Mermaid Moon Read online

  FIVE

  Mallory felt lighter somehow as she walked Kate to the door. The dim chandelier in the entry provided little light in the gloom of the moonless night. “Thanks for coming. It was good to see you.”

  Kate zipped up her jacket. “Maybe we can do lunch when the funeral is over? I’d love to meet Haylie.”

  Mallory reached for the doorknob, but as her fingers closed over the cold metal, a crash reverberated through the house. “What on earth? That sounds like it came from upstairs.” She headed for the steps that led to the second floor. Kate followed on her heels. As Mallory turned the corner toward the three bedrooms, a cool sea breeze touched her skin. Was a window open?

  Her father’s bedroom door stood open. She reached inside and flipped on the light. The warm glow from the overhead fixture illuminated a room she hadn’t seen in years. It smelled like her dad—a mixture of Old Spice and clove gum all mingled with pipe tobacco. Mom hadn’t let him smoke his pipe in the bedroom, but he’d probably done whatever he wanted in the years since her death. A queen-size bed dominated the small space, and a bedside stand held a clock, two bottles of pills, and a dogeared paperback.

  Her heart squeezed. Now her dad would never be able to forgive her.

  She tore her attention from the picture of her mother that hung over the bed and looked at the window. The wind blew the blue curtains almost straight out from the wall. “The window is broken. That must be what we heard, but how could it just shatter like that?”

  Kate stepped past her and bent down. “It didn’t.” She turned with a large stone in her hand. “This came through the window.” She pushed back the curtains to reveal a large hole in the window. “We need to call Kevin. Someone did this deliberately.”

  “But why? Only a few people know I’m here yet. Or that Dad is dead.”

  “Did your dad ever say he was afraid or that someone was annoying him?”

  Mallory wanted to remind her that conversation with her father had been strained at best, but she just shook her head. She reached out and took the rock from Kate. The moisture on the rock chilled her skin. “It’s wet. Someone just picked it up from the beach.”

  “We probably shouldn’t have been handling it. I wasn’t thinking.” Kate reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. “I’m calling Kevin.”

  Maine game wardens were usually first to respond to any kind of crime report. They were law enforcement in most of the remote areas. While Kate spoke to her cousin, Mallory wandered over to stare at her mother’s picture. Trim and tanned, Karen Blanchard would have been about forty-three at the time, but she looked more like thirty. She stood on her lobster boat with a smile as bright as the sunshine gleaming down on her light-brown hair. She’d loved the sea. Her family had been lobster fishermen ever since the first lobster had been caught off the coast of Maine. Dad usually worked with her, but he hadn’t been feeling well the day she died.

  When the waves overturned the boat, had Mom remembered Mallory’s last hateful words? She wished she could believe her mother had forgiven her.

  “Kevin’s daughter is already in bed, so my sister, Claire, will go over and stay.”

  Mallory whipped her head around to face Kate. “Your sister? What sister?”

  Kate’s eyes held pain. “I forgot that all happened while you were gone. We found out I had a twin who was taken from our home when we were five. We were reunited a few months ago, but that’s a complex story for another time. Claire lives here now and is going to marry Luke Rocco. You remember Luke from school, don’t you?”

  She nodded. “Super nice guy. And I met Claire earlier today. Such a sweetheart. How wonderful that you found each other.” Mallory looked back toward the window. “Call Kevin back and tell him to wait until morning. This rock isn’t going anywhere. I could just shut the bedroom door to keep the wind from the rest of the house. I hate to disrupt everybody’s evening.”

  “He’s used to calls at night. We all are.”

  Mallory’s attention was caught by a piece of paper partially under the bed. She took a step closer, then knelt and picked it up. There was no reasonable explanation for the dread that chilled her hands as she unfolded it and held it up to the light.

  The bottom of the sea is so cold.

  She gasped and the paper fell from her fingers.

  Kate grasped her arm. “What is it?”

