Lantern Beach Mysteries Box Set

by Christy Barritt

  Who was Ty kidding? It had already taken too long. A lot could happen in forty minutes.

  He prayed that wasn’t the case, and that Cassidy and Skye were okay.

  Using his binoculars, he focused on the boat at the end of the dock. It was a large yacht—large enough that it could easily have an interior room without any windows.

  But it was impossible to know for sure that was where Cassidy was.

  As two people stepped onto the deck, Ty bristled.

  “What is it?” Mac said.

  “Someone just came out,” Ty said. “One doesn’t look like the type to own a boat like that. More like a hired thug.”

  “So you think that’s our boat?”

  Ty continued to watch. Though one of the men was big and burly, the other was on the shorter, scrawny side, but he carried himself like royalty. Why did the man seem familiar? Ty would have to get closer to figure it out.

  Both of the men stood on the deck talking and staring out over the water. As Ty looked more closely, he thought he saw a gun at the short man’s waist.

  “My gut tells me that’s our boat,” Ty said. “I’d like to know for sure before we develop our plan of action.”

  “If what you said is correct, those men would kill Cassidy and Skye before handing them over. We can’t take that chance.”

  Ty hadn’t wanted to say it out loud, but he agreed.

  “When do you think the police will be here?” Mac asked.

  “I called in that tip to them,” Ty said. “I figure it will take them at least a couple of hours for them to figure it out. If we need them here sooner, we can call back.”

  The police would arrive with sirens blazing and guns drawn—which would only get the women killed. Ty needed to buy more time, so he’d called 911 to report two women had been abducted in Ocracoke, and that one of them had said something about being near the water. That should bring the police close enough to be ready if gunshots occurred, but there wouldn’t be any of the urgency that might tip off the bad guys.

  “A man after my own heart.” Mac glanced at the yacht. “Let’s say that’s our boat. What’s the plan?”

  Ty’s jaw hardened. “I’ll go in the water and climb up the back side. They won’t be expecting that. Then I’ll find the ladies. I have a dry sack with a gun and my phone. If I don’t come out in fifteen minutes, you definitely call the police for backup and give them more information this time.”

  “And then I go inside myself.” Mac paused. “But you don’t know what you’re up against in there. We have no idea how many men are inside.”

  “There are two on the deck now. There could be more below. But I’d rather take my chances with you than I would trusting Bozeman.”

  “We’re out of Bozeman’s jurisdiction, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he found a way to get involved,” Mac said. “The good news is that the state police are pretty competent.”

  “But they won’t get here in time. At least it’s overcast, and we’re only a few hours from sunset. The dark could work in our favor.”

  “We better get moving then. Because I have a bad feeling about this.”

  The two men didn’t take Cassidy and Skye from the room. No, instead they’d tied them up, bringing in two wooden ladder-back chairs for the task.

  With ropes securely around the women’s midsections, the men stood at the door and stared at them. They’d announced that their boss was coming down to make an appearance.

  And he had bad news. They had to do things his way or they’d both be killed.

  “Who is this boss of yours?” Cassidy asked, praying that Ty would get help here soon.

  Yes, praying. Funny what desperate times could make people do. But if praying and faith could bring Del joy in the face of cancer, certainly it couldn’t hurt Cassidy now.

  “Let’s just say he’s in the fruit business. The juiced-up kind.”

  Was it Buddy? Cassidy didn’t think so. But if not Buddy, then who?

  Something continued to nag at the back of Cassidy’s mind—some sort of subtle detail that desperately wanted her attention.

  Someone had wanted to make Buddy look bad. The only person that made sense was—

  Just as the thought entered her head, a man stepped into the room.

  She sucked in a breath.

  It was just as Cassidy had suspected.

  Sissy.

  She should have known. The man had been observant—too observant. He’d been eating fruit every time she’d seen him—probably as a way to taunt them. He’d thrown suspicion off himself by calling the police on everyone who went near Buddy’s place. Sissy had wanted Buddy to get caught and for his business to be shut down, so he could swoop in with his own drug enterprises.

