life-and-death contest with an unknown enemy. Not a great time to lose focus.
Hold bent back to his research, still ruling out the off-islanders and beginning to work on some of the island families he was pretty positive would not turn out to be connected to Eugenia Stanhope. Not much more he could do at this point, he reminded himself when frustration began to eat away at his patience—not without putting Windfallers in danger. Including Jessi and Benji, and that he would not do.
But ruling out was as necessary a part of solving any mystery as zeroing in. Every avenue eliminated made the true road a little clearer.
Unless it was a road not taken. That’s what Lance Proctor meant to Jessi. No matter what she said, what resentments she harbored, Jessi had to be wondering what might have happened, where she might be, if Lance had stuck around.
The idea of it pissed Hold off royally. Any man who could walk out on a pregnant girl, on his own child…
But if Lance had stayed, Hold reminded himself…
Jessi would have married him, might still be married to him. And Hold would have no chance with her.
Not that he had much of one now.
He bent back to the family Bible in front of him, determined to stop circling his mind around the what-ifs and what-thens, and do what he’d come to Windfall to do. Jessi would make the decisions that were right for her and Benji; she’d already proven that. And while she might have a forgiving heart, there wasn’t an ounce of stupid in it, or in her. Whatever Lance wanted from her, he’d play hell getting it.
Still restless, and frustrated on top of it now, he got to his feet and went outside, lifted his face for a moment into the stiff, frigid wind and let it blow away some of the clouds gathered around him.
He spotted Maggie near the open hangar door, instructing a kid of about sixteen, one of several part-timers she’d taken on after Mort had died. None of them were scheduled to work too many hours, none allowed to get too close—although Hold could see the puppy-dog adoration in the kid’s eyes. No big surprise he had a crush on Maggie, Hold mused. What teenage boy could resist a woman like her—tall, slender, striking, strong, and confident.
Maggie finished with the kid and started over to join him.
“The place is looking pretty good,” Hold said when she was close enough to hear him over the crash of the surf.
“Yeah.” She stopped beside him, turning to look around as he’d done. “Mort kind of checked out, I guess. I didn’t notice.”
“You overlooked,” Hold corrected her. “Mort was a friend. You gave him the benefit of the doubt.”
She shrugged, one-shouldered, a quintessentially Maggie gesture. “You want to know if I’ve heard from Dex.”
“’Course you have.”
“And the case?” she said with a slight smile. “He’s doing background, checking financials.”
“That would be a big task on a family like the Stanhopes, and Alec Barclay can’t help,” Hold added, referring to Dex’s friend and one of the Stanhope family lawyers. It was Alec who’d hired Dex to start digging into Eugenia’s fate. “Lawyer-client privilege.”
“It’s a stupid profession that shelters criminals.”
“It’s a necessary facet of the legal system, Maggie, but you know that.”
“Dex is searching for motive. It would help if Alec could point him in the right direction.” She shrugged. “Dex is no fool. He knows where to look.”
“Resentment, greed,” Hold said. “Every one of the Stanhopes probably feels some level of both. The trick is finding out if one of them felt enough to commit murder.”
“Dex hasn’t met with anyone in the family yet,” Maggie said. “He knows Rose Stanhope hired him, but the whole family was on board with the decision, so being the one to reach out doesn’t exonerate her. She may have sent Dex to find any descendants with the intention of welcoming them to the family, or taking them out.”
Hold slid his hands
Hold bent back to his research, still ruling out the off-islanders and beginning to work on some of the island families he was pretty positive would not turn out to be connected to Eugenia Stanhope. Not much more he could do at this point, he reminded himself when frustration began to eat away at his patience—not without putting Windfallers in danger. Including Jessi and Benji, and that he would not do.
But ruling out was as necessary a part of solving any mystery as zeroing in. Every avenue eliminated made the true road a little clearer.
Unless it was a road not taken. That’s what Lance Proctor meant to Jessi. No matter what she said, what resentments she harbored, Jessi had to be wondering what might have happened, where she might be, if Lance had stuck around.
The idea of it pissed Hold off royally. Any man who could walk out on a pregnant girl, on his own child…
But if Lance had stayed, Hold reminded himself…
Jessi would have married him, might still be married to him. And Hold would have no chance with her.
Not that he had much of one now.
He bent back to the family Bible in front of him, determined to stop circling his mind around the what-ifs and what-thens, and do what he’d come to Windfall to do. Jessi would make the decisions that were right for her and Benji; she’d already proven that. And while she might have a forgiving heart, there wasn’t an ounce of stupid in it, or in her. Whatever Lance wanted from her, he’d play hell getting it.
Still restless, and frustrated on top of it now, he got to his feet and went outside, lifted his face for a moment into the stiff, frigid wind and let it blow away some of the clouds gathered around him.
He spotted Maggie near the open hangar door, instructing a kid of about sixteen, one of several part-timers she’d taken on after Mort had died. None of them were scheduled to work too many hours, none allowed to get too close—although Hold could see the puppy-dog adoration in the kid’s eyes. No big surprise he had a crush on Maggie, Hold mused. What teenage boy could resist a woman like her—tall, slender, striking, strong, and confident.
Maggie finished with the kid and started over to join him.
“The place is looking pretty good,” Hold said when she was close enough to hear him over the crash of the surf.
“Yeah.” She stopped beside him, turning to look around as he’d done. “Mort kind of checked out, I guess. I didn’t notice.”
“You overlooked,” Hold corrected her. “Mort was a friend. You gave him the benefit of the doubt.”
She shrugged, one-shouldered, a quintessentially Maggie gesture. “You want to know if I’ve heard from Dex.”
“’Course you have.”
“And the case?” she said with a slight smile. “He’s doing background, checking financials.”
“That would be a big task on a family like the Stanhopes, and Alec Barclay can’t help,” Hold added, referring to Dex’s friend and one of the Stanhope family lawyers. It was Alec who’d hired Dex to start digging into Eugenia’s fate. “Lawyer-client privilege.”
“It’s a stupid profession that shelters criminals.”
“It’s a necessary facet of the legal system, Maggie, but you know that.”
“Dex is searching for motive. It would help if Alec could point him in the right direction.” She shrugged. “Dex is no fool. He knows where to look.”
“Resentment, greed,” Hold said. “Every one of the Stanhopes probably feels some level of both. The trick is finding out if one of them felt enough to commit murder.”
“Dex hasn’t met with anyone in the family yet,” Maggie said. “He knows Rose Stanhope hired him, but the whole family was on board with the decision, so being the one to reach out doesn’t exonerate her. She may have sent Dex to find any descendants with the intention of welcoming them to the family, or taking them out.”
Hold slid his hands
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