the kind of guy people passed on the street and forgot about a second later.
But Ron’s anger wasn’t average. He had a violent temper, and before long the whole town bore witness to the bruises his rages left on Helena and her mother. After all, even the best makeup doesn’t always conceal a black eye.
Thankfully, during her freshman year away at college, Helena’s stepdad left her mom, taking off for places unknown with no explanation. The general sentiment was good riddance. At the time Helena had been attending the University of Maine with Ami. In fact, she and Ami shared not just a dorm but a room as well.
At the end of freshman year, though, Helena quit college and moved down to Massachusetts to be closer to Nate. He was attending, and playing football for, Boston College. They were married in a small, private ceremony shortly thereafter. And that was it. I’d heard nothing more. It was strange to think that they’d ended up living out here on secluded Fade Island. Something to look into, for sure.
Ami resumed her slow crawl up toward the northern boundary of Main Street, to where it turned into a paved, two-lane road twisting through the forest on the west side of the island.
Ami was pointing to an olive-colored bungalow adjacent to the café, so I focused my attention back on the here and now. “That’s Nate and Helena’s house,” she said.
The home was fairly large, with an elaborately landscaped front lawn. “But Helena spends most of the day at the café,” Ami continued. “If you’re trying to catch her, always check there before you go anywhere else. She’s almost always there.”
Another bungalow, this one smaller and also painted olive-green, sat directly across from Nate and Helena’s. “Who lives there?” I asked.
“Max,” Ami replied. “He was in the military a while back, did a few tours of duty. But now he handles security here on the island.”
“Is he a police officer for Harbour Falls then?” I asked, knowing Fade Island, though privately owned, still fell under the Harbour Falls jurisdiction.
“Uh, I think so,” Ami answered, picking up speed. “I don’t know all the details of his qualifications or whatever. But he provides security for the island, its residents, and any visitors.”
Spoken like a true real estate agent. Uh-huh, I thought, sure. It sounded more to me like “security for the island” was code for “security for Adam Ward.” But I let it drop.
Thinking of Adam, I asked, “Hey, wasn’t Helena friends with Chelsea at one time? Isn’t that how Adam originally met her?”
The car bucked as Ami wavered on the gas. “Um, I think that’s how they met. I’m not exactly sure.” For whatever reason, she seemed irritated. “But, to be honest, I wouldn’t ask too many questions about Chelsea around here.” Around here? Did she mean on the island or the entire area in general?
“Sure,” I replied, hesitant to ask for elaboration for fear this line of conversation might lead to me blowing my cover.
Besides, I remembered plenty about Chelsea Hannigan. And really who could forget? She had attended a private school in Harbourtown, a neighboring town of Harbour Falls located a few miles inland. For as beautiful as Helena was, Chelsea had her beat. No contest. If Helena could be described as a model, then Chelsea was a supermodel.
Exquisitely styled, strawberry-blonde hair; endless legs; flawless skin; high cheekbones; eyes that were the most unusual shade of green. To many, Chelsea embodied perfection. Every female dreamed of having her body, and so did all the guys. Of course, both had vastly differing definitions of what “having” meant.
To top it all off, Chelsea was rich. Well, her family was. Sometimes she would pick Adam up at school in her father’s Ferrari, and Adam’s younger sister, Trina, would get stuck driving his car back home all alone.
This reminded me to ask, “Whatever happened to Trina?”
“She lives in Boston.” Ami glanced over, probably wondering what was with all the questions.
But I continued, “What about their parents? Do they still live in town?”
Ami nodded, and I shot off another question, “I heard Dr. Ward retired as dean at Harbour Falls U and that he and Mrs. Ward travel all the time now. Is that true?”
Ami’s eyebrows knitted together as she frowned. “Maddy, are you sure you’re not still into Adam? ’Cause you sure are asking a lot of questions that have to do with him and his family.”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” I replied, a little too sharply. “I’m just