  But this Sissy wasn’t the same bookish Sissy Cassidy had met earlier. No, this man’s eyes had turned from frightened and uncertain to calculated and cold. Gone were his slumped shoulders and feeble movements. They’d been replaced by a cockiness that Cassidy had seen a million times before in criminals.

  He smiled at Cassidy. “So we meet again.”

  The line sounded so Hollywood that Cassidy gagged a little. “So we do.”

  “I tried to get you to stay away, but you just kept poking and pushing.”

  She tugged against her restraints. “I’m not sure what tying me up will accomplish.”

  “You probably don’t want to know.” He smiled quickly before narrowing his eyes. “How did you find me?”

  She couldn’t exactly tell him she’d traced Skye’s phone. “Someone saw my bike parked here and told me.”

  “Really?” Skye asked.

  Cassidy ignored her, not wanting to explain any more than she had to.

  “How fortuitous,” Sissy said.

  “I guess Buddy was too much competition for you, so you had to come and take him out. Only that blood the police found at his house wasn’t his.”

  Sissy’s eyes both lit and darkened, a disturbing combination as the man reveled in his own deviousness. “It belonged to one of my men who went to talk to him. It didn’t go well.”

  “Where’s Buddy now?”

  “We took care of him. Don’t you worry.”

  Cassidy continued to try and put the rest of the pieces in place. “You want to take his place by getting Skye to put drugs in her fruit?”

  “That trick has already been done. We have other ways of getting our goods to the people who want them.” He turned his nose up as if Cassidy had insulted him. “But I did propose that business proposition to Skye, to see her reaction.”

  “What makes you think you’re going to get away with any of this?” Cassidy pulled against her ropes again. If she could just get them loose . . .

  Sissy leaned down to face her. “Because I’m smarter than most people, and the East Coast is my domain and no one else’s!”

  “What are you going to do with us?” Skye’s voice cracked, and tears streamed down her cheeks. She’d been mostly quiet—but only because she was terrified.

  “Now that you’ve seen my face, I have no choice but to kill you both. I know . . . it’s quite unfortunate.”

  Skye let out a cry, and anger ripped through Cassidy. People who preyed on others who were weaker were the lowest form of scum.

  “You didn’t have to draw us out in the first place,” Cassidy said. She needed to keep talking until Ty arrived. “Why did you ask Skye to come here?”

  “I needed an unassuming contact in the area, and she fit the bill. Then you showed up and ruined everything.” His guileless eyes locked onto Cassidy’s. “Who are you really, Cassidy Livingston?”

  Cassidy sucked in a breath. What was he talking about? Had she been made?

  Chapter 27

  “You know my first and last name.” Cassidy tried to keep the tremble from her voice and not give any indication how much Sissy’s words had shaken her. “How?”

  A soulless smile curled the corner of Sissy’s lip. “I have my ways.”

  What if
he was testing her? If he knew more than he let on?

  Anxiety began clawing at Cassidy’s gut. If he was at all connected with DH-7 . . . then she was a dead woman.

  “That’s right. I looked into you,” he continued. “You don’t have much of a history, do you? Simple Texas girl. College at Texas A&M, and you went on to work at an interior design firm afterward. Now, out of the blue, you’re here. Are you the typical girl who wants to give up life in the fast lane to find herself on the sun-bleached shores?”

  Thank goodness, Samuel had been thorough in covering all the bases.

  “Maybe I am.” She would have scoffed at the idea at one time, but the longer she was in Lantern Beach, the more she understood how the ocean could be a balm to the heart.

  “You don’t even have credit cards.”

  She shrugged, remembering her cover. “My parents taught me not to go into debt.”

  He grunted. “Wise on their part.”

  As he stepped away, apparently satisfied for the moment, Cassidy released her breath. Maybe Sissy didn’t know anything, and he was just trying to scare her.

