Luke's lips thinned, and he took a swallow from his water bottle without answering.
"You know Teddy," Zoe went on. "Drifter type. He showed up in town last summer."
"Yes. I know Teddy Shelton." Luke's tone was stiff, borderline unfriendly. "I've noticed an increase in tensions around here since you came back. Connecticut didn't work out?"
"For a while. Then, no, it didn't."
"Betsy saw you on Breaking News this summer."
"That was a wild few days," Zoe said.
His resentment of her was plain. "You got your killer."
She said nothing.
Luke sighed audibly and set his bottle on the table. "I considered your father a friend. I adored Olivia. I don't know you and Christina as well, but I've tried to do right by you since their deaths. When Special Agent McGrath turned up in town, I was concerned his very presence, whether or not he was on vacation researching his genealogy, would put people on edge."
"So you hired Teddy Shelton?"
"After I got worried about McGrath. Just to keep me informed. Then you came back, and I asked him to let me know if you started to unravel again." He raised his watery eyes to her. "You know what I mean. I don't have to spell it out."
"You didn't want me to hit the self-destruct button again," Zoe said.
J.B. noted her tone was objective, but she'd started to rub one finger along the edge of her bloody bandage, staring at it. Luke made a small gesture with one hand, as if he wasn't agreeing or disagreeing with her. "I had no idea Teddy would beat up my son or take a shot at you."
"Have you seen him or talked to him since it happened?" J.B. asked.
"I left a message on his cell phone, firing him."
Another breeze stirred, and J.B. thought he felt a drop of rain. "Did you tell the police?"
"Of course. I gave them his cell phone number, not that they can't get it on their own. I have nothing to hide, if that's what you're implying."
J.B. shrugged and didn't respond.
"I don't know what Teddy's game is. He could be working for someone else. He could be running his own angle. Kyle could simply have caught him at the wrong time, in the wrong place, and we're all overreacting."
"Could Teddy have followed Kyle to Olivia's?" Zoe asked.
Luke replaced the cap on his bottle of water. "I have no idea."
"Have you seen what he's collected for his documentary? I'm wondering if Teddy thinks there's money to be made there." She pushed back her chair, rising. "Even blackmail money."
"You're reaching, Zoe. Now, if you don't mind-"
"Kyle's not trying to find my father's murderer, is he?"
Luke was on his feet but stiffened visibly at her question. "I don't have to answer your questions, do I? This isn't an official visit, is it?"
Zoe didn't back down. "Who else knows you hired Shelton?"
"You might not approve, Zoe, but my arrangement with Teddy wasn't illegal. What he's done on his own isn't my fault. I won't allow you or anyone else to tarnish me because of it." He yawned, covering his mouth. "If you two will excuse me, I have work to do. I'm leaving Goose Harbor in the morning. I don't usually stay this late in the season as it is."
"What about Betsy?" Zoe asked.
"She won't be coming with me."
J.B. thought that was the first bit of good news he'd heard. Betsy O'Keefe deserved better than this snot. He looked at Zoe. "I guess this means dinner on the yacht tonight's canceled."
Luke ignored him. Zoe spun on her toes and got off his boat. J.B. could sense her anger. She shot ahead of him and was out to the main dock before he caught up with her. She marched along at a brisk pace. "I can't believe Aunt Olivia didn't see what a coldhearted bastard he is. I know people who've come out of abusive childhoods. They don't treat people like cockroaches. They-" She stopped herself. "It was the tone he used when he mentioned Betsy that got to me. Like she wasn't worthy of going south with him. The summer stuff you leave behind in Maine."
"He's a condescending prick."
She gave him a sideways glance. "Your professional opinion?"
"They teach us to recognize condescending pricks in the academy. You should have gone."
For the first time in hours, she laughed. It was good to see. J.B. slipped his hand into hers, and she didn't pull away. "You need a new bandage."
"Christina has a first-aid kit at the café."
He nodded. "I thought you might want to talk to her."
Twenty-Six
Christina wouldn't let them in. She'd locked the café door and was down on her hands and knees, scrubbing the floor with a bristle brush. Zoe pounded on the door. "Chris! Come on. I know you're upset about something Luke said."
She didn't respond at once. Zoe, more worried than annoyed, gave her a chance to collect herself. Christina didn't like to be pushed. Finally, she got up and unlocked the door, then turned away quickly, dropping her brush into her bucket so hard, water and suds splashed out.
Zoe had seen her tears but wasn't sure J.B. had. The café smelled of cleaning detergent and looked as if it'd been scrubbed from corner to corner. Christina was on a tear.
"Chris?" Zoe's voice was gentle, and she approached her sister slowly, reaching out one hand tentatively, as if Chris might bite it. "What's wrong? What happened with you and Luke?"
"Oh, that's not important." Her back was rigid as she stared into her cleaning bucket, fat locks of hair hanging in front of her face. "I heard you were shot at. That's much more important than anything I've been through."
Zoe heard the hurt in her voice, the fear, recognized that Christina wasn't being bitter or sarcastic but trying to put into perspective whatever had happened to her. Zoe didn't move, didn't touch her. " Shelton wasn't shooting at me, Chris. I'm fine. He shot over my head to drop me in my tracks and give himself a chance to escape. He'd stumbled on Kyle-"
"That's right. My sneak of a no-good boyfriend."
Christina whirled around, her apron dripping, her ruffled blouse soaked up to the elbows. Her face was raw and red from crying. But she didn't seem to notice. She was focused only on Zoe. "Why did you come back? Maybe the first break-in was nothing-just someone looking for silver."
"Chris, we don't know that Teddy Shelton has anything-"
She refused to listen. "Kyle-Kyle never would have sneaked into Aunt Olivia's attic if you'd shown any interest at all in what he's doing. Now-" She spun back around and gave her bucket a kick, more water splashing out on the floor. "Now his own father thinks he was involved somehow in Dad's death. That bastard."
"Is that what you believe?" Zoe asked quietly. "That Kyle was involved?"
"No! How could you suggest such a thing?"
"I'm not suggesting anything. I'm asking. Because if you don't believe it-"
Christina faced her sister again, her gray eyes dark with emotion. "I don't believe it."
"What about Kyle? Does he know his father thinks-"
"Of course. He must."
"Have you asked him?"
She shook her head. "The two of them are hard to figure out. I've quit trying." Her voice was hoarse but calmer, some of the fight gone out of her. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's afraid Luke had something to do with Dad's death, if the two of them aren't trying to protect-" But she didn't finish, squeezed back tears. "I can't-Zoe, can you understand? Can you understand that I just don't want to think about it anymore? I don't want it to be a part of me anymore. Dad's murder. Aunt Olivia. The whole mess."
Zoe nodded. "I can understand."
"I'm sorry." She spat it out, then softened. "I know it's not your fault."
"Where's Kyle now?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen him. I'm sure he's feeling stupid and inadequate over what happened with you and Teddy Shelton. I'll finish up here and go look for him." She cleared her throat, quickly stepped out of a puddle she'd made, apparently not realizing she'd been standing in it all along. "What about your car?"