by Mark Stone
“Really?” Jules asked, tilting her head and opening her eyes in a way that suggested she was intrigued by the idea.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s not one of those things. It’s not a ‘fun sort of awful’ favor. This is serious, and it could be a little dangerous, and I would completely understand if you didn’t want to do it.”
“Dangerous?” Jules asked. Her head straightened and her mouth thinned into a line as she looked me over. “You’re serious. What’s going on?”
“I mean it, Jules. I’d be with you the entire time. You know I’d never let anything happen to you, but if this makes you uncomfortable, we won’t do it.”
“This is what’s making me uncomfortable,” she said, pointing to the table. “This conversation. Tell me what it is you need me to do, Danny.”
I motioned behind her, still looking at the door along the street. “See that surf shop behind you, the one with the giant shark on the sign?”
“It’s kind of hard to miss,” Jules said, turning back to look at the place before moving her attention back to me. “What about it?”
“In about fifteen minutes, a man named Walt Jermain is going to finish up his shift and come walking through that door. When he does, I want you to make up a reason to talk to him,” I said.
“What?” Jules asked, crinkling her nose with curiosity. “Do you know him?”
“No, but I want you to convince him to ask you out,” I said, my fingers tapping harder and harder against the tabletop.
“But you don’t know him?” Jules asked again, probably sure she had misheard me.
“I do not,” I clarified.
“So, just to be clear, you brought me to lunch so you could get me to seduce a complete stranger?” Jules asked, narrowing her eyes at me again. “Are you feeling okay?”
“It’s almost seven o’clock. This isn’t lunch,” I said.
“I was on late shift today. It’s lunch for me,” she said.
“To be fair, I don’t want you to seduce him. I just want you to bat your eyelashes and do that thing beautiful women do to get guys to buy them dinner, but it’s not that simple.”
“Simple isn’t the word I’d use for it,” she replied.
“He’s a horrible guy,” I said.
“Of course he is,” Jules quipped. “No wonder you think he’d be great for me.”
“He used to date Jules—you know, the mayor’s daughter,” I said. “He wasn’t good to her. She wasn’t good to him either, but that’s a different issue. In any event, she thinks he’s the person responsible for trying to kill her.”
“So naturally, you want me to date a murderer?” Jules asked.
“I need to get close to him,” I said. “Just because Gina thinks he’s the guy doesn’t mean he is. Still, if I’m going to figure out who is doing this, I’m going to have to rule people out. If Walt isn’t the person to blame here, I need to know it, but to do that, I need to get a read on him. I need to get close to him and see how he interacts with people.”
“How is my going out with him going to get that done?” Jules asked.
“Because I’m going to be there too,” I said, grabbing what was left of her taco and finishing it off. “Like I told you, I wouldn’t leave you alone with this guy for a second.” I nodded at her. “Get him to ask you out, set a time and a place, and I’ll be there. I’ll sit at a table nearby and watch you like a hawk.”
“Like a lifeguard,” she quipped. “Which is what you are, in case you’ve forgotten. You’re not a cop, Danny. What the hell are you doing getting involved in stuff like this? Let the boys in blue do their job.”
“I can’t do that,” I admitted. “Walt is the sheriff’s son. Gina is sure she can’t trust the police to look at him fairly.”
“And she can trust you to do that?” Jules asked. “Are you even qualified?”
“I’ve saved her twice,” I said. “She’d be dead twice over if not for me.”
“And she wants to go for the hat trick?” Jules asked.
“She wants to put an end to this,” I said.
“And you’re the only way she can get that done?” Jules mused.
“I think I might be the only person she has,” I said quietly. “This woman, she’s not the way you think she is.”
“I don’t think she’s anything,” Jules said.
“She’s not some spoiled girl with a silver spoon in her mouth,” I said. “Well, that’s not all she is. She’s complicated. She’s deep, and she’s scared to death. She has the right to be, too. If I could stop her from getting killed and I didn’t . . . I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to her.” I shook my head. “I don’t have a choice. She needs help. The least I can do is try to give it to her. I have to at least try.”
“You’re too good for your own good,” Jules said. “Maybe one day, you’ll extend a little of that goodness to my brother.”
“Jules, I—”
“Shut up. I’m gonna do it,” she said.
“You don’t have to,” I said.
“If you don’t have a choice, then neither do I,” she muttered. “What? I’m just gonna let a spoiled princess get herself axe murdered? I wouldn’t be the greatest person you know if I did that.”
“Right,” I said, chuckling.
She stood up.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m going in there,” Jules said. “I like surfboards. Why would I wait until the dude walked out to make up a reason to talk to him when I could just waltz in there looking all fine and take his breath away?”
“Because I can’t watch you if you’re in there,” I reminded her.
She walked over, tousling my hair with her hand. “Maybe I’m more impressive than you think I am. I don’t need you to watch me while I get this idiot to ask me out.” She leaned in. “I’m a lifeguard too, you know? Just as badass as you.”
