If a good foundation is the most important part of a structure, the roofing is a close second. It does no good to fix things inside if the roof is bad.
—HAMMER GIRL BLOG
The next morning Jason was waiting for her in the main house when she came through the back door with her backpack slung over her shoulder. The crashing of walls coming down and the banging of hammers told her demolition was still in progress. She coughed at the dust in the air.
Jason wore a tool belt slung low over his dust-covered jeans, and he motioned for her to join him at the wall between the kitchen and dining room. “You wanted this one down, right? What else?”
Ellie retrieved her blueprints from her backpack and rolled them out on the Formica counter in the kitchen. “That wall too.” She pointed to an adjacent wall that adjoined the living room.
Jason nodded. “I checked the attic, and we’re going to need a support beam.”
“I assumed we would. I also want to join the two smaller bedrooms down the hall to make a master. And we can make a second guest master upstairs with the full bath next to the smallest room. We can put another half bath under the stairs.” She pointed out her plans on the blueprint.
“Looks good. Nice and airy.” He slid the hammer in his hand back into his tool belt.
She knelt and examined the floors. “These look like solid oak. I think we can save them. I know where to get lookalikes to fill in where the gaps are after we take down the walls.”
“That’s what I thought.” Jason paused and studied her face. “Any updates about Mac yet?”
“No, they have no leads on what happened to her.” She reached up and brushed drywall dust from his hair.
He frowned. “You said you were investigating. What have you found out?”
She couldn’t tell him about the terrorist angle. He’d been too ready to believe the worst about Mac, and she didn’t have the strength to defend her sister.
“What about the missing cocaine? Is the Coast Guard still fingering Mac for that?”
She looked away at his eager expression. All he wanted to hear was dirt about Mac. “Well, yes. There’s a video that shows her directing two other men where to load it. There’s not much doubt she took it, but I’m sure there was a good reason. I just have to find out what it was.”
“I’m not surprised. She pulled the wool over your eyes for years. She wasn’t the Girl Scout you’ve always thought she was.”
He was talking about Mac like she was dead, and Ellie wasn’t ready to accept that. “I think someone made her take it.”
He took his cap off and ran his hand through his sun-streaked brown hair. “You have the evidence right in front of you, but you refuse to see it. I don’t even know what to say to you.”
She touched his arm. “You loved her once. How can you be so hard-hearted?”
“I have known her since we were in school, Ellie. She always wanted more. When you redid your bedroom with new paint and linens, she talked your parents into getting that big canopy bed that cost twice as much. When you were asked to the prom by that one boy, she worked on him until he withdrew his invitation and asked her.”
Ellie took a step back. “I never held it against her.”
His dark brows drew together. “You should have. Everything had to be about her, and she couldn’t stand it when attention landed on you. You have never seen it, though.” He jerked his hammer out again and slammed it against the next wall to come down.
Ellie rolled up her blueprints and went to get her tools. She’d always considered Mac her best friend, not just her sister. Mac depended on her. Before she ever made a decision, she called to talk it over with Ellie. Before she took the university job, she asked Ellie’s opinion.
Was everything about her life a lie? Even though Jason disliked Mac, the things he’d pointed out were true. Mac had needed attention like a baby needed milk. Ellie had always assumed it was because Mac was the youngest. It was understandable.
Her head throbbed, and she rubbed her temple. She hated conflict, especially with people she loved. With her work she was in her element. Take down that wall, open up that space, raise that ceiling, and put a window in there. Design a house the way she wanted it, and she had a sense of satisfaction as she walked around and looked at her handiwork.
Why didn’t life cooperate like that?
She glanced at the time on her phone. There was a meeting about the festival at three, and she needed to be there. If she was going to probe everything Mac was involved with, she needed to look at the tall ship flotilla coming to town. Mac had been obsessed with it. There might be a clue there.
City Hall used to be a mercantile back in the last century. The committee overseeing the festival met in a space in the back of the basement, cramped quarters with no windows. It always had a musty smell. Ellie looked through the tiny pane in the door and saw everyone was there.
