Saltwater Secrets - Amelia Addler Page 0,63

even get to talk about how impressive it was.”

“Oh – thank you,” Jade replied, looking down.

“We did do a great job,” Morgan said. “I can’t believe that we were ever worried that we would lose. How can anyone vote for their idea over ours?”

Jade sighed. “There are still a lot of reasons why people may prefer the other plan over ours. But I think that we did everything we could, and there’s nothing more we can do.”

“Except,” her mom said, “you could have let me in on this so I could have pepper sprayed Jared as well.”

They all started laughing.

Jade shook her head – as satisfying as a pepper spraying was, this was even better. Whatever career Jared imagined for himself in San Juan was now certainly dead.

“Now all there is to do is wait for the vote,” Jade said.

“So are we still having the voting party at your house, Mom?” Tiffany asked.

She nodded. “Absolutely! I can’t wait. Win or lose – you’re winners to me!”

Jade and Morgan simultaneously groaned.

“That’s very sweet Margie,” said Morgan. “But if we don’t win, I’m burning whatever building Eric Burke builds down.”

Jade snorted with laughter. “That’s like a tongue twister. Burning whatever building Eric Burke builds down. Say it five times fast!”

Morgan tried to repeat it but ended up twisting her words. Everyone except for Jade’s mom was laughing; she insisted that they stop making jokes about fires.

Jade smiled. “You’re right Mom. No jokes about fires. And no more fires. Morgan – we’re going to have to win this the old-fashioned way.”

Morgan cocked her head to the side. “You mean with our charm, good looks and great hair?”

“No!” Jade laughed. “With hard work and heart.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, we have that too I guess.”

“I guess we’ll find out Tuesday,” Jade said. She didn’t want to get too excited, but she felt hopeful that they had a chance.

Chapter 25

The day of the vote finally arrived, and Matthew was lucky enough to have the day off. He was grateful for it, of course, but part of him wished for more time to question Jared. It wouldn’t be easy – Jared lawyered up immediately, and they had to be careful with how they decided to charge him. Chief had the idea to grant Eddie immunity in exchange for his testimony, and Eddie made it clear that he was happy to take a deal. They had enough evidence to prosecute Jared for something, they just weren’t sure exactly what would stick yet.

Right after breakfast, Matthew went to cast his vote in the special election. There were a few items on the ballot, but most important to him was Jade’s cause. He had the highest of hopes for her, and it seemed like a decent number of people were coming out to vote. That was a good sign – probably?

The entire island was still abuzz with the scandal from Sunday’s presentations. The fire was one thing, but finding out that it was essentially ordered by a sitting council member? Juicier gossip didn’t exist.

Matthew tried to avoid talking about it with anyone, saying that he had to decline comment on an ongoing case. He was grateful that he could use that as an excuse – he didn’t like to gossip. Even if it were true, it wasn’t his style.

After voting, he went back home and picked up Toast to take him for a long walk. They were getting into the time of the year when the weather was occasionally and briefly perfect. Today was one of those days. The sky was a clear, impeccable blue and the sun was shining. Matthew decided to take Toast to the west side of the island to hike the trails around English Camp.

He adored the history about the camp and San Juan Island’s sovereignty. Initially, both the English and the Americans believed that the islands belonged to them. As the story goes, tensions reached a boiling point when an American settler shot and killed a pig for eating potatoes from his garden. English authorities threatened to arrest him, and in response, an American regiment made camp on the southeast side of the island. One thing led to another and the English sent three warships, causing the Americans to position their cannons for attack. When the news of the escalation over the dead pig reached the respective leaders of both countries, they were horrified.

After some negotiations, both sides agreed to scale down and jointly occupy the islands until a decision could be made as to which