Page 102 of Secrets Beneath the Waves
“Oh, come on. You’re on a tropical island with three eligible bachelors. Most people would kill to be in your shoes.”
“Speaking of killing . . .”
Dead silence on the line.
“Someone did try to kill me today,” Ellie said, in her most serious tone. “Three people, actually.”
Her mom was the first to speak. “Who tried to kill you?”
“I’ll get to that. First, I need to ask you something. Dad, have you . . . did you look into the three guys I’ve been seeing?”
Her dad hesitated. “You told me not to.”
“I changed my mind. I want you to do a complete check on them.”
He laughed. “I already did.”
Ellie let out a groan. “Dad, I told you not to!”
“And I specifically ignored you,” he replied. “It saves us time now. You’re welcome.”
Ellie pinched the bridge of her nose. “Fine. What did you find out?”
“Why the sudden change of heart?” he asked. “Last time we talked about this, you said you didn’t want me poking around. Now you want to know what I found.”
“Because I don’t trust them,” Ellie confessed. “All three of them have given me reasons to think they might be the mole.”
“Interesting,” he said. “Well, you can rest easy. They all checked out. Nothing suspicious.”
Ellie saw the frown on her face in the mirror across from her bed. “What about Mark?”
She heard papers rustling. She could envision her dad sitting at his desk with a file folder on each of the guys within arm’s length.
“Mark,” he said, “grew up in the Cayman Islands. His father’s a police officer. His mother died when he was young.”
A pang shot through her heart. She didn’t know about his mother, and he never said anything. It might explain why he never wanted to talk about his childhood.
“He told me his dad is a cop,” Ellie said. “He’s proficient with firearms which made me suspicious.”
“No red flags there. He probably would be if his dad’s an officer. Your mother taught you how to handle a gun before you were walking.”
“That explains a lot.”
“It wasn’t loaded,” Mom said.
“Mark went to the University College of the Cayman Islands,” Dad continued. “He has a degree in architecture. Although, he doesn’t use it. He works for an advertising firm. He has twenty-three thousand four hundred and seven dollars and twenty seven cents in his savings account and a couple of thousand in his checking account. He pays off his credit cards to zero every month. His monthly car payment is?—”
“I got it. I don’t need all the details.”
“My assessment is that he’s not the mole, and he’s not good enough for you. If I had to choose between the three, though, I’d choose him.”
“That’s nice to know. I think I’ll make that decision myself.”
“Which one do you want to know about next?”
“What about Matthew?”
“Why do you ask about Matthew?” Mom said.
