Lantern Beach Mysteries Box Set

by Christy Barritt

  Did that mean DH-7 was here on Lantern Beach? This drug was their bread-and-butter. It was what they were best known for. But she hadn’t realized it had reached the East Coast already.

  “We’re going to have to call the police,” Ty said.

  He picked up another cantaloupe and removed the sticker. Sure enough, a hole had been cut in the top. That was why Buddy had needed the roll of stickers. He’d used them to cover up the hole he used to insert the drugs into the fruit.

  “Of course,” Cassidy said. There was no way they could not report this. Even Chief Bozeman couldn’t refute this evidence.

  Ty’s gaze remained on her as he pulled out his phone and dialed. He muttered a few things into the receiver before hanging up. “They’re on their way.”

  She nodded, still feeling stiff and out of sorts. Too many bad memories rushed at her. Enough that she felt like she might throw up or pass out or both.

  “Cassidy?” Ty studied her without apology.

  As their gazes met, Ty reached for her and wrapped her in his arms.

  Cassidy wasn’t even sure what he murmured as he tucked her head beneath his chin. She just knew it sounded gentle and reassuring.

  She’d made up a story when Ty had asked her about the tattoo behind her ear. She’d told him that members of DH-7 had abducted her, injected her with flakka, and she’d woken up with the lightning tattoo behind her ear. It was partially true. True enough, she supposed. What she wouldn’t give to tell him the whole truth, to have someone to talk to about the experience.

  She leaned into Ty’s strength, relishing the feel of his arms around her.

  How had they only known each other less than a month, yet Cassidy felt like it had been much longer? How was it that Ty drove her crazy most of the time, but the other half of the time . . . she couldn’t stop thinking about him?

  At the sound of a car pulling up outside, Ty stepped back. But he didn’t let go. No, he took Cassidy’s hand and led her outside.

  And for once, she was okay with letting someone else take the lead.

  As Ty talked to the police, Cassidy let her gaze roam the produce stand. She’d only gotten started earlier when she’d discovered that cantaloupe.

  She now realized that boxes were missing. Boxes that had been here yesterday. Somehow, whoever took them must have missed this piece of fruit that now lay splattered on the ground, as well as the one they found the hole in.

  But suddenly everything started to make a lot more sense.

  How did Skye fit in to this? Where was she? And the bigger question: was she okay?

  “Tell me again why you were here,” Chief Bozeman said.

  “Just checking out what Buddy was selling,” Cassidy said. “There’s no crime in that.”

  “The place isn’t open.”

  “Now we know that,” Cassidy said. “Besides, if we hadn’t come, we wouldn’t have discovered the fruit.”

  The chief leaned closer. “You still think your friend is innocent, don’t you?”

  “Of course we do,” Ty said.

  “Did she tell you she has a criminal record?” Satisfaction lit Bozeman’s gaze.

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” Cassidy crossed her arms, not taking the bait. No way did someone as sweet as Skye have a record.

  “Skye isn’t the same person,” Ty said, loyalty edging into his voice.

  Wait . . . it was the truth? And Ty knew about it?

  “She’s looking more guilty all the time,” Bozeman said.

  “Well, she’s missing,” Cassidy said.

  “Missing or did she run away?” The chief’s gaze held challenge.

  She’d left a note. Cassidy couldn’t exactly proclaim foul play. But there was more to this story. She knew it.

  “She’s not guilty, and we’re going to prove it,” Cassidy said.

  Ty put a hand on her back. “If you’re finished with us . . .”

  Bozeman eyed them both before nodding. “Just don’t go too far.”

  Ty led Cassidy farther away. Before he could say anything, his phone buzzed. He looked at the screen.

  “My parents want to take us to dinner in a few hours,” he said. “I’ll tell them no. We need to keep looking for Skye.”

  “Actually, dinner isn’t a bad idea. Maybe it will give us a chance to clear our heads. Plus, if we’re in town, we can keep our eyes and ears open. Talk to people maybe.”

