What Lies Below, page 18
“It’s dogpalooza!” Willow crouched down and wrapped her arms around the squirming mutts. “C’mon, Sherlock. You, too.”
“They are so happy to see you.”
Willow waved at Astrid, posed like a model on the porch that wrapped around the huge cabin. The place belonged to Astrid’s brother, Tate, but she and her son had been staying with him for a while, and would continue to live here until Tate returned from an assignment in DC. Willow had a sneaking suspicion that Astrid and Olly would move in with West Chandler when Tate returned.
“You look nice,” Willow told her. “Too nice for the rugged outdoors of Dead Falls.”
Astrid made a face. “I know, sweetie. I’m sorry. I have a showing in town, and I have to leave. Don’t worry. Olly is at his friend’s house, and you can help yourself to anything in the fridge for lunch.”
“No worries, Astrid. I’ll hang out with the dogs. If I leave before you get back, do you want me to put them inside or leave them out?”
“Inside, please. When nobody’s home, Sherlock still tends to wander.”
“Got it, but if not today, let’s catch up soon. I like the new sheriff.” She flashed Astrid a thumbs-up. “I approve.”
“I’m going to have a get-together when Tate comes home. I’ll even invite Heath Bradford.” Astrid gave her a broad wink. “Can you hold on to Sherlock while I run to my car? I don’t want him jumping on my slacks.”
Willow curled her fingers around Sherlock’s collar. “I have him.”
Astrid minced out to the Jeep in her high heels and beeped her horn when she drove away.
Willow settled in a chair at the edge of the firepit with a couple of balls and a knotted rope. Luna and Sherlock tussled and tumbled and chased the ball, while Apollo lazed contentedly at her feet.
She’d almost forgotten about the outside world when the dogs stopped their play and turned toward the woods, barking up a storm.
“Hey, get back here. You are not taking off on my watch, Sherlock.” She grabbed a leash and corralled the big shepherd mix, leading him back to the house. “I’ll give you some snacks inside, I’ll have lunch, and then we’ll resume our romp out here.”
She didn’t have to coerce the other two dogs. They scrambled after her and Sherlock, and she herded them inside the house.
About to step inside after the dogs, she heard a twig snap behind her and whirled around.
Garrett Keel raised a hand. “Hi, Willow. Got a minute?”
She licked her lips and considered releasing the dogs again, but her gaze flicked to her purse by the chair and the lump from her gun inside. She closed the door and stayed on the porch.
“Hey, Garrett. If you’re coming here to put pressure on me or threaten me, give it up.”
He slicked back his black hair. “I’m not my sister.”
“What does that mean, Garrett?”
He aimed a toe, shod in an expensive cowboy boot, at a rock circling the firepit and then thought better of it. “Ellie has gone off the deep end. She’s made some kind of devil’s bargain with Lee Scott if she can deliver Uncle Toby’s property. I—I’m worried about what she might do next.”
Descending the porch as if approaching a wild animal, Willow said, “Is she responsible for the fire at my cabin? The airplane? My so-called mugging last night?”
Garrett pressed a clenched fist against his mouth. “Are you okay, Willow?”
“Is she trying to kill me?”
“She just wants to...convince you to see reason.”
“That’s not going to happen, Garrett.” She edged a little closer to her purse. “And why are you here?”
“I want to get evidence against my sister once and for all. Put her where she belongs—in prison.”
“Evidence against Ellie?” Willow spread her hands. “I don’t have that. Just her lipstick and maybe a red flannel shirt—weak.”
“I—I think you might have it, but you don’t know it. Ellie’s been searching for it.”
“Searching for what? I didn’t find anything in my father’s papers—or Toby’s, for that matter.”
“Did you, by any chance, find a homemade recipe book? Handwritten recipes pasted inside a notebook with some food drawings on the cover?”
Willow’s mouth dropped open. “I—I don’t have it.”
