Chapter 31
Cora saw Ruby marching out of her classroom to where the rest of them stood at the mermaid fountain, with Mathilde close behind.
“I’m going to have to ask you to stay. I’m sorry. It’s best for all us if you stay,” Mathilde said.
Ruby spun around, as if she might take a swing at Mathilde. Cora’s muscles tightened. Was there going to be a fight?
“Just try to stop me, lady,” Ruby said. “That’s my son lying in the hospital room.” Ruby’s face was red, eyes bulging.
Cora touched her shoulder. Ruby’s panic was almost palpable.
“Cashel is in the hospital. I’m going to see him. Are you coming with me?” Ruby said.
“Absolutely,” Cora said, then sneezed.
“Me too,” Jane said. “Bless you.”
“Um, well, I can’t,” Adrian said, holding up his arm, revealing his bracelet. “But I’m going to do some research from here.”
“Research?” Mathilde said. “For what?”
“Never mind. It’s a personal project,” Adrian said, leaning down and kissing Cora on the cheek. “Stay in touch,” he said.
“There she is!” a voice rang out. It was Katy and her group. “Hi, Cora,” she said. “We have a question for you about WordPress. Do you have a minute?”
Mathilde crossed her arms, as if to say what are you going to do now?
“Yes, I can take a quick question,” Cora said. “But I’m on my way out. How complicated is it?”
“Well, it’s about monetization. How do you find your sponsors?” Katy asked.
“Actually, I have a handout I’ll be giving you tomorrow with all that information in it,” Cora said.
“Good, let’s go,” Ruby said, and pulled Cora by the arm.
“Well, that’s good to know,” said Linda, Katy’s friend. “We’ll see you then.”
Cora, Jane, and Ruby headed out to find a cab.
The three women rode in silence all the way to the other side of the island.
* * *
The hospital turned out to be not much of a hospital; it was more like a medical outpost or emergency center. But Cashel was well tended. Cora was surprised to find him in much better condition than he had been the last time she had seen him. They had bags of fluid hooked up to him and a blue hospital gown covered him. When he glanced up at Cora, his eyes looked bluer than ever. Her stomach knotted. She had been more worried about him than she realized. He was becoming a good friend.
“Cashel,” Ruby said, and kissed him. “What the hell happened?”
“I wish I knew,” he said. His chin tilted toward Cora. “I had one drink.”
Cora’s heartbeat quickened. “You were drunk,” she said.
“I wasn’t drunk,” he said with a note of defensiveness in his voice.
“When you came into my room, you could barely walk and you smelled of booze,” she said.
“One drink,” he said again. “I think I was drugged.”
“But why would someone do that?” Ruby said.
A nurse walked into the room and checked his vitals.
The rest of them stood hushed as she took his blood pressure.
When she left, Ruby asked the question again. “Why would someone drug you?”
“I’ve been asking myself that same question,” he said.
“Cashel, do you think this had something to do with whatever you were doing at the courthouse?” Jane asked.
He nodded. “My research suggests that this beautiful island has a lot to hide.”
“But how would someone know that quickly that you were on to them?” Cora said.
“I was there for a few hours, in their archives, on the Internet, and so on. Someone at the courthouse knew I was there and made the connection that I’m Adrian’s lawyer,” he said. “It’s simple.”
“Where did you go for your drink?” Ruby asked.
“I went to the same place Cora and Adrian were last night, the Drunken Mermaid,” he said. “I had a spot of lunch and a beer. One beer.”
“You looked absolutely drunk,” Cora said. “I had no idea you’d been drugged. I’d have never left you if I’d known.”
“I know that,” Cashel said. “But I knew . . . I knew something was wrong.”
“I’m going to kick someone’s ass,” Ruby muttered.
“Cashel, do you think someone was trying to hurt you?” Jane asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe,” he said. “Maybe someone was trying to kill me.” His eyes swept to his mother. “But they didn’t succeed, did they? We’ll find out soon from the blood tests what exactly they gave me.”
“Why would anyone want to kill you?” Cora said. “What is going on here?”
“Let’s talk about that later, shall we?” he said with a lowered voice.
“How are you feeling now?” Ruby said, her hand to his face.
“I’m fine, Mom,” he said. “I feel a little weak. But nothing a bloody steak can’t rectify.”
“When will they let you leave?” Cora said.
“In about an hour or so, I imagine, with strict orders to rest up,” he said. “Which I plan to do. I’m going to do the rest of my research from the resort.”
Cora saw the lines of worry gather at the edges of his blue eyes. Someone might have tried to kill him. Because he was Adrian’s lawyer. Someone wanted Adrian to take the hit for this murder case. Why?
Why Adrian?
Cora had assumed it was a matter of convenience. He happened to be on the island. He happened to have been Marcy’s ex-lover. He happened to have texted her before her death. But was there more evidence that she knew nothing about?
“Cashel, what does this have to do with Adrian?” she asked.
“Someone wants to make sure he takes the rap for the murder of Marcy Grimm,” Cashel said with a low voice. “And I can tell you now he had nothing to do with it.”
“Then why him?”
“You don’t know?” Cashel said with a smirk.
“Know what?”
“Your boyfriend stands to inherit a lot of money,” he said. “Money that many islanders feel should stay on this island with Marcy’s family.”
Cora’s jaw clenched. Adrian! Why didn’t he tell her?
Because he’s Adrian!
Ruby tsked.
Jane grunted. “Typical of him, isn’t it?”
“I sure am getting to know Adrian,” Cora said. But other thoughts were occurring to her. She took comfort in knowing his whereabouts were being traced by the local law enforcement. If he was inheriting a large sum of money, he might be in even more danger than she had imagined.