Poisoned Prose (A Books by the Bay Mystery)

blackened, and rested there like some kind of charred beetle. The gunfire echoed over the water, but Olivia knew that it didn’t matter. Her closest neighbors were an elderly couple who suffered from hearing loss, and the rest of the beach was completely deserted. Even the birds had fled, leaving only the low, gray clouds and the incoming waves, which were hurrying into shore. The lazy curls of the past few weeks were gone. These waves seemed aggressive. Almost angry. The air was charged too, as if the sea and sky were in collusion. And yet, there was a certain still quality to the entire scene.
    A storm is brewing
, Olivia thought, and then Flynn propelled her into the lighthouse. They walked up and up the curving staircase and stepped out onto the balcony. The enormous beacon light rotated behind them, its bright beam scorching the dark sky.
    “Sit down,” Flynn commanded and waited for Olivia to comply before lowering himself to the ground. He then leaned against the wall and looked at her, the gun propped on his right knee. Half of his face was in shadow; the other half was illuminated by the blinding light.
    Olivia expected him to speak, but he simply stared at her. Discomfited, she broke eye contact and examined the sky, unable to see either sun or moon behind the thickening clouds. A breeze touched her cheek and lifted strands of her hair. It carried the sea on its breath, and she drew strength from the scent.
    “Where does it all start?” she asked Flynn, impatience winning out over caution. “With Hicks? Do you want to confess to his murder?” When her questions were met with a stony silence, she made herself speak more gently. “Tell me the story. Your story.”
    “I haven’t killed anyone,” he finally said and then looked down at his gun and frowned as if wondering how it came to be in his hand. “It wasn’t me.”
    Flynn seemed to have become lost in the thoughts he’d seemed so keen on voicing. Olivia wanted to hear them. She needed to know the truth, to discern how dangerous he really was. This man she’d shared meals and books and nights in bed with. A man who’d been a stranger all along.
    “Does it begin with the diamonds?” she asked. In a flash, Flynn leapt up and was at her side. He seized her wrist and pressed the gun against her sternum. On the other side of the bone, her heart hammered in terror.
    “Where are they? Where are the diamonds?” Flynn asked, shaking her wrist. His eyes were wild, feverish.
    Olivia shook her head. “I don’t know. My friends and I were meeting at Decadence to talk about Violetta’s treasure. We guessed that it had to be diamonds, and Harris confirmed our theory by tracing Quentin Devereaux’s history.” When Flynn didn’t ease his grip, she repeated her first statement. “I don’t know where they are!” She tried to jerk her hand free. “We thought you had them. That you lured Violetta to Oyster Bay to steal them from her.”
    Flynn abruptly let go, putting both hands to his head in astonishment. “Steal?” His voice turned cold with anger. “
Steal?
She owed
me
. All I wanted was what she owed me. If she’d just given me something . . .” He backed away, restoring the distance between Olivia and himself.
    Olivia rubbed her sore wrist. “How could you be sure that Violetta would bring the diamonds to Oyster Bay?”
    “Amabel told me she would. She guessed that Violetta kept them close at all times. To her, the diamonds had become a symbol of Elijah. The treasure that could have saved him became her personal talisman. Violetta took them when she left home, and Amabel’s wanted them for herself ever since. Unlike her sister, Amabel was going to use them to change her life. And mine. She even roped Greg in on the scheme, though I wasn’t aware of his involvement. I wouldn’t have approved.”
    “Because your share would be further divided.” Olivia tried to keep the disgust from her voice.
    Flynn shook his head. “They were worth over two million dollars, Olivia. I did my research. I read everything I could find about the Cartier theft. I made phone calls to jewelers in New York’s Diamond District. For decades, Violetta carried around that fortune, denying the rest of her family a brighter future. She was going to punish them all for the rest of her days. Even Amabel, who loved Elijah too.”
    “Do you know where Violetta hid the diamonds?”
    “Unfortunately, Amabel couldn’t tell me that, but she knew lots of useful