Exposed: Laid Bare (12 page)
A rocky and rugged landmass, mostly covered in thick, impenetrable forests, the island was located several miles from the mainland. While the eastern half remained untouched wilderness, the western half had seen its share of development over the years. Long ago a tiny fishing village had sprung up near the docks, and several Cotswold-style cottages were built to house the fishermen and their families.
Over time those early settlers dispersed, and the state had the cottages converted into rental properties. When I was growing up in Harbour Falls, it was not uncommon for families to spend at least a part of their summer vacation over on Fade Island. But I’d never been there. Not once. Eventually, as the residents of Harbour Falls expanded their vacation horizons, fewer and fewer people came to the island, and the cottages soon fell into disrepair.
But all that changed a few years back when the state of Maine sold the island to a private party. Almost immediately money poured in. The little fishing town was renovated, giving it a quirky, art deco uplift. The rental cottages were refurbished and made modern but in such a way as to retain their charm.
And a former resident of Harbour Falls—a man named Adam Ward—had a huge home in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright built overlooking the sea on the northern end of the island. Really it was more like a compound, complete with a private dock, a set of garages, even an airfield. It was hard to believe I’d once gone to school with the guy.
I had searched and searched to see if Adam had been the person who’d bought the island. It made sense, with the fancy home and all. But I came up empty-handed. The real estate transaction I culled from public records listed only a limited liability company with a bogus name as the owner. And the bogus name led me back to Harbour Falls Realtors but not to Adam. So the owner wished to remain anonymous. That was fine with me. I was tired of running around in circles.
One thing I knew for certain: Ami, as an agent of Harbour Falls Realtors, handled the business of renting out the cottages to a now-steady stream of wealthy summer vacationers looking for a private retreat. But Ami had no idea, in my case, she was about to rent to someone with a secret reason for wanting to stay on Fade Island.
It wasn’t the peace and solitude touted in the online brochure that I sought. Nor did I have a desire to just hang out in a nicely renovated cottage. Not even that picturesque lighthouse depicted on Ami’s business card, and located on the far southeastern tip of the island, held any appeal. Many a painter and photographer had traveled to the island to capture the image of the tall, imposing structure that harkened back to days past. Positioned at the end of a rocky peninsula and standing sentry in the shadow of a curved shelf of steep, jutting cliffs, the lighthouse was an artist’s dream, even if it was no longer in use. But I wasn’t here for that either.
No, I was much more intrigued by something the brochure failed to mention: the huge, private estate overlooking the sea on the
other
end of the island. To be more precise, I was intrigued by the sole occupant of that estate, the former Harbour Falls resident, Adam Ward. In fact, I’d purposely chosen the cottage closest to his home as the one I wished to view.
My father told Ami I needed a quiet place to work through a bad case of writer’s block. But that was far from the truth. Only he—and my agent, Katie—knew the real reason behind my wanting to spend these autumn months on a lonely, isolated island. It had
everything
to do with researching the subject matter for my next book and absolutely nothing to do with some silly, made-up case of writer’s block.
And my research had begun before I’d even arrived. For example, I knew there were only four year-round residents on Fade Island, as it was not the most hospitable place once the summer faded into fall. Heavy rains and storms were common throughout most of the year, but things became particularly treacherous during the winter months.
Snowstorms and loss of power were not uncommon. And there was no reliable way to get off the island, except for the ferry. But the ferry didn’t run when the weather got too crazy. Nothing did, not even the alternative means of transportation—several boats and a corporate jet—that Mr. Ward often employed. During those times Fade Island lived up to its name in another way; it was as if it faded from civilization.
The rain slowed to a fine mist as we approached the ferry, and Ami lowered the umbrella. “So who can I expect to see once we get over there?” I asked and then added, “Like, who lives out there year-round?”
Obviously I was well aware of the identities of the full-time residents. I thought I was being clever, feigning ignorance for Ami’s benefit. The less she knew
I
knew, the more likely she’d not question my cover story. Right? Maybe not.
I took one look at her face and wished I’d kept my mouth shut. “You don’t know? You’ve never heard?” She eyed me skeptically. “Surely, your father told you.”
I shook my head and looked away. A slender, pale girl with dark hair was messing with some ropes aboard the ferry, so I pretended to be focused on her.
But when I tried to keep on walking, Ami stopped and grabbed my arm. I couldn’t meet her gaze, certain she’d catch on to my deception. “Madeleine! You
have
to know Adam Ward lives on the island. It’s no secret he moved out there after…” She lowered her voice. “Well, after what happened.”
She was right; it was no secret. Back when Adam lived in Harbour Falls, he had everything, the world at his feet. A brilliant mind, he excelled in all things academic. But software engineering was his specialty. He coded and developed elaborate software systems that had every college and university with a computer engineering program vying for his commitment to study at their institution. And since his academic abilities were rivaled only by his athletic prowess, those schools with a football program offered Adam everything they could without attracting the attention of the NCAA. In the end, though, he gave up football and enrolled at MIT.
All those things were impressive, but what had caught my attention back then were his striking good looks. He was tall and had an amazing body, gorgeous jet-black hair, and stunning blue eyes. Yeah, it had been hard not to notice him. And notice him I did. But, sadly, he never seemed to look my way.
