Finding Home Again (Catalina Cove)

by Brenda Jackson

  From the way she tilted her head, he knew his question had stumped her. It was giving her something to think about. Kaegan was glad he’d planted that little seed of thought into her mind. She believed she didn’t love him and couldn’t ever love him again. Hopefully, she would accept that wasn’t true for all the reasons she’d just told him.

  He stood, went around the table and swooped her up into his arms. He loved this woman with every part of his body, and she was right. He did belong to her.

  * * *

  SHERIFF SAWYER GRISHAM was a suspicious bastard by nature. It couldn’t be helped. He’d been a part of the US Marine Corps Military Police and when he’d left the service he’d become an FBI agent. Now he was sheriff of Catalina Cove. He viewed his career in law enforcement and his move to the cove as his two best decisions in life. Had he not moved here, he would not have met his wife and claimed another daughter.

  Life was good. But the one thing he despised was someone breaking the law. Especially in the town he was duty-bound to protect, and specifically, when the victim was a close friend. He saw solving a crime like working a puzzle. You might have a lot of little pieces, but eventually they would all get put together.

  He reread all the interviews done this week regarding the fire on Kaegan’s ship. He had a feeling there was something he was missing and wasn’t sure what. There was a gut feeling that something wasn’t right. And for some reason his mind kept returning to Kaegan’s slashed tire. He refused to believe it was the work of bored teens.

  He stood and stretched a minute before sitting back down. He then pressed the intercom on his desk to summon Trudy Caldwell, his office manager. Trudy was the best office manager a sheriff could have. He appreciated that, and although she claimed she would be retiring soon, she hadn’t yet. Having worked for the previous sheriff, she’d become someone Sawyer had come to depend on over the years.

  He heard the knock on the door. “Come in.”

  Trudy walked in smiling. No matter what, she always smiled. Often said life was too short not to. “What do you need, Sheriff?”

  “I want several video cams pulled.” He then gave her the locations and the dates. Knowing just how efficient she was, he would have the requested videos on his desk within hours.

  “What are you doing? Making this movie night here?”

  He chuckled. “Yes, something like that.” He was covering for one of his deputies, whose wife was celebrating her birthday.

  “In that case, I’ll start pulling these.” Trudy left, closing the door behind her. Sawyer wasn’t sure what he would find on those videos, but he was just certain he would find something.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  “SO YOU HAD an overnight guest on more than one occasion, I hear.”

  Bryce made a face at Vashti before bursting out laughing. They were sitting outside on the gazebo that faced the ocean at Shelby by the Sea. It had become their favorite place whenever they spent girl time together.

  “I guess it’s good to know Catalina Cove’s gossip pipeline is still in working order. Next time I’ll stay over at Kaegan’s place since very few people will travel out to the bayou to see whether or not I’m sharing his bed.”

  Vashti smiled. “Next time? Does that mean the two of you plan to keep it up?”

  Bryce shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t see why not. The man is walking testosterone. He has the stamina of a bull.”

  Vashti lifted an eyebrow. “And you?”

  At that moment, Bryce couldn’t help the gloating look on her face. “The woman benefiting from it.”

  Vashti laughed and Bryce joined in. It felt good to talk about Kaegan without any negativity for a change. “Well, keep benefiting from it because it definitely has you in a good mood, Bryce.”

  Now she shot her friend a smirk. “That’s what multiple orgasms can do for you, girl.”

  They burst out laughing again and it was a while before they could contain themselves. Bryce picked up her glass of apple cider and took a sip. “I’m enjoying my time with him, Vash. Both in and out of bed. We went out on his boat after church on Sunday. We packed a lunch and everything. It was nice.”

  Vashti took a sip of her apple cider. “So where do you think all this will lead? I know he’s trying to earn back your love and trust. He’s told Sawyer as much.”

  Bryce thought about that and then said, “There are days when I think I need to have my head examined for being back with him. Then there are days that I thank my lucky stars that I am, and to do otherwise is fighting the inevitable.”

