Page 56 of Bay of Plenty

She shrank into herself as though she couldn’t talk about it. “You’re so lucky with your mum,” she said quickly and waved back at Mum. “You know she calls the neighbors before you walk past every day, whether it’s for yoga or lunch. Feels like she’s proud of you.”

Since the first day, I’d wondered how the neighbors seemed to know we were coming. I was surprised by a surge of brightness in my chest.

“By the way, whatever happened to Cazza and Lolly?” I slowly climbed out of the car.

“Left town. They come back to visit their parents. Lolly is a suburban mum up north—no doubt terrorizing the PTA.” She shuddered. “And Cazza’s some sort of chemist in Australia… equally scary prospect.”

She said a hasty goodbye and pulled away.

I told Mum what CeeCee said about Janey. “Gosh, I’m as surprised as you are, Isla,” she said. I stayed silent about the spare room.

As we crossed the deck, Fred at our heels, I glanced into the evening sky as it strained to hold on to the last ragged edges of light. I couldn’t help but wonder whether the person staying in that spare room, whoever it was, was the key to our heroin investigation.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Trying to getto sleep that night, I thought about Declan arriving back. Instinctively, I pushed the middle pillows off the bed.

Sprawling across the bed, my bare legs glided over the indent where his body had been. Something about him made me want to disrupt his cool, ruffle that calm, and I imagined what could happen if we weren’t working on this case. Rolling around in this bed, locked in a kiss, our hips rocking into each other, flesh tingling, aching, buzzing. Him, sinking under the covers, his scruff trailing down my body, along with his tongue. Licking my inner thigh. Stroking his fingers upward, upward…

Bouncing out of bed, I shaved my legs, rubbed oil into every inch of skin, and flossed and gargled with mouthwash, just because I had the time. No, it was because I was in a lust haze after that kiss and wanted to continue where we had left off. Which couldn’t happen.

I woke to sunlight streaming in and the sound of a shower. Declan emerged in his boxers, but bare-chested, without his usual T-shirt. We were in a small room, soon to be in one bed, and I would be so, so close to his muscled arms and that chiseled chest. But I couldn’t reach out and touch him. As heslid into bed, I could smell the soap on his skin, his shampoo, and minty toothpaste.

He turned his freshly shaved face to mine. And groaned.

“I thought I was going to die,” he grated out. “Then IwishedI would die. Sorry, can you do the morning stuff without me?” He turned away from me. “I… have… to… sleep.”

By the end of the sentence, he was out.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Day Seven

Declan surfaced fromthe bedroom after lunch, hollow-eyed and pale from the fishing trip. We’d been to visit Dad, and I suggested a swim would help. We lay on the beach, watching Snow, who’d moved his lessons to after midday.

The air tugged between us, sparking, swelling, expectant. I didn’t know how to bring up the kiss. It felt real and deep, like we’d made a connection. Instead, I asked about the fish they’d caught—six—and whether Snow had revealed anything.

“Snow seemed much more interested in talking about surfing and fishing than the winery. The only other thing he mentioned was how much CeeCee irritates him when she interferes with the bookings for his surf school. Got quite angry about it.”

“I wonder if CeeCee’s trying to involve herself more in his life?”

“Hard to know.”

I told him what I’d learned from CeeCee the previous evening at their cottage.

“I don’t know if CeeCee would want him sleeping in another room,” I said. “I feel like she worships him despite being afraid of him.”

Declan’s brow puckered in clear confusion. “Hmm. I get a completely different vibe. He seems to care about her, but it feels like he’s not in love with her.

“We have to rethink whether Snow is the kingpin.” He drew in the sand with a stick. “Maybe it’s someone else in town, and he’s taking orders from them. Or maybe Snow is not involved at all. We have to keep our minds open.”

As I watched, he maneuvered himself onto his elbows, which muscled up his shoulders and biceps… reminding me of something else that would put him in that position.

“Hey, do you want to talk about last night?” he said, gazing at me. “You know, the kiss. I felt something—the possibility that this could be great.”

Our gazes entangled and my stomach flipped. I was stunned he brought it up. Relieved. Then a shift. I thought I’d wanted to talk about it, but now it was out there, I didn’t know what to say.

In front of us on the sand, Snow clowned around with a group of kids he was teaching. I fell back into my safety net.

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