Page 15 of The Familiar Stranger

Please to avoid,

Friends of PI.

What might have been a signature or a sketch of some sort at the bottom edge of the note had been torn away and was barely legible. It could have been a million different things. As for the paper itself, it appeared to have gotten wet, which made sense. Harmony picked it up off the lawn, according to the chatty nail tech, and it had been raining off and on since we got here. That night in the hotel room, in fact, I remembered mentioning to Maddie how the constant stream of rain reminded me of being in the spa.

“Where did she find the note? On the lawn, in the bushes …?”

“Just off the covered patio, sort of where the mulch meets the grass. She said it freaked her out so much, she dropped it, like it was on fire or something. But then she thought better of it, that I should see it, so she picked it back up and shoved it in her coat pocket. That’s when she was whacked in the head and went down. I heard her cry out, and I rushed out to check on her.”

I had so many questions. “And you were where when this happened?”

“In the kitchen, right next to the sliding glass door to the back. That’s why I heard her so well. If I’d been anywhere else in the house, I might not have.”

“Why did she go outside in the first place?”

I wondered if they’d argued, though I doubted she would tell me if they had.

“To commune with nature,” Almond said. “She calls it her time to ‘reflect and decompress’ after caring for others all day long. She does it every evening after work. You could set your watch by it.”

There was no hesitation in her response, and it made sense.

“What are her work hours at the spa?” I asked.

“Six days a week, five hours a day, except for Mondays.”

“That’s a long work week, given she’s constantly kneading muscles.”

“Yeah, I know. But it’s her passion, and I do my best to support it.”

“So her schedule is predictable,” I said, realizing this could have helped someone plan their attack if indeed they were aiming for Harmony.

Maddie cut in with, “I’m guessing you didn’t see or hear anyone running away?”

“To be honest, I didn’t even look. I was too concerned about Harmony. Although … maybe I saw something. A shadow? Hmm, no, it was more like I sensed that someone was there orhadbeen there. Geez, now I sound like Harmony. Anyway, it was not my top priority at the time, though now I wish that I had taken a moment to inspect the area.”

“That old 20/20 hindsight,” I commented.

“Right. To be honest, y’all, even though everything is getting sorted out and Harmony’s okay, I can’t help feeling … well, terrified. I’m worried it will happen again. It’s hard enough to believe someone’s targeting her … but what if, I mean, what if they’re targetingus?”

It was in that moment I was certain she was innocent of any wrongdoing. Whether she and Harmony had relationship issues, whether Almond needed to address her temper and jealousy, no matter what others might say about them … Almond’s partner had been targeted with an intention to harm, maybe even do more than harm.

It was a terrifying prospect.

Also terrifying was the fact that the note was referring to me, the PI.

It had to be.

But who wrote it, and why?

One thing was certain.

Vacation time was over.

Detective mode was now engaged.

CHAPTER12

THE VILLAIN LAMENTS

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