The pleasant mask dropped from Garrett’s face as he took a menacing step toward her. “Don’t lie to me, Willow.”
Chapter Eighteen
Heath strode down the dock toward Mark Santos’s boat and spotted Mark on the deck of a neat little Catalina 22 Sport. “Nice boat.”
“Isn’t she?” Mark patted the side. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to set sail with you and pass out—unless you also know how to sail a boat.”
“I do, but I’m not interested in taking over the controls again.” Heath stepped onto the boat, joining Mark. “Tell me everything you remember.”
“Took care of all my postflight duties and walked over to Seadog Pizza. They had a couple of games on the TVs there, so I ordered a pizza and a Coke. There were a few of my boating friends there, and we talked some smack for a while.”
“Any strangers talk to you?”
“Of course. It’s that kind of place—long tables, communal dining and drinking.”
“Women?”
Mark cracked a grin. “Always.”
“Any get close enough to your drink to slip you something?”
“Sure did. I even went to the john a few times and left my drink unattended. Don’t they tell young ladies these days to take their drinks with them when they’re in a bar? Should’ve followed that advice.”
“Do you remember what any of these women looked like?”
“One particular blonde caught my eye. I even offered to take her up in my plane.” Mark winked.
“No raven-haired sirens?”
“Could’ve been.”
Heath fished his phone from his pocket and brought up a couple of photos he’d snatched of Ellie Keel from the internet. He turned his phone around to Mark. “Did you see her there?”
Mark shoved his sunglasses to the top of his head and squinted. “Naw, I don’t think so.”
Disappointed, Heath swiped to the next one. “How about this angle?”
Taking the phone from him, Mark brought it closer to his face and used his fingertips to zoom in. “Yeah.”
“She was there?” Heath’s pulse jumped. They needed all the evidence they could get against Ellie.
“Not the lady, man. The dude. That dude standing behind her was at the Seadog, all dressed up. Looked out of place.”
Heath snatched the phone back from Mark and stared at Garrett Keel’s face, enlarged. The two of them could be working together.
He smacked Mark on the back. “Thanks, man. I think we can get you cleared with the FAA. You were targeted and drugged.”
A surprised Mark yelled his thanks as Heath clambered out of the boat. He had to tell Willow about this new development. He had no proof that Garrett Keel drugged Mark Santos, but they had a couple of starting points for West to dig his teeth into.
Back in his truck, he brought up Willow’s texts to let her know about this latest development. He reread her text about the recipe book, and his gaze swept through the cab of his truck. The corner of the notebook peeked out from beneath the passenger seat, and he yanked on it.
As he pulled it free, several pages fell out of the middle of the book, and he gathered them in his hands. He glanced down at the loose pages and dropped them as if they’d scorched his hands.
He’d recognize his mother’s handwriting anywhere.
* * *
“I’M NOT LYING, GARRETT. I don’t have that notebook.” Willow drew in her bottom lip, her gaze darting toward her purse.
He cleared his throat and looked at the sky. “I saw you with it at the meeting last night. You put it in your purse. I—I knew you were in trouble as soon as I saw it because I figured Ellie saw it, too. That’s why she hit you and stole your purse. So if you just give it to me, you’ll be safe from her.”
From Ellie or from him?
“What’s in that notebook, Garrett? It looked like recipes to me.”
“So, you do have it. And you haven’t read it. That’s good. That’ll keep you safe, Willow. Just give it to me, and I’ll turn it over to Sheriff Chandler. It’ll contain all the evidence he needs—against Ellie.”
“What did Ellie do years ago that concerns the property and the casino project today? Why is Jessica Bradford’s body buried behind Toby’s cabin?”
Garrett’s eyes bulged from their sockets. “How do you know that body is Jessica Bradford?”
“We know. Her son knows.”
His face a bright red to match his sister’s lipstick, Garrett screamed, “Where’s the notebook, Willow?”
