Page 49 of Waves of Time
Hilary paused on the beach and stretched her arms into the air. She had the sudden impulse to run into the ocean and float along the waves, but she held herself back, thinking she’d rather kiss Frank. It was a funny thing to want something. She couldn’t get used to it.
When Hilary got closer to Frank’s place, she walked through the edge of his property, past beech trees, through long grass that surged through the sand. From the side of the house, it looked even bigger than it did from the front, and she again allowed herself to dream of not only living there but completing the redesign he’d wanted to hire her for in the first place. It was rare she was hired to work on Nantucket. It would be a privilege.
It was now, as she gazed at the house from a half-football field away, that two young men dressed in black approached the side of the house. At first, Hilary panicked and jumped behind a tree, sensing something off about these guys.Were they going to rob the house?Hilary shoved her hand into her purse, searching around for her phone, her eye upon them at all times.
But rather than head toward the back porch, the two men stopped and opened a small door at the very bottom of the house, which seemed to be a sort of closet in the crawlspace. They removed three large black duffel bags from the closet, then shoved a large duffel bag in their place. Just before they closed the closet door, one of the men stopped the other, unzipped the large black bag, and removed three thick stacks of cash. Hilary’s jaw dropped. As the other man shook with laughter and pocketed the cash, the other smashed the large duffel bag into the closet, locked it, and pointed back toward the street. They glanced from left to right, then threw the duffel bags over their shoulders and headed back the way they’d come.
Hilary’s mouth tasted like blood. She realized she’d been so frightened that she’d bitten down on her tongue. Terrified of what she’d just seen, she remained hidden behind the tree for a solid five minutes, praying the two men had left, then backed away from the beech tree, back along the beach, until she was off Frank’s property. At that point, she broke into a run.
Hilary ran for a half-mile down the beach, her thoughts whirring. What she’d just seen seemed far outside the bounds of legality. She had a hunch Frank knew all about it— that he’d put the bags into the crawlspace himself for easy pick-up and drop-off.
When Hilary got far enough away from Frank’s house, she stopped inside a gas station and gasped for breath. The gas station attendant asked her if she was all right, and she said she was and bought a Diet Coke. Too frightened to go outside, as she worried Frank had somehow seen her and decided to “take care of her,” which was something drug lords did in the movies, Hilary drank her Diet Coke inside the gas station and called Aria.
Aria answered on the second ring. “Hi, Mom! Where are you? You’re not home!”
Hilary’s heart thumped. “Honey. I need to ask you a question.”
“Sure. Ask away.”
“Remember how Thaddeus used to work for Frank?”
“Yes.”
“Frank told me he was a jack of all trades or whatever,” Hilary explained. “But could you please call Thaddeus and ask him, specifically, what he did for Frank?”
“Sure. He’s right here.”
“He is?” Hilary’s heart rate jumped up. “Can I talk to him? Please.”
There was the ruffling sound of a phone being passed from person to person. Next came the sound of Thaddeus’ voice.
“Hi, Ms. Coleman. How can I help?”
Hilary could hardly catch her breath. “Hi, Thaddeus. Do you remember when you drove me out to Frank’s place the other day, and you said you’d worked for him? What were you doing, specifically?”
Thaddeus was quiet for a moment.
“Please, Thaddeus. You won’t get in trouble. I think I might have just seen something on his property. A pick-up or a drop-off or…” She trailed off, not up on her drug terminology.
“I heard he’d started back up again now that he has that house,” Thaddeus said quietly.
“It’s drugs, isn’t it?” Hilary breathed, her heart sinking.
“He’s one of the top guys in charge of distribution on the island,” Thaddeus explained. “He has loads of other careers, and I think, because of his deep pockets, he’s protected by various police forces across the east coast.”
Hilary’s head swam with confusion.How could she have been so blind?There she’d sat, hour after hour, in front of one of the most wanted criminals in Nantucket history— the man who she blamed almost completely for people like Sophie’s addictions. He’d brought drugs to the island. He’d ensured they’d gotten into the hands of the people who’d ached for them the most.
Then again, his charms had been glorious, and Hilary had never felt more exhilarated, feminine, or in charge of her charisma. It was clear why he got away with everything he did. The world was willing to give him anything he asked for— and Hilary had nearly gone along with that.
It terrified Hilary to think of what might have happened if she’d gone up to Frank’s door instead of going around the back. Would she have fallen deeper in love with him? Would she have gotten tied up in a disastrous affair that eventually linked her to these terrible crimes?
“Thank you, Thaddeus,” Hilary said softly. “Can you hand me back to my daughter, please?”
A moment later came Aria’s panicked voice. “Mom? What happened?”
“Honey, I’m going to call Sam,” Hilary said.
“No. Not yet. Let me come get you first,” Aria insisted. “I don’t want you to be God knows where when everything blows up.”