Мэри Эндрюс - The Newcomer

“So that’s why you came here? Because of that magazine article?” Isabelle said. “She never told you about living here at the Surf, or about what happened here?”

“Oh, Isabelle,” Letty said, with a long sigh. “I’m not sure I can explain my sister, because I’m just now realizing how little I really knew about her. Tanya was … complicated. All her life, she had secrets. Big ones and little ones. And I know this sounds terrible, talking about my dead sister like this, but she wasn’t always truthful. For instance, five years ago, she called me out of the blue. She said she’d been living in Atlanta and that her ‘boyfriend’—Rooney—had stolen all her clothes and money and abandoned her. She was crying and so pathetic. She asked if she could come stay with me in New York, to get a fresh start.”

“But that part was a lie,” Isabelle said. “She was right here. On Treasure Island. At the Murmuring Surf.”

“So it seems.”

“And they weren’t really married after all?”

“I can’t find a record that they were married in Florida,” Letty said. “But maybe they got married somewhere else.” She hesitated. “There’s more, though. Almost as soon as Tanya moved to the city, while she was still living with me, she got involved with Evan. At the time, I worked for him. And we were … sort of dating.”

“She stole your boyfriend?” Isabelle said indignantly. “Wow. That’s cold.”

Letty allowed herself a sad smile. “The next thing I knew, they were living together. And then Tanya got pregnant. Maya was born seven months later.”

“Wait,” Isabelle said, doing the math in her head. “Oh my God. Maya’s eyes. They’re just like Rooney’s. That dark blue. And her eyelashes. Oh my God!” She pounded the top of the folding table. “Rooney is Maya’s father. I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out earlier.”

“I only figured it out myself after your brother told me Sunday about the scammers who’d been living here at the Surf. He mentioned a man named Rooney, and I remembered that was the name of Tanya’s boyfriend. The one who ripped her off. The only other time she ever mentioned him to me was when I was asking her how she always got involved with losers. And she said he had deep blue eyes—like a mountain lake you wanted to dive naked into.”

Isabelle absorbed that piece of information. “But Tanya told Evan he was Maya’s father.”

“I’m sure that in Tanya’s mind, it all made sense. She was pregnant, Rooney was gone. Evan was available, sort of, and he was rich. Why not let him think he was her baby’s daddy?”

“And even after they broke up, she didn’t tell him Maya wasn’t his?” Isabelle asked. “Even when he was trying to get custody of a kid that wasn’t his, she still kept it a secret? Why?”

“Money, for one thing,” Letty said. “As long as Evan believed Maya was his daughter, he’d support them both, even if they weren’t married. Even after things got really, really ugly between them, she never hinted to me that he wasn’t Maya’s father. Typical Tanya.”

“I can’t believe Tanya is dead,” Isabelle repeated, blinking back tears. “I’m so sorry, Letty. I really liked her. Everybody here liked her, even the Feldmans, and they don’t like anyone.”

“Yeah,” Letty said, nodding. “That sounds like my sister. Our mom used to say Tanya could charm the birds out of the trees.”

“I was just a goofy kid, but she was always super nice to me. Rooney was nice too, but I guess that was just so he could rip people off.”

“What can you tell me about him, Isabelle?”

The teenager shrugged. “He had that sexy Irish accent, you know? But I think Mom must have sensed he was up to no good. Back then it was my job to deliver clean sheets and towels to everyone’s room every week, but she made sure she delivered them to Rooney and Tanya, not me. Come to think of it, she acted weird around Tanya too. But maybe that’s because she was worried her asshole boyfriend might get too friendly with her.”

“You’re talking about Chuck?” Letty asked.

Isabelle shuddered. “That old dude was totally sketchy. The day she kicked him out of our place was the happiest day of my life.”

“Joe told me a little bit about their scam, and how when the police came to arrest them, Chuck and Rooney were gone, along with the money and gold coins and jewelry,” Letty said. “Were you around when that happened?”

Isabelle shook her head. “No. I don’t remember where I was, just that when I got home, there were all these cop cars in the parking lot, and all the regulars were standing around, trying to figure out what was going on. Mom made me go up to the apartment, but I was looking out the window when they brought Tanya out in handcuffs. It was so messed up, you know? Rooney and Chuck took off and your sister ended up in jail.”

“But not for long,” Letty mused. “Somehow, she talked her way out of it. The cops dropped all the charges.”

“I didn’t know that,” Isabelle said. “Mom never talks about Chuck around me. I think she’s embarrassed that she fell for his bullshit.”

“And nobody has any idea where the two men went?”

“It’s not something Mom would ever discuss with me,” Isabelle said with a shrug. “And Joe thinks I’m still a little kid. He never tells me anything.”

“They’re trying to protect you,” Letty said, reaching out and tugging at Isabelle’s ponytail. “Be glad you have a big brother and a mom who cares. Tanya and I never had that. All we had was each other. And now she’s gone.”

“But you’ve got Maya,” Isabelle pointed out. “Hey Letty, couldn’t you just call the cops in New York and tell them what happened? How it was Evan that killed her, not you?”

Letty ripped a plastic bag from the large roll on the table. She placed a set of sheets, four bath towels, two face towels, and two washcloths on a stack, then slid them into the bag and knotted it.

“I wish it were that easy. But I can’t prove a negative. I can’t prove I didn’t kill my sister. And in the meantime, what happens to Maya? If I went back, Evan’s lawyers would either get a judge to award him custody, or they might put her in foster care. I can’t let that happen to her.”

Isabelle was bagging up linens, too. She took her stack and placed it in another laundry cart and added the stack Letty had just finished. “So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know how, but I guess I’m going to have to prove Evan Wingfield killed Tanya,” Letty said. She put the last stack of linens into the cart. “But first I’ve got to deliver all this laundry.”

“I’ll help,” Isabelle said. “With both. I’m good at figuring stuff out.”

“Absolutely not,” Letty said. “I never should have told you anything. Don’t even think about trying to play detective, Isabelle. You don’t know Evan. You don’t know what he’s capable of.”

19

“UGH,” AVA SAID, PUSHING AWAY from the computer monitor. She’d been working with the new booking software all morning, mumbling and cursing under her breath. “That’s enough of that for today.”

Letty came in from the storeroom, where she’d been reorganizing the shelves, and looked over her boss’s shoulder at the spreadsheet. “This looks great, Ava. You’ve uploaded all the upcoming reservations. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“It was a lot easier when I just had a paper calendar and a registration book,” Ava groused. “Why is progress always such a royal pain in the patootie?”

“You’re getting there,” Letty said. “Okay, I’ve cleaned out a bunch of shelves in the supply room, and labeled everything, so I’d say that’s progress. Hope it’s okay that I threw out all the old outdated rate cards, promotional flyers, and motel stationery. I found stacks and stacks of brochures that were so old they didn’t even have our area code.”