  Mallory stared at the paper on the floor. She didn’t even want to touch it. “A-a warning, I think. It’s a little cryptic.” She told Kate what she’d read. “I bet the note came loose from the rock. Look, there’s a broken rubber band.” She pointed toward the window. “We shouldn’t touch it in case there are fingerprints on it.”

  A surge of heat flooded her chest, and she curled her hands into fists. “This proves someone killed Dad.”

  “Not necessarily. Maybe someone was trying to mess with him.” Kate frowned. “What could it mean?”

  Mallory glanced back at her mother’s picture. “I don’t know. Dad said to find Mom, but she’s been gone for years. Nothing makes any sense.”

  If Dad had been murdered, his killer wouldn’t have thrown this through the window. Maybe Kate was right, and Dad hadn’t been murdered at all.

  With the evidence bagged and plastic taped around the broken window, Kevin accepted Mallory’s offer of coffee. He was cold clear through to the bone after trekking around the house and seashore in an icy, drizzly rain. Standing in the warm kitchen felt like a welcome sauna.

  He curled his frozen fingers around the hot cup and settled in an old green chair at the kitchen table. “Kate gone?”

  Mallory sat across the table from him, and she nodded as she took a sip of her coffee. “She wanted to get to your house so Claire could go home.”

  He noted the dark circles under her eyes. It had been tough to tear his gaze away from her from the moment she arrived back in his life. Her glossy dark-brown hair was even longer now, reaching below her waist, and there was a quiet maturity to her he hadn’t seen before.

  He picked up his cup again. “It’s been a rough day for you. I was hoping you’d get a chance to go to bed early.”

  She lifted a wan smile toward him. “I probably couldn’t sleep anyway. And you’ve had a rough day as well. Finding my dad, then running out here so late. That must be hard with a child.”

  He nodded. “I sometimes wonder if I should make a career change. It’s definitely a challenge, but I can’t bring myself to do anything else. And Sadie is okay with a nanny.”

  He glanced around the kitchen. It had been a long time since he’d been here. He and Mallory used to sit and drink hot cocoa at this table with her mother, who had been one of those really cool moms. She knew how to talk to Mallory’s friends, and her humor and insight had helped steer him in the direction of his present career.

  “I miss your mom.” The words were out before he realized he’d spoken. “Sorry, that was callous.”

  Her smile seemed real this time. “No, it’s okay. I like to talk about her. I couldn’t for a long time. The guilt was just too much. But she was a good mom, wasn’t she? She talked you out of going to California for college, and you decided to go to the University of Maine. Your dad wasn’t happy.” Her smile faded and she looked uncomfortable. “How are your folks, by the way?”

  “Let’s not talk about them.” Hearing about his parents would just make her look sadder, and he wanted to see her smile again. “Remember when I brought that orphaned raccoon over to show her? She helped me feed it and just casually remarked that I would make a great game warden. I hadn’t even thought about it until then. I was going to be a doctor like my dad wanted.”

  “She was an excellent judge of character.” She slid a sidelong glance his way. “You were always her favorite.”

  Until he’d betrayed her trust. His chest hurt at the memory of the pain in Karen’s eyes when she’d found out what they’d done. “Sorry isn’t a good enough word for how I feel about her death, you know. You’re not the
only one who’s carried guilt all these years.”

  She set her coffee cup, reddish-orange with a moose on it, down on the table. Her dark-brown eyes bored into him. “I was so mean to you, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry I left, and I’m sorry I never returned your phone calls.” She inhaled sharply. “And I’m especially sorry I married Brian. That was a big mistake.”

  He stared back at her, remembering all the times he’d left messages for her, all the cards and notes he’d sent. When he heard she’d married Brian a mere three months after she left Folly Shoals, he’d rushed right out and started dating DeAnn just to mask the pain. Stupid, stupid, both of them. But they’d been young, so young. It seemed like another life. And DeAnn had been so fun and vivacious. She made him feel like he was the only man in the world. Until he wasn’t.

