Claire cleared her throat. “I’m not looking for any advice. I am just letting you both know that I will be stepping away from the hotel and selling it. That’s final.”

Margie shot her a worried look. “Isn’t that a bit rash?”

“Everything recently has been rash,” replied Claire. “But not this. Buying the hotel was a mistake. I’m just going to undo it.”

She then insisted on changing the topic to Lucy’s job hunt, only to find out that Lucy had lied about the interview in Seattle. This occupied their conversation for the rest of the drive.

When they got to Anacortes, they returned the rental car and Hank picked them up in his boat. He dropped Lucy and Claire off on the west side of the island, and they took a taxi back to the cabin.

Claire was hoping that she’d walk through the doors and find Marty hiding inside, but she had no such luck.

Instead, it took him nearly fifteen minutes, watching from the trees in the distance, before he made himself known. He appeared in the doorway, smiling brightly.

Claire pulled him in for a tight hug. “I was afraid you’d run off for good.”

“I couldn’t,” he said. “It’s pretty hard to sneak off of an island when everyone is looking for you.”

“Your own personal Alcatraz,” Lucy added.

Claire filled him in on the recent happenings, and Marty couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He rushed to set up his laptop, connecting to the internet to check his email.

“I’m going to disguise my IP address,” he said. “In case the FBI is still watching me.”

Claire didn’t think they were, but she appreciated how careful he was.

He found an email from Courtney, the secretary from SureFired.

“What does it say?” asked Lucy.

Marty’s eyes darted back and forth like lightning. “It’s true. It’s all over. They know I’m innocent! Courtney proved it!”

Lucy squealed, clapping her hands together, and Claire had the urge to do the same.

Marty continued. “The venture capital firm got insider information that the CEO was intent on defrauding them, and that they had lied about me selling the technology to cover it up. They provided all of this to the FBI, who cleared my name, and the sale price of SureFired fell by a few hundred million dollars. It’s already all over the business news.”

Lucy raised an eyebrow. “A few hundred million? How much was this thing worth?”

“A lot,” said Marty. “Courtney said she’s sorry she didn’t speak up sooner, but she was afraid after seeing what happened to me.”

“Anyone would be afraid after that,” said Claire. “It’s the reason that the CEO went after you so viciously.”

Marty nodded. “I can’t believe Chip managed to do it.”

Claire paused. “Chip? What did he have to do with this?”