Carolina Isle (Edenton 2)

“Don’t mind Ariel, she’s just nervous about Monday,” R.J. said. Behind Phyllis’s back, he gave Ariel a warning look to be nice.

“Ah, yes, that,” Ms. Vancurren said. She sat down on one of the two little sofas in the sitting room and spread her arms across the back, which made her breasts even more prominent. David and R.J., eyes glazed, sat on the sofa across from her. “I guess you want to know about that.”

Sara and Ariel sat on chairs that had been upholstered with fabric adorned with a bunny rabbit pattern and they all listened to what the woman was saying. As she talked, Sara looked about the room. There were bars on the windows—to keep children from falling out, or to keep them in? Had they left prison to return to prison?

First, Ms. Vancurren told them about herself, saying that she wasn’t from King’s Isle. She’d married an older man who lived in Pennsylvania, and when he died she was horrified to find out that he’d left everything to his first wife. All she got was an old house on the island where his father had grown up, and a tiny insurance policy. It was enough to live on, but not enough to have any fun with. “If you know what I mean,” she said. Both men nodded vigorously.

Sara and Ariel exchanged looks. They didn’t believe a word of it. Next, Phyllis told them that Fenny Nezbit was a loser and a liar, but he was the judge’s relative, and the Nezbit family had lived on the island for centuries. “So what I’m saying is that it could go either way on Monday.”

“Why was the town empty today?” Sara asked.

“Annual Whale Day,” she said, smiling. “We’re a small island and we all know one another, so we tend to do things together. You can imagine our surprise when we got back and heard all that had gone on.”

“Lassiter said there were witnesses who would testify that we had …” R.J. couldn’t seem to go on.

“Maybe there are witnesses, but did you ask the sheriff’s men about them?” Phyllis seemed to be hinting that the witnesses wouldn’t be all they were supposed to be.

“Actually, we didn’t really get a chance to talk to anyone,” David said.

“If I were you,” Phyllis said with an air of conspiracy, “I wouldn’t worry too much. I’m sure Judge Proctor will throw out everything on Monday morning. And I’m sure that the entire police force knows that you didn’t kill a dog. It’s just that in the past we’ve had some problems with outsiders, so the police tend to be careful.”

“What happened to make the police suspicious of outsiders?” Sara asked quickly.

Phyllis waved her hand as though that wasn’t important, then looked at Ariel and smiled. “I can see that you’ve heard some of those outrageous stories about us. We are truly wicked people.” She said this as though it couldn’t possibly be true.

“What stories?” R.J. asked, at last leaning back against the couch. He was a man of the world so he’d seen lots of women with the raw sex appeal that this woman had, but David was watching her with his mouth slightly open.

“Oh, you know,” Ms. Vancurren said, then moved on the couch in a way that made her breasts jiggle.

“No, I don’t know.” R.J. narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. Sara wanted to hug him! Was he beginning to look past what he was being told and see underneath? Underneath something besides her clothes, that is.

The woman glanced at Sara, then at Ariel. “You mean you haven’t heard how we kidnap mainlanders?” She gave a smile that was supposed to make her look innocent, but it lost its effect since two-thirds of her breasts were exposed. “According to the mainlanders, we arrest tourists and keep them in jail for absolutely years.”

R.J. raised an eyebrow at her. “And you don’t?”

She shrugged in a way that almost made her right breast pop out of her shirt. When she moved, Sara saw the front of her bra and she was sure it was Aubade. If she was broke, how did she afford French underwear? “I have some work I must do and I know that you have things you want to do.” She gave the men a leering look, as though she knew all of them were going to jump into an orgy as soon as she left.

When she stood up, R.J. and David jumped to their feet, and Sara was afraid they were going to ask the woman to stay.

/> “I’ll leave you to it then,” Phyllis said. “Sorry about your luggage being impounded, but you’ll get it back.”

“And the car and all our cash?” Sara asked.

“Is there somewhere we could get dinner?” R.J. asked.

“Oh, you poor babies,” she said, purring toward the men—and not answering Sara’s question. “If I could cook, I’d make you a fabulous meal.” She gave a little look that said she may not be able to cook but that she had, well … other talents. “Go to the pub and tell them to put your meal on my account.”

As she left the room, the two men fell all over themselves thanking her for her generosity.

Ten minutes later, the four of them were heading down the stairs, but Sara was hanging back.

“What are you doing?” Ariel whispered.

“Counting steps and seeing which ones make noise. If we want to get out of this place, we need silence, and a way to avoid this old-house alarm.”

“Good thinking. Cover me,” Ariel said. “I need to do something.”

“You—?” Sara began, but Ariel had already tiptoed back up the stairs.