"I don't disagree, but I only came back two months ago. I'm working on making changes."
"Not fast enough."
His jaw tightened. "I understand your frustration. The best thing you can do is go home and let me get back to work."
Before I could reply, the office door opened, and an older man entered the room. He was fifty pounds heavier than Ben, with a round face, a balding head, and a thick middle, but his brown eyes were the same as his son's. It was strange to see Tom Ryan in regular clothes. Every memory I had of Ben's father was him in a uniform, with some sort of stain on it—spaghetti, mustard, or beer. But tonight, he wore jeans and a zipped-up windbreaker.
"Sheriff Ryan," I muttered, as his gaze swept across my face.
At first, he didn't appear to recognize me. Then awareness entered his gaze. "I know you. You're one of the Kent girls. The one with the name like a tree."
"Willow."
"That's it, Willow. I'm sorry about Kelsey. Terrible business. Am I interrupting?"
"I'll be with you in a minute, Dad," Ben said briskly.
"I want to help. I have experience in this area."
"I understand, but for now, if you don't mind stepping outside…"
Tom Ryan frowned, as if he wasn't used to being dismissed by his son or waved out of the office that had been his for thirty years. "Okay," he muttered. "But we need to talk."
"We will." As his father left, Ben turned back to her. "Sorry about that."
"It must be difficult for your dad to see you doing his job."
"He wanted me to have the job, so he's going to have to deal with that. I need to get back to the search, Willow."
"Do you have any other leads?"
"We're working on some theories."
"We have to find Kelsey."
"That's what I intend to do. I've got everyone in the department and half the town looking for your sister."
"Your dad had everyone on Melanie's disappearance, too," I reminded him.
"Let's focus on the present. Did Kelsey say anything to you about not wanting to get married?"
"No. She was tense, but it's a big week for her."
"Was she drinking last night?"
"I don't know. Gage could tell you that."
"He said she was sober when he dropped her off."
"Do you believe him?" I asked, searching his eyes for the truth. "Last night, you and Dillon both told me that Gage was a liar. Is he lying about Kelsey?"
"I'm not ruling anything out," Ben said carefully.
My gut twisted at his words. "Really? You're not ruling Gage out?"
"No."
"Do you think Gage had something to do with Melanie going missing?"
"Willow, I can't talk about Melanie right now." I knew he was right, even though part of me wanted to ask him about the lie he'd told the night she disappeared. But I couldn't risk upsetting Ben. I needed him focused on the present.
"You need to go home, Willow. Please."
I thought about sharing what Jenny had told me about Carter and Kelsey, but Ben had already opened the door. Maybe it was just as well. I needed to get more information. I only had Jenny's gossip to go on. I needed to talk to Brooklyn. She would know if Kelsey and Carter had gotten together. Kelsey told Brooklyn everything.
As I stepped into the hall, I saw Ben's father leaning against the opposite wall, tapping his foot impatiently on the floor. "About time," Tom complained.
"I'll be with you in a minute, Dad," Ben told his father, then shut the door in his face.
The sheriff swore under his breath. "My son can be a damn fool sometimes. He won't accept help when he needs it the most. He was always this way. I had to save him from himself more than once."
"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.
"Oh, you know, kid stuff," he said with a wave of his hand, as if he regretted his words. "How are your parents holding up?"
"They're trying to stay positive." That was a vast understatement. My mom was falling apart, and I hadn't seen my father since he'd left the house this morning.
"They should be positive. We'll find her."
"You sound confident, but I don't know why. When Melanie disappeared, no one found her."
His face paled. "I worked that case damn hard. We just couldn't catch a break."
"Do you have a theory on what happened to Melanie, something you couldn't prove but stuck with you?"
"What are you asking?" A wary note entered his voice. "You think I let something fall through the cracks? Because I didn't. I was on it."
"I didn't mean to imply that. I just wondered what you thought happened to her."
"Well, there are a couple of scenarios that we explored."
"Like?"
"Melanie slipped and fell off a cliff, ended up in the water, and got swept out to sea. She was supposed to be meeting you to shoot some pictures, right? You two were always exploring. And Melanie was adventurous, fearless. She loved to hike, rock climb. It's not impossible to see her getting herself into trouble."
"What else could have happened?"
"She hitched a ride on someone's boat and ran away."
"Without contacting her family? She loved them."
"She had problems with her father. I suspected him at one point, too. His behavior could be erratic, but like I said, I couldn’t prove anything."
"Drake thinks someone from Chambers' Point knew something."
"Drake has been grasping at any straw he can find, but there was nothing pointing to the Chadwick boys or anyone else."
"What about now? What about the fact that Kelsey, who is marrying Gage, is now missing? Does that make Gage a suspect in both cases?"
"Gage was seen by a dozen people ten years ago. He had all kinds of folks vouching for him. And he seems to love your sister, so, no, I don't think he's a suspect in either case."
"I hope not. But I'm concerned."
Tom tilted his head, giving me a speculative look. "I'm surprised you came back here. You couldn't stop beating yourself up ten years ago. I thought you were going to have a breakdown."
"It was the worst time of my life," I admitted. "If my sister hadn't decided to get married here, I wouldn't have returned."
"I don't understand why she made that choice."
"Apparently, the island holds better memories for her than for me."
"Well, I guess she held her alcohol better than you did."
I frowned. "I only had a problem that one night. I was a lightweight. I barely drank before that."
"You're lucky that you didn't get hurt. Someone must have been looking out for you."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, somehow you got home. Seems like you probably had a little help."
"No one ever said they helped me."
"Then I guess you had a guardian angel. Someone was looking out for you. Someone tried to protect you."
The way he was looking at me made it sound like he was that someone. But that was crazy. The sheriff had never protected me.