Saltwater Secrets - Amelia Addler Page 0,35
rubbed her forehead. “It gets worse. They think someone started the fire.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like, on purpose.”
Tiffany slightly stumbled back onto her car. “I think I need to sit down.”
Oy, she really didn’t look good. “Yeah, of course. Why don’t you take a seat?”
Tiffany nodded and pulled at the car door, but it was locked.
Morgan had an idea. “Jade is at your mom’s house. How about we go over there – I’ll drive. I rode here with Chief, and he’s talking to some fire investigators, or whatever they are. I’ll let him know that you’re here and then we can go?”
“That sounds good.”
Morgan went around the back of the house to tell Chief that she was leaving. The scorched look of the backyard caught her off guard. It was unbelievable that Jade was able to get out.
Well, she didn’t really get out. Matthew carried her out. And actually, he was kind of an idiot for running into a burning house like that.
But the good kind of idiot.
“Hey Chief – Tiffany just stopped by.”
He turned to look at her. “Wait – who?”
Morgan sighed. “You know, your other step-daughter. You only have two. Try to keep up.”
“Sorry,” he said with a laugh. “I didn’t know she was coming to visit.”
“Anyways, I’m going to catch a ride with her back to Margie’s house.”
“You mean back to my house?” He said, lifting his eyebrows.
“Alright.” Morgan smiled. “I guess that is your house now. And your old house is now my house.”
“Squatter,” he muttered before turning back to work.
She laughed – a real belly laugh. It was nice having someone like Chief on their side.
Morgan spent the entire drive telling Tiffany about the fire and all the issues and threats surrounding the Colby Farm project.
“So basically, now we’ll have to convince Jade to stop with all this nonsense before she gets herself killed.”
Tiffany shot her a look. “What? She can’t stop now. She can’t let them win.”
“Are you crazy? They actually tried to kill her!”
Tiffany shook her head. “No, they just started a fire.”
“How are you not seeing how that’s the same as trying to kill her!”
“Well, first of all, it didn’t seem like the person who left that message on the barn was some kind of mastermind,” Tiffany said. “They didn’t even spell ‘hurt’ correctly. And if they wanted to kill her, there are easier ways to do that without attracting so much attention.”
“I can’t even talk to you right now, because you’ve clearly lost your mind.”
Tiffany laughed. “I don’t know, it seems like they were just…trying to send a message. Everything they’ve done so far sounds like it was a warning. And there’ll be no stopping Jade now. You’ll see.”
Morgan groaned. There was no way that this entire family could be that crazy.
They walked into Margie’s and once everyone got over the excitement of Tiffany being there, Morgan decided to take a stand and tell Jade that she had to stop anything having to do with the Colby Farm vote.
“I’m not going to stop,” Jade said calmly. “And I’m not going to be scared by this.”
Okay, so that was two Cliftons who were out of their minds.
Surely Margie wouldn’t allow it? Morgan shot her a pleading look.
Margie cleared her throat. “Honey, don’t you think that you’ve done enough? Is it really worth it?”
“Of course it is. Look how hard they’re trying to fight me. It means they’re afraid that I’ll win.”
“Can I counter,” said Morgan, “that they seem to be willing to kill for this? So how will you compete with that?”
Jade flinched. “The police will catch them. Chief Hank will figure out who it was.”
Morgan threw her hands up, exasperated. “Hello! Do you remember how long it took them to catch my mom’s killer?”
Jade nodded. “Yes. But the vote is only four weeks away, so I just have to survive that long.”
Margie put her hands on her hips. “And then after four weeks you don’t care if you survive?”
Jade laughed, reaching out to grab her mom’s hand. “No, Mom. Of course I care. But after that, I’ll have already won.”
“Jade’s right,” Tiffany added. “She can’t give in now.”
“I feel like you’ve both lost your minds,” Morgan continued, “and we need to separate you before you come up with any more bad ideas.”
Tiffany shifted uncomfortably. “Oh that’s too bad, because I don’t have anywhere to stay.”
“You can stay with me!” Margie said.
Tiffany made a face. “No, I can’t stay with newlyweds. Sorry Mom, but you guys are kissy all of the time.”
“I mean…”