“It’s right here, Garrett.” Some branches at the tree line parted, and Heath stepped into the clearing. He raised the notebook in his hand. “I’ve got it right here...and I’ve read it.”
Garrett staggered back a few steps, and then pulled a gun from his waistband. “Hand it over, Heath. Hand it over, or I’ll shoot Willow, right here.”
“I don’t think you will, Garrett. You’re not really a killer, are you? Despite what’s in this booklet.”
With Garrett’s attention on Heath, Willow scooted closer to her purse, her foot inching toward the strap on the ground.
“It’s a lie, Heath. I didn’t kill your mother. Toby did.”
Willow froze. “You killed Heath’s mother?”
Heath spread his arms, still clutching the notebook. “You were right, Willow, except it wasn’t Toby who came on to my mom. It was Garrett. She rebuffed him. Laughed at him, even, for his youth. Enraged, he tried to assault her, but she fought back. He shoved her, and her head cracked against a rock. An accident, right, Garrett? An accident during the commission of another crime.”
“She was using Uncle Toby. She had an unhappy marriage, and she cried on Uncle Toby’s shoulder. I told her she could cry on my shoulder anytime. I meant that. I loved your mother.”
Heath snarled, “Stop! Your uncle helped you. You both buried her in the back, and Toby told everyone how suicidal she was, how she wanted to disappear and spare her family the grief. He may have even planted that note we found. But Toby wrote it all down, appended to my mother’s own diary of events. He kept it in case you ever tried to turn things on him. In case you ever tried to get his property from Willow’s dad.”
“Willow’s dad.” Garrett spit out the words. “He knew what happened.”
Willow covered her mouth. “My father knew what happened to Jessica?”
Garrett sneered. “That’s why he left the mineral rights to her son. Guilt.”
“He suspected, Willow.” Heath shook the notebook. “He didn’t know for sure. He just suspected.”
Willow’s gut churned. “So, you wanted your uncle’s land to stop the development so nobody would ever find Jessica Bradford?”
Garrett threw back his head and laughed. “That’s my sister’s thing. I don’t give a damn about this land, never did. But when my uncle threatened to expose me, I’d had enough.”
Willow swallowed. “You did kill Toby.”
Garrett’s voice grew whiny. “It was an accident. The old fool was going to die anyway. His doctor had given him months. He wanted to come clean, clear his conscience—at my expense. I knew he’d invited Bradford over to tell him the truth. We argued. He fell.”
“Just like my mother, huh?” Heath said. “People have a habit of falling around you and dying.”
Willow taunted, “You should’ve waited until you found out where Toby kept the diary before killing him.”
“I know.” Garrett wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “When I discovered you inherited the property, Willow, I had to step up my game and search everything. I even drugged the dogs to get access, but I never would’ve killed them. I’m not a killer. Just in case it was in your place, I set fire to it. I would’ve torched Toby’s place eventually. Guess I was too late.”
Folding his arms, Heath clamped the diary against his body. “And the airplane? Mark Santos just ID’d you as being in the pizza place that day. I said before that you weren’t a killer, but maybe you just like to do it at a distance or all by accident.”
Garrett shrugged, and the gun wavered. “I knew you were going to San Juan Island to look up the mineral rights on the property. I saw an opportunity to take out both of you at the same time. Nobody else would be interested in a diary stuffed inside a cookbook. The mystery would’ve died with you two.”
As Garrett turned his attention to Heath, Willow gestured toward her purse with fingers formed into a gun. Heath gave a quick shake of his head.
Heath coughed and spoke loudly. “What about Ellie? Is she involved in all this?”
“I planted her lipstick by Willow’s purse when I dumped it just to shift the suspicion and buy myself time.” Garrett snorted. “Not that she didn’t enjoy the attacks on Willow. She might’ve suspected me of those attacks, but she never asked me directly. Like I said, she’s all about this land deal. She’s having an affair with Lee Scott and will do just about anything...”