  The unspoken reason for Mallory’s and his breakup lurked under the surface like a great white, unseen but still menacing. He wasn’t going to go there. Not yet.

  “What made you marry Brian so quickly?” He blurted out the words, spelling out a question he’d carried for fifteen years. It was better than his other questions. He cleared his throat and took a gulp of hot coffee to avoid saying anything else.

  Her lashes swept down and masked her eyes. What was she thinking? The years and the pain he’d caused made it impossible to ask. Did she ever think about the baby?

  Her lids opened again and she stared at him. “After Mom died, I couldn’t bear the condemnation I saw everywhere I looked. Not just my dad, but people in town too. They all knew how much I’d shamed her before she died. I had to get away, and Brian offered a way out. I know it sounds cold and calculating, but he had money and status. I took one look at his big summer cottage on the Atlantic and thought if I married well, I could make up for the embarrassment. It didn’t work out that way.”

  Shame. They both still carried it, but it wasn’t for the reasons she’d stated.

  “What do you mean about it not working out that way?”

  She looked down at her hands. “Brian never felt secure in our marriage. He sensed I didn’t love him like I should, and it made him more demanding. W-we didn’t have a very happy time of it. When Haylie came along, I prayed things would get better, but they never did. Not really. I threw myself into my jewelry, and he grew more distant and consumed by his investment business.”

  He couldn’t keep his lip from curling. “So you got all you wanted. Money and prestige.”

  She gave a wry laugh. “Not a bit. He made some bad investments, then let his insurance lapse. The last two years have been pretty lean.” Her chin came up and her dark eyes narrowed. “But it’s looking up now. I’m making a name for myself with my sea glass and tourmaline jewelry. The watermelon tourmaline is so typically Maine.”

  “You always did love sea glass. I think we went looking for it on nearly every date. I’d love to see some of your designs.”

  She pulled her necklace out from under her blouse and showed it to him. “I have a signature design.”

  He touched the honed piece of watermelon tourmaline, a beautiful blend of soft pink and green. “A sea-glass mermaid on a tourmaline moon. Didn’t your mom used to tell you a story about that?”

  “She did. Mom used to say a pink moon was the time when mermaids had the most power and tried new things. I know now she made it up, but I still like the symbolism.” Mallory rubbed her head and grimaced. “Anyway, I’m hoping the big sale I made this morning will turn things around for us, but it’s hard to think about that now.”

  “I didn’t realize he’d left you and Haylie in such bad circumstances.” And what would he have done if he’d known? Their relationship was over the second she left town. He could never trust her after what she did.

  He cleared his throat. “About that note on the rock. I’ll have both items tested for fingerprints and DNA, but I’m not hopeful of finding anything. Tomorrow when I pick you up, I’ll look again for footprints. I found one and took an impression, but I’m not sure if I missed anything in the dark.”

  She tucked a lock of long hair behind her ear. “What do you make of what the note said? Kate and I wondered if someone was trying to make Dad think Mom’s ghost was taunting him.”

  “I can’t see something like that rattling your dad. He would have laughed it off.”

  She nodded. “It’s a pretty obscure thing to say. And what would be the point? You don’t think the message was for me, do you? I don’t think anyone even knows I’m here.”

  He grinned. “You know how fast news travels here. The minute you showed up in Folly Shoals to meet me, everyone in three counties would have known it an hour later.”

  Her lips curved, and he’d forgotten how much he loved to see that smile. It always held a little mystery, as though she knew more than she was saying.

  She took another sip of her coffee. “Too true. I wasn’t thinking. So the message could have been directed at me.”

  “If it was, whoever threw it didn’t know the house. That was your dad’s room, not yours.”

  Her smile came again. “And you should know. You used to throw rocks at my window until I climbed down onto the kitchen roof and slid down the tree to meet you.” Her cheeks colored. “Forget I said that. We need to find a way to move past our painful history.”

