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“Would you prefer I call the sheriff’s department?” Will reached into his trouser pocket for his cell phone. “I’m sure they’d be very interested to know where you are... and who you’re here with.”

“Wait.” Garrett held up both his hands. “Wait just a minute here. I researched this. It’s not illegal to fake your own death. It’s not illegal anywhere in the United States.”

“That may very well be true, but itisillegal to misuse emergency services.”

“I’mnot the one who called them,” Garrett pointed out. “You did that.Youpeople were the ones who thought I died. I was very clear with all of you before I jumped that I was going to be back. I said I would see all of you soon, when I returned from the spirit world, didn’t I, Lauren?”

Lauren was looking less and less enthusiastic about the situation with each passing minute. “I mean... I guess you did say that, Mr. Newcombe. But I could also see how people might have been afraid that something bad had happened to—”

“Jo.” Seeing that Lauren was going to be of little help to him in this situation, Garrett appealed to me. “You were standing right next to me. I said I’d be back, didn’t I?”

“You did,” I said. “What you didn’t say was when, and also that you had scuba gear stashed under the dock and that you were going to swim to it, then use it to get over to the next dock and take an Uber back to your hotel with one of our teenage guests.”

Garrett chewed on his lower lip. “I couldn’t tell you all that, Jo. A good magician never reveals his tricks.”

“I hate to be the one to break it to you, Newcombe,” Will said. “But you’re not a good magician.”

“Oooh.” I couldn’t help but glance admiringly at Will. “Good line.”

He didn’t smile. He was still angry with Garrett, and in no mood to joke. “Feel free to use it sometime.”

“I will. Maybe inKitty Katz number twenty-seven, after Rex Canine and Kitty Katz break up, Rex will take up magic.”

“Rex and Kitty are going to break up in your next book?” Lauren looked shocked. “But why? They’re made for each other!”

“Well, the truth is, Lauren, characters grow and change, just like people.” The warmth in the look Will shot me after I said this made my knees weak.

Garrett was appearing more at ease now that the conversation had shifted away from him. “That’s true,” he said. “So very true. Characters—and people—learn their lessons, and vow to do better next time. So I take it we’re all in agreement: everything’s good here? No need for anyone to call the police or write any checks?”

He made the mistake of laughing and raising a hand as ifto give Will a high five—then froze as the latter scissored a look in his direction that was as cold as the look he’d sent me had been warm.

“I think we’re all in agreement,” Will said acidly, “that you can be trusted to phone the sheriff’s department yourself and let them know that you’re safe, then show up tomorrow morning for the farewell brunch at the library to make sure everyone who saw your disappearing act from tonight knows the same thing.”

Garrett lowered his hand. “Uh, sure. Yeah, I can do that. I’ll go inside and make that call right now. And I’ll see all of you in the morning.”

I wanted to believe him. It seemed incredibly unlikely that he would lie about something so serious.

But then again, it was Garrett.

Which was why I slipped my hand through the crook of Lauren’s elbow and said, “Great. Then Will and I will give Lauren a lift back to her hotel. Right, Will?”

Will didn’t skip a beat. He slipped his phone back into his pocket and nodded. “Certainly.”

Lauren was a little mystified by the turn of events, however. “Wait. What are we doing?”

“What hotel are you staying in, Lauren?” I asked as I steered her back toward the hallway leading to the lobby. “Will’s car is parked right outside.”

“Oh. We’re staying at the Marriott Beachside.” Lauren kept glancing back toward Garrett. “Mr. Newcombe isn’t in any trouble, is he?”

“Not at all.” Garrett was in a heap of trouble, as far as I was concerned. But I wasn’t going to worry about that now. “Tell me more about your book. What’s the title?”

“Oh! Well, I was going to call itGatsby’s Girl, but I looked that up on Goodreads and it’s already taken. So I decided to go withGatsby!with an exclamation mark—you know, like the musicalOklahoma!”

Lauren chattered on, seemingly completely unaware of the danger from which Will and I had just saved her. Or possibly not. Who knew? Maybe the rumors about Garrett were untrue, and he wouldn’t have tried anything.

Except that, judging by what I’d seen with my own eyes, that seemed highly unlikely. He was a bestselling author in a position of power. She was unpublished, half his age, and more than a little tipsy. Really, Garrett was getting off easy. Judging from the expression I’d seen on Will’s face as he’d been pushing on that door, the evening might easily have gone another way entirely.

In any case, Lauren was prattling away about the characters inGatsby!when, as we stepped outside the Lazy Parrot, the author bus finally arrived.