Harbour Falls (A Harbour Falls Mystery #1)(107)

Ami shot me a look of pure hatred. “Don’t say it that way,” she spat. “It’s not like I wanted to kill him. I asked him what was in the envelope, just to be sure. And he immediately lunged for it. There’d be only one reason he’d want to grab that envelope before I did…and…well, somebody had to stop him.”

“With a bullet to the head?” I asked, appalled.

Ami didn’t hear me because she began to laugh. Or maybe she had heard. In any case it sounded so wrong in light of what she’d just confessed to doing.

Her steely gaze returned to me. “I must say, you showed up that morning at the perfect time.” She suppressed a giggle. “Sometimes dumb luck is better than all the planning in the world. I couldn’t believe my good fortune. Not only had I gotten to the picture minutes before it would have been in your hands, but then the police suspected you of killing the stupid kid.” She sighed, a picture of contentment. “It was beyond perfect.”

Ami may have been crazy, but she was evil and clever as well. Her tone was cold and calculating, never betraying an ounce of remorse. Not for killing Jimmy. Not for allowing me to take the fall. Not for faking her own disappearance. Nothing.

“Even though the police were focused on you, I had already planned to lay low for a couple of days. Just to be safe. But then I had an idea,”—another icy smile of wickedness flashed my way— “why not make it so the police suspected you of two crimes? So I called you before I took off. I knew you’d take the bait, seeing as you were just soooo curious as to why I’d gone to California.”



“Why did you go to LA?” I asked listlessly, since it didn’t really matter. Not anymore.

“Contrary to whatever you’re thinking, Maddy,” she began scornfully, “I’m not all bad. I didn’t want things to come to this” —she waved the gun around the lighthouse interior— “I really hoped you’d get discouraged. Quit digging around. Go home to a guy who obviously still cared for you.” She sighed. “But it didn’t work, did it? You just had to fall for Adam. Just like back in high school.”

“Shut up,” I said, not wanting to hear Adam’s name even cross her evil lips.

“Thought you weren’t interested anymore, Maddy?” Ami mocked.

“I guess I lied.”

“You don’t even know him,” she scoffed.

“Better than you,” I shot back defiantly, but my courage wavered when the gun began to shake in her hand.

“So you think,” Ami ground out.

Arguing was probably not a smart move, so I changed the subject. “Let me go, Ami,” I pleaded. “It doesn’t have to end this way.”

“I wish I could.” She smiled a sad smile. “But you know too much.”

I didn’t know why she suddenly looked sad, but I wanted to strike while the iron was hot. Play on her emotions, if that were possible. “Let me go. If not for me, Ami, do it for Sean’s sake, he—”

Suddenly she lunged at me. This time I raised my arm to protect my face from the assault. “Shut up!” she screeched as she swung the firearm at me. I ducked, and the gun whooshed through the air. “Don’t even say his name, you bitch.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I cried, terrified the gun would discharge with her wild flailing.

Finally Ami backed off, her chest heaving. Her hands shook, but she managed to keep the gun leveled at my chest. “I’m sorry,” I whispered once more for good measure.

“I love my husband,” she choked. “But she was going to ruin it all.” Amy took one hand off the gun and wiped at her face, pushed back a swath of hair that had fallen into her face.



“Who?” I asked.

“Chelsea,” she replied, her breathing ragged and raw with emotion. “She didn’t want me anymore. She was going to tell Sean all about us.”

I swallowed hard. Ami was offering up a pretty strong motive. One lover scorned, the other threatening to expose the affair to an unsuspecting spouse. Yeah, my gut was telling me that Ami had played a role in Chelsea’s disappearance. The only way to find out was to keep her talking. And her talking bought me more much-needed time. Maybe somebody—Max, Nate, Helena—would see the parked Lexus and come down to investigate. Maybe even Adam would return, wonder where I was, and come save the day. Anything was possible; I had to hold on to that hope.

To keep Ami talking, I asked as gently as I could, “Ami, what happened?”

The Ami I once knew, the girl I’d shared secrets with, that girl met my eyes. If I could reach her, maybe, just maybe, I’d get out of this unscathed. It took everything I had to muster an encouraging smile, but it worked.

Ami began to tell me everything.

She told me how she and Chelsea became friends, even before Adam purchased Fade Island and hired Ami to run Harbour Falls Realtors. She was thrilled that the beautiful Chelsea Hannigan had chosen her as a friend. But Chelsea had other plans. She became intent on seducing Ami. She complained to Ami that Adam had quit sleeping with her years earlier. Ami asked her why she stayed with him, but Chelsea said she’d never let him go. Never. And even though Chelsea claimed to hate Fade Island, many of her trysts with Ami occurred at the lighthouse. When Ami realized Chelsea was using her, she felt shameful that she’d cheated on her husband. And Ami had done so with someone who seemed to just want to get back at Adam for not wanting her anymore.