“In return, what do I get?”
“Answers, Evangeline. Isn’t that what you want?”
Ginny put her phone back in her pocket, and took out the key to the house. Unlocking the front door, Ginny opened it and gave mocking bow. “Welcome to my humble abode.”
“Quit acting like your bitch of a sister. It doesn’t suit you.”
Ginny tightened her lips at the way Soleil talked about Trudy. There was a big difference when Sex Piston and the others called each other a bitch and when Soleil used the term.
Closing the door after them, Ginny had no intention of letting Trudy anywhere near their mother.
Taking her phone out of her pocket, she texted Trudy that she was going to have to cancel their shopping trip, then set the phone on the counter. Her sister was going to be furious, but Ginny would rather chance that than Trudy’s safety.
“The FBI wants me to turn myself in to find out what information I have on Gabriel.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t stay on Sherguevil Island.”
“I’m not safe there. Gabriel won’t take a chance I won’t tell the FBI what I know.”
“Doesn’t sound like you don’t have much of a choice but to cooperate with the FBI.”
“I don’t if I want to stay alive. I want you to get a promise from them that I will be placed in witness protection. I’d be killed the first night in prison. I want their assurance that I won’t have to appear in court, and I’ll be given a new identity, one where I won’t have to work, either.”
Ginny lifted an eyebrow at her. “If I try to negotiate a deal with the FBI on your behalf, what do I get in return?”
Soleil slipped her hand into her pocket, and Ginny stiffened in fear, moving her hand protectively over her stomach.
Ginny stared at Soleil’s hand curiously. She was holding a diamond-encrusted broach. Soleil opened it and Ginny saw a tiny image of a beautiful woman whom she recognized.
“Oh God.” Ginny put her hand to her mouth, images flashing through her mind.
“Ahh … so you do remember.”
Ginny lifted her eyes from the beautiful broach. “How do you have it?” She could have saved herself from asking the question, the memories coming back as the words left her lips.
Ginny put her hand to her chest. “She pinned it on me. I didn’t steal the broach; she gave it to me because she knew he was going to kill her.” Ginny narrowed her eyes on her mother. “I didn’t swim my way back. You went on Sherguevil that night. You must have seen me climbing down off the boat and picked me out of the water.”
Soleil handed her the broach. “It was late, and Jasper was frantic looking for you. When I went to Manny’s home, and he wasn’t there, his mother confessed where they were. When the children came running back to the village, they told me you had gone with them and where Manny had hidden you. By the time I made it to dock, Gyi’s boat had left to go back to Sherguevil.
“It took me a while to get one of the men to let me take his boat of without him. I was on my way to Sherguevil when I found you swimming a few feet off shore.”
Ginny placed the broach in her pocket, unable to look at it any longer. “I’m surprised you didn’t let me drown.”
“I might not have been the perfect mother, but despite what you think of me, I am not capable of filicide.”
Soleil’s eyes dropped to her protruding belly.
“I think you’re more than capable of anything you set your mind to,” Ginny said in disgust, her hand going to protectively cover her stomach. “What happened to the islanders on Clindale?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“That is irrelevant. Gabriel picked and chose what to tell me. Clindale, he chose not to.”
“Why did he kill Jasper?”
“The islanders disappeared when Jasper was sent to work on another island. When he came back, he wanted his curiosity appeased. He didn’t buy the hurricane story any more than your husband did.”
“Allerton killed Jasper.”
“Among many others.” Soleil nodded toward the phone that she had left on the counter. “You can shut the recorder off now. That should be enough to get me the deal I want.”
Ginny picked up the phone, clicking off the recording. “Give me your phone number. I’ll call you after I talk to one of the agents.”
“Which agent are you working with? Are you sure they have enough power to get me the deal I want?”
Ginny shrugged carelessly. “I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?” Shoving the phone in her pocket, Ginny stared distastefully at the woman who had given birth to two women who were nothing like her.
Walking to the extra-large window, Ginny looked out to the woods.
“I’m not a terrible person.”