Page 48 of Light of Day

“Hot tips? You mean about Denton Simms?”

“Denton? No, he’s the one who tipped me off.” Gabby dropped onto the couch, almost missing the edge of the cushion in her exhaustion. “How’d you figure that out?”

Heather’s stomach dropped as she realized that Gabby didn’t know about Denton’s fate.

She sat down next to her and said, as gently as possible, “I’m sorry to tell you this, but…well, Denton Simms is dead.”

“What?Oh my God.” Looking stricken, Gabby shook her head from side to side, as if she could reject this news, keep it from being true. “How? When? What happened?”

“They’re doing the autopsy now, but he was found in the ocean at Seaweed Cove. There’s something else. It’s possible it wasn’t an accident.”

“Heather.” Eyes wild, Gabby grabbed at Heather’s hands. Hers were scratched and bruised from her night in the woods, or her escape, or both. “I’m sure it wasn’t an accident. Someone killed him.”

A chill shivered down Heather’s spine.

“Why do you say that?” Luke asked as he came through the door from his bedroom. Fully dressed now in a thick blue zippered hoodie and jeans, he put his hands on his hips and studied her closely.

Gabby’s gaze flicked to Heather, who gave her an encouraging nod.

“The timing,” she said in a shaky voice. “It’s too suspicious.”

“Tell me more. What about the timing?”

“He’d found some information. He reached out to—” Her voice broke. “Poor Denton. He was a good guy.”

“Who did he reach out to?” Luke asked. “Whatever you can tell me will be helpful.”

“He said it was someone with the power to make things right.”

Heather exchanged a glance with Luke. The first person who came to her mind—someone with power—was John Carmichael III.

Luke continued his interrogation. “What was the information he’d found?”

“It’s all on flash drives. Shit. My drives!” She turned to Heather. “Heather, you have to find those drives. There’s two of them, I left them in two different places just to be safe. One’s in my suitcase and the other’s hidden in my room. Don’t let anyone else get their hands on those.”

“I’ll find them,” Heather promised her, a little confused. “But?—”

Gabby bolted to her feet. “I need to get off this island. There’s someone I need to find, and I don’t think I’m safe here.”

“Gabby, no!” Heather hated the idea of Gabby on her own again. “I feel like this is the safest place for you right now, with us. Luke’s the constable, remember?”

“Yes, but…” She turned toward Luke. “You should know that Denton found out some shit about your family. Right now, I think I’m safer if I’m nowhere near any of the Carmichaels. Nothing personal.”

Luke’s folded his arms across his chest and scrutinized her closely. “Then why did you come find me at zero dark in the morning?”

“That was before I knew about Denton.” Gabby rubbed the heel of her hand against her forehead. She looked exhausted, and Heather wondered when her last sleep had been. She’d never seen Gabby so cagey, almost paranoid.

“I’ll protect you,” Luke told her. “Marigold, my assistant, can help with that too.”

Gabby edged toward the door. “I’m sorry, I can’t take a chance. Unless you have more questions for me about Denton, can I get the hell out of here?”

“I do have more questions.” Luke pulled out his phone to tap out some notes. He did not look happy about this situation at all. “When did Denton contact you?”

“About three weeks ago.”

“What did he say?”

“That there was a huge story here that I should look into.”