,” Harmony said. Shemostlybelieved it. Still, she knew Suecouldbe dangerous if pushed too far. A lot of people on the island were like that. They were one word away from snapping. That edge was what kept Harmony coming back. She waited for the snap with a little too much anticipation.
The day slipped into night. The island tried on normal again as music spilled from Luau Larry’s, mixing with salt air and gossip. Ceiling fans spun lazily above the haze of laughter, every chuckle a little too forced.
Tosh held court at the bar, tourists laughing loud enough to sound like denial. Torie sat beside him with Janet on her other side. Janet was demure, but her eyes were tired, as if she’d seen this show too many times. Her fiancé, Jim, sat farther down, talking to Ziad about airplanes, safely removed from the emotional fallout.
Torie looked like she’d been drinking for hours. With her, that was a warning sign. She could go from charming to explosive in a single drink. Janet’s hand rested near Torie’s wrist like she was ready to steady her if she toppled.
