stupid was it to lie to himself? Of course he was attracted. She had that face, that body, that way.
He’d rather not be attracted to her, that was accurate. He didn’t want to think about sex. He didn’t want to think about sex with her.
He just wanted to write, to escape into a world he created and to find his way back into the world he lived in.
He wanted to find out who killed Lindsay and why, because until he did, no amount of ocean breezes would blow that world clear again.
But wants didn’t deal with what was. And what was? A hole in the basement floor dug by a person or persons unknown.
Time to call the cops.
He went inside, set the plate in the sink and saw Abra had set Vinnie’s card against the kitchen phone.
He wanted to roll his eyes, but it saved him a trip upstairs to dig through his pants pocket where he’d stuck the card Vinnie’d given him.
He dialed the number.
“Deputy Hanson.”
“Hey, Vinnie, it’s Eli Landon.”
“Eli.”
“I’ve got a problem,” he began.
Within the hour, Eli stood with the county deputy studying the trench in the old basement.
“Well.” Vinnie scratched the back of his head. “That’s an interesting problem. So . . . you haven’t been digging holes down here?”
“No.”
“Are you sure Miss Hester didn’t hire somebody to . . . I don’t know. New plumbing lines or something?”
“I can be pretty sure of that. I can be pretty sure if she did, Abra would know about it. And since it’s obviously in progress, I can be pretty sure if it’s legitimate work, the person responsible would have contacted me.”
“Yeah. That’s not a hundred percent, but it’s close. And one more added on. If this was hired work, I’d’ve probably heard about it by now. Still, do you mind asking your grandmother?”
“I don’t want to do that.” Eli had juggled the pros and cons of that half the night. “I don’t want to upset her. I can look through her files, her bills. If she hired somebody, she had to pay. I’m no expert, Vinnie, but I’d say this is too deep for water pipes or what have you. Plus, what the hell would she be doing having something like that installed back here?”
“Just trying to eliminate the simple. Something like this? It’s going to take some time with these hand tools. Time and determination. And it meant getting in and out of the house.”
“Abra told me my grandmother had her change the alarm code and get the doors rekeyed. After she fell.”
“Huh.” Vinnie’s gaze shifted from the trench to Eli’s. “Is that right?”
“Gran didn’t have a reason, not one she could articulate, but she was adamant about it. She doesn’t clearly remember the fall, but I wonder if there’s an instinct, some buried memory, something that had her insisting on changing the security.”
“You find a hole in the basement and now you think Miss Hester’s fall wasn’t an accident.”
“Yeah, nutshell. Abra was assaulted last night. He had to cut the power to get in. He wasn’t expecting her. He knew I wasn’t here. Maybe he’s working with Duncan. Duncan knew I was in Boston. You said he showed you receipts, gave you timelines. He could’ve given the person who broke in the all-clear. I’m in Boston, get in, get digging.”
“For what?”
“Vinnie, you and I might shake our heads at the whole Esmeralda’s Dowry nonsense, but plenty don’t.”
“So somebody gets Ms. Landon’s key and passcode, copies them. I can go with that. It’s not that hard. He uses them to gain access to the basement, starts digging his ass off. One night he attacks her, knocks her down the stairs.”
“She can’t remember. Yet.”
As the image came, as it always did, of her lying broken, bleeding, Eli paced off the fury. “Maybe she heard something and came down. Maybe she just came down then heard something. She tried to get back up. Her bedroom door’s thick as a plank, and locks from the inside. Get in, call the cops. Or maybe he just scared her and she tripped. Either way, he left her there. Unconscious, bleeding, broken. He left her.”
“If it happened that way.” Vinnie put a hand on Eli’s shoulder. “If.”
“If. A lot of activity here for a couple weeks after she fell. The police, Abra in and out getting things for Gran. But then it settles down a little, and he can come back, keep digging. Until word gets out I’m coming to stay. Until Abra