While Garrett rambled, his attention on Heath and the notebook in his hand, Willow had snagged the strap of her purse with her foot. It now lay at her feet.
As she started to dip, Heath yelled out and tossed the notebook in the air. “Here you go, Garrett!”
Garrett lunged toward the notebook, still clutching the gun and waving it in her direction.
While Willow scrabbled for the weapon in her purse, Heath charged Garrett, knocking him to the ground. Garrett’s gun went off, and Willow screamed.
She pulled her own gun from her purse and hopped up. She aimed it toward the two men rolling on the ground, grappling for agency over the weapon in Garrett’s hand.
She ran toward them, her gun shaking. She’d never killed a living thing in her life and didn’t know if she could do it now. She yelled, “Stop! I have a gun.”
Garrett jerked his head in her direction, and Heath’s knee cracked down on his wrist. The gun popped from his grasp, and Willow grabbed it.
As Garrett cowered on the ground, Heath jumped up and loomed above him, fists clenched. “I should kill you for what you did to my mother.”
Willow stumbled back from him. A gun in each hand, she put them behind her back. “He’s not worth it, Heath.”
Garrett started laughing and choking, rolling onto his side. “This island. I hate this island.”
Epilogue
Astrid yelled, “Olly, I’m gonna tell you one last time—you and your friends take the dogs in the back and get them away from the food.”
A gaggle of boys ran to the back of Astrid’s cabin, the three dogs passing them on the way.
Astrid came around with a bottle of wine and refilled everyone’s glasses. “So, Garrett started this whole thing by killing his uncle over that diary, but by killing him he also cut off his only chance of finding the diary. Genius.”
Heath crooked his fingers in air quotes. “‘Accidentally’ killed him, just like my mother.”
“I’m so sorry about your mother, Heath.” Astrid sat beside West and took his hand.
West said, “Forensics is still waiting for her dental records. I’m sorry, too, Heath. I don’t know what kind of game Toby Keel was playing.”
“I don’t think Toby was a very good guy.” Willow sniffed. “And I’m not sure about my father, either.”
Stroking her arm, Heath said, “Garrett said your father had his suspicions but didn’t know for sure.”
“He left you the mineral rights to that property based on a suspicion?” Willow took a gulp of wine. “I don’t think so.”
“You know what I think?” Astrid raised a finger in the air. “I think your father knew about the mutual, unexpressed attraction between the two of you and left Heath those rights to bind you together forever.”
“My father, the hopeless romantic.” Willow snorted. “I doubt it.”
“It’s my fiancée who’s the hopeless romantic.” West twirled a lock of Astrid’s blond hair around his finger. “Willow, is Ellie Keel still planning to sue you for the property?”
Willow answered, “I think she’s going to drop the idea, just like Lee Scott dropped her. Lee didn’t want any connection to the Keels after Garrett’s arrest.”
“Lee’s also putting a hold on developing the Samish plot for the casino.” Heath scooped a hand through his hair. “Too much attention, too much bad publicity.”
Tilting her head, Willow asked, “How does your father feel about that?”
“Talk about old romantics—my father has new priorities since getting married.”
“You hear that?” West leveled a finger at Astrid and then touched her nose. “After we get married, my priorities might change.”
“Uh-oh, I thought I already was your number one priority.” Astrid dragged his finger to her lips and kissed the tip. Hearing a yelp from the back of the house, Astrid jumped to her feet. “I don’t know if that was boy or dog, but we’re going to check on both and start cleaning up.”
She waved her hand as Willow started to rise. “You two, relax. You deserve it.”
Willow sat back down and scooted her chair closer to Heath’s until their knees touched. “How’d your father take the news of the discovery of your mother’s burial site?”
“He’s still waiting on the verification of the dental records, but I told him about the locket. Told him the whole story of Garrett Keel’s obsession with her.” Heath hunched forward and took her hands. “He was sad. Felt like a failure as a husband all over again, but there’s a sense of relief there, too.”
