Page 55 of Artful Deceit

“You’re talking gibberish.”

“I’m not. You stole my backpack, and I need you to return it.”

He shook his head. “I’ve just caught you up a tree stealing my money, but you’re claimingI’ma thief?”

“Yes. It’s not your money. Why would you keep your money in a tree unless you were trying to hide something?”

“Because I live in a tent.” He pointed at it. “It’s not exactly secure, and I heard there’s a thief terrorising the island, so I hid my money in the tree.”

Lily inhaled deeply. “That actually makes sense.” She rubbed her forehead. “I thought you were skint. Why not stay in the guest accommodation if you have all that money?”

“Because it wouldn’t last very long if I were paying a couple of hundred quid a night to sleep inside.”

“That’s true,” Lily said. “But surely it would be more secure to keep your money in the bank.”

“I’d argue with you on that, but I find the conversation isn’t a lot of fun.”

“Okay.” She took another deep breath and stood up, testing to see if any of the pain was more than just scrapes and bruises. “So you didn’t steal anything?”

“No.” He looked at his money, then took it from the bag and counted it. “You weren’t trying to steal from me?”

“No. I want to catch the thief.”

“They stole from you?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you tell the police?”

“No.”

“That’s why you’ve been hanging around here so much? You think one of us is the thief?”

“Idid, yes. Now I’m not so sure.”

He put the money back in the bag. “If I hide this in the same spot, can you please not tell anyone where it is?”

“I won’t say anything, but people saw you climbing the tree, so if you want to be really secure, you might want a new hiding spot.”

“I’ll just keep it on me for now.” He lifted his shirt and shoved the cash into his bumbag. “I only came back for a jumper. They’re waiting for me back at the beach.”

“Don’t let me keep you,” she said as she hobbled towards the house.

Silas ducked into his tent, then walked quickly past her.

“Sorry for scaring you.”

She nodded. “Thanks for breaking my fall.”

At the fire pit, she sank down onto the ground, resting against a log while she worked up the energy to get herself home.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Lily hadn’t movedwhen a message came through from Flynn, asking how her day was going.

It was difficult to know how to reply to that. Telling him she’d fallen out of a tree and been ravaged by every branch on the way down would raise a lot of questions.

Saying her day was going well would be a pretty juicy lie.