By lunchtime, the inn was cleaned up and all the holes were patched, at least temporarily. With no supplies coming from the mainland, we were going to have to make do for a few days. I knew from past experience that it would be a rough time for everyone, but we’d get through. We always did.
Some of the mayors came back to the inn, since they couldn’t make it through to their homes and there was nowhere else to go. Motels were full up with refugees. We’d heard stories about houses with roofs missing, cars upside down in the middle of Duck Road and electric poles down across the island.
The Blue Whale had become a refuge for stranded travelers and local residents whose homes were badly damaged. They kept coming and Kevin found places for them. At lunch, we put together a meal for over two hundred people, many of them strangers. It was one of Duck’s finest hours.
We were joking around in the kitchen when Shawn Foxx arrived with his two little girls. I knew him right away even though it had been a few years since I’d last seen him.
“I heard my wife is missing,” he said. “I hope you have some news for me.”
Chapter 9
Althea, who was used to dealing with small children at the library, took the two little girls into the next room, promising them ice cream. Everyone else cleared out of the kitchen, leaving Kevin and me to talk to Sandi’s husband.
I wanted to tell Kevin that he could leave too. This wasn’t his responsibility. But I knew when he pulled up a chair for Shawn and then sat down opposite him that he wasn’t leaving. I was glad to have him there. I’d been mayor of Duck for two years, but I’d never had to tell anyone that their wife was dead. I wouldn’t be involved now except for that feeling inside that I should be the one to break the news.
“I don’t know if you remember me, Shawn,” I began. “I’m Dae O’Donnell. Sandi and I went to a few conferences together.”
“Sure. I remember you. What’s this all about, Dae?”
There was no easy way to tell the story. I told him that I’d noticed Sandi was missing during the night and that we’d found her this morning. “I’m so sorry.”
He took it well. The only sign that he was upset was a tightening around his eyes and mouth. Of course he’d been a marine for many years. He probably wouldn’t break down and cry in front of us.
“What happened?” he asked, glancing at Kevin. “What was she doing outside during the storm anyway?”
Kevin introduced himself and shook Shawn’s hand. “We’re trying to figure that out. Everyone else was in the lobby, since we felt that was the safest place. We don’t know how she got outside.”
Shawn’s gaze flickered over us. “What are you saying? You mean someone might’ve taken her outside? What aren’t you telling me? Exactly how did my wife die?”
At this point I thought it was a good idea to be a public official. “We don’t really know yet. EMS took her to the hospital. I’m sure they’ll do a full autopsy. All we know right now is that Sandi died during the night and we found her outside in a shed. Again, I’m so sorry. If there’s anything we can do—”
“Can I see her?” he asked.
“I’m sure you can, but they moved her to the hospital. I’m sorry.”
“What about her assistant?” Shawn asked. “She didn’t come here alone. Maybe her assistant knows something about what happened. Where is she?”
I didn’t know what to say. Sandi must’ve told him her assistant was a woman. This was going to get awkward very quickly. “Her assistant is in the bar, actually. We thought it would be best if he waited here until travel was better.”
“He?” Shawn’s blue eyes narrowed into slits. “What’s his name?”
“Matthew Wright,” I said, hoping that didn’t mean anything to him.
Shawn brought his beefy fist down on the tabletop. “I knew it! I told her—I warned her—to stay away from him. I warned him too.” He got to his feet and his chair tipped over. “Where is he? That skinny little runt has a lesson to learn.”
Kevin stood up too. He wasn’t as big as Shawn Foxx. I hoped there wasn’t going to be a problem between them. “Not here, Foxx. Not now. You’ve got two little girls in there who just lost their mommy. You can rip Wright a new one later.”
Shawn’s eyes lost that killer look, and he picked up the chair. “Sorry. I knew something was going on between them. She told me it was over. Not like this was the first time for Sandi. I don’t know what it was—she was never happy just being with me and the girls. Wright just happened to be the one this time.”
I took a deep breath and was glad I didn’t have to tell him that his dead wife had been unfaithful. It was bad enough telling him he had a dead wife.
“You and the girls are welcome to stay,” Kevin said. “You must’ve had a hard time getting here from Manteo. I know the roads are a mess.”
They started talking about the storm, and it turned out both of them were volunteer firefighters. I got up and got them both a cup of coffee, glad the tension had eased.
Marissa was peeking around the corner as I walked by. “Is everything okay? I hope that big guy isn’t going to hurt Kevin.”
“I think it’s fine now. It was just a shock.”
“I guess it would be a shock to find out the person you loved was cheating on you.”
I didn’t say anything, refusing to add to the local grapevine. There were bound to be rumors and speculation about everything that had gone on before and after the storm. The best thing was to leave them alone and not add to the problem. Gossip wouldn’t help find out what had happened to Sandi.
I looked in the bar after that—Matthew was still there, his head resting against Barker’s shoulder while both men took a nap. I left them alone and looked for other things to do.
I had just started helping Althea with Sandi’s daughters in the lobby when the front door opened and Mrs. Euly Stanley bounded into the inn. She was an older lady with a shock of curly gray hair that almost overwhelmed her fragile face. Mrs. Stanley was a great patron of the Duck Historical Museum.
“Dae, we need help at the museum next door. There’s been some damage, and I think we better get it taken care of in case it rains again. Mildred and I are the only ones over there. Thank God we live close by. Think you could spare a few men for us?”
Althea seemed to have everything in hand with the two little girls. Marissa waved me on when I told her I was going to the museum for a few minutes. I was glad for the chance to get out of the Blue Whale for a while—even if it was on cleanup detail.
The Duck Historical Museum was right next door to the Blue Whale Inn. It held all the treasures of our sometimes checkered past, from pirates to the present day. Before leaving, I rounded up some volunteers from among the hotel guests who were looking for anything to pass the time. A few bored mayors’ assistants came with us, along with a few Duck residents who’d been put out of their homes by the storm.
The museum was one of my favorite places. Not that it mattered much in this case. I just wanted to get away from what had become an impossible atmosphere next door. Something ached inside of me when I thought of Sandi dying alone out in the storm.
Maybe we hadn’t been the closest of friends, but no one should have to die that way. Looking into the faces of her two little girls, I felt heartsick. What a terrible thing for them. At least I’d been an adult when my mother died.
It would be simpler—safer—to think that the strong winds had collapsed the shed on her. And maybe that was exactly what had happened—once she got outside.