“Wait.” Garrett held up both his hands. “Wait just a minute here. I researched this. It’s not illegal to fake your own death. It’s not illegal anywhere in the United States.”
“That may very well be true, but it is illegal to misuse emergency services.”
“I’m not the one who called them,” Garrett pointed out. “You did that. You people were the ones who thought I died. I was very clear with all of you before I jumped that I was going to be back. I said I would see all of you soon, when I returned from the spirit world, didn’t I, Lauren?”
Lauren was looking less and less enthusiastic about the situation with each passing minute. “I mean … I guess you did say that, Mr. Newcombe. But I could also see how people might have been afraid that something bad had happened to—”
“Jo.” Seeing that Lauren was going to be of little help to him in this situation, Garrett appealed to me. “You were standing right next to me. I said I’d be back, didn’t I?”
“You did,” I said. “What you didn’t say was when, and also that you had scuba gear stashed under the dock and that you were going to swim to it, then use it to get over to the next dock and take an Uber back to your hotel with one of our teenage guests.”
Garrett chewed on his lower lip. “I couldn’t tell you all that, Jo. A good magician never reveals his tricks.”
“I hate to be the one to break it to you, Newcombe,” Will said. “But you’re not a good magician.”
“Oooh.” I couldn’t help but glance admiringly at Will. “Good line.”
He didn’t smile. He was still angry with Garrett, and in no mood to joke. “Feel free to use it sometime.”
“I will. Maybe in Kitty Katz number twenty-seven, after Rex Canine and Kitty Katz break up, Rex will take up magic.”
“Rex and Kitty are going to break up in your next book?” Lauren looked shocked. “But why? They’re made for each other!”
“Well, the truth is, Lauren, characters grow and change, just like people.” The warmth in the look Will shot me after I said this made my knees weak.
Garrett was appearing more at ease now that the conversation had shifted away from him. “That’s true,” he said. “So very true. Characters—and people—learn their lessons, and vow to do better next time. So I take it we’re all in agreement: everything’s good here? No need for anyone to call the police or write any checks?”
He made the mistake of laughing and raising a hand as if to give Will a high five—then froze as the latter scissored a look in his direction that was as cold as the look he’d sent me had been warm.
“I think we’re all in agreement,” Will said acidly, “that you can be trusted to phone the sheriff’s department yourself and let them know that you’re safe, then show up tomorrow morning for the farewell brunch at the library to make sure everyone who saw your disappearing act from tonight knows the same thing.”
Garrett lowered his hand. “Uh, sure. Yeah, I can do that. I’ll go inside and make that call right now. And I’ll see all of you in the morning.”
I wanted to believe him. It seemed incredibly unlikely that he would lie about something so serious.
But then again, it was Garrett.
Which was why I slipped my hand through the crook of Lauren’s elbow and said, “Great. Then Will and I will give Lauren a lift back to her hotel. Right, Will?”
Will didn’t skip a beat. He slipped his phone back into his pocket and nodded. “Certainly.”
Lauren was a little mystified by the turn of events, however. “Wait. What are we doing?”
“What hotel are you staying in, Lauren?” I asked as I steered her back toward the hallway leading to the lobby. “Will’s car is parked right outside.”
“Oh. We’re staying at the Marriott Beachside.” Lauren kept glancing back toward Garrett. “Mr. Newcombe isn’t in any trouble, is he?”
“Not at all.” Garrett was in a heap of trouble, as far as I was concerned. But I wasn’t going to worry about that now. “Tell me more about your book. What’s the title?”
“Oh! Well, I was going to call it Gatsby’s Girl, but I looked that up on Goodreads and it’s already taken. So I decided to go with Gatsby! with an exclamation mark—you know, like the musical Oklahoma!”
Lauren chattered on, seemingly completely unaware of the danger from which Will and I had just saved her. Or possibly not. Who knew? Maybe the rumors about Garrett were untrue, and he wouldn’t have tried anything.
Except that, judging by what I’d seen with my own eyes, that seemed highly unlikely. He was a bestselling author in a position of power. She was unpublished, half his age, and more than a little tipsy. Really, Garrett was getting off easy. Judging from the expression I’d seen on Will’s face as he’d been pushing on that door, the evening might easily have gone another way entirely.
In any case, Lauren was prattling away about the characters in Gatsby! when, as we stepped outside the Lazy Parrot, the author bus finally arrived.
“Jo! Will!” Kellyjean was the first person off the bus, most likely because she’d been the last person to climb on board, thanks to her missing wrap. She’d apparently found it, because a shimmery gold shawl was loosely tossed around her shoulders. “There you are! I was wondering where you two had disappeared to.”
“Excuse me.” Frannie pushed past her, anxious to get inside and catch the last few minutes of her ball game. “Hi, Jo, hi, Will. Excuse me, but I have to go. Bye.”
“Bye.” I watched as Frannie disappeared inside the hotel. “Um, so, yeah.” I turned toward Saul, who was the next to disembark from the bus. “We found Garrett. He’s fine. He was in his room here at the hotel the whole time.”
“Oh, hey! That’s great.” Saul looked over his shoulder at Jerome, who was climbing down from the bus behind him. “Hey, Jarvis. Newcombe was in his room the whole time. Pay up.”
Jerome let out a colorful expletive and reached into his pocket. “I fell right into that one,” he said as he ruefully peeled a twenty from the wad of bills in his wallet and handed it to Saul.
“So how’d he do it?” Bernadette was the last author off the bus. She was carrying a to-go cup of what looked like champagne. “Did he have someone waiting under the dock with a boat?”
I shook my head. “Scuba. Saul was right.”
“Darn it!” Saul looked angry. “I’m hardly ever right about anything, and the one time I am, Frannie isn’t around to hear about it. Well, anyway.” He held up the twenty-dollar bill he’d just won. “Who’s up for a drink by the pool? I’m buying!”
“Oh, uh, I’d love to,” I said. “But we’re going to drive Lauren back to her hotel. Rain check?”
Saul wasn’t the only one who gave me an odd look. Bernadette was smirking at me, too, over the rim of her to-go cup, as if to say, Sure, driving the kid back to her hotel. That’s all you’re doing. Only Jerome acted halfway normal, waving as he walked into the hotel and calling, “Okay! Well, see you later, then.”