He lowered the evidence bag carefully back onto the dresser.
Then he stood there in the quiet room, looking at it while the lighthouse beam swept silently through the window curtains and across the floor. His eyes moved to the smartwatch, and he wondered if it was Dr. Vernon’s. June seemed to think it was, and if Judy had been taken from that parking area, it made sense that her kidnapper would have removed anything that could track her. They had left her laptop and phone in Dr. Vernon’s room at the inn.
There were just too many threads here, and there was information he was sure he didn’t have, information his father was keeping from him. Rad knew that even June had not told him everything. She had neatly told them what she and his father would have revealed if they had been at a press conference. Things they could know, and not the darker truths that lurked behind those words.
Rad drew in a long breath and let it out slowly.
Tomorrow was going to be interesting.
Especially as he would have to get the police chief’s daughter in for questioning.
That was going to be fun.
His jaw clenched, and he shook his head.
Rad yawned. His eyelids suddenly felt heavy as the exhaustion finally caught up with him. He climbed back into bed and turned off the lamp again. As his mind spun through the information, it slowly began to clear as he drifted off to sleep, being coaxed into dreamland by the smiling face of Margo.
4
HOLT
Holt woke before dawn with Victoria Morrison’s hand still fixed in his mind.
They were fresh, angry red lines across the back of her hand, standing out against her polished skin and expensive composure. A cat could have done that. He had seen Mr. Snuggles launch himself like a furry missile with murder in his eyes, and the animal had looked perfectly capable of taking offense at being handled. But Judy Vernon had fought back against her attacker hard enough to leave marks like the ones on Victoria’s hand. Lucy had confirmed there was skin beneath Judy’s nails, proof that she had fought her abductor.
It was enough to make a man distrust coincidence.
Holt lay still for a few seconds, staring at the ceiling of his old bedroom at the lighthouse cottage, listening to the familiar hush of the place before the day started moving. The house had old bones. It talked quietly to itself in the early hours. Wood settled. Pipes clicked faintly. Somewhere outside, water moved against the rocks with that steady rhythm he had known since he was a boy.
Holt pushed the covers back and sat up slowly.
The ache in his side was still there, but it had dulled into something more manageable. Lucy had been right. He was healing. He only wished the rest of the mess around them would cooperate and do the same.
He showered, dressed in dark slacks and a pale blue shirt, and checked his phone before heading downstairs. There was a message from June telling him Carmen had been given use of the EMT captain’s vehicle, which meant June now had Carmen’s car while they were in Sandpiper Shores. Holt smiled faintly at that, knowing Carmen was one step away from selling up in Miami and moving here.
He slipped the phone into his pocket and headed downstairs.
The smell of coffee met him halfway, and his mouth watered at the freshly brewed aroma.
The kitchen came into view a second later, and Holt stopped in the doorway, pleasantly surprised.
Rad was already up, standing at the stove with a coffee pot in one hand, while Tyler sat at the table finishing a plate of eggs and toast. The boy looked freshly showered, his hair still damp at the temples, and he eagerly munched through his breakfast as if trying to appease his teenage appetite. Holt sighed, wishing his own metabolism still worked the way Tyler’s did.
Both of them looked up.
“Morning,” Rad said.
“Good morning, Grandpa,” Tyler added.
“Morning,” Holt replied, stepping fully into the room. “You’re both up early.”
“I had to get up early.” Tyler shrugged. “I didn’t want to oversleep, and the smell of bacon pretty much dragged me downstairs.”
“I wish it had been that easy to get your father out of bed at your age,” Holt told him.
“It’s my favorite food,” Tyler said. “I’m like one of those cartoon characters floating toward the smell of sizzling bacon.” He picked up another piece and bit into it.
Rad snorted softly as he poured another cup of coffee and handed it to Holt.
