Harbour Falls (A Harbour Falls Mystery #1)(101)

Things like me being the prime suspect in Jimmy’s murder. And things like the police exploring the possibility that I had played some nefarious role in Ami’s disappearance. Yeah, it would be great to forget about those things. Locked away in Adam’s bedroom was an excellent way to forget, but we couldn’t stay here forever. Or could we? In any case it was sweet Adam was trying to think of ways to keep my mind from getting too caught up in all the unsettling events of the past few days.

“But you have to fly to Boston in the morning,” I reminded him, sighing.

Adam was finally closing the deal with the Boston client, which was a relief. It meant his frequent business trips of late would slow down considerably, allowing us more time together.

“Yeah, but I’ll be home by late afternoon,” Adam reminded me in return, and then he suddenly smiled slyly, blue eyes dancing. “And I know just what we’re going to do. We won’t even have to leave the island.”

“What?” I queried. “Does it involve leaving your bedroom?” I arched an eyebrow. If it involved spending more time here, I was game.

Adam tousled my hair playfully. “Yes, naughty girl, we’ll be leaving the bedroom.” he said. “But I’m keeping the juicy details secret until tomorrow.”

“Adam!” I chastised, swatting lightly at his chest and feigning a pout.

He caught my hand easily and pulled me to him. And just like that, our words were silenced once again.





Thursday night turned into Friday morning, and somewhere during that time frame the electricity was fully restored to the island. Reality was slowly creeping back in. And our brief respite from the troubles of the real world ended completely when Adam left for Boston. Before departing, however, he’d awoken me with a soft kiss. Proclamations of love were uttered from both of our mouths, but his secret surprise for later in the day remained unspoken.

I couldn’t sleep after Adam left, so I got up, showered quickly, and dressed for the day. Once I reached the kitchen, I toasted a bagel and glanced out the glass panel windows that ran along the back of the house.

In contrast to the past forty-eight hours, this day was positively sparkling. It was as if the heavy rains had washed away all the darkness. But then I remembered my life was still in turmoil. The Harbour Falls Mystery was no closer to being solved than it had been the day I’d arrived on Fade Island. Jimmy was dead, and according to the morning news, Ami was still missing. Worst of all, I was probably close to being arrested, seeing how I was unfortunately linked to both cases.



The walls were closing in, and time was not on my side. The more days that passed with no new leads, the more likely it was that the police would take me in. Even if I wasn’t officially charged with Jimmy’s death, I certainly expected to be asked to come in for more questioning. So it was imperative that I find answers. And quickly. As if to underscore my last thought, my cell rang at that very moment.

Without looking at the display screen, I answered with a hesitant hello.

“Maddy.” It was my dad, thank goodness. I needed a dose of my father’s levelheadedness.

But his tone was grim, so I asked, “What’s wrong?”

My father took an audible breath and exhaled slowly. This couldn’t be good. “I just got off the phone with Detective Mitchell. He wanted to give me a heads-up…” He trailed off.

“Dad?” My voice trembled. “What kind of a heads-up? What’s going on?”

Following another unsteady breath, he began to explain, “Some small-time drug dealer who hangs out at that dive, Billy’s, has been running his mouth.” —Zeb, I thought— “He was taken in on some kind of parole violation late last night, and they found drugs on him.” The mayor coughed, clearly not approving, and then continued, “Anyway he’s promising to testify against you in exchange for leniency in his own charges.”

I groaned, and my dad added in a strained voice, “Please tell me you don’t know this guy, Maddy. He’s a drug dealer, for God’s sake.”

“I met him once,” I confessed. But I didn’t intend to detail my brief and disconcerting interaction with Zeb to my dad, so I only added, “He was creepy.”

My father said nothing. I had no idea what he could be thinking, so I asked quietly, “What did he say about me?”

More throat clearing and then, “He’s claiming you were more than, uh, friends with Jimmy Kingston. Claims he saw you there with the bartender a number of times and that you looked rather close.”



“That’s a lie!” I cried out, cursing Zeb. “An outright lie.”

I didn’t know which was worse, my dad knowing I’d had some sort of interaction with a sleazy drug dealer, or him thinking I’d had something going on with Jimmy. Ugh.

I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing for it all to be a bad dream. I silently wondered if—in addition to saving his own ass—Zeb was getting back at me for not taking him up on his unseemly offer of drugs. I recalled his leering stare when he’d hinted at his “payment plans,” and I almost lost my breakfast. Instead I started to cry.

“Maddy,” my father soothed, “I know he’s lying. This dealer is just looking to get out of trouble, and he thinks he can bargain with testimony against you. He’s nothing more than an opportunist scumbag.”