  “And what do you see as the inevitable?”

  Bryce swallowed hard. “Falling back in love with him.”

  Vashti nodded and then asked softly, “Would that be so bad, Bryce?”

  A ton of memories flooded Bryce’s mind. Memories of just what they’d done for the past week, what they’d done on his boat Sunday and what she looked forward to doing tonight, this time in his bed. Just thinking about all the pleasure she would be getting made her shiver.

  She drew in a deep breath. “We’re older now, Vashti. He owned up to what he did and I accepted his apology, but it seems the one thing I can’t do when it comes to Kaegan Chambray is release the hold that fear has on my heart.”

  An hour or so later, when she left Vashti’s place and was heading for home, Bryce thought about their conversation. What she’d told Vashti was the truth. She wasn’t sure she could give her heart to Kaegan. But yet whenever she thought of joining him later at his place for dinner she felt giddy inside. She truly enjoyed the time they were spending together and not just in the bedroom. And she couldn’t help but miss him whenever she didn’t see him. She was used to seeing him in the mornings at the café and hadn’t realized just how much until those mornings she didn’t see him.

  Then there were those times they talked each night at bedtime. She looked forward to his nightly calls. Those were the times she wished he was there with her, holding her in his arms. Sleeping beside her.

  He had invited her to dinner tonight but she would have an overnight bag packed just in case he wanted to make it into something more. She had a feeling that he would, and when he did, she would be ready to accept. At that moment she realized what else she was ready to accept, something she now knew. She had fallen back in love with Kaegan. Had she truly ever fallen out of love with him, or had she been ardently protecting her heart and had built this unbreakable shield around it? A shield he had broken, anyway? Did it matter?

  Deep down she knew that it didn’t matter. The important thing was that she was ready to share her heart with him again, and tonight at his home, over dinner, she would tell him so. Her parents had been right. Kaegan had been right. Vashti had been right. There would always be a Kaegan and Bryce.

  A call came through Bryce’s car’s speaker. “Hello, this is Bryce Witherspoon.”

  “Ms. Witherspoon, this is Mrs. Corsuti. I’d like to see that vacant warehouse you told me about.”

  The woman had called previously, inquiring about warehouse property in the west end of town. Mary Corsuti planned to start an online fabric shop and needed space to store her materials. The warehouse she was inquiring about was at the far end of town before heading toward the bayou.

  “Yes, Mrs. Corsuti. I would be glad to show it to you tomorrow. When would be a—”

  “I’m sorry, but tomorrow won’t work for me. I’m only in the cove for today. I’m leaving for a two-week cruise out of New Orleans tomorrow. I am here at the address you gave me, and I would like to see inside the building now.”

  Now? Bryce glanced at her watch. It was close to five and it would take her at least twenty minutes to reach the area. Kaegan was expecting her to arrive at his place around seven. She would give the woman a quick tour since there wasn’t much to see in an abandoned warehouse.

  “All right, Mrs. Corsuti. I can meet you
there in twenty minutes.”

  Twenty minutes later Bryce pulled into the empty lot and saw the parked car. It had gotten dark and the area looked deserted. Bryce honestly didn’t like being here at night. The smart thing to have done would have been to tell the woman she could not meet with her tonight, regardless of how eager she was to see the place. But she was here now, so she might as well get it over with so she could go home and get ready for dinner with Kaegan.

  She got out of her car and began walking toward the parked car, and when she got within five feet of it, suddenly, the front passenger door flung open and a big hulk of a man jumped out. From the fierce look on his face, she immediately knew something was wrong and quickly turned to run back to her car. She wasn’t fast enough, though, and he caught her from behind.

  She fought him and then she felt something prick her skin, but she kept fighting, trying to get away, but began feeling sluggish. The will to fight, to resist, was slowly leaving her and she then lost consciousness.