“And you? Have you processed all this yet?”
“They are so happy to see you.”
Willow waved at Astrid, posed like a model on the porch that wrapped around the huge cabin. The place belonged to Astrid’s brother, Tate, but she and her son had been staying with him for a while, and would continue to live here until Tate returned from an assignment in DC. Willow had a sneaking suspicion that Astrid and Olly would move in with West Chandler when Tate returned.
“You look nice,” Willow told her. “Too nice for the rugged outdoors of Dead Falls.”
Astrid made a face. “I know, sweetie. I’m sorry. I have a showing in town, and I have to leave. Don’t worry. Olly is at his friend’s house, and you can help yourself to anything in the fridge for lunch.”
“No worries, Astrid. I’ll hang out with the dogs. If I leave before you get back, do you want me to put them inside or leave them out?”
“Inside, please. When nobody’s home, Sherlock still tends to wander.”
“Got it, but if not today, let’s catch up soon. I like the new sheriff.” She flashed Astrid a thumbs-up. “I approve.”
“I’m going to have a get-together when Tate comes home. I’ll even invite Heath Bradford.” Astrid gave her a broad wink. “Can you hold on to Sherlock while I run to my car? I don’t want him jumping on my slacks.”
Willow curled her fingers around Sherlock’s collar. “I have him.”
Astrid minced out to the Jeep in her high heels and beeped her horn when she drove away.
Willow settled in a chair at the edge of the firepit with a couple of balls and a knotted rope. Luna and Sherlock tussled and tumbled and chased the ball, while Apollo lazed contentedly at her feet.
She’d almost forgotten about the outside world when the dogs stopped their play and turned toward the woods, barking up a storm.
“Hey, get back here. You are not taking off on my watch, Sherlock.” She grabbed a leash and corralled the big shepherd mix, leading him back to the house. “I’ll give you some snacks inside, I’ll have lunch, and then we’ll resume our romp out here.”
She didn’t have to coerce the other two dogs. They scrambled after her and Sherlock, and she herded them inside the house.
About to step inside after the dogs, she heard a twig snap behind her and whirled around.
Garrett Keel raised a hand. “Hi, Willow. Got a minute?”
She licked her lips and considered releasing the dogs again, but her gaze flicked to her purse by the chair and the lump from her gun inside. She closed the door and stayed on the porch.
“Hey, Garrett. If you’re coming here to put pressure on me or threaten me, give it up.”
He slicked back his black hair. “I’m not my sister.”
“What does that mean, Garrett?”
He aimed a toe, shod in an expensive cowboy boot, at a rock circling the firepit and then thought better of it. “Ellie has gone off the deep end. She’s made some kind of devil’s bargain with Lee Scott if she can deliver Uncle Toby’s property. I—I’m worried about what she might do next.”
Descending the porch as if approaching a wild animal, Willow said, “Is she responsible for the fire at my cabin? The airplane? My so-called mugging last night?”
Garrett pressed a clenched fist against his mouth. “Are you okay, Willow?”
“Is she trying to kill me?”
“She just wants to...convince you to see reason.”
“That’s not going to happen, Garrett.” She edged a little closer to her purse. “And why are you here?”
“I want to get evidence against my sister once and for all. Put her where she belongs—in prison.”
“Evidence against Ellie?” Willow spread her hands. “I don’t have that. Just her lipstick and maybe a red flannel shirt—weak.”
“I—I think you might have it, but you don’t know it. Ellie’s been searching for it.”
“Searching for what? I didn’t find anything in my father’s papers—or Toby’s, for that matter.”
“Did you, by any chance, find a homemade recipe book? Handwritten recipes pasted inside a notebook with some food drawings on the cover?”
Willow’s mouth dropped open. “I—I don’t have it.”
The pleasant mask dropped from Garrett’s face as he took a menacing step toward her. “Don’t lie to me, Willow.”
