Page 38 of Saltwater Promises
She narrowed her eyes. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“I am. Is this something that you want to know?”
She didn’t hesitate. “Yes. Tell me.”
“And you promise that you won’t try to get involved?”
She thought about this for a moment before responding. “Yes, I promise.”
Mike talked almost nonstop for the next hour. He started at the beginning – when he gave Margie the house, then all of the kids filtering on to and off of the island. He told her about Jade’s park, and her house being burned down by Jared.
“At the time,” he said, “I didn’t know any of this was going on. I was undercover. No one thought it was related to me. And it wasn’t, not exactly. The real trouble came later.”
He told her about the zombie movie, and Chet Benzini, and Lenny spotting “Gary” on the island. She was fascinated with the properties that Lenny bought – as was Mike – but her favorite part of the whole thing was Amanda attacking Lenny.
“I can’t believe that she pepper-sprayed him twice.”
“The first time was a taser,” he said. “The second time was pepper spray.”
She laughed. “Oh, right. This is wild.”
“I know.” He let out a sigh. “I have a feeling it’s only going to get worse.”
He told her about his suspicions about Lenny cutting a deal, the trip to NYC, and the red Mercedes springing back to life. He was finally able to tell her how useful her pictures from the gallery were, and how he’d met with the attorney general.
“And now you’re all caught up.”
She let out a long breath. “Wow.”
“I know that Benzini must be connected somehow, but I’m just not sure how. It’s too many coincidences – the properties, the movie, the Rolls. I have all of these pieces, but I can’t fit them together.”
“You’re sure that you don’t want my help?”
“I am. And you promised to stay out of it.”
“I will.” She put her hands up. “I’m just saying. We made a great team, once upon a time.”
He felt faint for a moment; of course he remembered. He could think of little else these past few weeks. If he weren’t already sitting down, he would’ve needed to. “I remember.”
They were told that they were welcome to stay and picnic for the rest of the day, which was nice, because Mike felt like he could stay with her there on that blanket forever.
Lynn was back now – the real Lynn. She was airy, she was warm. She was laughing again. She went over ten different theories, only eight of which Mike had thought of before. They went back and forth, discussing the details, time slipping away.
It was all going perfectly, swimmingly,magically, until he thought he saw someone watching them. Mike looked up as a figure darted behind a tree.
“Stay here,” he said, standing up. “I need to see who that was.”
