“You have your phone on you?”
Ginny patted her jean pocket.
Gavin still hesitated to leave, and it was only when Silas showed up to drop off a package that he left.
“What have you been up to today?” Ginny asked, closing the windows, preparing to leave.
“Dealing with Greer. His generator is broken. It’s like the one I used to have. I made the mistake of telling him that I’d broken mine down for the spare parts, and now he wants the parts to see if he can use them to fix his. The problem is I can’t find the parts.”
“Could the box be in the barn on the shelf where Freddy used to keep his junk?”
“Yes. Would you happen to know where it is now?”
“I threw it away.”
“Why’d you throw it away?”
“Put it this way; it involved me trying to help Fynn with his science project and a dead rat.”
“Enough said.” Silas smiled. “The boys want to get a bite at the diner, so I might as well make a stop at the depot store on the way home. That way, they can help me load Greer’s new generator in the truck for me.”
“You’re going to buy Greer a new generator?”
“I’d rather buy him a new generator than go to the landfill.”
Ginny laughed.
Double-checking the back door, Silas and Ginny walked through her house before going outside. It was situated at the side end of the property, which had a different driveway than Silas’s.
Ginny saw the gleaming metal of the car coming up the driveway. “There she is. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, locking the door.
“See you tomorrow.” Silas said as he stepped off the porch and headed through the line of trees to reach his house.
Fear lanced through her when the car came to a stop and Ginny got a clear view of who was in the front seat. She slid her hand into her pocket to take out her phone to call Gavin, as she opened her mouth to yell for Silas before he was of earshot.
Soleil got out of the car. “Don’t, Evangeline, I just want to talk,” she said, seeing what she was doing.
“Go away. You have nothing to say that I want to hear.”
“Are you sure about that? Don’t you want to know what you took? Why so many people had to die because you were nothing but a little brat?” she spat.
Ginny hesitated. She wanted to hear what her mother had to say. Once she called out for Silas, and contacted Gavin, however, Soleil might refuse to tell her the information she wanted. Could she convince her to reveal what had happened to the islanders? Ginny wasn’t willing to take the chance she would never find out. Soleil was no threat to her; Allerton was in prison.
“Why are you here? You’re not here for my benefit—you just made that obvious.”
Soleil stepped away from her car to walk toward the porch. “You made a deal with the FBI to keep your fake husband out of prison; I want you to do the same for me.”
“In return, what do I get?”
“Answers, Evangeline. Isn’t that what you want?”
Ginny put her phone back in her pocket, and took out the key to the house. Unlocking the front door, Ginny opened it and gave mocking bow. “Welcome to my humble abode.”
“Quit acting like your bitch of a sister. It doesn’t suit you.”
Ginny tightened her lips at the way Soleil talked about Trudy. There was a big difference when Sex Piston and the others called each other a bitch and when Soleil used the term.
Closing the door after them, Ginny had no intention of letting Trudy anywhere near their mother.
Taking her phone out of her pocket, she texted Trudy that she was going to have to cancel their shopping trip, then set the phone on the counter. Her sister was going to be furious, but Ginny would rather chance that than Trudy’s safety.
“The FBI wants me to turn myself in to find out what information I have on Gabriel.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t stay on Sherguevil Island.”
“I’m not safe there. Gabriel won’t take a chance I won’t tell the FBI what I know.”
“Doesn’t sound like you don’t have much of a choice but to cooperate with the FBI.”
“I don’t if I want to stay alive. I want you to get a promise from them that I will be placed in witness protection. I’d be killed the first night in prison. I want their assurance that I won’t have to appear in court, and I’ll be given a new identity, one where I won’t have to work, either.”
Ginny lifted an eyebrow at her. “If I try to negotiate a deal with the FBI on your behalf, what do I get in return?”
Soleil slipped her hand into her pocket, and Ginny stiffened in fear, moving her hand protectively over her stomach.
Ginny stared at Soleil’s hand curiously. She was holding a diamond-encrusted broach. Soleil opened it and Ginny saw a tiny image of a beautiful woman whom she recognized.
“Oh God.” Ginny put her hand to her mouth, images flashing through her mind.
“Ahh … so you do remember.”
Ginny lifted her eyes from the beautiful broach. “How do you have it?” She could have saved herself from asking the question, the memories coming back as the words left her lips.
Ginny put her hand to her chest. “She pinned it on me. I didn’t steal the broach; she gave it to me because she knew he was going to kill her.” Ginny narrowed her eyes on her mother. “I didn’t swim my way back. You went on Sherguevil that night. You must have seen me climbing down off the boat and picked me out of the water.”
Soleil handed her the broach. “It was late, and Jasper was frantic looking for you. When I went to Manny’s home, and he wasn’t there, his mother confessed where they were. When the children came running back to the village, they told me you had gone with them and where Manny had hidden you. By the time I made it to dock, Gyi’s boat had left to go back to Sherguevil.
“It took me a while to get one of the men to let me take his boat of without him. I was on my way to Sherguevil when I found you swimming a few feet off shore.”
Ginny placed the broach in her pocket, unable to look at it any longer. “I’m surprised you didn’t let me drown.”
“I might not have been the perfect mother, but despite what you think of me, I am not capable of filicide.”
Soleil’s eyes dropped to her protruding belly.
“I think you’re more than capable of anything you set your mind to,” Ginny said in disgust, her hand going to protectively cover her stomach. “What happened to the islanders on Clindale?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“That is irrelevant. Gabriel picked and chose what to tell me. Clindale, he chose not to.”
“Why did he kill Jasper?”
“The islanders disappeared when Jasper was sent to work on another island. When he came back, he wanted his curiosity appeased. He didn’t buy the hurricane story any more than your husband did.”
“Allerton killed Jasper.”
“Among many others.” Soleil nodded toward the phone that she had left on the counter. “You can shut the recorder off now. That should be enough to get me the deal I want.”
Ginny picked up the phone, clicking off the recording. “Give me your phone number. I’ll call you after I talk to one of the agents.”