“Jules, I—”
“Whatever. Wait here. I’m doing it.” She slapped my shoulder and started walking away. “Order another taco for me, and don’t eat all of this one.” She looked back at me, winking as she started onto the sidewalk. “And don’t think I didn’t notice that you called me beautiful.”
15
“Get her away from me!” the voice of one of my closest friends sounded like nails on a chalkboard as it reached my ears. I was exhausted this evening. After barely getting any sleep and barely escaping getting killed last night, I was looking forward to a much more restful night tonight, and I’d have gotten it if I hadn’t accidentally left my house keys in my locker at the beach’s main tower.
So, after Jules came out and told me that she had a date with Walt set up for Wednesday night at nine, instead of slinking back to my house for beer and Hawaii Five-O reruns, I dragged myself back to the old grindstone for what I hoped would be a quick in and out. The sound of Riley screeching in my ear told me just how wrong I was about that.
“What?” I asked, snatching the keys from my locker, slamming the door shut, and turning to my friend.
Riley was always a very well put together guy. The lifeguard lifestyle worked for him. He was built for it, both inside and out. In fact, he was such a beach rat that the look just worked for him. The man could slump around in a pair of board shorts and sandals and it looked natural. It looked right, which made how exhausted and out of sorts he looked at this very moment all the more troubling.
“What the hell happened to you?” I asked, blinking hard as I looked at the circles under his eyes and the way his blond hair stood up in messy tufts on his usually coiffed head.
“Your friend! That’s what happened to me!” His eyes widened and his nostrils flared as he pointed behind him. Following his finger, I saw Gina standing behind him, her hands placed defiantly on her hips and her sunglasses firmly over her eyes, even though it had been dark for hours here. “And you know something? I don’t even care that her dad’s the mayor. I know I told you we could try to use her
connection to score some more funding for the beach, but I seriously don’t give a damn about that anymore. No amount of money is worth my spending even another minute around this insufferable brat!” He took a deep breath, stepping toward me and whispering the next part as though it were sensitive information. “She said the Dodgers suck, the Lakers are past their prime, and she keeps—”
“What are you whispering about, Ted?” Gina asked defiantly.
“And she keeps calling me Ted. My name is not Ted!” he said, much louder now, as he turned around and pointed at Gina. “You are the hottest woman I’ve ever hated!” Spinning back to me, he continued, “I don’t know how you put up with her, and I’m not sure why you continue to do it, but count me out. I’m not babysitting this pet project anymore.”
“She’s not a pet project. She’s a person, and she’s in trouble,” I said, patting Riley on the shoulder. “She’s also not supposed to be in here.”
“I know she’s not supposed to be in here. I told her she’s not supposed to be in here. You think I could stop her? She’s like a wrecking ball with a nasally voice and a pissy attitude.” He turned back to Gina again. “This place is just for lifeguards!”
“Oh, right,” Gina said, rolling her eyes. “Forgive me for not completing that particular six-week course. I’ll try to squeeze it in next month.”
“Hey, now,” I said, turning my attention to the woman. “I don’t mind being there for you, I really don't’, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to stand by and let you minimize my life’s work.” I shook my head. “This isn’t some community pool that’s only open in summertime. That ocean is one of the most dangerous places on the planet. If you don’t believe me, you should take a look at the number of people we save every year.” my eyes traced the floor for just a moment. “And the number of people we can’t. This is a vocation. It’s as serious a profession as there is, but by all means, if you think all it takes is a six-week course to become what I am now, maybe you should look for someone else to keep you safe. Lord knows, they won’t be hard to find.”
“Burn,” Riley muttered under his breath.
“That’s not what I meant,” Gina said, throwing her hands in the air and shaking them as if to tell me she gives up. “You know I take you seriously. It’s just . . . your friend kind of sucks.”
“Again, I hate you,” Riley answered instantly.
“He doesn’t suck. He takes his job seriously,” I said. “Which is probably why you were upset with him. Let me guess, you spent half the evening running your mouth, making yourself as much of a spectacle as possible, and making it impossible for him to do his job?”
“It was like trying to work with a disco ball in your face,” Riley said.
“I just didn’t want him to forget about me. That’s all,” Gina said. “And then he wanted to drive me home.”
“Trust me. It was just a professional courtesy,” Riley seethed.
“I don’t care what it was. I’m not doing it,” Gina argued, waving her finger at my friend. “I know how this works. The second I leave this beach, I’m a target. You went looking at Walt. That probably means that Walt knows you did that. He’s going to kick all of this into high gear.”
“I don’t even know who Walt is!” Riley said.
“I was talking to the cute one!” Gina argued.
“I’m cute!” Riley yelled.
“Enough of this!” I said.
“Danny, tell her I’m cute!” Riley replied.
“Lord in heaven. Would the two of you stop acting like children?” I asked. “Gina, if I didn’t trust Riley, I wouldn’t have left you with him. If you found yourself in danger while with him, I promise, he could handle it.”
“’Cause I’m a badass,” Riley murmured.
“And you,” I added, turning to him. “Try having a little patience. Gina might not be upfront about it, but she’s terrified, and she has good reason to be. As for Walt, I’ll deal with him. And he doesn’t know I’ve been looking at him. I’m going at him in a roundabout way for that very reason. Now, if the two of you would just—”
“Excuse me,” a timid voice said from behind Gina.
