Mermaid Moon Read online

  “Dad probably has some in his tool belt in the shed. The key is hanging by the back door.”

  She trailed him down the stairs to the kitchen. While he went to the shed, she pulled her gun permit from her purse along with her small .38 and laid them on the table.

  He returned with her father’s worn leather tool belt in his hand. His gaze went to the permit and gun. “You know how to use this?”

  “I’m a crack shot. I’ve gone to a practice range every month for the past six months.”

  A frown crouched between his eyes. “Why?”

  She sighed and ran her hand around the back of her neck. “I don’t know. I had this weird feeling someone was watching me.” She attempted a watery smile. “Besides, isn’t a good Mainer supposed to have a gun?”

  His frown turned to a glower. “You ever see anyone?”

  She shook her head. “I think it was just nerves after Brian’s death. It doesn’t matter. At least I’m armed.”

  His expression partially cleared, and he nodded. “I’ll fix the door.”

  She didn’t go with him and listened to his heavy tread up the stairs. When the hammering commenced, she drifted to the window and looked out into the dark backyard. The thought of being alone now that she knew someone had been in the house terrified her, but she wasn’t about to admit it. What would it be like to stay at Kevin’s and meet his little girl? Did he ever think about his other child?

  She quickly steered her thoughts away. Their situation hadn’t changed just because her father was dead. The past was insurmountable, and they’d both moved on with their lives. Going back wasn’t an option.

  The house echoed with recrimination after Kevin left. Mallory walked through the silent rooms remembering so much. Too much. Pausing in the hall, she stared at a family picture. Her fifteen-year-old self smiled into the camera. Her mother had her arm draped around her, and her father embraced them both. They’d just gotten back from a boat trip up to Nova Scotia, and she remembered that happy week with a fierce ache.

  Turning from the wall of memories, she retraced her steps to the living room and reached for the remote. Before her finger touched the power button, she heard the putt-putt of a boat motor. The back of her neck tingled. No one came into the little cove unless they were bound for the cottage.

  The sound of voices filtered through the walls. Her pulse kicked when she recognized Haylie’s voice. She and Carol weren’t supposed to come for another day or two. Mallory unlocked the front door and stepped onto the porch. The lights on the boat bobbed in the surf by the dock, and she saw her daughter’s face, pale in the wash of light, by the boat’s stern.

  Mallory rushed down the steps and hurried down the hillside to the water, arriving as Carol and Haylie stepped off the boat and onto the dock. “What are you two doing here? I didn’t expect you tonight.”

  The cold spring wind carried the strong scent of seaweed with it, and the incoming tide lapped at the pilings. She stared at the water taxi’s pilot but didn’t recognize the grizzled face under a cap. The man hefted three suitcases onto the dock beside them. Carol thanked him, and he touched his cap before starting the engine.

  Haylie tucked a strand of dark-brown hair behind her ear, then picked up a bag by her feet. “Someone broke into our house, Mom. Carol flew into a panic, and here we are. And I’m missing the biggest party of the year.” Her voice dripped with outrage.

  Mallory struggled to assimilate the news. “Someone broke into our house? Did they take anything?” Luckily she’d already sold all the pieces of jewelry she’d created, but she would hate to have to buy all new supplies.

  “They didn’t take anything that I could see, but you can check later.” Carol, bundled up in a black coat, lugged two suitcases with her as the boat engine revved and the craft moved away from the dock. She set down one suitcase at Mallory’s feet. “I didn’t think it was safe to stay there.” Her gaze flickered from Haylie to Mallory and she mouthed, Later.

  Eyeing her friend’s pale face, Mallory nodded. “Let’s get inside out of this wind.” She picked up the suitcase. “What’s in this?”

  “Clothes for you. You took off without anything to come here. A policeman waited while I grabbed some of Haylie’s things as well as some clothes from your room. We stopped at my house to pack a bag for me too.”

  Haylie set her jaw and picked up a suitcase. “I could have stayed with Jenna. I don’t know why I had to come.”

