Page 60 of The Lighthouse on Plum Island
Brad nodded, “Yes, she’s Miss Turner.”
“As if you didn’t know who I was!” Vanessa sneered. “Your staff probably messed up my order deliberately to get me back in here to take more secret pictures of me.”
“Uh…” Collin looked at Brad for help. “Are you a celebrity?”
“Sure!” Vanessa pulled a not-convinced face. “I’ll dish out whatever autographs you want. Just hurry up and fix this!”
Brad glanced around the store and saw the other people who worked there staring at Vanessa’s commotion as his eyes caught the posters that lined the walls. They were pictures of video games and sci-fi characters. Collin nodded and rushed off tosort out the mistake. He was back within a few minutes with Vanessa’s tablet. “Here you go, Miss Turner, and again, I’m sorry for the mix-up.”
“Fine,” Vanessa waved her hand dismissively, glancing around the room expectantly, but no one approached her.
“I think you’re in the wrong store looking for adoring fans, Vanessa,” Brad told her, pointing to the walls. “If you’re not a video game or Sci-fi hero, I doubt whether they’ll recognize you.”
“Noted,” Vanessa said, raising her chin and shoving her sunglasses back on her face. “I best be going. I have a busy day.”
As she flounced out of the shop, Collin turned to Brad, “I’m sorry, but should we have known who she was?” His eyes were filled with concern. “We didn’t mean to offend her.”
Brad sighed and shook his head, “Some actresses take it for granted that the whole world watches their movies.”
Collin nodded in agreement. “The box Miss Turner brought back is your laptop. As she’d opened it, I’m getting one of my team members to quickly check it to ensure it’s okay.”
“That’s fine,” Brad told him. “While I wait, I wonder if you can help with a Smartwatch for my son.”
“Certainly,” Collin said, walking Brad to the watch counter.
Veiled eyes watched Brad from afar as the town car Vanessa had climbed into slowly drove away. The plan was coming together nicely. One obstacle had been removed, and there were only two more to go, and they were going to enjoy getting rid of those two.
CHAPTER 15
“Mo…mmy!” Jules’s voice sang through Caroline’s dreams, drawing her back to wakefulness. “Wake up, sleepyhead.”
Caroline was so relaxed and comfortable she didn’t want to wake up. She wanted to stay wrapped in the peaceful arms of sleep. Caroline snuggled back into her dreams only to feel the dreamworld she was floating into start to shake, and the peacefulness shattered as she got sucked back to reality. Caroline’s eyes opened, and the world around her was fuzzy and moving. She blinked to clear her sleepy eyes and realized she was being shaken. Caroline turned her head to see her daughter shaking her.
“I’m awake,” Caroline grumbled. “Please stop shaking me. You’re making me feel nauseous like I’m on a boat.”
“Oh, sorry, Mom,” Jules said sheepishly. “You have visitors who’re not as patient as Brad was.”
“Brad?” Her sleep-fogged mind cleared instantly as her heart shook away the cobwebs with a hard jolt. “Oh, no, what’s the time?” Caroline tried to push herself upright only to grab her head as pain shot through her brain. “Ow!” She rubbed her temples.
“Take it easy, Caro,” Finn’s voice made her turn her head to find him and Jennifer sitting beside her bed. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“Hey, Sleeping Beauty.” Jennifer stood and kissed her brow. “We were wondering if the doctors gave you a bit too much pain medication for a while there.”
“How long have I been asleep?” Caroline’s eyes took a turn around the room. Her heart dipped when there was no sign of Brad.
“The whole day!” Jules informed her. “I wanted to wake you hours ago, but Brad said to let you sleep, and I helped him finish setting up your new laptop.” She held it up for her to see. “It’s awesome, Mom.” She gave Jules a smile. “Can I have your old one when the police give it back to you?”
“I’m not keeping that new one.” Caroline slowly pushed herself into a sitting position. “When did Brad leave?” She glanced at the clock above the door and couldn’t believe it was nearly four in the afternoon.
“He checked out about two hours ago,” Jules told her.
“Oh, I’m sorry I missed him. We were going to go through the locations I had taken pictures of on my laptop.” Caroline tried to hide her disappointment, squeezing her heart from her voice.
“I went through them with him,” Jules told him.
“I helped,” Jennifer said, holding up her hand.
“Sure, for the last five minutes.” Jules raised her eyebrows at Jennifer.