Looking past her, I saw a thin man with blond hair and freckles standing near the doorway holding his arm and biting his lower lip.
“Seriously?” I said. “Look, bud. You can’t come in here. There are people posted at every tower, even at this hour, to help you with whatever you might need.”
“That’s the thing,” he murmured. “I just came from one of those towers. I was trying to get directions to the hotel where I’m supposed to meet my brother. When I got there, though, the guy in it was surrounded by this gang of people. They just started beating him. I yelled for them to stop, but they wouldn’t listen. I think they’re really going to hurt him, and I’m pretty sure one of them even had a knife.”
“A knife?” I asked.
“The poor kid,” the blond guy said.
“Kid?” I asked. My heart leapt horribly as I put the pieces together and realized what was going on. “Oh, God. Brick.”
16
With fire at my feet, I rushed out of the main tower. Running to the shed that housed the ATVs, I snatched a key off the wall and hopped onto one. My head spun and my mind swam with horrible possibilities that ran every bit as deep as the ocean that lay beside us.
Brick was just a kid. Sure, he was an adult in the eyes of the law, and he had accomplished a lot since setting foot on Hollywood Beach. He sure did more than I thought he would the first time I saw him, running his mouth and flirting with some of his fellow cadets. All of that bravado and misplaced fire fell away quickly, though. As soon as Brick saw what the job really was, as soon as he got smacked with the realization that real people’s lives were on the line every day, he morphed into something different. That brash kid became a determined man, and in all my years on the beach, I had never seen a guy as young as Brick pick up what he needed to as quickly and with as much focus and heart.
“Danny, wait!” I heard Riley’s voice behind me. It got muffled out as I turned the engine over, causing the ATV to roar to life. “Let me come with you!”
“No!” I yelled, looking back at my friend. “Stay with Gina!” Though I thought I knew what was going on and that this had something to do with the drug dealers Brick had told me about before, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was something else. This might be some kind of trick, a ploy to lure Riley and me away from Gina. Once by herself, maybe Walt (or whoever was responsible for trying to kill her) would pop out and finish the job. I couldn’t have that on my conscience. If that meant dealing with Brick’s issue on my own, then that was fine by me.
I took off like a bullet down the beach. Night had fallen, and that meant the beach was pretty much empty. That was a good thing. Without people to look out for, I could really cut loose on this ATV, throwing caution to the wind and getting to Brick as quickly as possible.
The wind whipped through my hair, a cold breeze that probably would have sent a chill through me if my heart hadn’t been beating like a jackhammer in my chest. All I could think about was this kid, this good person who was very likely getting the crap kicked out of him. The thought forced my foot down harder on the gas. It was already running at full speed, though, shaking under me like my own personal earthquake.
Finally, and mercifully, I saw Tower 6 come into sight. With my eyes as wide as they had ever been and my hands twisted hard on the handles, I looked around the beach, my focus moving to the pier where Brick told me the action had been in the days prior.
I knew the kid, and I knew that if he had gotten himself into trouble, it was because he couldn’t keep himself together. His family had a history with drugs. He knew just how much that poison could take away from a person, and it took everything he had away from him. This was my fault. I should have taken care of this earlier. I should have known better than to think that a kid with his history, temper, and bend toward justice could stop himself from taking
this matter into his own hands. Lord knows, I wouldn’t have been able to. I should have stayed with him. I should have been right there when all of this broke out. I should have helped.
Suddenly, my eyes zeroed in on a couple of bodies under the pier. They were in a circle, and I knew with a sickening thud that Brick was somewhere in the circle, ensconced and outnumbered.
“Stop!” I screamed, though it was more out of instinct than anything else. I knew the beach well enough to know that I was too far away for them to hear me, not that the bastards would listen if they had. There was only one way out of this and it involved using my fists.
Sliding up to the pier, I noticed the way the water had gotten angrier. Waves were starting to roll off in the distance, and that cold air that hit my face suddenly meant something different. There was a storm on the way. It was coming in fast the way it only does in Florida, here one instant and gone the next without as much as a warning for either.
Turning the ATV hard, I skidded to a stop in front of the group, still encircled, spraying sand all over them.
“Get the hell away from him!” I screamed. I still hadn’t seen Brick, but I knew he was in there. I knew he was getting beaten to a pulp. This time, I knew the punks could hear me. Of course, they didn’t listen. They just pretended like I wasn’t there, kicking at my unseen friend with booted feet.
There were four of them. All of them were a fair size, and they looked like they hit the gym pretty regularly. That didn’t mean anything, though. This was Florida, and coastal Florida at that. There was no shortage of ripped men in board shorts who had more muscles than brains and more ego than character. I had tussled with more than a few of them in my day, and I wasn’t impressed, not even a little.
Just because you were big didn’t mean you could fight, and just because you were in shape didn’t mean you knew how to use it. I, on the other hand, had trained for half my life. I knew how bodies moved. I knew where pressure points were, and I knew my way around a fight.
