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“And what will you do with it?”
“I’ll see what I can find out.”
A shiver rolled down her spine. What was she getting herself into? Did she really want to dig further? This was a small island. What were the chances that Remy wouldn’t hear something about it? “I don’t know if we should do anything,” she said.
Bo put everything back inside the duffel bag and zipped it before getting up and handing it to her. “Ismay, this stuff raises some serious questions. I think we need to figure out where it came from.”
She gripped her forehead. “What if Remy finds out?”
Bo didn’t look as though he had a good answer. “I’ll do my best to keep it quiet, but I guess there are no guarantees.”
Should she just tell her fiancé about what she’d found? She would rather be up front about it. But if she told him, and he was guilty of harming the women who’d owned these panties and jewelry, he’d just deny it. She couldn’t see how that would help. She’d just wonder if she could believe him, introducing more tension into their relationship.
The best possible option was to try to determine who the girl was and go from there. She might as well do all she could to quiet her fears. Maybe by the time he arrived, she’d have the answers she needed and would be able to move forward without the nagging doubts and concerns that’d plagued her since finding that duffel.
She’d actually had doubts about marrying Remybeforeshe came to Mariners, she reminded herself. That was partly why what she’d found had rattled her so badly. But putting her questions on the contents and placement of that duffel bag to rest would enable her to focus on the smaller problems she’d been expecting to sort out this summer. She’d be relieved just to return to her former anxieties and fears.
“It probably won’t come to anything,” she said.
“You’re right,” Bo agreed. “I doubt it will. But...”
“Just in case,” she finished for him.
“Just in case,” he repeated.
She covered her face with one hand before dropping it so she could text him the image. “Okay. But please...be as discreet as possible.”
“Trust me, if anyone in the Windsor family finds out I’m asking questions that could even remotely imply one of them might be guilty of a crime, I’d lose my job. So I’m not eager for them to find out, either.”
“Oh, no,” Ismay said with a wince. “I probably shouldn’t have dragged you into this. I didn’t realize it could putyouat risk. I just... I don’t know... I trust you, for some reason. I—I like you.”
There was a second when his eyes met hers and she could’ve sworn he was about to say he liked her, too. She could tell he did. But he straightened instead, and his smile morphed into a scowl. “It’s probably better if we don’t get too close,” he said. “But I’ll let you know what I find.”
Surprised that he’d suddenly stiff-armed her, she felt her jaw drop. She wanted to make it clear that she hadn’t meanttoomuch by what she’d said, but he didn’t give her the chance. He headed down the beach, no doubt intending to circle around to his house farther up the shoreline.
Stung by his reaction, she dropped the duffel bag on the sand, sank down next to it, and burrowed deeper into her sweatshirt while watching the white foamy waves roll almost all the way up to her feet before falling back into the ocean. Had she been out of line? Had what she’d said sounded as though she was making a play for him?
Maybe so. She’d been too impetuous, spoken directly from the heart, which embarrassed her now. She took out her phone to text him an apology, but she was afraid making a point of that would only turn the incident into a bigger gaffe.
Instead, she messaged her brother.I can’t wait until you get here.Maybe then, with his steadying influence, she could find her balance again...
Good because I was just about to let you know I get in tomorrow night.
She dropped her head back to appeal to the moon.“Tomorrow night?”That didn’t give her much time. But she could see why he’d leave immediately if he was going to leave at all. Why suffer through facing everyone in Tremonton if he didn’t have to?
Perfect, she wrote back. But nothing seemed to be perfect at the moment.
Bo was restless when he returned to the cabin. He should’ve been worried about the items in that duffel bag, and he was. Because of his experience with other inmates, he knew better than most what a stash like that could signify. But it was the way he’d reacted to Ismay’s declaration that had him all twisted up inside. He’d never expected to care about anything or anyone Remy liked, but hedefinitelycared for Ismay. He wished he could show her how much better he’d treat her. But he had too much to hide to allow their friendship to grow. He didn’t really have anything to offer her, anyway. What would such a lovely woman—an attorney, no less—want with an ex-con?
I trust you, for some reason.Just hearing her say that reminded him he was a fraud. She’d hate him once she learned. But what she’d discovered in the wall of Remy’s closet made him think that Remy might be the bigger fraud. And Remy could be far more dangerous. Although Bo couldn’t afford to get involved in anything that might drag him under the microscope, he’d known men who’d kept similar trophies, and he knew what they had done, knew firsthand that evil men often appeared to be perfectly normal. If there was a monster like some of the inmates he’d served time with running around free, he had to do something about it.
He pulled up the picture Ismay had sent him and saved it to his photos. He needed to find out who the girl was, and he needed to do it without making any waves. But that wasn’t going to be easy. The Windsors had been a prominent family on the island for three generations. They were well-established, well-known, and, because of their money, well-respected. If Remy was hurting others, and he was smart about it, he could operate with impunity for years. Maybe he already had. Digging to find out if there was something serious going on could cost Bo his job or cause others to look deeper into his past, but ifhedidn’t take that risk and make sure the items Ismay had discovered were meaningless, who would?
Even if his efforts only saved Ismay from marrying a man like some of those he’d known in prison, it’d be worth it.
After the way their meeting on the beach had ended, Ismay hated to bother Bo again. But with her brother flying in tonight at ten, she had to see if he would talk to Honey. She’d reserved a room for Jack at Hotel Mariners at three hundred and fifty dollars a night. With tourist season upon them, that was the best price she could get, but she knew the financial drain would wear on him so quickly, he’d probably turn around and go home after a few days. That was a lot of money to him—to them both. She needed to be able to promise him that he wouldn’t have to pay it for long, and Bo was the only person she knew on the island who could help her find an alternative. She certainly wasn’t going to ask Bastian for help.
She’d wanted to bring Bo lunch again. She felt she owed him for all the help he’d given her, including the support he was offering on what she’d found in that duffel bag. But after what she’d said to him last night, she was afraid he’d read too much into another meal. So once she’d showered and told Remy’s brother she was going to take an Uber to town to wander through the art galleries and the whaling museum—which he, fortunately, had no interest in doing—she left, and as soon as she was out of sight of the house, veered off the road to go to the bungalow.
