“He’s a wily man,” Kris said without hesitation.

  “I agree. Sketchy. He could be making up the George story to buy some time,” Skye said.

  Kris shrugged. “Possibly. But there have been some wealthy guys who’ve bought property at three or four times its original value in recent years, so it wouldn’t be farfetched. He’s cunning, but I don’t think he’s trying to trick or lie to us.”

  Skye looked at Kris. “So, you think we should trust him?”

  “No. At least we know he’s not setting us up.”

  Skye frowned. “We don’t know that, Kris. You barely know him, and now I’m even more suspicious about him. Did you see the cold way he talked about Marge’s death?”

  “People grieve differently.”

  “True. But we need to dig deeper to confirm that.”

  Kris sighed. “So, what are you gonna do about his request?”

  Skye shrugged. “I have no idea. But we’ll have to figure something out. We have to lead him on a bit longer.”

  The two went to have some seafood for lunch. As they did this, Kris got a call. One of her contacts had traced a woman named Tabitha in Mpweke village, another half-hour drive. They decided to go there after their meal.

  The drive was scenic and uneventful. Mpweke was similar to Shimoni in its look, but it had a vibrant feel. Locals lined up the dusty road leading to the village, hawking all kinds of local delicacies. When they got to the village itself, they located Kris’s friend—a balding, wiry man.

  “Johnny, thanks for helping us. How far is her house?” Kris asked.

  “Not far from here,” he replied.

  Kris motioned him toward the van. “Hop in and let’s go.”

  Johnny got into the van, squeezing into the front seat, and directed them to a small homestead in the farthest corner of the village. Outside was a woman winnowing grain. She wore colorful lesos from head to toe, with a headscarf to complete the look. She stopped as they got closer.

  “That’s her.” Johnny nodded toward the woman. “That’s Tabitha.”

  Skye was still skeptical even as she got out of the van. She’d been disappointed before. She wanted to get a closer look, to see if she remembered her face. Of course, Skye knew the odds of her remembering were miniscule. She’d been so young when they’d lived here before. Still, as she climbed out of the van and shut the door, a part of her was hopeful.

  “Hello, Tabitha. I’ve brought you visitors like I promised,” Johnny said.

  Tabitha smiled as she shook their hands. When she got to Skye, she didn’t let go. Instead, she studied Skye’s face with deep curiosity.

  “Why do you look familiar?” Tabitha asked, her face getting more wrinkled as she concentrated.

  Skye also searched Tabitha’s face, looking for…something. Then she saw it. There was something familiar in her brown eyes. Skye’s heart leapt. “I think we both know someone in common. Did you live in Fedha some years ago?”

  Tabitha nodded. “Yes, I did.”

  “Then you might have met my mother. She asked me to find you. Her name is Maggie.”

  Tabitha’s eyes welled up. “Oh my. I remember Maggie. You’re little Skye, aren’t you?”

  “That’s me.” Skye smiled as Tabitha opened up her arms and wrapped her in a warm embrace. They held each other for several minutes, and Skye felt tears welling up in her eyes. She wasn’t sure why she was so emotional since she hardly remembered Tabitha, but somehow, it felt like hugging a long-lost family member.

  Tabitha pulled back, leaving her hands on Skye’s shoulders. “Sweet Skye! I never dreamed I’d see any of you again before I left this world.”

  Skye laughed. “Mom insisted I must find you. So, here I am.”

  “How is she?”

  “She’s great. Everyone is great.”

  Tabitha gave her the once-over, still in disbelief. “You’ve grown into a beautiful young woman.”

  “Thank you.” Skye blushed. “My early years living in Fedha gave me a head start in that department. You, on the other hand, look ageless.”

  Tabitha waved a hand in dismissal. “Don’t flatter me, child. I know my age.”

  “You hide it well,” Skye said.

  Tabitha laughed, but then her smile quickly faded. “You shouldn’t have come back, though.”

  Skye stared at her. “What?”

  “You shouldn’t have come back,” Tabitha repeated. “It won’t end well.”

