Eclipse Bay

pools uncovered by the low tide.
    “This is about Jed Steadman, isn’t it?” Hannah asked after a while. “I know it must have been hard for you to discover that he may have been the one who murdered Kaitlin. He was your friend, after all.”
    “Jed was just a guy I knew a long time ago,” Rafe said distantly. “Someone I could shoot a game of pool with on a dull night.”
    She peered at him. “I thought you two were quite close in the old days.”
    “I hardly thought about him in the past eight years, let alone picked up the phone to call him. And he sure as hell never bothered to get in touch with me. We weren’t buddies. Just a couple of guys who did some stuff together on long summer weekends because we had one big thing in common.”
    “What was the big thing? Kaitlin Sadler?”
    “No. The big thing was that neither of us had a father anywhere in the picture.”
    Hannah shoved her hands into the pockets of her sweater jacket. “I can see where that would have been a bond of sorts.”
    “I envied him a little, if you want to know the truth. I always figured he was the lucky one. He seemed like he knew what he was doing. Had a plan for his future. Knew where he was going. The kind of guy who wouldn’t screw up.”
    Halfway down the beach, Winston paused to investigate a hunk of driftwood. Rafe aimed the flashlight at him and then let the light slide away toward the foam at the water’s edge.
    “I was wrong about Jed, you know,” Rafe said after a while.
    “What do you mean?”
    “He wasn’t the lucky one. I was. I had Mitchell after my parents were killed. Gabe and I both had him. I went off track for a while, but at least I knew there was a track, thanks to him.”
    Hannah nodded. “I understand.”
    “I don’t think there was ever anyone there for Jed. His father drank a lot, and one day he just disappeared. His mother remarried two or three times.”
    “Hmm,” Hannah said.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Let’s not go too far into let’s-feel-sorry-for-poor-Jed-who-came-from-a-dysfunctional-family territory. I’m sure it’s all true, but I can’t believe that he didn’t know a few of the rules. The night he murdered Kaitlin Sadler in order to get his hands on those blackmail tapes he broke those rules. I’m sure he was well aware of what he was doing.”
    “You know, Hannah, that’s one of the things I like about you.” For the first time that evening there was a trace of wry amusement in Rafe’s words. “I can always count on you to cut right to the heart of the matter.”
    Hannah sighed. “All right, if you’re not brooding because of Jed, do you mind telling me why you’ve been in such a foul mood all evening?”
    “I’ve been thinking.”
    “No offense, but I’m not sure it’s good for you.”
    “I appreciate the positive feedback.”
    “Okay, okay. I don’t want to argue.”
    “But you’re so good at it.”
    She tightened her hands inside the pockets of her sweater jacket. “Let’s start over. Tell me what you’ve been thinking about this evening.”
    He was silent for a couple of heartbeats. She had the impression that he was gathering himself for a big jump.
    “I’ve decided to sign over my half of Dreamscape to you,” he said.
    For a few seconds she thought she had misunderstood. She reran his simple statement twice through her brain before she finally decided she had gotten it right the first time.
    She came to a sudden halt on the beach and swung around to face him. “You’re going to do what ?”
    “You heard me.” He stopped and looked at her.
    “Dreamscape is Harte property. It’s always been Harte property. I know your aunt had some romantic notions, but the truth is, I don’t have any real claim on the place. It’s yours. I’m not going to fight you for it.”
    Panic seized her. She jerked her hands out of her pockets and grabbed fistfuls of his black pullover. “I thought we had a deal.”
    “You didn’t seem interested.”
    “I never got a chance to respond.” She stood on tiptoe and leaned closer. “Arizona Snow arrived with her logbook in the middle of our business discussion, if you will recall. Then came our big deductions concerning Kaitlin Sadler’s death.”
    “Hannah—”
    “That was followed by you and your grandfather deciding to engage in a bit of breaking and entering. The next thing we know, Jed Steadman has left town and you’re brooding. All in all, it’s been a somewhat hectic day. I