Chapter Eighteen
Heath strode down the dock toward Mark Santos’s boat and spotted Mark on the deck of a neat little Catalina 22 Sport. “Nice boat.”
“Isn’t she?” Mark patted the side. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to set sail with you and pass out—unless you also know how to sail a boat.”
“I do, but I’m not interested in taking over the controls again.” Heath stepped onto the boat, joining Mark. “Tell me everything you remember.”
“Took care of all my postflight duties and walked over to Seadog Pizza. They had a couple of games on the TVs there, so I ordered a pizza and a Coke. There were a few of my boating friends there, and we talked some smack for a while.”
“Any strangers talk to you?”
“Of course. It’s that kind of place—long tables, communal dining and drinking.”
“Women?”
Mark cracked a grin. “Always.”
“Any get close enough to your drink to slip you something?”
“Sure did. I even went to the john a few times and left my drink unattended. Don’t they tell young ladies these days to take their drinks with them when they’re in a bar? Should’ve followed that advice.”
“Do you remember what any of these women looked like?”
“One particular blonde caught my eye. I even offered to take her up in my plane.” Mark winked.
“No raven-haired sirens?”
“Could’ve been.”
Heath fished his phone from his pocket and brought up a couple of photos he’d snatched of Ellie Keel from the internet. He turned his phone around to Mark. “Did you see her there?”
Mark shoved his sunglasses to the top of his head and squinted. “Naw, I don’t think so.”
Disappointed, Heath swiped to the next one. “How about this angle?”
Taking the phone from him, Mark brought it closer to his face and used his fingertips to zoom in. “Yeah.”
“She was there?” Heath’s pulse jumped. They needed all the evidence they could get against Ellie.
“Not the lady, man. The dude. That dude standing behind her was at the Seadog, all dressed up. Looked out of place.”
Heath snatched the phone back from Mark and stared at Garrett Keel’s face, enlarged. The two of them could be working together.
He smacked Mark on the back. “Thanks, man. I think we can get you cleared with the FAA. You were targeted and drugged.”
A surprised Mark yelled his thanks as Heath clambered out of the boat. He had to tell Willow about this new development. He had no proof that Garrett Keel drugged Mark Santos, but they had a couple of starting points for West to dig his teeth into.
Back in his truck, he brought up Willow’s texts to let her know about this latest development. He reread her text about the recipe book, and his gaze swept through the cab of his truck. The corner of the notebook peeked out from beneath the passenger seat, and he yanked on it.
As he pulled it free, several pages fell out of the middle of the book, and he gathered them in his hands. He glanced down at the loose pages and dropped them as if they’d scorched his hands.
He’d recognize his mother’s handwriting anywhere.
* * *
“I’M NOT LYING, GARRETT. I don’t have that notebook.” Willow drew in her bottom lip, her gaze darting toward her purse.
He cleared his throat and looked at the sky. “I saw you with it at the meeting last night. You put it in your purse. I—I knew you were in trouble as soon as I saw it because I figured Ellie saw it, too. That’s why she hit you and stole your purse. So if you just give it to me, you’ll be safe from her.”
From Ellie or from him?
“What’s in that notebook, Garrett? It looked like recipes to me.”
“So, you do have it. And you haven’t read it. That’s good. That’ll keep you safe, Willow. Just give it to me, and I’ll turn it over to Sheriff Chandler. It’ll contain all the evidence he needs—against Ellie.”
“What did Ellie do years ago that concerns the property and the casino project today? Why is Jessica Bradford’s body buried behind Toby’s cabin?”
Garrett’s eyes bulged from their sockets. “How do you know that body is Jessica Bradford?”
“We know. Her son knows.”
His face a bright red to match his sister’s lipstick, Garrett screamed, “Where’s the notebook, Willow?”
“It’s right here, Garrett.” Some branches at the tree line parted, and Heath stepped into the clearing. He raised the notebook in his hand. “I’ve got it right here...and I’ve read it.”