  “Well, this has been a nice little talk. But it’s going to all be over soon.” He nodded toward one of his men, who pulled out two syringes. “It’s going to look like the two of you had a little accident. Had a little too much fun partying together with the drugs Cassidy found at Buddy’s Produce stand.”

  “You knew about that?” How? Cassidy was observant. She hadn’t been followed. She was certain of it. But that didn’t mean someone hadn’t been watching her.

  “I know about a lot of things.”

  Her blood went a little colder. “People aren’t going to believe we overdosed.”

  “No, but they might believe you overdosed while you were out boating and had a little accident.” He smiled.

  “It’s doubtful.”

  “After we’re through, they’ll believe it,” Sissy said. “I have rumors to start—rumors about Skye and her criminal past. I have syringes I can leave at both of your places, along with some of Buddy’s fruit. I’ll make it easy enough that even that police chief on Lantern Beach will put it together.”

  “You won’t get away with it.”

  “You might be surprised. Either way we’re going to wait until dark to make that happen, just to be safe. I’d advise you both to enjoy your last minutes of life.” He glanced at the man flanking him. “Go ahead and help them relax.”

  As the man stepped toward Cassidy, instinct kicked in. No way was she taking more of that drug without a fight.

  So far, so good.

  Ty had managed to climb onto the back of the boat without anyone noticing him. He’d crept through a door and down the hallway unseen, using a towel he found on the deck to wipe up his wet footprints.

  At the sound of voices in the distance, he slipped into a room. A closet, actually. He slid the door shut and waited, heart thumping in his chest.

  His mind went back to his Navy SEAL days, to the missions he and his team had completed. Each one had been pulse-pounding and essential to the bigger picture.

  Just like this one was. His friends wouldn’t pay the price for someone else’s evil plans.

  The footsteps came closer.

  “Did you check on number three?” someone asked.

  That voice sounded familiar. Ty peered out the slit between the door and the frame.

  It was . . . Sissy, Buddy Macklemore’s quirky neighbor.

  Sissy walked past with another man—a large one. But Sissy looked nothing like he did before. It was as if he’d transformed into a different person—probably because he had.

  “He’s sleeping like a baby,” the man said. “And all the evidence is in place to make our plan work. The police have already discovered the knife we planted on Popeye’s boat. We have Lenny heading over to Ms. Livingston’s place now to plant the drugs and some invoices that will show she and Fuddy Duddy Buddy were working together. Everything is taken care of.”

  “Good,” Sissy said. “As soon as it’s dark, we start with the phase two of our plan. Rick and Steve are handling the ladies now, preparing them for their adventure tonight.”

  Fire burned in Ty’s blood, and he gripped his gun more tightly.

  He could shoot these men. He wanted to shoot these men. But if he did, he’d reveal his hand. The boat would erupt into chaos. That wasn’t the way Ty preferred to do things.

  Once the two men were out of sight, he crept from his hideaway and started down the hall again. He quietly eased himself down the stairs. More voices echoed in the distance.

  Was someone . . . fighting?

  He started toward the sound but stopped.

  That wasn’t a woman howling in pain.

  It was a man. Two men?

  He didn’t know.

  But something told him that Cassidy and Skye were okay.

  As the door opened, he slipped behind the stairway. Two men emerged from a room in the distance. One rubbed his jaw and the other his forehead.

  “That didn’t go as planned.” The bald guy muttered some not-so-PG words.

  “Boss said we can’t hurt ’em yet. Not if we want to maintain the cover story about how they died. Bruises would cause too much suspicion.”

  “That woman is a beast. Who would have thought a cute little blonde would have that much skill? I’d wring her neck if I could.”

  Were they talking about Cassidy?

  Ty was about to find out.

  As soon as the men climbed the stairs and passed by him, Ty rushed toward the room. A safety latch had been added to the outside of the door. He shoved it to the side and jerked the door open.

