“I am.” I paused, mind tumbling. I needed advice, and it occurred to me that Leo was the best one to ask. He had no loyalty to anyone on the island. He could give me an objective opinion about how to proceed. Plus, if I was being honest, I was dying to tell him. I’ve never been any good at keeping secrets, and although I was sure I could keep this news from all the other locals, Leo and I were intimate now. Emily said she told Ryan everything. Wouldn’t it be okay to share this with Leo? If I could share my time and my bed, and honestly, my heart, with Leo, I should certainly be able to trust him with a story like this.
“I found out something today that you’re not going to believe, but if I tell you, you have to promise to never breathe a word of it. Not to anyone.”
Leo chuckled. “Brooke, who would I tell? Other than mild pleasantries, you’re basically the only person I talk to around here.”
“I found out who the jewel thief is.”
He shot forward from the pillows and looked at me in shock. “You did? How?”
“You know Shari from the post office?”
“No.”
“Well, my friend Shari works at the post office, and after we talked to that private investigator, she started thinking about the name Jimmy Novak. It had sounded familiar to her, but she just couldn’t place it.”
Leo sat forward even farther, his body like a coil ready to spring. He was a good audience.
“Then she remembered that in the back room of the post office, there’s a box of old letters that no one’s ever picked up, and with no return addresses, so they couldn’t be returned. She went and looked through them, and guess what she found?”
“What?”
“A stack of letters addressed to none other than Jimmy Novak. They were postmarked from the mid-1980s.”
“No fucking way,” he said slowly. His disbelief was palpable as he pushed a few empty food containers to the side and twisted toward me, as if to not miss a single word.
“So . . . who is he?”
I’d lasted less than twelve hours before letting the cat burglar out of the bag, but I’d gone this far. I couldn’t really go back, and Leo’s rapt attention made me want to draw the story out even further.
“Do you swear you’ll keep this between us? Swear on your bartenders’ oath of confidentiality or whatever?”
He hesitated only slightly before placing a hand solemnly over his heart. “As a bartender, you have my word.”
“Dmitri Krushnic.”
He exhaled loudly with a slump of his shoulders. “The beekeeper?”
“None other. I went to see him today and he confessed everything. Apparently, he robbed some heiress in the 1980s, and his partner got caught and ratted him out. Dmitri took off on the run and ended up here. He’s been here ever since.”
Leo ran a hand through his already-tousled hair and stared off into space as if trying to process this. I could relate to his shock.
“And what did he do with the jewelry?”
“He sold some of it. He’s got a fence down in Florida who he goes to see once in a while, but he told me he still has some of it. You’re never going to believe where the jewelry is hidden.”
Leo took a long, slow breath. “Where’s it hidden?”
“In the bases of his bee houses.” I found myself laughing, now relieved of my burden and enjoying Leo’s utter captivation. “Isn’t that fabulous? Who the hell would ever think to look there?”
“I know I would never have thought to look there.” He shook his head slowly. “I have to be honest. I kind of thought it was Sudsy Robertson, given all the stories you told me about him.”
“Oh, that’s the thing, though. Dmitri has been making stuff up for years, ever since he got here. He says he did it to direct suspicion away from himself. Diabolically clever, don’t you think?”
“Criminal minds are usually pretty clever,” he said, then looked at me intently. “What do you think about all of this? He’s been your friend since you were little, right?”
My own sudden sigh was unavoidable. “I don’t know what to think. I’d honestly kind of like your opinion on that. I know I should tell my father, because he has no idea, but Dmitri said the statute of limitations for all his crimes has expired, so it’s not like my dad could arrest him, and he’s