Garrett staggered back a few steps, and then pulled a gun from his waistband. “Hand it over, Heath. Hand it over, or I’ll shoot Willow, right here.”
“I don’t think you will, Garrett. You’re not really a killer, are you? Despite what’s in this booklet.”
With Garrett’s attention on Heath, Willow scooted closer to her purse, her foot inching toward the strap on the ground.
“It’s a lie, Heath. I didn’t kill your mother. Toby did.”
Willow froze. “You killed Heath’s mother?”
Heath spread his arms, still clutching the notebook. “You were right, Willow, except it wasn’t Toby who came on to my mom. It was Garrett. She rebuffed him. Laughed at him, even, for his youth. Enraged, he tried to assault her, but she fought back. He shoved her, and her head cracked against a rock. An accident, right, Garrett? An accident during the commission of another crime.”
“She was using Uncle Toby. She had an unhappy marriage, and she cried on Uncle Toby’s shoulder. I told her she could cry on my shoulder anytime. I meant that. I loved your mother.”
Heath snarled, “Stop! Your uncle helped you. You both buried her in the back, and Toby told everyone how suicidal she was, how she wanted to disappear and spare her family the grief. He may have even planted that note we found. But Toby wrote it all down, appended to my mother’s own diary of events. He kept it in case you ever tried to turn things on him. In case you ever tried to get his property from Willow’s dad.”
“Willow’s dad.” Garrett spit out the words. “He knew what happened.”
Willow covered her mouth. “My father knew what happened to Jessica?”
Garrett sneered. “That’s why he left the mineral rights to her son. Guilt.”
“He suspected, Willow.” Heath shook the notebook. “He didn’t know for sure. He just suspected.”
Willow’s gut churned. “So, you wanted your uncle’s land to stop the development so nobody would ever find Jessica Bradford?”
Garrett threw back his head and laughed. “That’s my sister’s thing. I don’t give a damn about this land, never did. But when my uncle threatened to expose me, I’d had enough.”
Willow swallowed. “You did kill Toby.”
Garrett’s voice grew whiny. “It was an accident. The old fool was going to die anyway. His doctor had given him months. He wanted to come clean, clear his conscience—at my expense. I knew he’d invited Bradford over to tell him the truth. We argued. He fell.”
“Just like my mother, huh?” Heath said. “People have a habit of falling around you and dying.”
Willow taunted, “You should’ve waited until you found out where Toby kept the diary before killing him.”
“I know.” Garrett wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “When I discovered you inherited the property, Willow, I had to step up my game and search everything. I even drugged the dogs to get access, but I never would’ve killed them. I’m not a killer. Just in case it was in your place, I set fire to it. I would’ve torched Toby’s place eventually. Guess I was too late.”
Folding his arms, Heath clamped the diary against his body. “And the airplane? Mark Santos just ID’d you as being in the pizza place that day. I said before that you weren’t a killer, but maybe you just like to do it at a distance or all by accident.”
Garrett shrugged, and the gun wavered. “I knew you were going to San Juan Island to look up the mineral rights on the property. I saw an opportunity to take out both of you at the same time. Nobody else would be interested in a diary stuffed inside a cookbook. The mystery would’ve died with you two.”
As Garrett turned his attention to Heath, Willow gestured toward her purse with fingers formed into a gun. Heath gave a quick shake of his head.
Heath coughed and spoke loudly. “What about Ellie? Is she involved in all this?”
“I planted her lipstick by Willow’s purse when I dumped it just to shift the suspicion and buy myself time.” Garrett snorted. “Not that she didn’t enjoy the attacks on Willow. She might’ve suspected me of those attacks, but she never asked me directly. Like I said, she’s all about this land deal. She’s having an affair with Lee Scott and will do just about anything...”
While Garrett rambled, his attention on Heath and the notebook in his hand, Willow had snagged the strap of her purse with her foot. It now lay at her feet.