Isaac Cohen noticed her and motioned for her to come in. She pulled open the door and stepped into the room. “I hope you don’t mind my visit.”
Isaac shook his head. “If this is about what happened to Mac, any one of us would do anything we could to help.”
“It is.” She advanced to the front of the room and turned to face the group of six.
She knew all of them: Isaac, Felicia Burchell, attorney Kristy Gillings, Stuart Ransom, and Michelle Diskin, whose eyes filled the moment she saw Ellie. The person she was most surprised to see was her employee, Clint, but she shouldn’t have been. He was very interested in politics.
Ellie focused her attention on the most sympathetic face in the group—Michelle’s. “I’m sure you’ve all heard the rumor about Mac stealing a seizure of cocaine from the Coast Guard.”
Fire flashed in Michelle’s eyes. “It’s ludicrous.”
She’d talk to Michelle privately and tell her what she knew, but right now Ellie didn’t want to feed the rumor mill more. “I’m trying to re-create Mac’s last weeks. She was very passionate about the tall ship flotilla coming. What can you tell me about the progress of it?”
Isaac pulled a chair up for her. “Have a seat, Ellie. I know it’s been a hard week.”
“Thanks.” It felt a little cozier sitting at the same level as the rest of them.
Kristy Gillings tucked a graying strand of hair behind her ear. She looked like a frumpy housewife, but she had one of the finest legal minds in the state. “The fleet will be here a week from tomorrow. The festival is on Saturday, but they’re getting in a few days early. The Parade of Sail wraps up the event on Sunday morning, then the boats will dock for tours through end of day Monday. Twenty tall ships from three countries will be here. Mac’s idea was really genius. We’ve already sold three times the tickets we expected. I’m glad we didn’t cancel it.”
Ellie frowned. “Cancel it?”
Felicia looked stunning in a deep-red sheath dress. When she rose to get a glass of water, the men in the room watched her. She handed the glass to Ellie. “You know Mac was passionate about the tall ship plan. Did you know she changed her mind the day before her death?”
Ellie curled her fingers around the cup. “I-I don’t understand. Mac talked of nothing else for weeks and weeks. Why would she want to cancel it? She never said anything about it to me.”
Felicia settled back in her chair and crossed shapely legs. “It surprised all of us too. We’d gone too far and had actually paid the organizers in full by the time she made her request. We couldn’t pull out.”
“But she had to talk you all into it.”
Felicia nodded. “I know. She didn’t have a good reason for why she wanted to cancel it. She kept saying something about it being dangerous. I don’t know if she thought one of the ships would run aground or what. She rushed out of our meeting quite upset, almost desperate.” Felicia’s dark-brown eyes held compassion.
“I’m stunned. That’s all I can say. Is there anything else?”
Stuart leaned forward. “She said something about having to talk to Terrance Robb. You might ask him if he knows why she wanted to cancel it. We were all surprised.”
“He’s already gone.”
“No, he’s still in town for a birthday party for his wife. It’s next Friday night at her parents’ house. You might try to contact him then.”
“Thank you, I’ll do that.” Ellie tossed back the small cup of water, then crumpled it in her hand. “I’d better let you get on with your meeting.”
Isaac walked her to the door and took her hand. “Let me know if there’s anything else you need. Mac was important to all of us.”
“I will.” She rushed out of the musty room and up the stairs to push through the door into the sunshine. The fresh air cleared the dankness from her lungs.
Why would Mac have wanted to cancel the big coup she’d worked so hard for? Ellie pulled out her phone and called Grayson.
“I was about to call you. Are you done for the day? I just saw Dylan heading into Harvey’s Pier.”
“I can come now. I was wondering if you could get an invitation to a birthday party next Friday.” She explained what she’d found out. “Candace Robb’s dad is a Coastie, and I thought they’d probably be in attendance at their daughter’s party so maybe you could get an invitation. I need to talk to Terrance Robb.”
“I think I can manage that. When is it?”
“On Friday night.”
“I’ll see what I can do. Meet you at Harvey’s Pier.”
Things were spiraling out of control. With all the information being tossed at her head, Ellie had no idea what to believe about her sister.