  * * *

  KAEGAN SMILED WHEN he heard the sound of his doorbell. Bryce had arrived. He had looked forward to her coming to dinner all day. Had it been just a week ago when he’d taken her to dinner at the Lighthouse? A lot had happened since then, and deep down he believed although it had only been a week, a lot of progress had been made. He enjoyed the time they were spending together and honestly believed she did, too.

  He opened the door and tried to keep the disappointment out of his features when he saw it wasn’t Bryce, but Sawyer. “Oh, it’s you.”

  Sawyer quirked an eyebrow. “You don’t have to sound so disappointed.”

  “Yes, but I am,” Kaegan said, moving aside to let Sawyer into his home. “I thought you were Bryce. She’s coming for dinner at seven and she’s thirty minutes late. That’s so unlike her.”

  Sawyer frowned. “I went by her house to talk to her and when she wasn’t there I remembered she was visiting Vashti at the inn. When I called Vashti she said Bryce had left hours ago for home to change and come here.”

  “Well, she must have stopped somewhere because she hasn’t arrived yet.” Kaegan took in Sawyer’s expression and got a bad feeling. “Is something going on I need to know about, Sawyer? Why were you trying to find Bryce?”

  Sawyer rubbed a hand down his face. “This isn’t a personal visit, Kaegan. I’m here on official police business, and when I heard Bryce would be here, I figured I could talk to you both together.”

  “About what?” Kaegan asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

  Sawyer released a deep sigh. “We believe we have the identity of the person responsible for setting that fire on your boat.”

  “Who?”

  “Let’s go sit down and I’ll tell you everything.”

  Kaegan nodded, and when they got to the living room, Sawyer sat down on the sofa and Kaegan slid into the chair across from Sawyer. “Okay, man, who set the fire and what does it have to do with Bryce?”

  Sawyer met his gaze. “I have reason to believe for the past month or so Bryce was being stalked.”

  Kaegan flinched. “Stalked? Bryce?”

  Sawyer nodded. “Yes. All last night and most of today I’ve been watching footage from various traffic video cams. Something was bothering me ever since you mentioned your tire had been slashed. I pulled the video cam from the traffic light on the corner where Bryce lives for that Friday night and for other nights.”

  Kaegan got to his feet with a worried expression on his face. “And?”

  “And I noticed a vehicle making random drive-bys down Bryce’s street. Not too often but often enough to get my attention.”

  “The same vehicle?”

  “No, but the license plate identified them as rentals.”

  Kaegen felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. “Go on, Sawyer,” he said, when his friend got quiet.

  “Although there are no video cameras at the end of the pier that branches off to the docks where you keep your boat, there are cameras at various merchants along the pier, as well as one in the parking lot and a video cam at the intersection leaving the parking lot.”

  “And you saw something?”

  “Yes—another rental vehicle. I was able to get the make and model as well as the tag number. I noticed the same rental vehicle car parked in the lot during the time your boat would have been set on fire.”

  Sawyer paused, then said, “I’ve spent most of the day working with several car-rental agencies at the New Orleans airport before I was finally able to get a name of the person who rented those vehicles. He’s a man by the name of Jeremy Skinner, an attorney in Shreveport who travels a lot to try cases in other areas.”

  “An attorney?”

  “Yes. Has Bryce ever mentioned him to you?”

  “No.”

  “Well, she mentioned him to me. When I interviewed her, she gave me his name. Not as someone she thought was a jealous boyfriend, but as someone she’d seen a few times over the past few months. They met when he stopped to fix her flat tire one day and met for coffee a couple of times in New Orleans before the start of her classes.

  “I was able to get a picture of the guy and I recognized him as the same guy who’d come into the café that morning. The same one you were getting all hot behind the collar about when he and Bryce seemed too friendly.”

  Kaegan immediately remembered the guy. He glanced at his watch, really getting worried. He glanced over at Sawyer. “Bryce is now an hour late. I’m worried about her, man.”

