sweet tea. Jane already had one beside her. “Did you think any more about what I said last night? About your mom?”
“I barely slept for thinking about it.” She reached down and picked up a handful of fine sand that she let sift through her fingers. “I think maybe you’re right. I’ll have to talk to my mother.”
“Face-to-face or a phone call?”
The wind blew her light-brown hair into her eyes, and she swiped it away. “What do you think I should do?”
It was a step in the right direction that she cared enough to ask him. “You already know how I feel—talk to her face-to-face. She might not answer a phone call. Caller ID would tip her off that it’s you, and I doubt she’ll answer.”
Before Jane could reply, Megan, dressed in a white cover-up over her bathing suit, called to them as she and her mother came their way across the sand. Her mom, Olivia, wore a navy top over white capris, and she looked almost normal until Reid noticed her stiff gait.
She made slow progress across the uneven ground. He should have suggested they meet somewhere else.
He rose and helped her to a waiting camp chair. “Thirsty? We’ve got sweet tea and lemonade.”
Olivia lowered herself onto the chair. “Tea would be great.”
He exchanged a quick look with Jane at how slurred Olivia’s words were. So far her weakness and speech issues were the main symptoms.
Megan rushed past them to join in the volleyball game with Will, and the sounds of teenagers’ shouts mingled with the roar of the surf. Reid dug out a dripping bottle of cold sweet tea and uncapped it for Olivia.
She took a swig, then choked on it. Her face went red, and he patted her on the back. “You okay?”
After she took a few breaths, Olivia nodded. “I’ve been having some trouble swallowing.” Her hand shook as she set the bottle into the chair’s cup holder. “You two looked very serious. Is it the murder?”
Jane shook her head. “Augusta is handling that. It’s a situation involving my mother.” She ran through the details of yesterday and what Gabriel had said.
Olivia listened without interruption. “You’re going to contact your mom?”
“I think I have to. I thought about calling her.”
“She won’t answer. You’re afraid to see her, aren’t you?” Olivia brushed a few windblown strands of brown hair away from her face. “You have to go in person, Jane.”
Jane looked away to stare at the waves. “Seriously, I’m confident it will be a total disaster. She’s known where I was all along, and she told Dad not to tell me her location. That says a lot about what kind of reception I can expect.”
“Anyone would be terrified.” Olivia nodded.
“Reid also said I should fly over to see her. But as good as Augusta is, the homicide investigation is my responsibility.”
Reid dropped back down onto the blanket. “I’ll go with you. Like I said last night, we can make it a two-day trip. Over one day, back the next.”
Jane’s gaze flitted to the whitecaps rolling to the shore. “You don’t have to get involved in this, Reid. It’s not your fight.”
“Anything that involves you matters to me. I wouldn’t want you to go alone.”
Olivia’s smile of approval emerged. “You’re a keeper, Reid Dixon.”
He only hoped Jane thought so. “What if you asked your dad to call her? She might talk to him.”
“I don’t think he’s had contact with her in some years.”
Olivia leaned back in the chair. “Wait. What if you gave her number to Gabriel? Even if she didn’t answer, he could leave the message he wanted her to have.”
Reid hated to burst their bubble. “I don’t see your mom responding to Gabriel. She hasn’t had contact with him in over fifteen years.”
Jane rubbed her forehead. “You’re probably right. I’ll probably have to show up on her doorstep.”
Reid could imagine that scene, and it wasn’t pretty. There had to be a better way to get in touch with Jane’s mother. Did he have any contacts in Maine he could send over and impress on her how important it was that they talk? He’d had an intern from Bangor. He reached for his phone and looked at the map. It wasn’t that far from Folly Shoals. And if that didn’t work, he could try calling himself.
He placed the call and spoke to his friend only to find out the guy was on temporary assignment in California. He ended the call. “No go. My friend won’t be back