Page 75 of Light of Day
Bending over, she unzipped her right boot and tucked the flash drive inside her sock, maneuvering it so it nestled under the ball of her foot. Not too uncomfortable. She took a few steps around the room to test it. No problems whatsoever. Now she just had to get herself down to the east pier and grab the next ferry.
The beam of light from the lighthouse caught her eye again, like a warning sounding from the open ocean. And then it flared bright as the sun, blindingly bright, as something crashed against her head and the light burst into a million stars.
34
Luke and Chenhurried across the town center, dodging kids on bicycles and two trucks that had paused in the middle of the road to discuss something. The light was on inside the Historical Society office, and he saw Amy Lou’s old Audi parked out front.
He kept trying to picture her strangling Denton with a scarf on the cliffs of North Point, then rolling him onto the rocks. It seemed absurd, impossible. Apparently he just wasn’t cynical enough. He could learn a thing or two from Detective Chen.
“Amy Lou Westbrook?” Chen demanded as they pushed through the door. Amy Lou spun around, nearly knocking over the package of chocolate chip cookies she was arranging on a paper plate. “We have some questions for you.”
No scarf, Luke noticed. Was that significant? Had she ripped it while strangling Denton? Then again, she had a whole collection of dorky scarves. The absence of one meant nothing.
“But I…I already…more than once, mind you…who are…Luke?” She ended on a quavery note.
“This is Detective Chen from Harbortown PD. She’s here to follow up on some leads regarding Denton’s…” He trailed off as a sharp scent drifting into his nostrils. He turned to Chen. “Do you smell that?”
Gas. As if fumes were filtering from an unsecured gas can.
“I’ve been smelling it all morning,” said Amy Lou, waving her hand in front of her nose. “I think it’s coming from the community hall. There’s a stove there, as you know.”
“It’s much closer than that.” Luke followed his nose, sniffing as the smell got stronger the closer he got to the back room.
“You can’t go back there,” Amy Lou insisted. She ran to block his path. “That area is completely off limits. The board would fire me if I let anyone in.”
“I’m not anyone, I’m the constable. Move aside, Amy Lou.”
“Let me call the board. I have to notify them, get their permission--”
“This is police business, ma’am,” said Chen, holding up a set of handcuffs. “Do you need me to make it official?”
Amy Lou gave a gasp of shock, her tanned face paling against her bright pink lipstick. “You wouldn’t.”
“I notice you have large feet.” Chen pointed dramatically at Amy Lou’s shoes.
“Wh-what?”
Biting back a laugh, Luke took advantage of Amy Lou’s confusion to move past her.
In the forbidden back room, Luke ignored the totes and shelves and filing cabinets and focused on the bright red plastic gas can shoved into a corner behind a pile of vintage lobster buoys. “What’s that doing here?”
“I…I don’t know…” Amy Lou stammered. “They…someone must have left it here by mistake, I’ve never seen it before…”
He fixed her with a stern gaze. “Amy Lou, did you set fire to the Bloodshot Eyeball?”
“No.” She shook her head vigorously. “Absolutely not.”
He believed her. Whoever had done that had also broken in, and he didn’t think Amy Lou had that skill set.
“How about my house?”
“Of course not.”
“Denton Simms?” Her fraction of a pause told him everything he needed to know. “You’d better tell the truth, Amy Lou. If you set fire to Denton’s house, investigators will find out. Detective Chen, how soon is that arson team getting out here?”
“I believe they’re on their way,” she said smoothly. “And boy, are they good. Perps think that all the evidence will get burned up, but those arson investigators are fucking experts.”
“See?” Luke turned back to Amy Lou. “You’re better off tellinguswhat happened instead of waiting for them.”