  Carol grabbed another suitcase. “I’m starving. I was too upset to eat when we stopped at a drive-through on the way.”

  “I can make you a sandwich or some eggs.” Mallory led the way to the house, half dragging the heavy bag up the hill by its handle, then carried it inside.

  The warmth inside was a blessed relief. Where was she going to put everyone? Her old room was off-limits with the door nailed shut. The old sofa was comfortable, so Mallory could sleep there. Once she got the window fixed, she could have bars installed as well and move back into her old room.

  “You can take my dad’s room, Carol. The window is broken, but we can tape cardboard over the hole. Haylie, you can have the guest room. It’s the last door at the end of the hall.”

  Her daughter heaved a sigh. “I’m going to bed. Can I borrow your cell phone, Mom? I want to text Alisha.”

  Carol gave her a stern look. “I told you I don’t want anyone to know where we are.”

  Haylie’s lips flattened and her eyes filled with tears. “I’m not a prisoner!” She sent an appealing glance toward Mallory. “Mom?”

  This was more than a simple break-in. “What’s going on, Carol?”

  Carol shrugged off her coat, then ran a hand through her tousled brown hair. “Maybe Haylie needs to hear this. She’s going to drive us crazy otherwise. A guy grabbed me, Mallory.” She clasped herself and shuddered. “But the scariest part was that he was after you, not anything in the house.”

  Mallory blinked, and her vision wavered as the blood drained from her head. She felt faint and sank onto the sofa. “I don’t understand. What made you think he was after me?”

  “He grabbed my arm and said, ‘You’re not the Davis woman. Where is she?’ ” Carol’s throat clicked as she swallowed. “H-he looked like a hired thug or something. His eyes were like nothing I’ve ever seen. Like he had no soul and wouldn’t think twice about wringing my neck. Or yours.”

  Mallory touched her throat. “What is going on?”

  “With your dad’s murder, then this, I knew we had to get away. Fast.”

  Haylie’s brown eyes widened, and the color drained from her cheeks. “Grandpa was murdered?” She dropped onto the sofa beside Mallory and leaned against her. “Mom, what’s going on?”

  She slipped her arm around her daughter’s narrow waist. “I wish I knew, Haylie. But we’re together, and we’re safe.”

  For now. Nothing made sense though. Her family didn’t come from money or have anything of value. She resisted the urge to call back the water taxi and run far away. But that would do no good. Someone had killed her dad, and someone was looking for her. Her grip on her daughter tightened as she remembered the man in the van at school.

  Was that the same man who had broken into the house?

  SEVEN

  At the sound outside her window, Carol bolted upright in the bed. There it came again, and a shudder made its way up her spine, even though she recognized it as an owl. Or at least she thought it was. She wasn’t used to so much wildlife. Only her love for Mallory would bring her this far out of civilization.

  She slipped out of bed and padded barefoot down the hall to the kitchen. Her belly cramped with hunger, and she opened the refrigerator door. Some yogurt would hit the spot. The light glared on overhead and she winced.

  Mallory stood in the doorway by the light switch. “You scared me.”

  “Sorry.” Carol held up a container of yogurt. “I’ll share.”

  Mallory’s nose wrinkled. “I’m full, thanks. I’ll have some chamomile t
ea. Want some?”

  “Sure.” Carol watched her move to the stove and put water on to boil. “This is all so overwhelming, Mallory. Just a few hours ago we were flying high after you sold all that jewelry. Now here we are with you running for your life. Is there something about your past you’ve never told me? This doesn’t add up.”

  Mallory pulled down mugs from the cabinets. The cups were as chipped as the paint on the green cabinets. Her movements were careful, and she still hadn’t answered Carol.

  Carol leaned against the Formica counter. “Mallory? What’s going on?”