  12

  Skye exhaled and closed her eyes. Not this again. Would it go the same way it had with the old man—a sudden change in Tabitha’s personality and amnesia about what she’d just said? Skye found herself holding her breath.

  Thankfully, Tabitha didn’t change her personality, but that left Skye really confused.

  “Excuse me, but why would you say that?” Skye prodded.

  Tabitha chuckled. “You’ll know why soon enough. Come inside, you all look hungry.”

  “You don’t have to. We—” Skye began.

  Tabitha raised her hand to silence her. “I’ll have none of that. We can’t talk until you have eaten my food. Come on in.”

  She didn’t have the heart to tell Tabitha that they’d recently eaten. Besides, Skye could always eat more, and she had no doubt Kris could eat more. Skye nearly burst out laughing when she looked over at Kris, who was patting her stomach and wiggling her eyebrows.

  The inside of the clean yet sparsely furnished house was cooler than outside, so it offered some relief to the visiting party. Except Skye. She was restless. There were too many questions racing around in her mind.

  As Tabitha cooked in a small adjacent building, Skye and Kris whispered to each other.

  “She basically said the same thing as that old man,” Skye said. “That’s no coincidence!”

  Kris agreed. “That was creepy.”

  “It sure was. But why is everyone saying that? What do they know that we don’t? Do I have a curse written on my forehead or something?”

  Kris glanced up. “Your forehead looks fine to me. Just a few sweat streaks.”

  Skye shot her a disapproving look. “You know what I mean.”

  “I hear you. Something’s in the air. It would be good to find out what.”

  Skye chewed her lip. Something was definitely going on, and she couldn’t just ignore it. “I have to ask her again. There are no coincidences.”

  It wasn’t long before Tabitha served them spicy tea with mahamri. An hour later, they had a flowing plate of pilau with coconut-flavored beans, the main course. A whole yellow banana, some chili sauce, and freshly squeezed mango juice completed the feast.

  It all tasted amazing, so even though Skye wasn’t hungry, she couldn’t stop eating. She looked over at Kris and Johnny and giggled—they were both shoveling it in as well. Finally, as Skye pushed away her plate, she had the fleeting thought that she probably wouldn’t be hungry for days.

  “You’ll leave here remembering our hospitality,” Tabitha said.

  Skye laughed, nodding her agreement. “There’s no doubt about that!”

  “Well,” Johnny said, standing. “As much as I’d like to stay and chat, I need to get going. I have work that needs to be done.”

  Skye let out a deep, satisfied sigh. For a moment, she’d forgotten about Tabitha’s strange words earlier. “I think I need a nap.” She looked over at Kris. “How about you? Should we get going?”

  Tabitha scoffed at this and instead directed them to two hammocks behind the house.

  “This is where we do our siestas. Relax here for a bit and just make yourself at home,” Tabitha said.

  Skye didn’t need to be told twice. She loved hammocks. When she was young, her father had built her a treehouse. At the ground level was a hammock that she absolutely adored. Once she was settled in, Skye drifted off into a deep nap.

  Soon, she was in the middle of a vivid dream. She was at a Thanksgiving dinner, and all her family was there. Her mother had gone all out by preparing a scrumptious meal. The table was decked out with bowls of mashed potatoes, beans, pumpkin pie, corn, stew, gravy, cranberry sauce, and a luscious roasted turkey in the middle of it all. A prayer was said, giving thanks for the year and all its ups and downs, and then the feast began.

  The doorbell rang. Skye opened the door, and there stood Tabitha. She let her in. When her mother saw Tabitha, she broke down. Her father was in shock.

  “What is she doing here?” her father asked.

  “It’s Thanksgiving, Dad. We often invite a friend, so I asked her to come,” Skye replied.

  “Oh, what have you done?” her mother wailed.

  “But you asked me to find her,” Skye said.

  “I didn’t tell you to bring her here!” her mother replied.

  Skye scanned the table. Everyone had a piercing, haunting look. Her father stood and walked slowly toward her.

  “What have you done? What have you done?” he hissed.