  “That wasn’t so painful. At least until you fell and sprained your ankle. Getting caught by my dad—now that was painful.” He rubbed his backside. “Remember the time he caught us catching smelt in the stream instead of the lake during the smelt run? Now I bust offenders for doing that. He made us clean out the fish house.” She didn’t return his smile, and his grin faded. “I’d better get home. Thanks for the coffee.” He put his cup in the sink.

  Maybe it was better not to go back. He wasn’t quite sure what kind of future relationship they could even have with their history. And it was probably a moot point. She’d be heading back to her life in Bangor once the funeral was over.

  He started toward the door, and she put her hand on his arm. “Would you mind looking around the house with me before you go? I just feel unsettled.”

  “Of course.” He followed her toward the stairs.

  Anything to delay his departure just a bit. He wasn’t any too eager to leave her here alone.

  SIX

  The last time Mallory had been in her bedroom had been when she was twenty. Posters of Orlando Bloom covered the pale-pink walls she’d painted herself. Her graduation tassel hung from the pink lamp shade beside her bed and touched the top of the framed picture of her with Kevin at the prom. They both looked impossibly happy.

  It was an eternity ago.

  She averted her eyes and stared around the room. “Something feels off.”

  Kevin advanced into the room and knelt to peer under the bed. “The spread looks rumpled, like someone sat on the end of the bed. Have you been in here?”

  “No. My luggage is still in the living room.” There was a spot on the bedside table that held no dust. “My diary used to be there, but I haven’t seen it in years. Something book-sized was there though, see the imprint? Maybe Dad took it. It’s hard to say if he’s been in here.” A cool breeze touched her face, and she went to the window. “The window is up and the screen is broken.”

  Kevin joined her and touched the edge of the screen. “It’s been cut.”

  She curled her hands into fists. “Someone could have climbed onto the kitchen roof below and reached here.”

  “I know.”

  Of course he knew. He’d done it often enough after she sprained her ankle. He’d settle on the roof and they’d talk for hours. Her parents never caught them.

  She pulled out a small chest from under her bed. “The lock is broken. Dad wouldn’t have had to break the lock. He knew where the key was.” Lifting the lid, she put her hand to her throat. “It’s empty.”

  “What was in there?”

  “Report cards, my birth certificate, picture albums, letters from you, old journals.”

 
; The frown between his eyes deepened. “Why would anyone want to steal that kind of thing?”

  She clasped herself and shivered. “I have no idea, but it gives me the willies.”

  “I’m not sure you should stay here alone. Someone has been in here, someone other than your dad.”

  His concern sent a frisson of heat through her midsection. “I’ll be fine. I’ll lock up when you leave, and Carol will be here the day after tomorrow with Haylie.”

  The warmth in his brown eyes intensified. “I don’t like the thought of you being alone out here. It’s remote. I have a spare room at my house. Why don’t you come home with me?”

  She started shaking her head as soon as she saw the direction he was heading. If being around him casually was painful, being with him in a more intimate setting would be pure torture. “I’ll be fine, Kevin, really. I’ve got a handgun in my purse. Legal, of course.”

  He grinned. “And you know I have to see your permit since you brought it up. It’s my job.”

  “My bag is in the kitchen.” After a last glance around her room, she started for the hall.

  He stopped outside her bedroom door. “What if you slept in another room tonight? I could nail this door shut so no one could get in via the roof. This is the only bedroom with that kind of outside access.”

  “I wouldn’t want to sleep in Dad’s room, but there is a guest room.”

  “Let me take a look at it.”

  She watched as he walked around the bedroom and looked out the window. It was a nondescript room painted off-white with a cream bedspread and old furniture. As far as Mallory knew, her aunt was the only one who had ever spent the night in this room. A pang struck her when she remembered being with her mother when she’d bought the bedding for this room.

  Back in the hall, Kevin pointed to the door. “It has a lock on it, so it would be the best one to use. You have a hammer and some long nails?”