  Her neighbor turned then, her face pale in the fluorescent lighting. “I don’t know, Carol. Right now I’m remembering Brian’s death in that plane. It was supposedly an accident, but what if it wasn’t? We have no way of knowing, and I don’t know what is true or false any longer. If you’d asked me this morning if there was anything dangerous in my life, I would have laughed. The only danger I’ve ever faced is from my own stupid decisions. But now I’m second-guessing everything that’s happened lately. I’m so confused.” She raked her long hair back from her face.

  Carol put tea bags in the mugs. “So you don’t know why anyone would be looking to harm you?”

  “Not a clue. But I have to stay and find out, don’t you think?”

  Carol had wandered all her life, looking for a place where she fit, looking for the family she never had. The minute she’d met Mallory she’d known the bond between them could never be broken. She’d found that missing piece she’d yearned for. How did she keep Mallory and Haylie safe?

  She’d do anything to protect them. “At least here you have a support system and people who know you. Back in Bangor, that guy could break in again, and he was terrifying.”

  “You’ll get a chance to meet some of my friends tomorrow.” Mallory yawned. “We’d better get to bed. I want to wake up early and watch the sunrise. Go for a run too.”

  Carol looked her over. “I’ve never known you to run.”

  “I think I’m finding myself again.”

  Carol stared after her as she went up the stairs. Could a place really matter so much?

  The Hotel Tourmaline bustled with activity, but that was the way Julia liked it. Few people noticed her moving around. She cut across the gleaming marble floors in the reception area and went up the service elevator to the ballroom. The elevator still held the aroma of the Italian food the servers had carried up for an anniversary lunch an hour ago.

  When she stepped onto the second floor, the wide carpeted hallways were silent, though she could hear the distant rumble of a vacuum on the other end as the cleaning crew tidied up after the reception last night.

  An equipment cart rattled by and one of the housekeeping staff exited the main ballroom pushing the cart piled high with platters. She smiled and nodded as she passed. Julia waited until the noise of the clanging trays faded before she strolled past the rooms lining the halls.

  If she could get a cell signal in her small room, she would have taken this call there, but a quiet corner here would have to do. Boyce had been right when he’d warned her about the size of the room. The thing he hadn’t mentioned was that it was clear at the end of a long hallway and had no cell reception. She found a smaller meeting room with the lights out and went to the window. Holding her phone up to the sunlight, she checked her bars. Three bars should be good enough. It would have to be.

  Her pulse pounded in her ears as she found Ian’s number and called it. On the second ring his deep voice answered.

  “It’s me,” she said.

  “You’re late. I told you to call at eleven.”

  “I had to wait until there was an empty room to use. Cell service is spotty here.”

  “Bunch of hicks,” he muttered.

  She leaned against the wall. “What was so important that a text wouldn’t do?”

  “I wanted a real update. No lies. You’re real good at lies, Julia, and I don’t trust you.”

  “That’s rich, coming from you. I’m not the one who murdered a woman. I’m helping you out, remember?”

  “I have no illusions about why you’re doing this. It’s not for me but because you want to go to Washington.”

  She didn’t bother denying his accusation. “I told you I’d handle this. There’s no reason to escalate it. Back off and let me take care of it.”

  “I don’t like putting all my eggs in one basket, and I wasn’t sure you’d be able to get hold of the papers.”

  She frowned and wished he were here in front of her. “You were always too impatient. I’ve got it all under control.”

  “You told me you could deliver without anyone else getting hurt, but I’m still not so sure. We need to wrap this up in a week.”

  “Three. I haven’t even made contact yet.” Even three weeks would take a miracle. Two months and maybe she could get this wrapped up. “You forget that I’m saving your butt. I’d like a little appreciation.”

  He went silent on the other end. “This is mutually beneficial. What about the old guy? What happened to him?”

  Her fingers tightened around the cell phone. “I didn’t mean to hurt him. His death was an accident.”

  He made a huff that she took for agreement. She’d rather he didn’t know she’d had to kill the old geezer.

  How had she lived so long without this view of the sea and the feel of the pebbles under her sneakers? Catching her breath after her run along the water, Mallory stood at the edge of the water and looked at the sun coming up over the whitecaps. The cold stones under her soles were worn smooth by the action of the waves, and she saw a glint of green sea glass among the rocks. She stooped to pick it up and ran her fingers over the rounded edges.

