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"Good. That’s good. Listen, I should get home," Lilith murmured as she walked back around the counter to collect her purse that she must have stored there earlier. "If Phoebe is telling this to her father, he isn't going to take it well."
Chloe came very close to asking Lilith about her conversation with Trish but decided against it. Still, Chloe couldn’t help but wonder what the two women had been talking about in private.
What deep, dark secret had they been keeping from Phoebe?
More importantly, what did it have to do with Jenna's death?
Chapter Thirteen
Phoebe
The scent of antiseptic hung heavily in the air as the door to the tattoo parlor swung shut with a jingle. The entrance was small, containing only a couple of seats in front of a dark grey counter. There were several binders on top of the hard surface, and the red neon sign cast a rather eerie glow over the space.
Phoebe couldn’t help but notice the artwork on the walls—drawings and paintings alongside photos of intricate tattoos. A long black curtain had been hung from a rod behind the counter for what she could only assume was privacy. A classic rock song played softly from somewhere in the back. The shop seemed devoid of clients for the moment, but that wasn’t surprising given that tourist season didn't get into full swing for a couple more months.
Chloe nudged Phoebe with an elbow.
"Hey, we should get matching tattoos while we're here. Something small and cute, like little…microphones." Chloe flashed Phoebe a lopsided smile. "Better yet, we can get the logo of Graveside Mysteries on the inside of our wrists."
"No thanks," Phoebe murmured in disagreement as she instinctively rubbed the sensitive skin on her right wrist. "You know I hate needles."
Phoebe had driven back to town from her parents' house, not expecting Chloe to be at the apartment. She had filled Phoebe in on the private conversation with her mom and aunt. Her first instinct had been to confront Aunt Trish, who had still been downstairs minding the shop.
Common sense had quickly kicked in, though.
If the family had purposefully kept Phoebe in the dark about something related to Jenna’s death, they wouldn't be forced to make some sudden announcement. It was best to wait for a better time and place to confront any of the Burrows.
A woman emerged from the curtained-off section of the shop. Phoebe stared at her for a moment before recognizing her—Simone Langley. Her appearance was much different than Phoebe remembered from high school and the yearbook picture that was currently taped to the whiteboard in Chloe's apartment.
Simone's long dark hair was now buzzed on one side, her bottom lip was pierced, and a sleeve of colorful tattoos covered her right arm. The one distinctive feature that had stayed the same were her pale blue eyes.
Oddly enough, Simone didn't seem too surprised by their visit.
"Phoebe Burrow," Simone announced wryly as she came to a stop on the other side of the counter. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I'm guessing that I don't really need to answer that question." Phoebe pulled off her gloves as she made the introductions. "Simone, this is Chloe Anderson, close friend and business partner."
Simone's gaze flicked toward Chloe, but the woman didn't waste time with pleasantries. She was honestly blunt with her next statements.
"Word gets around fast in a small town, Phoebe. You should know that. What is it that you want to know? I wasn't friends with Jenna, so I'm not sure that I'm the person you should be talking to about her."
"I would have thought the same thing, but I'm finding out that I didn't know a lot about Jenna's life back then." Phoebe got the sense that she wasn't about to inform Simone of anything that she didn't already know, but it was still worth a try. "Take Ethan Turner. It turns out that Jenna and Ethan had planned an entire life beyond Bar Harbor that none of us knew about. College in New York, Ethan being drafted by the pros, Jenna becoming a famous artist, and so on. You know how grandeur sets in at that age."
"Save it, Phoebe. We all have secrets, don't we?" Simone shrugged as if it was normal for people to keep important aspects of their lives hidden from view. Maybe that had been Simone’s experience, but Phoebe would never have believed it of Jenna. "Look, Ethan wanted more than his hometown, and he chose a girl who wanted the same. Me? I love this place. There were no hard feelings, so I don't know what it is that you think I can tell you about your sister. You'll either find Ethan on his boat or at the bar. He's the one with all the answers."
"We spoke to Ethan this morning."
Simone waved a hand when Phoebe didn't follow up on her statement right away. By this time, Chloe had stepped up to the counter and was casually flipping the pages in one of the binders.
"And? Why would he send you my way?"
"Maybe because Ethan caught you following Jenna around town," Phoebe stated matter-of-factly. Her words were sharp enough to cause Chloe to pause in turning a page. "Funny thing about that…someone has been doing the same with me and Chloe."
"Phoebe didn't mean that the way it came out," Chloe quickly inserted, but Phoebe couldn’t fathom a reason to be cordial. Simone had made it obvious that she could care less about Jenna. "I can only imagine what it was like for you when Ethan broke things off. The first heartbreak? No heart can fully heal from that one."
Phoebe mentally and emotionally tried to take a step back. Chloe was able to grasp the bigger picture, whereas Phoebe was wound too tight to comprehend anything but dark secrets…and ghosts of the past.
"Simone, if you know that we're looking into Jenna's death, then you know we believe someone might have killed her," Chloe said softly as she leaned against the counter. "All we're doing is looking for answers. The same as you would be doing if Jenna had been your sister."
