Mackenzie’s mouth dropped open. “You found it?”
“I did.” She cleared her throat. “In the back of Joey’s plane.”
Twenty
Mackenzie’s brow furrowed. She opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it. Then she gasped.
Eliza watched her face carefully, and with every passing emotion, the lead balloon on her chest lifted higher and higher.
“Wait.” Mackenzie handed the tassel back. “Does this mean what I think it means?”
Eliza tucked it into her pocket and dropped her voice to a whisper. “At the very least, it means he’s been lying to me.”
“Do you think he’s…?” She paused. “You know.Him?”
The room lurched beneath her and bile pooled at the back of her throat.
Steady. No throwing up in the tea shop.“Maybe.”
Mackenzie gasped. “And if he is? What’s he going to do to you when he knows you’ve figured it out?”
“That’s what I’ve been wondering myself.”
“Did you tell the police yet? Or whoever came to the bank – the FBI?”
“The ATF,” Eliza corrected. “I hadn’t gotten there yet. I went back to the bank in town. The manager was really nice and helped me apply for a loan, but she didn’t remember anything new. Then at the coffee shop, I saw Stacy, the ATF agent who was mean to me.”
Mackenzie winced. “Aw, man. You don’t want to tell her. She’ll be mean to you again.”
“No. I didn’tseeher, exactly. Wally showed me a video of her throwing the wheelchair from the robbery into the coffee shop dumpster.”
Mackenzie’s mouth popped open. “What? Why?Whatis going on? That was evidence, wasn’t it?”
She nodded. “As far as I know, yes.”
“Why would she throw it away?”
“I have no idea. I’ve been trying to figure it out all week, and I’m not sure where else to look.”
Eliza rubbed her face with her hands. Her eyelids were swollen and heavy. She’d been up late trying to find out more about Joey, but to no avail. Aside from pictures of his fabulous travels, his online presence was void of any substance.
“I’m scared of Stacy and I can’t find anything about Joey that would make this make sense.”
Mackenzie bit her lip. “Don’t you kind of want to ask him and see what he says?”
“So he can get spooked and fly away?” She shook her head. “No way.”
“Hm. Good point.” Mackenzie leaned back against the kitchen counter. “They could be working together, somehow. Him and Stacy.”
Leave it to Mackenzie to suspect a secret liaison.
But she wasn’t wrong. Eliza shut her eyes. “It’s possible.”
“Or maybe…it’s something more than that? Something romantic?”
She slowly breathed out, distancing herself from the sting. “It’s crossed my mind.”
Mackenzie crossed her arms over her chest. “Stacy’s got to be in on it. Are you sure the bank robber was a man?”
