At that, Magdalene laughed, and Paloma joined her. When their plates were cleared, and Victoria brought their usual cappuccinos herself, Magdalene nodded to the empty chair to her left.
The Crowhart matriarch sat down without a word. The Headmistress threw a furtive gaze around them, then leaned closer. Paloma found herself doing the same.
“There is nothing on the cameras from any of Ceridwen’s neighbors,” Magdalene said quietly.
Victoria was the first to react to the opening salvo.
“You’ve spoken to Redding?”
Paloma watched the Headmistress grin. “No, I had the presence of mind not to wait for two weeks before I paid those neighbors for their security footage. My secretary had the copies the morning after the break-in. They were clean.”
“Took you two weeks to tell us?” Paloma knew her question was rather pointed, but the Headmistress didn’t even blink.
“I sent the footage to a friend of mine in Washington to make sure that there was indeed nothing on it.”
She took a long sip of her coffee. Victoria all but jumped out of her skin, fidgeting.
“And?”
“And the footage was wiped. Same as the footage from the town hall’s exterior cameras pointing at Crow’s Blossoms during the evening it was broken into by ‘kids playing ball,’ as the esteemed Sheriff Redding would have us believe.”
“I fucking knew it!” Victoria smacked her palms on the table. Magdalene covered her hands with her own to prevent more noise from being made.
“With all due respect to Sheriff Redding, he’s in over his head. Something much bigger than a home invasion is going on, and for some reason, the Crowharts—and by extension, everyone connected to them—are involved.”
“Nothing out of the ordinary has been happening at Astronomy. Except we had an instance of hacking…”
Paloma trailed off and watched the dual-colored eyes blink, then widen, before the striking face returned to its neutral expression.
“I’m sure your experts are looking into it. Along with law enforcement?”
Paloma hoped her face was just as neutral when she nodded. Why hadn’t she thought to associate the cyberattack on her business with what was happening to the Crowharts? For all intents and purposes, they were hers now, and she was theirs. The question was: Which one of them was the real target?
She took a breath and pushed forward with the conversation.
“People are looking into the hacking. They canceled our reservations, a mild annoyance, if that was what they were aiming for.”
Victoria gave her a sideways glance.
“Must’ve kept your attention away from something, since I really have no idea what other ‘mild annoyances’ have been occurring otherwise.”
“That may be true,” Paloma acquiesced. “As for the rest, I have security along the entire perimeter, and the Viridescent Cliff is fully protected.”
Paloma clicked her phone open to show Magdalene and Victoria a list of reports with pictures from the recent incidents.
“I know. I know exactly where all your cameras are, Ms. Allende. I mirrored most of them for Dragons, to ensure that all three cliffs are fully covered, should we need protection. And yes, everything has been uneventful on the cliffs so far. Which brings us back down to the town. And the Crowharts. Still, I have not discounted that the election has its role to play in whatever is going on.”
Victoria sat a little straighter and whispered, “Fowler has not been seen on the island since October, Headmistress.”
“Fowler also didn’t have the kind of money that is being pumped into John Moss’s campaign. Fowler’s campaign was more of a shoestring operation. Whereas now, we have a wannabe French convicted assaulter on the island, shadowing the candidate.”
“All campaign contributions are supposed to be disclosed and declared.” Paloma stirred sugar in her coffee as she spoke. “And I have looked into the provenance of his money. Supposedly, it’s all his. Very few donations. He’s not actively fundraising.”
“Neither are you.” Magdalene winked at her.
“I have no need for fundraising. My own money can buy and sell this town, if not the island itself.” Paloma spoke quietly.
“I don’t know about you, Headmistress, but that right there, just now? That was hot.” Victoria made a motion of fanning herself.