  “You might be right.” He still seemed hesitant. “Let me just check in with Austin first.”

  He called his friend, who had no updates either. It was like Skye had disappeared into thin air. Austin was going to keep looking and asking questions.

  Cassidy closed her eyes as images began to hit her.

  Images of a woman in California who looked like Cassidy. A woman who’d been killed, most likely by mistake. Or maybe not by mistake. Maybe DH-7 knew exactly what they were doing and had killed the woman to send Cassidy a message.

  What if Skye was somehow caught up in this web that Cassidy had inadvertently created?

  She shook the thoughts from her mind. Thinking like that wouldn’t help her advance this case. Wouldn’t help her find Skye.

  But the guilt was there, flooding her mind just like the overwash from the ocean filled these streets.

  And, if she wasn’t careful, that very guilt would sweep her into strong currents and drown her.

  Cassidy had just enough time at her house to freshen up. She changed into some jeans, a black tank top, and pulled on her favorite jacket that Skye had given her—a brown leather one. Though it was summer time, the day had turned surprisingly cool, and it would only get cooler as the sun went down.

  With ten minutes until she needed to meet Ty, Cassidy checked her burner phone. Ryan still hadn’t called.

  Had he gotten her message? Was he okay?

  Out of curiosity, she hopped on her computer and did another quick search for him. Sure enough, an online newspaper from Seattle had taken a photo of him just this morning at a campaign stop. And there, by his side, was his new paralegal.

  So Ryan was okay. He just wasn’t returning Cassidy’s calls or responding to her.

  Irritation snaked up her spine. She knew he was busy, but was he really that busy? And if he cared about Cassidy so much, shouldn’t he be concerned that she was actually calling?

  She released her breath. She had just enough time to look up one more thing. She typed in Commotio Cordis. Dozens of hits filled the page.

  She held her breath as she scanned the mentions.

  Commotio Cordis was the nickname some urban youth had given Cassidy after she’d killed Raul Sanders. Cassidy had thrown a softball and hit him squarely in the chest, effectively stopping his heartbeat.

  To some, that made her an enemy.

  But to people who feared the gang, Cassidy was a hero and now a faceless urban legend. Devotees had started pages. Fan fiction had been written. And one kid had even started a comic strip featuring her as a skilled crime fighter.

  She looked at the pictures. In them, she had dark hair, just as she’d styled it while undercover—kind of stringy, starkly black with blunt bangs. She wore some type of black leather outfit, and her bust size was at least four times larger in the anime drawings than in real life. Her waist had also been significantly reduced.

  She looked tough and hard-core, like everything a superhero should be.

  Except Cassidy was no superhero.

  No, she was someone who might have killed an innocent woman in her fight for justice.

  What would Ty think of her when he learned the truth? The man who saw things in black-and-white, who fought for the freedom of both America and those who’d been oppressed halfway across the world.

  Did he know the girl next door might be a killer?

  She squeezed her eyes shut.

  Get a grip, Cassidy.

  Take each day as it comes. Yet another quote from her Day-at-a-Glance and excellent advice. However, it was easy to spout but harder to l
ive.

  She glanced at her watch. It was time to go. If only she could leave behind her problems, as she’d left behind her old life. But no, they’d been seared into her, and the scars would remain forever.

  Cassidy enjoyed listening to Ty and his family reminisce about old family vacations and favorite recipes and the big fish that got away.

  But she was only half-listening. The rest of the time, her gaze searched the crowd, looking for some sign of Skye or what had happened to her.

  They’d gone to the same restaurant on the boardwalk area—The Docks.

  Rain hit the tarp above them, creating a pleasant smattering sound. Occasionally, thunder rumbled in the distance. But life continued on. People ate and chatted and enjoyed their day.

  That was the irony of life. While some suffered, others flourished. While some mourned, others rejoiced. Side by side. Within the same pocket of time. Everyone’s life continued forward yet the path was flat for some and steep for others.

