The guy who ran the grocery store, the same one she stayed away from because his nervousness around women was legendary. He shook and stumbled over his words. She didn’t want to add to his distress now, so she tried not to stare.

He raised his hand. “One thing, if you could clarify.”

Ben waited for him to continue and when he didn’t Ben dropped a hint. “Go ahead.”

“Who are all these people?” He glanced around and his gaze fell on each newcomer as he went.

Maddie was relieved that, for once, no one seemed to be talking about her.

Ben didn’t waste time on details. Instead, he pointed as he went around the room. “Evan. Jenna, and you know Sylvia.”

“Risky answer.” Connor whispered the insight loud enough for only her to hear.

“Look.” Ben’s voice vibrated through the room. “We’ve had a series of incidents on the island. Paul is going to be fine and he might be able to give us some insight into what happened—”

“Winnie said he’s still asleep.” The comment came from the back of the room.

“That’s true, but Doc Lela says he’ll be fine.” The low level of grumbling continued but that answer seemed to satisfy most. “The bigger issue is Owen Pritchard. He was visiting, came on and off the island a few times according to Dom.”

“Don’t suck me into this,” Dom yelled from his seat at the bar.

Ben kept on talking. “Owen is dead.”

The harsh words rang out. Maddie felt the surge of tension. A wild energy spun around the room. Something about hearing the truth, even when the man’s death had been revealed in Lin’s newspaper, made it more real.

“We don’t know exactly what he was doing on Whitaker. We’re not sure who he talked to or where he was staying.” Ben glanced at Dom, who remained quiet. “But we know someone stabbed him.”

The mumbling started again. Maddie heard a lot of sympathetic noises. When she looked at Dom she saw something else. He watched her, not spilling what he knew and her ties to all of this, but his expression said he might do so later.

Great. Something new to worry about.

“On the tables and on the papers being passed around is a photo of a woman named Daria.”

“Who’s she?” Someone called out the question and a few others repeated it.

Another person said something about her being pretty. Dom passed the flyers without taking one.

“It’s possible she came onto the island with Owen,” Ben explained.

Dom crossed his arms over his chest. “She did.”

Maddie felt Connor’s hand brush against hers before he whispered in her ear, “This is ten seconds away from turning into a yelling riot.”

“No kidding.” That was exactly her fear.

When the voices grew louder, so did Ben’s. “So, I want to talk with her.”