“In the future, Melissa will show you around. Won’t you, Melissa?”
She was walking down the path with a binder in her hands.
“Jake? Conrad? What are you two doing here?”
Jake felt one of his bruises deepen as Conrad grabbed him at the shoulder.
“I found him inside of Building B.”
“Building B? That’s where Charlotte’s room was. What were you doing there?”
Jake stared at her and Conrad tightened his grip. He kept squeezing.
“Melissa, who is Charlotte? What is the significance of her room?”
Jake looked at her. If he could just make eye contact with her for a second, he knew it would be OK. He wondered what color his shoulder was turning under the pressure of Conrad’s hand. They waited. Then Mel broke her stare at Conrad and looked at Jake. He shook his head, a millimeter each direction. He didn’t know if it would be enough.
“Oh.” She brushed her hair and put her hand to her chin. “I just thought of Charlotte because I’m going to her room. I have to finish the handover documentation. Her daughter is coming down in a couple of days, so we need to have all the reports finished by then.”
“I see.” Conrad barely moved when he spoke.
“Just a funny coincidence.”
“Very well.” He nodded and let go of Jake’s shoulder. Jake felt his muscles loosen again. “Perhaps you can show Mr. Russo a residence hall in the future. We wouldn’t want him getting lost, would we?”
“No, of course not.”
“Of course not.” Conrad smiled, keeping his lips pressed tight together. “I have to find Mr. Rothschild.”
“Good seeing you.”
Conrad walked up the hill without responding.
Mel approached Jake tentatively and waited until Conrad turned the corner before she started talking.
“The beach.” She was almost whispering. “It was our beach, wasn’t it? That’s the beach where you were attacked.”
“Yes. But wait.”
“What?”
“I don’t want to start saying too much. I don’t want you to get in the middle of things.”
“It’s too late for that.”
She looked around. At the top of the hill, a child pushed a woman in her wheelchair. Both of them were laughing. They seemed happy and far away.
“What really happened to your face?”
“I was approaching someone on the beach and they turned around and hit me. Again and again. And then they kicked me while I was down.”
“I can’t believe it.”
She touched his face and brushed the black spots under his eyes. Her hands were warm and he couldn’t feel her fingernails. He wanted to lean forward and kiss her but was afraid she wouldn’t want it.
He didn’t have to wait. She touched the back of his neck and pulled him down to her. For the first time since he’d seen Conrad, he felt relaxed again. She was warm and tasted like orange. She spoke softly like she’d just woken up.
“I’m glad you’re OK. But I don’t understand.”
“I don’t know if you should.”
“It’s already too late. I lied and said you didn’t know Charlotte.”
He looked back up the hill.
“They wouldn’t know you lied.”
She grabbed his hand and pressed her thumb against his palm.
“That’s over now. But whatever happened isn’t.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“If you want me to cover for you, you have to do one thing.”
“What?”
“Explain it to me. Explain what you are looking for.”
She looked up at him and waited for him to answer. He looked down. She didn’t need to know about Charlotte. She shouldn’t. He didn’t know what he’d say until he said it.
CHAPTER 31
The beach was relatively crowded. Members of the community, visitors, and even a few children were enjoying the sunny day. That was good. The more crowds the better.
“This is where it happened. This is where I was attacked.”
“And you were going to see Abram Samuels?”
“He’s the one who saved me.”
He’d asked her one last time if she was sure she could handle it. All the complications, the conflicts, the risks of losing her job or worse. She just touched his face and nodded silently. They walked away from Sunset Cove and to the beach. They might be seen, but at least they wouldn’t be heard.
“And why were you meeting Abram?”
“Because we think Charlotte Ward was murdered.”
She looked out to the water and then around again. An elderly man dipped a toe in the water and stepped back with a frown on his face.
“Jake, how could someone have killed her?”
“Simple. They just kept her away from her meds. They pulled her out to the beach and left her. Without her walker, she couldn’t get back. That’s all they had to do.”
“Oh God. But who would do that? And why?”
“We think Sheryl Goldfein knows something about it. Before she was killed, Charlotte had bad blood with Sheryl.”
“You think Sheryl killed Charlotte?”
“I don’t know.” He sighed. He wanted to hold her close, but they were sitting a few feet apart. They’d have to face it separately. For now.
“For a while I thought it was Sheryl. Then Abram. The other complication is that, in order to spite Sheryl, Charlotte was investigating a radical environmental group. The Saving Tomorrow Initiative.”
“Who are they?”
“Remember the banquet? Remember the bearded man?”
“That’s them?”
“Yes.”
She put her hands over her face.
“This is too much. We have to tell the police.”
“We can’t yet.” He touched her arm. He didn’t care about appearances. “I think we can figure it out. Sheryl shifted the community’s charity funding to this group. What’s suspicious is that the group also had every reason to stop Charlotte from finding out about them.”
“I suppose so. It just seems…”
“What?”
“I don’t think Sheryl would do it.”
“You never know.”
He could tell it hadn’t sunk in. He rubbed her forearm between his fingers. She shook her head.
“That kind of thing doesn’t happen here. It shouldn’t happen here. These people are family. Why am I doing this if they aren’t like that?”
“I know.”
“Why do I stick around and bother?”
“I know.”
They looked out at the beach. The concession building was open now, they could tell from the line in front of it. People walked away with overfilled ice cream cones and sweating soda cans. And smiles. Big, open smiles.
“I have this.” He took the key out of his pocket and showed it to Mel. He dropped it in her hand.
“What is it?”
“It’s the key to Charlotte’s room. I was going to look inside her apartment. Then Conrad showed up.”
“How did you get it?”
“Abram gave me the key.”
“Of course.”
“You knew?”
“I think most of us did.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It was idle gossip. Not life and death.”
She sighed. She leaned forward and started spreading sand across her feet. They were already half buried.
“You know that’s why Sheryl kicked Charlotte out of bridge.”
“Abram hinted at that. I thought he was just arrogant.”
“Sheryl wanted him for herself.”
“And Charlotte thought it was all about bridge.”
“I think so. Sheryl knew it would hurt her.”
“And then Charlotte retaliated by investigating this group. That’s when the real trouble started.”
She didn’t seem interested in talking about it anymore. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her against his body. Her feet emerged from the sand, the grains slowly falling to the sides.
“I’m sorry you’re a part of this.”
“There’s a problem.”
“What?”
“The key.” She handed it back to him. “Once Charlotte’s daughter comes, she’ll have keys. She can change the locks, stay there, or do whatever she wants. If you use the key, you’ll have to do it before she arrives.”