  Sawyer nodded. “So am I. The reason I went straight to Bryce’s house first is because Jeremy Skinner is somewhere in the area. He’s been here since Wednesday.”

  At that moment Sawyer’s phone went off and he pulled it off his belt and clicked it on immediately. “Sheriff Grisham.”

  Kaegan knew from the look on Sawyer’s face that he wasn’t going to like what he was about to be told when Sawyer ended the call. “What is it, Sawyer?”

  “That was one of my deputies. They’ve found Bryce’s car at an old abandoned warehouse, but she is nowhere to be found.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  BRYCE HEARD VOICES as she slowly regained consciousness, but she refused to open her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that she was lying on her side on a wooden floor. Her mouth was gagged and her hands were tied. Who would do such a thing? And was that the scent of the ocean she smelled?

  She forced herself not to panic. Where was she and who was the man who’d taken her? Had he taken Mary Corsuti, as well? Fear swept through her when she recalled hearing about women missing, presumably connected to human trafficking. She fought back the feel of more fear. Nobody knew where she was. She did not have a scheduled meeting with Mrs. Corsuti, and when she’d left Shelby by the Sea, she had told Vashti she would be going straight home to get dressed for dinner with Kaegan at his place.

  Would he panic when she didn’t show up? Even if he did, he wouldn’t know where to look for her. She didn’t even know where she was. She was too afraid to open her eyes. Were there other women here, too? The thought of not getting away from her captors made her feel sick. What if she never saw Kaegan again? What if she never got the chance to be held by him again? What if she never was able to tell him that she knew that she loved him, that she’d always loved him and wanted to move ahead? She wanted all the things she’d wanted with him years ago. A life with him. Marriage. Children.

  Suddenly, she cleared her mind of all thoughts when she heard footsteps. And the voices were coming closer...

  “And you’re sure she isn’t dead?” a male voice asked someone.

  Bryce tried to remain deadly still but was certain she recognized that voice.

  “I’m sure. I just shot her up with a small dose. She should have awakened by now...unless she has heart problems or something,” another deep male voice said. It sounded like it belo
nged to a much younger man. Bryce had a feeling the voice belonged to the man who’d grabbed her.

  “Heart problems?” the older male voice said in a panicky tone. “I don’t want her to die before I tell her why I’m getting rid of her.”

  That man wanted to get rid of her? Why?

  “I don’t care what you do with her, Jeremy, just pay me and my wife for my troubles.”

  Jeremy? Bryce fought hard not to scream in shock. Why would Jeremy Skinner be doing this to her?

  Bryce heard the sound of the shuffling of papers, which sounded like money being counted out and exchanged. Jeremy had paid this man and his wife to capture her and bring her here, wherever here was? That meant there was never a Mary Corsuti?

  Then footsteps moved away and the place got quiet. Bryce knew she was alone again and squinted her eyes open just a little, in case someone had stayed behind. She drew in a deep breath as she tried to understand what was going on here.

  Bryce saw she was on the floor of a boat. She had to tilt her head in a painful way to read the sign. Blackmon Boat Rentals. Jeremy had rented a boat from Jack Blackmon and she was on it. She worked her mouth back and forth. It felt sore from having the cloth tied so tight around it.

  Suddenly, she heard footsteps returning and then a pail of water was dumped in her face, and she jerked forward and opened her eyes. She stared up into Jeremy’s grinning face.

  “I thought that would bring you around. I couldn’t wait to tell you why you’re here.”

  Because of the gag covering her mouth, Bryce couldn’t say anything, but that didn’t mean she didn’t try. Her efforts only made Jeremy laugh. “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say. I know all about you dumping me for your old boyfriend.”

  Bryce watched as Jeremy began pacing and then he stopped to come stand over her again. “When I met you, I thought you were different. I knew you were interested in me, but then you tried breaking things off. You never told me the man you were going out of town with was your ex-boyfriend.”