  Skye woke up in a sweat. She did this so fast, the hammock started swaying wildly. Before it tossed her out, Tabitha arrived and steadied her.

  “Had a bad dream?” Tabitha asked.

  Skye tried to compose herself. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened there.”

  Tabitha smiled, patting Skye on the arm. “You remind so much of your mother. She always took naps after meals. You want to keep going?”

  Skye shook her head. The last thing she needed was another nightmare. “No, I think I’ve had enough.”

  Tabitha glanced at her watch. “You only slept about fifteen minutes. Thirty is more like it.”

  Skye got off the hammock. “Thanks, but I’m good.”

  Tabitha led Skye to a couple chairs in the shade of coconut trees while Kris continued to sleep. That gave Skye the chance to catch up with Tabitha. They relaxed and chatted as a gentle afternoon breeze blew across the homestead. It felt like a little slice of paradise.

  “Life was simpler back then,” Tabitha said as she studied a tall tree. “The trees grew taller, the breeze blew softer, and the land gave more. There was less noise in the world. I miss those days.”

  “Fedha must have been a little paradise back then,” Skye said.

  “Oh, it was. It still is. But back then, there was more virgin land with indigenous bush and forest. The paths were dirt with only a sprinkle of tarmac here and there. Building here was like discovering the Garden of Eden. Everything you needed was around you—grain, fruit, shade, water, and warm people. Some of those things are fading fast.”

  “How did you and Mom meet?”

  Tabitha smiled. “I was a nurse back then. When you were about two years old, you caught a fever, and she brought you to the clinic. After treating you, we hit it off. I introduced her to your family doctor back then, Doctor Blum, and our friendship grew from there. We’d meet for lunch to decompress when both our kids were stressing us at home. We became like sisters.”

  “Were we that troublesome?”

  Tabitha chuckled. “Fedha has a way of creating explorers. You can’t live there without being curious about the world, and you were definitely curious when you were little. Occasionally you’d get lost in the small forest nearby, or encounter a snake and try to kill it, or try to build a boat that would take you out to sea.”

  “Or steal coconuts,” Skye chimed in.

  Tabitha turned to her. “Oh, you remember that day?”

  “I sure do!” Skye laughed. “I remember because it was the last time Mom gave me a proper beating!”

  “Don’t go stealing people’s harvests. You’re grown now, but the lesson still applies,” Tabitha said. “Why did your mother send you here?”

  Skye twiddled her thumbs, unsure of what to say. After that nightmare, she was second-guessing the idea of finding Tabitha. Then again, her mom had told her to do this, so she needed to be honest. “I bought the land we used to live on.”

  Tabitha exhaled. “You what?”

  “I bought our former home. Well, the house isn’t there anymore, but I bought the land it sat on.” Skye leaned forward and clasped her hands together. “The thing is, Mom said I can’t start construction until I find something she buried there. She thinks you can help me.”

  Tabitha sat, mouth agape for a few seconds.

  “Are you okay?” Skye asked.

  Tabitha nodded in silence.

  “So, since the house isn’t there anymore, what I need is a floor plan of how the house used to be,” Skye said. “She said you might know it.”

  “I remember the house well, but not all the exact details. You’ll have to talk to Feroze for that,” Tabitha replied.

  “Who’s Feroze?”

  “The designer of your house. He was a draftsman back then.”

  Skye reached up to rub the back of her neck. This Kenya adventure wasn’t going at all like she’d hoped. It seemed like every time she got a step closer to getting what she wanted, she took two steps back.

  “Is he still alive?”

  “Oh, yes!” Tabitha tossed her head back and laughed. “We live a long time around here. He’s still going strong. He focuses on farming now.”

  “How can I find him?”

  “I’ll take you there. Give me a day or two.”

  Skye smiled. “I’d appreciate that. Thanks.”

  “I do have a question, though. Why did you buy it?” Tabitha asked.

  Skye wondered why the news seemed to weigh heavily on Tabitha’s mind. After all these years, she didn’t think Tabitha would care.

