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As I arrived back, I spotted John B in the front yard, tending to a little bonfire made from trash he'd gathered from the house; I hadn't seen him since Pope, JJ, and I made a run for it from the lighthouse to dodge the cops.
He looked totally defeated.
I walked over, standing beside him as I peered down at the pile of debris crackling in the flames. My heart sank when I saw the board with our ancestors right at the top.
"You okay, JB?" I asked softly.
"You tell me," he replied, his gaze vacant as he looked at me. "Kie and I didn't find anything at the lighthouse. We got arrested, but luckily, they just let us off with a warning. Then Sarah went and told Ward I poached his scuba gear, so he fired me."
'Bitch,' I muttered under my breath. 'I honestly wouldn't have expected anything less from her. She is a Kook after all.'"
I squinted through the smoke as one of the photographs and the name next to it on the paper pinned to the board suddenly caught my eye. What had once seemed like just another detail now felt urgent, almost demanding my attention.
I quickly bent down, grabbed a large branch from the ground, and pulled the board closer to us. I stomped on it until the flames were out, all while John B watched, his blank expression shifting to one of confusion.
Kneeling in front of the board, I focused on the photograph and name: Olivia R. Routledge, 1904—1959. I remembered Pope mentioning that Redfield was one of the most common surnames in the county.
What if the 'R' in her name stood for Redfield?
"Maddy, what on earth—" John B began, but I interrupted him, urgency coursing through me.
"What if Dad wasn't sending us to the lighthouse, John B?" I said, glancing up at him. Then I looked back down at the board, excitement bubbling up as I pointed out what had caught my attention. "What if he wanted us to dig deeper into our family history?"
John B's gaze dropped to the name and photographs, his eyes widening as the realization hit him. "Olivia R. Routledge. Are you saying the 'R' could stand for Redfield?" He flicked his gaze between me and the board, the possibilities dawning on him.
I nodded, a proud grin spreading across my face. "Instead of just questioning it, why don't we uncover the truth ourselves?"
We picked up Pope first, then headed over to JJ's place. As we drove through The Cut and made our way toward the Figure Eight side of the island to grab Kie from her shift.
When we arrived at The Wreck, the restaurant owned by Kie's family, Pope jumped out of the Twinkie and dashed inside to fetch her.
It wasn't long before he returned, but Kie was nowhere in sight.
"She says she's not coming," Pope sighed from the deck of the restaurant.
"Why not?" JJ shot back, turning to John B. "What did you do to her, John B?"