“Maddyyyy! Earth to Maddy.” Ami waved her hand in front of my face.
“Oh, sorry. I was just…I was just remembering,” I stammered, “um, high school.”
Ami had once been one of my best friends, and surely she recalled my unrequited interest in Mr. Ward. As if on cue, she smiled knowingly and said, “In case you were maybe wondering, he
is
still single.”
I barked out a nervous laugh. “We’re not in high school, Ami. I think my crushing days are behind me. Besides…” I trailed off.
She knew why. After all, everyone had heard the rumors.
“They’re just unfounded accusations and idle gossip,” Ami said in a hushed voice, her defense of Adam surprisingly fervent. “You know that, right?”
“It’s really not that.” And it wasn’t, but I didn’t want to explain myself to Ami. “It’s just…” I fumbled for an explanation. “I didn’t come here to start something with Adam Ward, OK?”
Small lie.
Ami cast a doubtful glance my way, but before she could persist in her matchmaking attempt, I pointed to the ferry and said, “It’s after two. We’d better get going.”
The half-hour ride through the choppy waters to Fade Island was mostly silent, Ami and I lost in our own thoughts. Jennifer Weston, the slender, pale girl who’d been messing with the ropes, didn’t say anything more to us than she absolutely had to. A number of times when I glanced over at the ferry pilot’s house, I caught her glaring at me. But I had no idea why.
Before today I’d never had contact with her. She’d gone to school at Harbour Falls High but graduated a few years before me. Still, I knew who she was. How could I not? Jennifer had been married for two years to my other best friend back in high school, J.T. O’Brien. I hadn’t kept in touch with J.T. after leaving Harbour Falls, but I heard a lot about him from my dad. And what he told me wasn’t good.
A few years back, J.T. had gotten into trouble with the law—some kind of drug and alcohol charge. After a stint in rehab, he surprised everyone by marrying Jennifer. She’d always had a thing for J.T., but he’d never shown any interest in her. So when they ran off to Vegas for a quickie wedding, nobody could figure out why. My father said there was speculation that she’d gotten knocked up. But nine months came…and went…with no baby.
All of this occurred during the spring and summer before my final year at Yale. At the time I was interning at a publishing house in New York, so I didn’t pay too much attention to the updates from home. When I returned to college that fall, I met Julian. And once we were together, I hardly kept up with the Harbour Falls gossip. Following a quick visit back for Ami and Sean’s wedding the following summer, Julian and I moved to Los Angeles. I embarked on my writing career, and soon my life was too busy to worry about people from my past. Except for the occasional, short holiday visit home, this whole area had fallen off my radar completely.
Well, maybe not
completely
.
There was one huge Harbour Falls Mystery—as the press had dubbed it—I could not avoid hearing about. The story even dominated the national news for a time. And inevitably, mostly on book tours and during interviews, I was asked for
my
thoughts regarding the case. I imagined people were curious for two reasons. One, I was from Harbour Falls, a primary location involved in the mystery. And two, I was a crime and mystery novelist, and the facts of the case mirrored the kinds of things I wrote about.
Only my cases were purely fictional, so my standard response had always been the same:
I have no interest in real-life cases
. And that had been true. But it no longer was; things were about to change.
The Harbour Falls Mystery was the real reason I was here. I had every intention of basing my next novel on the facts of the case. I was tired of fiction; I wanted to write a true crime novel. Plus there was a little part of me—the detective that lurks in all of us—that dreamed of
solving
this case.
But nobody knew that this case held more than a professional interest for me. Not because the main locale was Harbour Falls, and not because the mystery involved the disappearance of a local I’d once known. And, truth be told, had once envied. Nor was it the fact that this local, Chelsea Hannigan, had gone missing the night before her wedding. Scandalous, though it was.
What piqued my curiosity was the man Chelsea had been on the verge of marrying—Adam Ward. He was the man at the center of the mystery. He was the man whose life had been altered when Chelsea disappeared, after he was named as the number one suspect.
What role, if any, had he played in her disappearance? Though never formally charged, many believed he was far from innocent.
Well I was here to uncover the truth. There was just one small problem.
Contrary to what I’d told Ami, I
was
interested in Adam Ward. Still. Despite how ridiculous I knew it was, I couldn’t wait to run into Adam. Would he even remember me? Maybe not. But I wasn’t the shy girl I’d been back then.
Of course I was playing with fire. If he ever suspected I was investigating him in order to research my new novel, he’d hardly be pleased. I might even see firsthand just how supposedly dangerous he could be.
At the thought, a little shudder ran through me. Whether it was due to fear, excitement, or both, I wasn’t sure. I knew I should analyze it and get my head straight before I ended up in trouble.
But I’d run out of time. Because the fog began to lift, and in the distance, Fade Island came into view.
Continue the story…
Read the rest of
Harbour Falls
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not considered to be real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Exposed: Laid Bare (Laid Bare #1)
Copyright © 2015 by S.R. Grey
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
ISBN-10: 0986156507
ISBN-13: 978-0-09861565-0-2
Editing: Hot Tree Editing
Cover Design: Arijana Karčić, Cover It! Designs
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