  Still in fuzzy red pajamas and a robe, Carol yawned and stretched beside her. “What are you doing up so early? And it’s cold out here, cold enough to give an Eskimo chilblains.”

  “Wimp. It’s just brisk.”

  Carol gave a mock shiver. “Brisk like a blizzard.”

  Mallory rarely got cold, especially when she had an opportunity to stand here mesmerized by the power of the sea. “You would have missed the sunrise. I used to watch the sun come up with my mom every morning.”

  The sun threw out bands of purple, orange, and gold as the fireball slowly rose above the water. If only her mother were standing here with her. All the regrets in the world couldn’t change things now.

  Carol tightened the belt of her robe. “It sounds like you’ve missed living here. Why didn’t you ever come back to stay?”

  “People have long memories here.” She stared across the ocean toward the Schoodic Peninsula and could barely make out a hint of land. To the northeast would be Beals Island, then Jonesport, and on up the coast to Lubec and the Canadian border. It felt as though she’d never left. This place was in her blood, in her soul. “I’d love to just pack up and move back. I love it here. Haylie would have a fit about leaving her friends though.”

  “So do it. She’s not even in high school yet. You’re the mom and she’ll adjust.”

  That was one of the things Mallory loved about Carol. She spoke her mind and advised her the way her own mother might have.

  “You still haven’t told me why you left.” Carol picked up a stone and threw it into the waves where it disappeared in the sea foam. “You’ve hinted at trouble with your parents, but that’s old news by now. There’s nothing to keep you from being part of this life again. Heck, I might even move too. It’s so wild and free out here. Plus, you can have lobster whenever you want. What’s not to love?”

  “I got sick of lobster as a kid. We had it just about every day.” She smiled at the memory. “It took a long time to realize how lucky I was.” She saw Carol shiver. “Go on back inside. I’m going to take another little run along the beach. I’ll be in soon.”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice.” Carol turned toward the granite steps cut into the hillside from the beach. “I’ll have coffee and breakfast ready.”


  Mallory inhaled a lungful of sea air, then broke into a jog. The pebbles ran away from her sneakers, and her breath began to quicken with the run. How many times had she run along this shoreline? Too many to count. Had she deprived Haylie of the privilege of growing up here? Mallory had thought a life away from the lifeblood of the sea would be better, but she’d been so wrong.

  Was Carol right? Maybe it wasn’t too late to go back, to face down her past and build a new life here. The people who made a living from the sea were the best—hardworking, strong as granite. It was the grit she’d learned from this place that had kept her from giving up when things got rocky.

  Haylie needed that in her life. Maybe it wasn’t too late.

  EIGHT

  Kevin tied off his boat at the dock below Breakwater Cottage.

  It was a beautiful April morning with the thermometer hovering near fifty-five, almost balmy by Maine standards. A few daffodils poked through the rocky soil along the path to the house, and as he neared the steps, he heard voices. He frowned as he glanced at his watch. It was barely eight. Who would have arrived this early?

  He approached the door with stealth, then relaxed when he heard an unfamiliar female voice telling Mallory she was starving. The voice sounded young, like an adolescent. He rapped his knuckles on the door and heard light footsteps coming toward the entry.

  Mallory was in sweats with her long, dark hair falling around her face. Her brown eyes widened when she saw him. “Is it eight already? I’m late. Come in and I’ll get changed. Carol and Haylie arrived last night.”

  “I thought they weren’t coming yet.”

  “So did I.”

  As she explained the reason for their arrival, he felt his danger barometer rise ten notches. “The guy actually mentioned your name?”

  She nodded and leaned close enough for him to catch a whiff of vanilla from her hair. “I didn’t mention it, but some guy in a van was talking to Haylie at school when I arrived to pick her up yesterday. He tore off when I interrupted. What if he’d intended to grab her?”