Page 88 of The Cottage on Plum Island
“Wow! That’s nice.”
“I’m sorry,” Harley said. “But it’s not every day someone gets the drop on me and ties me to a chair.”
“Oh, and this isn’t new for me?”
“Again, Harriet, I apologize,” Harley said, his eyes widening as reality rushed back in, and his head swiveled toward her. “Harriet?”
“Seriously, I think you must’ve hit your head when you were tranqed,” Harriet reasoned. “You are kind of big, so I reckon when you crumple to the ground, you hit it with quite a force.”
“No!” Harley shook his head. “I was crouching down putting the lunch box…” His eyes widened. “Oh no, the thumb drive.”
“What?” Harriet gave him a weird look.
“Angela left a thumb drive for me to find,” Harley explained.
“How would she know you’d find it?” Harriet asked.
“I guess she knows me well enough to know I’d find her, and I’d thoroughly search her room if she wasn’t in it,” Harley told her.
“Nice!” Harriet gave him a disgusted look. “You’re saying that you search Angela’s room when she’s not around.”
“No!” Harley shook his head, getting irritated by Harriet’s snappy assumptions. “Well, yes, I occasionally look around the room.”
“Uh-huh!” Harriet nodded. “I get it. Your ex has issues, and you’re trying to look out for her and make sure she doesn’t stab you when you visit.”
“Something like that.” Harley shook his head, looking around the room, his eyes fixed on the camera. “He covered the camera.”
“Yup!” Harriet nodded.
“Wait!” Harley looked at Harriet curiously. “How are you …” His face dropped as realizationdawned on him.
“How am I here in your ex-wife’s room?” Harriet looked at him with raised brows, her voice dripped with sarcasm. “Or how did I get tied to a chair by a ramblingcrazy person?”
“Both of those, but more importantly, where is Jennifer?” Harley looked at her, fear slowly meandering through his system.
“Well, we came to find you when Jennifer received a text message from Angela telling her they’re at Beach Plum Cottage and need her help because the ‘BAD MAN’ is after them,” Harriet explained. “But that terrible half-nurse security guard hybrid at the front desk wouldn’t let us through. Jennifer messaged Angela to tell her our situation, and she kindly gave us a way into her room.”
“Angela helped you break into a high-security mental health institute?” Harley stared at Harriet in amazement.
“It isn’t so high security if we managed to scale the wall over there, and they let a crazy person just walk in here.” Harriet paused for a moment, and her eyes narrowed. “Wait, maybe he was already in here.”
“Harriet, you can’t go around calling people crazy. Especially not in here,” Harley pointed out.
“Uh-huh!” Harriet gave him a hooded look. “Who’s housed in the basement floor of this building?”
“The criminally insane!” Harley realized what he’d said too late.
“So I can call them insane rather than crazy?” Harriet stated. “That’s actually better as that man was freakin’ insane mumbling to himself about people blaming him, and it’s not his fault. He hasn’t hurt anyone, and that it was unfair that Clair blamed him for Daniel…”
“What did you say?” Harley’s heart froze in his chest, and he felt the blood drain from his face.
“Which part do you want me to repeat?” Harriet asked. “Because I was just getting to the part where he tied me to a chair with his belt and then my wrists behind my back with cable ties.” She shook her head as her voice raised. “Who carries cable ties in their pocket?”
“The part about Daniel.” Harley’s voice was harsh.
“He said that it was unfair of Clair to blame him for Daniel. He had his flu shot, but she didn’t. She only pretended to so she could see the doctor she was having an affair with,” Harriet repeated. “He was rambling about Daniel was like his son too, that he’d never do anything to hurt Daniel, just like he’d never hurt Gloria. He was trying to protect her and his baby brother.”
“He said this while he was tying you to a chair?” Harley had to move the conversation away from the revelation about Daniel. His mind was reeling as he asked Harriet. “Do you know who the man was that tied you up?”
