My phone rang as Broadrick held open our hotel room door. I sighed but reached into the back pocket of my pants to grab it. My dad's name flashed on the screen, and I hesitated to answer it. We'd only been on the island a few days, but this was the first time my father had reached out.

"You going to answer it?" Broadrick asked, stepping around me to give NB attention.

I pouted. "What if something happened to someone back home?"

"There's only one way to find out." He clipped NB's leash to his collar and started toward the door again. Probably to give me some privacy with my dad, but that's the last thing I wanted.

I grabbed on to his sleeve to stop him and swiped my thumb against the screen. "Hey, Dad."

"How's it going, pumpkin?" he asked.

Broadrick stuck out his thumb and pointed it toward the door, letting me know he was leaving. I threw up my free hand and waved it around in a classic sign for "Stop. Don't leave without me."

He pursed his lips like he didn't understand.

"It's good." I pointed at the phone and then at the door.

Broadrick pointed at the dog.

"How's the weather in Florida this time of year?"

I rolled my eyes at both my father and Broadrick. It was August in the South. What did he expect me to say? "Hot."

Broadrick opened the room door, and I followed behind him. I appreciated his efforts to give me time with my dad, but I'd much rather be close to him. In case I needed the support.

My dad laughed. "Have you seen anything neat?"

I froze in the short hallway. Do not tell him about the dead body. "Well... the palm trees are nice. There's not a ton to see on the island."

Silence grew between us as I hemmed and hawed over what he wanted me to say. We had a thousand miles between us in physical distance but a few hundred thousand miles in mental separation.

"Have you two done anything exciting there?" he asked.

Broadrick led the way outside, and we stopped at the first bush to let NB pee on it. He'd probably have it half dead by the time we checked out of the resort.

"Nope, nothing exciting happening here," I answered, because I still wasn't telling him about the dead body. He'd either give me a deep sigh of disappointment or jump on a plane and try to force me to return to Pelican Bay. Either option meant I'd end up annoyed.

And contrary to what he probably believed, I didn't want to be annoyed with my father. I wanted things to return to how they were before I put both my aunt and uncle behind bars.

"I'm not sure if you're staying up on things happening here..." He paused, waiting for my answer.

NB stopped to sniff the dirt on the side of the path, and I skirted around him. "Not really."

My dad cleared his throat. "Your aunt Claire has turned on Richard. She's requesting a divorce and saying he forced her to sell to children."

"But..." A startled noise caught in my throat. That wasn't what happened at all. Claire was definitely involved in the scheme. She cheated on my uncle and shot my best friend Tony. "Does Anderson believe her?"

"He's not talking about the case and I'm trying to keep a low profile at the school. It's hard enough working in the schools these days. I don't want to hear whatever the local gossip mill believes every day."

Wow. It seemed like my father had a change of heart himself. He hadn't been that angry before I left town.

"They've turned on one another," he said.

I kicked a small pebble on the path. It hit the base of a palm tree and fell into place. Richard and Claire turning on one another didn't surprise me. Not really. Wasn't that what most criminals did? Could you ever trust anyone in life? My gaze fell on Broadrick, and he smiled at me.

I smiled back, but the thought brought up the old hurt from him breaking up with me "for my own good" last year. If we were going to move forward on the island, I had to get over it once and for all. But did you ever really know someone? Did I ever know my aunt or uncle? What was really going on in Broadrick's mind?

At some point, you had to place everything on faith. I just didn't know how. Or if I wanted to.

Had my uncle always been capable of lying to everyone's face? Was my aunt always this devious? Or was this a radical change? And what happened to a person to make them go from loving wife and husband to small-town drug kingpins?

"Your mother is doing much better. I got her out of the house last night. We had dinner in Clearwater," my dad said, breaking into my dark thoughts.

The wind blew pieces of my blonde hair across my face, and I worked to push them back into the tight braid where they belonged. "That's nice. I'm glad she's got you."

"I'm doing what I can for her. You should call her," he said, putting in that gentle Dad push.

Behind the safety of my phone screen, I shook my head. "That's probably not a good idea."

There's no way my mother wanted to talk to me, and I wasn't honestly sure I wanted to speak with her. I tried so hard in Pelican Bay, and she turned me away every time. Another rejection might be too much for me to handle.

"Vivi is leaving soon. It's going to be lonely here as empty nesters with both of you living life far away." Sadness hung over his words. Regardless of what happened between our family, my dad would miss us.

The job on Killdear Island meant we had to move before Vivi and Allen left for Texas. They'd both be starting college next week. "Should we trust Vivi to move across the country with a man?"

He'd been a murder suspect less than six months earlier. How much did we really know about Allen? What if he turned out to be a criminal, too?

Dad clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth loudly enough I heard it clearly on my end of the call. "That's what you did."

"Oh, right," I said and half laughed. He had a point.

Broadrick raised his eyebrow at my chuckle, but I just shook my head. We turned the corner to the start of the downtown area and walked past an antique store.

"I've got to go, but please give your mom a call and keep me posted on what you and NB get up to in Florida. We'll come for a visit soon."

We made quick good-byes with my heart still thumping in my chest at his threat of a visit. I was not ready to have my parents on our small island yet. Possibly ever.

"You want an iced coffee?" Broadrick asked, pointing at the bakery coming up on our right.

I smiled and held my hand out for cash since I didn't bring a purse with me. "You never need to ask that question. The answer is always yes."

Broadrick laughed as I left him and NB on the sidewalk and pushed my way into the bakery. I greeted Peggy with a smile as I let the door close behind me.

She narrowed her eyes at my happiness. "No gossiping in here."

"Um...okay." My lips fell into a slight frown. "Can I get an iced coffee?"

Petty huffed. "We only sell regular coffee and only in to-go cups."

"Right. Okay, then." I hesitated, worried that I needed to buy something so I didn't offend her, but I had a box of cookies in our room. "Never mind, then."

I backed out of the bakery and met Broadrick and NB on the sidewalk. "No coffee?"

"Don't ask."

Broadrick grabbed my hand, and we started back toward the resort. With as many walks as NB required in a day, we were going to memorize this island quickly. "Dalton is taking the afternoon shift today. Do you want to hit the beach?"