Page 83 of The Lighthouse on Plum Island
“I’m sorry,” Simon apologized. “I’d love to read it.”
“You’re not reading it before I do,” Jennifer joined them at the table. “Carly’s breakfast is just so good I have to have another bagel with her homemade cream cheese.”
“Simon was explaining the spyware-type program the police found on my stolen laptop,” Caroline told Jennifer. “How long have you known about that?”
“I found out last night after Dawn got a threatening message on her phone,” Jennifer answered.
“Then Brad found out he hadn’t got calls or messages that day, even though he’d made a few and sent some messages.” Harriet walked to the table and poured coffee into a mug.
“Miss Vanderbilt tried to message Mr. Danes, but it didn’t go through,” Simon added.
“Maybe his phone doesn’t work in New England.” Caroline shrugged.
“Brad messaged Dawn back,” Harriet explained.
“I don’t understand.” Caroline’s brow furrowed in confusion. “You said Brad didn’t get the message.”
“He didn’t!” Jennifer told her. “Nor was Brad the one who rudely answered Dawn’s message.”
“Oh!” Caroline suddenly realized what they meant about cloning, and shock waves made her nerve ends tingle. “Someone cloned Brad’s phone.”
“Yeah.” Simon nodded. “Again, it was professionally done.”
“Why would anyone want to clone my phone?” Caroline was trying to absorb what they were saying.
“For the same reason, someone installed that program on your laptop,” Simon told her. “They were trying to monitor you both for some reason.” He took more bacon. “Miss Vanderbilt’s threatening message was similar to the one on your phone.”
“You went through my phone?” Caroline was flabbergasted. That was her personal information, and he may as well have told her he’d rifled through her purse.
“I’m sorry, Miss Lines, but I had to.” Simon’s eyes flashed with regret. “I don’t like doing it, but I did find out that your message was sent before Miss Vanderbilts, and I was able to trace the vicinity where the message was sent from.”
“And that helps you how?” Caroline was trying to bite back her annoyance at having her phone tampered with.
“It was sent from the internet cafe near the library,” Harriet told her.
“Those computers have cameras that take photos of whoever used the laptops,” Simon explained. “Because of the time stamp on your message, I can trace the PC and get a photo of whoever used it.”
“We think that whoever’s been threatening you and broke into your house is trying to sabotage the series,” Harriet told her.
“Why?” Caroline’s voice was filled with outrage. “I don’t have enemies.”
“No, but the rest of us do,” Brad’s voice had her spinning around to find him standing in the kitchen doorway. “Hi!” His eyes softened as he greeted Caroline.
“So what you’re saying is that I’m caught in the middle of a vendetta that has nothing to do with me but is about to tank my television series before it’s even begun?” Caroline stared at him in disbelief.
“We’re sorry, Caroline,” Jennifer’s hand touched her arm, and suddenly it was all too much.
She needed time to clear her head and put some space between her and Brad. Her world tilted whenever he was near her, and she couldn’t think straight. That cologne of his filled her senses, made her heart beat more rapidly and excited the butterflies in her stomach.
“Wait! Stop!” Caroline held up her hands and pulled her arm away from Jennifer. “This is all just too much. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” She stormed into the kitchen, giving Brad a wide berth and opening a drawer to pull out a ziplock bag and a mug flask. “I was just supposed to be this author sitting in my lighthouse tower writing gripping mysteries that Fern McBride solved.” She walked back to the dining room table. “You know, like a younger Jessica Fletcher.”
Caroline stuffed two bagels with cream cheese and a fist full of bacon into the bag while four pairs of eyes watched her without saying a word. She filled the mug flask with coffee.
“I was happy with just having the books published and the publishing house interested in the next installment of the series.” Caroline forced the lid onto the mug. “I wasn’t supposed to capture the attention of a production company or go to New York and get swept up in the romance of it all.”
Caroline took her beach bag hanging on a hook near the kitchen door and shoved the items into it before hooking it over her shoulder. She stood staring out the living room window at the sparkling sea ahead.
“My life was supposed to be quiet as I dealt with my moody teenage daughter while getting lost in my writing.” Caroline shook her head and moved through the living room. “Instead, I feel guilty about bringing chaos to my little hometown. I don’t recognize myself in the mirror, let alone the life I’m being propelled into.” She clicked her fingers, and her three pets stood to attention. “And I wanted towritemysteries, notlivethem.”