  “I felt it was the right thing to do,” Skye replied honestly. “I want to find myself here.”

  “So, you’re lost?”

  Skye looked down and picked at a fingernail. “A part of me is, yes.”

  Tabitha nodded and went silent.

  Maybe she should have kept that to herself, but it was too late now. She decided to change the subject. “Why did my parents leave?” Skye asked.

  “Your father got a job transfer. He couldn’t leave you behind; you were his world,” Tabitha replied.

  “Did anything crazy happen when they left?”

  Tabitha furrowed her brow. “Caused by them? No.”

  “Did something crazy happen that wasn’t caused by them?”

  Tabitha smiled wryly. “That’s water under the bridge.”

  Skye’s eyes narrowed. “I’m curious. Is it something I should know about?”

  Tabitha shook her head, leaned over, and patted Skye’s hand. “No, it’s not. There’s nothing to worry about.”

  Years ago, Skye had learned the hard way about listening to other people. The biggest thing she’d learned was when someone said not to worry, there was definitely a reason to worry.

  “Then why did you tell me that I shouldn’t have returned?”

  Tabitha stood. “It’s too late to back out now, so forget what I said.”

  Skye knew she wouldn’t forget. She was about to ask again when Kris walked up to them.

  “How was the siesta?” Tabitha asked.

  Kris swiped her eyes. “It was amazing. Top tier.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it. Let me get you some water for your face.” Tabitha went into the house.

  “You okay?” Kris asked.

  Skye gave a small smile. “I will be, someday. I hope.”

  “Girl, you’ve got to keep your chin up. You’re going to be fine!” Kris gave her a little punch to the arm. “What were you two talking about?”

  “The past. She’s still holding out on me about some things. I’ll tell you the rest in the car.”

  They didn’t stay long after that. Tabitha’s hospitality continued even as they were heading out—she gave them a basketful of coconuts to take home.

  As they drove off, Skye filled Kris in on everything. “She’s going to take us to the draftsman in two days. Hopefully, he has a copy of the house’s design.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Pun intended,” Kris said with a chuckle.

  Skye gave a pained smile as they drove to Kris’s apartment and called it a day. Later that evening, Skye decided to follow another lead. She took Martin Vega’s business card and called him.

  “Martin speaking,” a man said.

  “Hey, Martin. It’s Skye. We met the other night as you looked for Marge? I have some news for you.”

  He only hesitated for a moment. “I'm listening.”

  “Er, I’d rather do it in person.”

  Martin sighed. “Why in person?”

  “It’s a little sensitive.”

  There was a pause. Skye could hear the ruffling of pages and assumed he was checking his calendar.

  “Tomorrow, midday. Let’s meet at the Treasure Chest restaurant.”

  “Sounds great. I’ll be there. Thanks.” Skye hung up, and her mind swirled with ideas. The truth was that she didn’t really have any news for him, that was an excuse to get him interested. Now she needed to come up with a story.

  Less than a minute later, her phone rang. It was Detective Bowe. Skye involuntarily touched her hair before answering, which was silly because it was just a phone call. Besides, he didn’t care how she looked anyway. She pushed her ridiculous thoughts aside and answered.

  “Where are you?” Detective Bowe asked.

  “I’m in Fedha. Why?” Skye asked.

  “I want you to come to the station. We’ve received the postmortem results. There are a few questions we need to go through in person.”

  Skye swallowed a lump of air. Did that mean he’d found something to connect her to the murder? She sat up straight, refusing to let herself get anxious. She was innocent, and the truth would eventually come out. “Okay, when?”

  “How about ten-thirty in the morning.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  Skye felt her lips dry. Had she run out of time to find the killer?

  13

  The next day, a reluctant Skye turned up at the police precinct. Kris had to work, so Skye was on her own this time.

  After going past the reception desk, Skye found herself facing Detective Bowe in the interrogation room.

  “Here we are once again” he said, smiling.

  Skye’s heart fluttered. Darn those dimples. “You know, detective, I don’t find this questioning nearly as exciting as you do.”