  Cassidy’s gaze zoned in on a familiar family four tables away. She saw the man she’d bumped the last time she ate here. And the teen with the lightning tattoo behind his ear.

  Cassidy watched them. The family seemed normal enough. The daughter was staring at her phone, the boy was popping peanuts into his mouth, each throw going higher and higher in the air. The parents held a parasailing brochure between them and were in a deep discussion about something.

  Cassidy would guess the boy wasn’t a hardcore member of DH-7, but instead someone who’d dabbled with a glamorized version of being a gang member. Cassidy blamed the media and video games for glorifying what it was like. Gangs were nothing to be played with.

  After she watched them a few minutes, she realized the truth. This boy wasn’t here to track her down. No, he was too unassuming. Too relaxed.

  Cassidy still needed to be careful around them—around everyone, for that matter—but this boy didn’t pose any immediate danger. His biggest mistake was idolizing the wrong people.

  “What about you, Cassidy?” Del asked.

  Cassidy snapped her attention back to the conversation she hadn’t been paying a bit of attention to.

  She licked her lips, ready to fess up, when Ty reached under the table and squeezed her hand. She ignored the jolt that went through her.

  “Didn’t you say you have no plans of going back to Texas?” Ty obviously realized Cassidy hadn’t been paying attention and tried to prod her back into the conversation.

  She released her breath. “That’s right. I like Texas, but I’m from a small town. There aren’t a lot of great job opportunities.”

  “So do you see yourself staying here in Lantern Beach for the rest of your life?” Del asked.

  Cassidy’s cheeks heated. “That’s a great question. I, uh . . . I don’t know. I told myself I’d come here for the summer, just for a change of pace.”

  “I’m sure your family misses you,” Ty’s mom continued.

  Cassidy shrugged again. “We really aren’t that close. My parents . . . they like to work a lot.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Del said. “Really, when everything is stripped away, all you have is your faith and your family. That’s what my life has proven, at least.”

  Faith and family?

  Two things Cassidy didn’t really have in her life. Could that change? Could her life do a one-eighty?

  She didn’t know.

  Del reached for her ear and gasped. “My earring! It must have come off. My grandma gave these to me.”

  She started searching frantically on the ground for the jewelry.

  Cassidy stooped low, helping Del and grateful for the subject change.

  But what she saw wasn’t an earring.

  No, just a few tables behind her, she saw shoes. Shoes just like the ones she’d seen that day at the produce stand.

  Chapter 19

  Cassidy’s gaze met Ty’s under the table, and she mouthed, “He’s here.”

  Ty squinted. “Who?”

  “The man from the produce stand,” she whispered.

  Ty followed her gaze and realization stretched across his face. “We need to talk to him.”

  “I agree.” Just as Cassidy said the words, the man’s feet shifted. He stood.

  The man who’d taken her phone was going to leave, she realized. She couldn’t let that happen—not without talking to him first.

  Cassidy spotted the glimmer of an earring in a crack in the cement. She snatched it up, grateful to have located it so quickly. “Found it!”

  Cassidy popped her head back up and presented Del with her lost jewelry.

  “Oh, what a lifesaver. Thank you, Cassidy. These are my favorite pair.”

  “Could you excuse me a minute?” Cassidy said, urgency pressing on her. “I just saw someone I’ve been meaning to talk to. He has an unpaid ice cream tab.”

  “By all means, track him down. You can’t have people going around not paying.”

  “I’m going with her.” Ty stood. “Just in case he gives her a hard time.”

  His parents didn’t bat an eyelash, just nodded, as if Ty’s pronouncement was no surprise. They’d probably raised him to be the chivalrous type.

  Ty and Cassidy wove their way through the crowds toward the man as he leisurely walked away. The closer they got, the more Cassidy realized that the man did look just like Buddy. Except he didn’t.

  He was a little shorter. His eyes were a little farther apart. And his forehead was a little higher.

  Brothers? That would be Cassidy’s best guess.