  What he saw on the other side made his head swirl.

  Cassidy and Skye were both tied to wooden chairs and struggled against the ropes around them. Their eyes lit when they saw him.

  “You found us,” Cassidy muttered.

  “Of course I did.” He rushed toward them, pulling out the knife from his belt. “But we don’t have much time.”

  He untied Cassidy and then Skye. Skye threw her arms around him, clinging to him for life.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  Cassidy only nodded appreciatively and rubbed her forehead. “I’m glad you got here okay.”

  He took a spare gun from his bag and slapped it in Cassidy’s hand, anxious to see how she’d react. She didn’t say anything, only waited. The woman was so purposeful sometimes it drove him crazy . . . yet it thoroughly impressed him at the same time.

  “You ever shot one of these before?” Ty asked Cassidy.

  She nodded, her face not giving anything away.

  “Good, because I don’t know what’s going to happen once we get upstairs.” He took a step forward. “Stay behind me.”

  But before they could even leave the room, they heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

  “You two, behind the bed,” he ordered. “Now.”

  Chapter 28

  Cassidy bit her tongue, desperately wanting to help Ty, but knowing she had to be careful with how much skill she showed. If it came down to Ty’s life or revealing she was a trained law enforcement agent, she was going to have to blow her cover. She couldn’t live with herself otherwise.

  It would mean a new place, a new home—but she’d think about all that later. Living was her top priority right now.

  She knelt beside Skye behind the bed, hovering over her friend. She wasn’t sure what was going to play out over the next few minutes. She could only hope for the best.

  One of Sissy’s men stepped into the room.

  “What the—” he muttered.

  Before he could say anything else, Ty wrapped his arm around the man’s throat. The man struggled, trying to jerk Ty off of him. With his throat constricted, he couldn’t speak. Couldn’t cry for help.

  Cassidy held her breath, trying to gauge when it was time to step in. Each of her muscles wound tightly, waiting to spring.

  But she didn’t need to.

/>   The man slumped to the ground. Ty had knocked him out.

  One down. Two more to go. At least, two more that Cassidy knew of, plus Sissy.

  Ty motioned for them to follow him.

  Skye’s chest expanded and contracted too rapidly. Her eyes were glazed. She could pass out at any minute, Cassidy realized.

  Just to be safe, Cassidy kept one hand on her elbow and, with the other, she shoved the gun in her waistband. They hurried from the room, Ty locking the man inside, and then rushed toward the stairs. Near the top, he motioned for them to wait.

  A shadow passed by the entryway.

  Sissy must have another guard waiting there.

  Ty crept forward, using impressive self-control and fine-tuned instinct before grabbing the second man. Just as he’d done with the man downstairs, he wrapped an arm around his neck, cutting off the man’s air until he slumped to the floor.

  Ty nodded toward the hallway, and Cassidy and Skye rushed after him, stepping over the burly man on the floor.

  Ty was good. Cassidy had seen a lot of maneuvers, but that wasn’t one the police used regularly. She liked it. If Ty started shooting now, he’d tip Sissy off, and they needed the element of surprise. It would only help them right now.

  The deck was just ahead.

  But first they had to get past Sissy.

  Ty stopped before they emerged and leaned closer. “If we can get to the back of the boat, we jump in the water and swim fast. The police should be here any time.”

  He scanned the area again.

  “On the count of three, let’s go,” Ty said. “One. Two. Go!”

  They darted toward the water, but, before they reached it, Skye tripped on her skirt. She hit the deck, the sound reverberating around them. Before Ty could grab her, Skye rolled, gravity pulling her farther down deck and away from them.

  Cassidy froze, waiting for Skye to get her footing. She couldn’t get to her in time without drawing more attention.

  Before Skye could stand, a figure stepped from the cabin and jerked Skye to her feet. The thug put a gun to her head. “Don’t move.”

  Everyone froze. Sissy stepped out behind him.