Harbour Falls (A Harbour Falls Mystery #1)(96)

His eyes met mine, and I knew he sensed my feeling of hopelessness. “Maddy, everything is going to be fine. You have to trust me on this one.”

“How can you be so sure?” I murmured.



Adam covered my hand with his. “The police will find the person who killed Jimmy.” He sounded so certain. “And all of this will be over.”

“I hope you’re right,” I muttered.

I didn’t know how he did it, living under a veil of suspicion. I’d only experienced it for a little more than twenty-four hours, and I found the burden to be almost unbearable. Adam gave my hand another squeeze, and then we resumed eating. But not a minute later, the doorbell rang, the loud chime insistent. I threw Adam a questioning glance, wondering if he was expecting someone, but he shook his head. When he rose to go answer the door, I did as well. Adam hesitated for a moment and then shrugged.

Together we reached the foyer just as the bell began to ring again. Adam swung the front door open wide, and I could see there were two people on the other side. From my vantage point behind Adam, I saw Max, but his impressive bulk was shielding whoever was next to him. Max began to speak, explaining how he’d been patrolling the ferry dock and noticed someone pacing around in the dark. I thought I heard the name Hensley, so I stepped forward, fully expecting to see Ami. She’d made it over to the island after all.

But no, it wasn’t Ami standing next to Max. Instead the person at his side was Sean Hensley. And he did not look happy.

And that’s when things started to go from bad to worse.





Chapter 25



With a singular focus, Sean Hensley pushed past Max and rushed into the foyer. “Ward, please,” he begged, his face pained, and his voice desperate. “You have to help me. Please! My wife is missing.”

“What? Ami is missing?” I exclaimed, though no one seemed to hear me.



An image of J.T.’s scratched arm filled my thoughts. Ami was supposed to have been on that one o’clock ferry, but she never showed. And now, according to her very agitated husband, she was gone. Disappeared. Missing.

I opened my mouth to say something more, but Max and Adam were too preoccupied getting Sean under control to notice. Ami’s husband’s emotions vacillated between despair and anger at what could have happened to this woman he obviously cared for very deeply, despite her issues.

Sean eventually calmed down enough to put together a coherent timeline of what had happened. “She left the house at around noon,” he uttered, dragging a hand down his face. “She was fine though. At least I thought she was.” He glanced at me. “Ami said she was coming over here to visit Maddy.”

My face grew warm. Great, I thought. Thanks, Ami.

Max eyed me curiously, and I looked away, feeling guilty for no good reason other than the fact Ami had apparently vanished somewhere on her way to see me. Turning my attention back to Sean, I listened as he explained how he’d waited…and waited…for his wife to return. Hours passed with no sign of Ami. He’d tried her cell phone, but when he was directed straight to voicemail, he realized the phone was off.

“You have the resources, man,” Sean pleaded, his eyes focused solely on Adam. “Please help me. Look, I know she has, um, issues” —his voice cracked— “but I love my wife. Please, I have no where else to turn.”

“You can file a report with the police,” Max gently suggested, while Adam appeared to be assessing the situation with a cool head.

Tears welled in Sean’s eyes, and my heart went out to him. He clearly loved Ami.

“I tried the police,” he said, turning to Max. “They said I have to wait forty-eight hours. I can’t wait. What if, what it…” A tear trailed down his cheek, and in a choked sob, he turned back to Adam and said, “Please, Ward. I know you can do something.”

Sean’s heartfelt pleas must have touched Adam. Or maybe his own feelings for Ami got the best of him. In any case he agreed to help. He promised Sean he’d pull a few strings to get things rolling on the search for Ami. But Adam was adamant that he wished to remain anonymous for obvious reasons. The last thing he needed was to be publicly attached to yet another missing person.

So later that night on the local news—following a report on the search for more clues in the Jimmy Kingston murder that left me cringing—the missing person’s report Adam had pulled several strings to have aired as soon as possible was broadcast. Ami Dubois-Hensley’s pretty face flashed on the screen, along with her vital stats. Female, late 20s, blonde hair, blue eyes, five foot two…

I watched the report from Adam’s bedroom, sitting at the foot of his massive bed. Adam was still downstairs doing who knew what. Surely Max and Sean had left hours ago. I hadn’t been in Adam’s bedroom since the night we’d spent together in this room, sleeping. I didn’t even know if I should be here now, but my bags were by the closet, and he had been the one to bring them up, so I supposed this was where I should be.

The report ended, and I flipped the television off. It was getting late, and I had no clue if Adam was planning on sleeping in here or not. With everything going on, it felt like our relationship had stalled. And I didn’t know how to get it back on track. We’d not even been fully intimate yet, even though we’d declared our love.