  “Excuse me!” Ty called, before the man emerged from the awning and stepped into the rain.

  The man stopped and turned toward them.

  Cassidy expected to see malice in his eyes. Instead, he smiled as if they were old friends. “Well, hello there. I recognize you two.”

  Okay, that wasn’t how Cassidy thought this would go.

  “You do?” Ty’s hands went to his hips again in his Superman pose.

  As the man reached for his pocket, Cassidy braced herself, ready to fight. A gun? A knife?

  Instead, he emerged with her phone. “I thought I’d never find you to return this. I found it at my brother’s produce stand.”

  She released her breath. Her phone. That had been easy . . . and unexpected.

  “Thank you.” Cassidy took her phone back.

  The man nodded affably. “Yeah, I found it and figured you’d left it when you went to buy something from Buddy’s. I thought I’d never figure out who you were. Great picture of you two, by the way.”

  Cassidy’s cheeks heated as she remembered the kiss.

  “Thank you.” She held up the phone before slipping it into her pocket. “Strange thing is, we’ve kind of been looking for you too.”

  She threw in the “kind of” to sound less uptight.

  “No way. What did I do this time?” He smiled, as if expecting something funny or interesting.

  Sheesh. Investigations could take surprising turns sometimes.

  “I guess you could say we’ve been looking for your brother,” Ty said.

  The man chuckled. “Well, who isn’t? He’s quite the character.”

  What did that even mean? Cassidy and Ty exchanged a glance, Ty’s expression showing he was just as confused as Cassidy felt.

  “Do you know where he is?” Ty asked.

  “He had to go out of town for a few days,” the man said before extending his hand. “I’m Larry, by the way.”

  Cassidy cautiously introduced herself.

  “Do you know where he went?” She reframed the question.

  Larry shook his head. “Nope, I have no idea.”

  “Do you know when he left?” Ty asked. “When was the last time you spoke?”

  “Monday afternoon,” Larry said.

  But Monday morning was when Skye had stumbled into the house and discovered blood. Something wasn’t adding up here.

  “Do you realize the police are looking for him?” Ca
ssidy watched his expression carefully for any sign of deceit.

  “Why would they be looking for him?” A knot formed between his eyes, just as another round of thunder rumbled overhead.

  “You really don’t know?” Ty shifted.

  Larry shrugged, like he didn’t have a care in the world. “No idea. I got into town Sunday night to surprise my brother. I’m staying in a trailer over at the campground—my tastes have never been as expensive as his. Anyway, the two of us were supposed to meet on Monday, but he called and said something with work had come up and he had to go out of town. Said he’d be back by the end of the week.”

  “Is that right?” Cassidy muttered, nibbling on her lip and trying to fit the pieces together.

  Larry’s gaze volleyed from Ty to Cassidy. “Is something wrong?”

  “I hate to be the one to break this to you, but the police found blood inside his house on Monday morning,” Cassidy said. “They’ve been looking for him ever since.”

  He chuckled . . . again. A strange reaction after receiving that news. “Well, he’s fine. Maybe it was from some deer meat or something. He does like to hunt.”

  The man was the most optimistic person Cassidy had ever met. If he was deceiving them, he had his act down pat. He was totally believable.

  “What’s your brother’s last name?” Ty asked.

  “Wilson. Why?”

  Ty shifted. “Why did he go by Macklemore?”

  “Probably cause he liked to gamble.” He shrugged. “Don’t really know, and I never asked.”

  “One more question,” Cassidy said. “Why did your brother move here to open a produce stand?”

  “He said that he realized selling fruit on the island was actually a lucrative career, and he wished he’d discovered it earlier. I didn’t ask any questions. It made sense to me. Now, if you don’t mind, I want to get back, so I can watch the new season of America’s Got Talent.”

  Ty leaned closer to Cassidy as they walked back toward the table where his parents sat. He mentally replayed the conversation with Larry. “That was interesting,” he whispered.

  “Tell me about it.”