As she started to dip, Heath yelled out and tossed the notebook in the air. “Here you go, Garrett!”
Garrett lunged toward the notebook, still clutching the gun and waving it in her direction.
While Willow scrabbled for the weapon in her purse, Heath charged Garrett, knocking him to the ground. Garrett’s gun went off, and Willow screamed.
She pulled her own gun from her purse and hopped up. She aimed it toward the two men rolling on the ground, grappling for agency over the weapon in Garrett’s hand.
She ran toward them, her gun shaking. She’d never killed a living thing in her life and didn’t know if she could do it now. She yelled, “Stop! I have a gun.”
Garrett jerked his head in her direction, and Heath’s knee cracked down on his wrist. The gun popped from his grasp, and Willow grabbed it.
As Garrett cowered on the ground, Heath jumped up and loomed above him, fists clenched. “I should kill you for what you did to my mother.”
Willow stumbled back from him. A gun in each hand, she put them behind her back. “He’s not worth it, Heath.”
Garrett started laughing and choking, rolling onto his side. “This island. I hate this island.”
Epilogue
Astrid yelled, “Olly, I’m gonna tell you one last time—you and your friends take the dogs in the back and get them away from the food.”
A gaggle of boys ran to the back of Astrid’s cabin, the three dogs passing them on the way.
Astrid came around with a bottle of wine and refilled everyone’s glasses. “So, Garrett started this whole thing by killing his uncle over that diary, but by killing him he also cut off his only chance of finding the diary. Genius.”
Heath crooked his fingers in air quotes. “‘Accidentally’ killed him, just like my mother.”
“I’m so sorry about your mother, Heath.” Astrid sat beside West and took his hand.
West said, “Forensics is still waiting for her dental records. I’m sorry, too, Heath. I don’t know what kind of game Toby Keel was playing.”
“I don’t think Toby was a very good guy.” Willow sniffed. “And I’m not sure about my father, either.”
Stroking her arm, Heath said, “Garrett said your father had his suspicions but didn’t know for sure.”
“He left you the mineral rights to that property based on a suspicion?” Willow took a gulp of wine. “I don’t think so.”
“You know what I think?” Astrid raised a finger in the air. “I think your father knew about the mutual, unexpressed attraction between the two of you and left Heath those rights to bind you together forever.”
“My father, the hopeless romantic.” Willow snorted. “I doubt it.”
“It’s my fiancée who’s the hopeless romantic.” West twirled a lock of Astrid’s blond hair around his finger. “Willow, is Ellie Keel still planning to sue you for the property?”
Willow answered, “I think she’s going to drop the idea, just like Lee Scott dropped her. Lee didn’t want any connection to the Keels after Garrett’s arrest.”
“Lee’s also putting a hold on developing the Samish plot for the casino.” Heath scooped a hand through his hair. “Too much attention, too much bad publicity.”
Tilting her head, Willow asked, “How does your father feel about that?”
“Talk about old romantics—my father has new priorities since getting married.”
“You hear that?” West leveled a finger at Astrid and then touched her nose. “After we get married, my priorities might change.”
“Uh-oh, I thought I already was your number one priority.” Astrid dragged his finger to her lips and kissed the tip. Hearing a yelp from the back of the house, Astrid jumped to her feet. “I don’t know if that was boy or dog, but we’re going to check on both and start cleaning up.”
She waved her hand as Willow started to rise. “You two, relax. You deserve it.”
Willow sat back down and scooted her chair closer to Heath’s until their knees touched. “How’d your father take the news of the discovery of your mother’s burial site?”
“He’s still waiting on the verification of the dental records, but I told him about the locket. Told him the whole story of Garrett Keel’s obsession with her.” Heath hunched forward and took her hands. “He was sad. Felt like a failure as a husband all over again, but there’s a sense of relief there, too.”
“And you? Have you processed all this yet?”
