Deception. Carol Ericson
want another one?”
“I’m trying to find out who bought this one.”
“I sold out at the end of the tourist season a few weeks ago.” She straightened the doll’s skirt and handed it back to Mia. “You might try May’s Place across the street. She carries them, too.”
Mia tucked the doll under her arm, careful to avoid the end of the needle. “Okay, thanks for your help.”
“So what are you going to do with it?”
“Probably take it to the police.”
The woman rolled her eyes. “Not the doll, I’m talking about Columbella House.”
Mia paused with her hand on the doorknob. “What would you like me to do with it?”
“I’m not sure, but you need to take care of that mess.” She puffed at a strand of gray hair that had come loose from her braid. “Maybe the whole thing should’ve burned down in that fire earlier this summer. There’s bad karma when a place is acquired through nefarious methods.”
Mia’s heart flipped. Did this woman know what Mia had done to obtain the house? “Nefarious methods?”
“I’ve heard stories about your great-grandfather, and I didn’t even grow up here.”
“Don’t believe everything you hear.” Because sometimes it’s worse. “You have a great day.”
Mia snapped the door harder than she’d intended, anxious to escape any more accusations. She spun around on the sidewalk, head down, intent on reaching the next store, and collided with a solid shoulder.
She’d know that shoulder anywhere.
“Dylan!”
He caught her arm. “What’s your hurry? Did you just rob Sadie’s place?”
She shoved her arms behind her, the legs of the doll tapping the backs of her thighs. “Ah, no. Just looking around.”
He cocked his head, his eyes unreadable behind his dark sunglasses. “In a touristy knickknack shop?”
Shoving out a breath, she whipped the doll from behind her back and jiggled it in front of Dylan. “Someone left this on my hotel doorstep last night.”
“What?” He snatched the doll from her and poked at the needle with his fingertip. “Does your soon-to-be ex practice voodoo?”
“Not that I know of, but Peter showed only his good side before I married him.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the shop. “I was just checking in there to see if someone matching Peter’s description bought a doll recently.”
“And now you’re going across the street to check the other shop?”
“That’s the plan.”
“I’ll come with you.”
Mia was hoping he’d say that. She might get a better reception with the chief of police by her side.
As they crossed the street together, it seemed like half the pedestrians crisscrossing Main Street had a word or a smile for Dylan, their new chief of police. They barely gave her a glance. It was like the living embodiment of Beauty and the Beast…only she was the Beast.
The owner of the next shop had propped open her door, and Dylan gestured Mia through first. The woman behind the counter started gushing before they took two steps inside.
“Chief Reese—I can’t tell you how good that sounds—what can I do for you today?”
“Good morning, Ellen.” He tugged the doll out of Mia’s hand. “Have you sold any of these lately?”
“There’s a pin in that doll.” The woman pursed her lips and her right eye twitched.
Did she assume Mia had defaced the doll? Mia took a breath, but Dylan stilled her with a glance from his blue eyes.
“Exactly.” He placed the doll on the counter like it was an injured patient. “That’s why we need to know who bought it.”
Ellen nudged the doll with the back of her hand. “I had three of these in stock and I sold two this summer. The most recent one to a man, said he was buying it for his daughter.”
With her heart pounding, Mia scrambled through the big canvas bag she’d grabbed to substitute as a purse today. She dragged out a dog-eared photography magazine and flipped to the page with the creased corner with the article about Peter. Flattening it on the counter next to her voodoo-doll likeness, she jabbed at a picture of Peter. “Did this man buy the doll?”
Ellen smoothed the picture with her thumb. “I can’t tell. I don’t think so.”
“But it could’ve been?” Mia pushed the magazine closer to Ellen just in case.
“I suppose so.” She shrugged. “What’s this about, Chief Reese?”
“Someone making threats against Ms. St. Regis.”
“Why? You haven’t decided what you’re going to do with Columbella House yet, have you?” Ellen narrowed her eyes.
“Not yet.” Mia picked up the doll and shook it. “But stunts like this are not going to win me over.”
Dylan thanked Ellen and steered Mia out of the store. He faced her on the sidewalk. “Are you going to confront Peter about this?”
“Of course. I’m not going to allow him to play games like this. The prenup he signed is ironclad.”
“Why’s he fighting it now? Greed?”
“That and—” she smacked the rolled-up magazine against her palm “—the fact that his business is failing.”
Dylan pushed up his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes. “Mia, Mia. The things you get into—nothing’s changed.”
A lot had changed. Mia studied Dylan’s strong hands and his square, resolute chin. She’d never take him for granted again. She’d grown up in the shadow of this boy becoming a real man, and she hadn’t met a real man since she’d left Coral Cove.
She smiled at her reflection in his dark glasses. “I’m not as wild as I used to be—I promise.”
“You haven’t been in town two days and ex-husbands are leaving creepy dolls on your doorstep and your car is careening off a cliff.” He snapped his fingers. “That reminds me. Your purse and laptop case were thrown clear of the car when it crashed. My guys recovered them and I have them at the station.”
She clapped her hands. “That’s the best news I’ve had all day…that and the rental car company’s willingness to deliver a new car to me.”
“Do you want to walk to the station with me?”
“Absolutely.” She took his arm, her fingertips pressing against the solid muscle beneath his khaki uniform shirt. “Walking with you is like being under this protective umbrella.”
“You feel like you need a protective umbrella?”
“Yeah, from all the slings and arrows being sent my way from the good folks of Coral Cove.”
He bumped her shoulder. “You’re being paranoid. Like Ellen said, you haven’t indicated which way you’re leaning on a decision for Columbella.”
“I’m going out there today. I already called the electric company to have the electricity turned on.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“Can you?” She squeezed his arm. “You’re not busy?”
“This is Coral Cove.”
She snorted. “Tell that to Chief Evans, the guy who just left. Murders, suicides, kidnappings. I think there’s been more crime here this past summer than