Spindrift

Chapter Fifteen

1305

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Ariel looked up from the flight schedule as the bell chimed over the door and two smartly dressed detectives walked into the room.

Her stomach jumped the tallest cliff on the island and still hadn't found the ocean surface at the sight of them.

"Can I help you?" she asked, setting aside the invoice she reviewed.

"Ariel Khols, we are with the Island PD. I am Detective Amelia Baron and this is my partner with crime scene, Sari Cummings. We have a few questions to ask you about a frenemy of yours, Marisol Harvetti."

Stomach still falling.

Ariel swallowed. "I know what my rights are," she said. "I want my lawyer."

"You don't even know what we are asking about – or do you?" Sari asked.

"I don't need to know," Ariel said. "I've been railroaded before. Take a seat and wait there, or leave your card. I will call my lawyer and make an appointment to meet you at your office, rather than my place of business."

She stepped into the office and picked up the radio, signaling Lee.

"What is it, Tower?" he asked.

"I know you are only twenty minutes into an hour-long tour," Ariel said. "Lee, something happened to Marisol." She peeked out the door. "I have two detectives in the waiting room and they are not liking the fact that I won't answer their questions without a lawyer."

"You are doing nothing wrong in insisting on that," Lee said. "I'll be in as quick as I can. Call the guy you had before – no, wait. I have the card for the pre-paid plan in the desk drawer there in the office. Call them."

The police didn't like the waiting; the pair of detectives fill out chairs in the waiting lounge for the rest of the day, as Ariel waited for Lee to get back with the sea bird and the for the lawyer to return her call.

She holed up in the back office as often – and for as long as she could – but when she did venture out, offered the detective something to drink or to eat from the small food boutique she had set up for passengers in the corner. They always refused. Then she retreated again.

The refrain in her head continued to march. She had nothing to hide – so why not answer their questions. Except she had been on the wrong side of a police interview, several times, and it ended up sending her to prison.

"Ariel," Lee said, popping his head in the office. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head, standing as he came to her. "We have to keep flying."

"Have they said anything?" Lee asked, shutting the door partially.

"No, but I found this out."

She tapped the tablet screen, popping it off its stand to show Lee the story she found; the police were investigating a suspicious death connected to Kent Harvetti.

"Dollars to donuts, its Marisol," Ariel said.

"I can't see Kent murdering his wife."

"No, but it doesn't take much to put it together that she and I were once friends – although I have always felt that it was a stretch of the word," Ariel said.

Lee put his hands on his wife's shoulders and squeeze, leaning to kiss her forehead.

"This is not your fault," he said, pulling her deeper into a hug. "You can't kill someone in your thoughts."