Page 94 of The Beach Hut on Plum Island
“Through the library,” Finn guessed.
“Nope!” Harriet shook her and grinned before turning and pointing to the windows behind them. “Through there.”
“That goes to an ally.” Finn smiled. “Quick thinking.”
They made their way to the back of the room, and Finn found something he could use to climb on to get out after he’d pushed Harriet through. A few minutes later, they were heading down the lane at the back of the bakery.
“Now, can you tell me why we’re sneaking around?” Finn asked.
“Because we need to ditch the security detail, find a car, and get to Boston,” Harriet whispered back. “From there, we’re off to New York.”
“What’s in New York?” Finn asked. “And I know we can get transport with no questions asked.”
“We can’t ask any of our friends or have any trace of us,” Harriet warned.
“No need to,” Finn said, pointing to the bus. “That goes to Newbury Port. From there, I can take us by helicopter to New York. No questions asked.”
Harriet and Finn caught the next bus, which was luckily within a few minutes of Newbury Port.
“But I can ask, right?” Harriet looked at Finn. “About the helicopter. Can they even make the distance from Newbury Port to New York?”
“This one can,” Finn assured her. “It’s a Eurocopter EC155, and I’ll have to log a flight plan, but no one around me knows I own it.”
“You own a helicopter?” Harriet gaped at him.
“Not only do I own it,” Finn told her with a grin. “I’ll also be the pilot!”
CHAPTER 16
Within two hours, Finn and Harriet were comfortable in his helicopter, with her sitting up front with him. Finn had logged the flight plan while Harriet had dug into the envelope her father had given her, which contained a pile of cash, a key to a house in the Hamptons Harriet didn’t know they owned, and another envelope. The second envelope was marked for her to only open when she arrived in the Hamptons.
They’d used the cash to buy some clothes. Harriet insisted they get bomber jackets, black jeans, and Ray-Bans because they were going to fly a helicopter. As they got ready to take off, he turned and smiled at her.
“Are you ready?” Finn asked.
Harriet nodded as they started to lift off. “I haven’t been in one of these in years.”
“I’m so glad you’re not afraid of them,” Finn told her. “So many people are.”
“Are you kidding me?” Harriet looked at him with excitement flashing in her eyes. “I want to learn how to fly one.”
Two hours later, they landed at East Hampton Airport, and forty minutes later, they were in a taxi heading for the secret house Harriet’s father was sending them to. When they got there, Finn and Harriet were surprised to see it was a beach house nestled between sprawling mansions that were dotted along the sand.
“This little house seems oddly out of place here,” Finn pointed out, his arms ladened with the bags of clothes they’d bought in Newbury Port.
Harriet unlocked the house, and they stepped inside to find it was an ultra-modern house inside.
“I’m wondering how my father managed to get this place,” Harriet told Finn, looking around. “But I must say, I love what he’s done to it. He’s kept its charm but modernized it. I’ve always wanted to live here. This, to me, is a beach house.” She smiled at Finn. “It belonged to Mrs. Ruthers, a widow whose family had lived here for generations. She passed away five years ago, and because there was no will, it just sat.”
“Where does your family live?” Finn asked her.
“Here’s the fun part,” Harriet told him.
She walked through the cozy living room and opened the double doors that led onto a deck-like porch with stairs leading to the white sea sand. Finn put the bags down and followed her. She turned and pointed to a huge mansion that towered beside them.
“That’s my family home where I grew up.” Harriet turned and pointed to another sprawling mansion on their left. “That’s the Blackwell house, and beside them is the Danes house. The house on the other side of my family home is Dawn’s family home.”
“So you all grew up next to each other?” Finn clarified.
