Page 10 of Wild Sentinel

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Chelsea said. “It’s just a sexual thing.”

I wasn’t expecting her to be so blunt. “Maybe it’s more than that for him.”

She considered it, then smirked. “I am lovable.”

You wouldn’t have to look long at that face to fall under her spell.

“If you’re thinking Elijah had some involvement, you’re on the wrong track. He was here with me until the deputies arrived.” Her brow knitted with confusion. “But you already know who shot my husband. There were a hundred witnesses.”

“A pretty foolproof alibi,” I said. “But Benjamin claims the ammunition was swapped.”

“I’d claim a lot of things, if I were in his shoes,” she said, full of doubt.

"I'll need contact information for your lover." I dug in my pocket and handed her a card. I was sure the two would back each other up. "Has Elijah ever been aboard the Mystic Voyager?”

"I don't know. You’d have to ask him.”

"Can you think of anybody who may have wanted to harm your husband besides Benjamin?"

She shrugged, then said in a sarcastic voice, "I don't know. Why don’t you talk to that woman's husband? Maybe he doesn't like his wife fooling around."

“He won’t talk to us."

She lifted a suspicious eyebrow. “Well, there’s your suspect.”

“He’s high on the list,” I said.

“I am too, I suppose.” Chelsea looked me dead in the eye. “I'm now a very wealthy woman, and my problematic husband is gone. But I can assure you, I didn't arrange to have him killed.”

"What’s your relationship like with Benjamin?"

She gave me a look. "I met him a few times at rehearsal and at the show.” She paused, then added. "You're not going to suggest there's something going on between Benjamin and me, are you?"

I smiled. “I like to keep my mind open to all possibilities."

"I'm not going to tell you how to do your job, but that's not a possibility worth considering."

“When was the last time you went to see Jonathan’s show?”

“Opening night. That was a few weeks ago. They usually run the same show for a month or two, changing up the guilty party to keep it interesting.”

"What kind of work did your husband do?"

"Well, before he retired, he bounced around the tech and aerospace industry."

"Can you be a little more specific?”

"To tell you the truth, I don't really know what he did. It was way over my head. Propulsion systems, that kind of thing.”

"For rockets?"

"He wasn't at liberty to say. Signed non-disclosure agreements. But I think rockets, missiles, drones."

I shared a look with Jack, then said to her, "Tell me about Jonathan's close friends. People he might have confided in.”

"You should talk to Greg. Really nice guy. They’ve been friends since junior high, I think.”

" Does he live here on the island?”