Page 42 of Light of Day (Sea Smoke Island #1)

“Where is it?” Fiona repeated angrily. “I don’t want to hurt you.

I just want that drive.” She wore a wetsuit top with racing stripes and a visor to keep her long ponytail away from her face.

Her skill with the kayak was obvious in the way she used the paddle to keep it from slamming into the rocks.

“I know that chambermaid gave it to you, after she lied and said she hadn’t seen it. ”

“If you don’t want to hurt me, why did you stick me in that cave? I could have died in there.”

“Don’t be silly. I wouldn’t have let you die.”

“Carson saw me. He came this close to shooting me.” Heather made an “inch” gesture with her chilled fingers.

“Ugh, he must have followed us. He’s a hothead with a sadistic streak. I told him to leave you to me but he has that oldest-son thing going on. Sorry, I’m not responsible for his bullshit.”

“So what was your plan, leave me indefinitely? Why?”

“I just needed you to go away for a while.” With an exasperated gesture, Fiona slapped the water with her paddle. “Just until I tied up all the loose ends.”

“What loose ends?”

“My idiot father. He’s lost his fricking mind. He’s making terrible decisions, and something had to be done. He can’t be allowed to ruin things for us, his children, the next generation.”

“Are you talking about the sale? You don’t want him to sell the Lightkeeper Inn?”

Fiona’s lip curled, and Heather got the impression that she’d missed something. “Oh, the Lightkeeper’s getting sold. By tomorrow, the paperwork will be signed. Then you can come out and say whatever you want, because it won’t matter.”

Heather didn’t quite understand; her brain was still moving slowly from the massive amount of energy she’d just expended escaping from the cave. “What paperwork? I thought you were trying to stop the sale.”

“Hell no. I want the sale to go through. I’ll make millions, unless my dad fucks it up. Only someone with serious cognitive issues would be making such shit decisions.”

The facts shifted around like a kaleidoscope, still not falling into place.

“Now where’s that flash drive?” Fiona demanded.

“I don’t have it.”

“I don’t believe you. Take your clothes off.”

“Jesus, Fiona. I’m already freezing.”

Fiona untucked the canvas covering over the cargo compartment and dug around. She pulled out a dry, incredibly comfortable-looking track suit. Heather practically drooled at the sight of it. “You can put this on afterwards. See, I’m not heartless. Start with your shoes and socks.”

“You do realize that if I had a flash drive with me it would be corroded by saltwater by now.”

“All the better. I just need to confirm it’s gone. I’m serious. Do it.” Fiona brandished the tracksuit in the air. “Or I’ll leave you here on the rocks. It’s getting dark. You want to be here all night?”

Heather didn’t want that, but she was resigned to it.

But whether she stayed here or attempted to climb up through the forest, doing it with dry clothes sounded like a big improvement.

Worth a quick strip show. She had nothing to hide, after all.

“Do you have any dry socks in that magic kayak of yours?”

Without a word, Fiona found a pair and added them to the pile on her spray skirt.

Heather quickly stripped off everything, then spun around, arms wide, the wind cold on her skin. “No flash drive. Happy now?”

“Shake out your pockets.”

Heather knelt next to her pants and did as she asked.

“Fuck. I know you had it before. I told those idiots to search you before they put you in the boat. They probably didn’t understand a word I said. Why don’t they learn better English?”

Heather hated thinking about someone searching her while she was unconscious. But maybe they hadn’t actually done it, because that drive had still been in her sock, easy to find. She’d stick to that comforting thought. “I don’t have any flash drive. Clothes, please?”

Fiona tossed them onto the rocks next to her. Heather scrambled to grab the balled up socks before they landed in a puddle.

“For the record, I was kayaking along the shoreline when I spotted you. I was kind enough to toss you some dry clothes. Then I went to get help. Single kayak, sorry.” She gave a careless shrug of her shoulders, then dipped her paddle in the water.

“Wait, you’re leaving me?”

“I have to meet Celine. She’s with the doctor now.

This whole thing is so hard on her. It’s a good thing we’ve developed such a close relationship.

This whole experience has really bonded us.

” Fiona’s cool breezy style really irritated Heather.

Everything about it was fake, as if she didn’t take anything seriously, when obviously she took her daddy’s money very seriously.

“The affair,” Heather said suddenly. “I thought your dad was having an affair.”

“Oh that?” Fiona smirked. “Yes, poor Celine, that’s really been hard on her.

It was the last straw, honestly. The final nail in the coffin when it comes to my dad.

Can you believe that my father is cheating with one of my own friends?

Kayla’s really been rubbing it in her face, too.

I’m sure Kayla has some stories to tell about Daddy’s dementia. Very sure, as a matter of fact.”

“Oh my God. He isn’t having an affair, is he? You staged it to get Celine on your side. You set up your own father.”

Fiona laughed, a manic sound echoing across the water. “Such a wild imagination you have. But proof…hmm, that’s another thing entirely.”

These Carmichaels really were something. “Have you always been so conniving? Wow.”

Fiona tilted her head, musing. “I mean…is it conniving, or is it protecting? Gray area, I’d say.

” She dug her paddle into the water and spun the kayak around.

“See ya, babe! If I were you, I wouldn’t try that climb after dark.

Find a good spot and settle in for the night.

Oh here, I nearly forgot.” She tossed a water bottle toward Heather, who barely managed to grab it.

“One more gesture of kindness for the record.”

It took Fiona only a few expert strokes to glide out of the cove and disappear past the tall pines to the west. Heather hoped she wouldn’t try to search the cave. Maybe she’d go yell at the staff first, the people who may or may not have searched Heather’s unconscious body.

As she pulled on the tracksuit, which was blissfully warm and dry, she kicked herself for not asking about Denton. Had Fiona killed him too? Or had someone else taken care of that “loose end”?

More importantly, right now, she had a decision to make.

Find shelter and spend the night, or try to find her way out of here?

The sun had already dipped below the horizon, and deep midnight shadows lurked in the trees.

Hunger tugged at her belly. She took a swig of water, hoping that would help, and it tasted so good she’d drunk half the bottle before she yanked it away from her mouth.

She needed to save it, not glug it down.

In order to get to the forest, she had to climb about thirty feet up, across sharp granite rocks, until she reached a narrow border of patchy scrub grass. After that, the pines and birches grew so thick it was hard to see any path through them, especially at this time of night.

Yeah, there was no way she was going in that forest. Better find a comfortable spot to nest in for the night.

Just as she began climbing, the whine of a boat engine caught her attention. Wild hope filled her heart.

Then it was dashed just as quickly. Now that she knew Fiona had used a boat to put her in that cave, she couldn’t trust any boat. Fiona—or Carson—could have sent someone to finish the job.

She had to hide. Crawling on elbows and knees, she crab-walked across the scratchy grass to the shelter of a tree and tried her best to blend in with its trunk.