The Coast Road Home

by Vickie McKeehan

  A chill moved through Marley even though the night air wasn’t that cold. “Oh, no, not that. What can I do to help?”

  “We’re trying to organize a search. But the truth is, Faye could be anywhere by now. Eastlyn went to prep the helicopter, but there’s a low cloud cover. Looks like we’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way on foot.”

  “I could send out a text to the women I exchanged phone numbers with tonight. Most are still at The Shipwreck.”

  “Good idea. Do it.”

  Twenty minutes later, the music stopped, and people spilled out of the bar onto the sidewalks as word spread about Faye. Even the intoxicated were eager to help in any way they could.

  Before long seventy-five people or so had gathered near the library for instructions.

  Brent gathered the volunteers and separated them into groups of four. “We’ll start by spreading out along the beach and the pier, cover that ground before making our way eastward, across the street to check out alleyways and backyards. We’ll head all the way to the east side of town. Think of it as a grid.”

  “What about an Amber Alert?” Quentin suggested.

  “Already done,” Brent fired back. “I have her description out statewide with a note that she could be traveling with an older man.” He pivoted to Andy and pointed to Seth Larrabee. “Seth, I want you to take Andy to the church and see that he stays there.”

  “That’s not fair,” Andy shouted, sending Brent a resentful look. “I want to search, too. She’s my sister.”

  “And for that reason, you need to let us take care of the search and do our jobs,” Brent snapped. “Seth, get him out of here. When we find her, we’ll bring her to you.”

  “If you find her,” Andy snarled. But when Seth took hold of his arm, Andy broke, tears began to stream down his face. “Why won’t she listen to me? Why? I’m only trying as best I can.”

  “It’s okay,” Seth said in his soothing voice. “She’ll be okay. We just need to let Brent and his officers do their jobs. They’ll find her.”

  Brent called out to the others, “Colt, you take the south end of town and Eastlyn you take the north. I’ll keep to the middle section and guide the volunteers along in a methodical line. Use the radio to keep in contact.”

  Eastlyn nodded and began handing out extra flashlights to anyone who hadn’t brought their own. “Anything else you need, don’t be shy about asking.”

  On the other side of the lawn, Colt had an idea. He went to his cruiser and turned on the speaker. Sitting behind the wheel, he began a slow crawl southward, using the radio to call out, “Faye DeMarco, if you can hear me, if you’re within the sound of my voice, come on out. No one’s upset or angry with you. Andy’s worried and wants you back home.”

  Repeating that mantra several times, his voice bellowed out over Smuggler’s Bay.

  Faye had made a huge mistake and knew it. She’d agreed to finally meet up with a sixteen-year-old boy named Keith Gunnerson from San Sebastian that she’d met in a chat room online. She’d snuck out of the house, broken all of her brother’s rules to do it, broken her word, even broken up with Beckham, made Andy boiling mad in the process, and acted like a spoiled brat. And for what? When she’d arrived at the library where the two had agreed to meet up, the boy waiting for her at the front door hadn’t been sixteen at all. He’d been an old man in his late thirties with pockmarks on his face, a potbelly, and sneaky-looking eyes that leered right through her.

  The ick factor had kicked in almost immediately. Three little words out of the man’s mouth—Are you Faye—had been enough to make her run away as fast as she could, to get away from the man and run into the night.

  The man had chased her through the parking lot but gave up after fifteen minutes, probably because he’d been at least thirty pounds overweight and out of shape. She’d been hiding on the Moonlight Mile ever since, afraid to move, afraid to come out in the open because she wasn’t sure that the man wasn’t still out there scouring the docks for her.

  Cowering in the boat’s cabin, she thought she heard a voice, and someone call her name. Without moving a muscle, she listened again. This time she caught all the words. It must be Andy, and he was looking for her.

  Popping her head up from behind a line of cages, Faye looked around, but all she saw was darkness and fog.

  Fear gripped her stomach. Every muscle in her body seemed locked in a tight seal that wouldn’t allow her to stand up. She heard the voice again. It sounded like it was coming from Ocean Street near the library. Deciding to take a chance, she tried to get her legs to move. With each step, she got closer to the gangway until she could hop down onto the pier.

  Her heart seemed to beat out of her chest. She started crying. Then she started running back toward the street. Through tears, she saw the crowd of people looking for her. Her eyes zeroed in on her brother. She darted toward Andy, who was walking with Seth. Racing as fast as she could, she shouted, “Andy, Andy, I’m here. I’m here, Andy. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’ll never do anything like that again. I promise.”

  At the last moment, Faye jumped into Andy’s waiting arms.

  “What you said to me once, you were right,” Marley began, putting her feet up on the comfy ottoman she’d moved in front of the couch. After the ordeal had ended, they’d headed to her house instead of Gideon’s.

  “Evil lives everywhere. It doesn’t take a day off, or a holiday, it’s out there everywhere waiting for you to make a mistake and pounce.”

  Gideon hadn’t meant it quite so literal, but he didn’t correct her assessment. Stretched out across the sofa, head resting in Marley’s lap, he tried to articulate his thoughts. “I think I understand you a lot better after being around Andy for even ten minutes when he realized Faye had gone missing. The guy was distraught, upset, angry, toss in fifteen more crazy emotions and throw them into the mix. I get it now. The whole picture. I was too young to fully understand what was going on when my mom died. At four, you don’t really grasp that your mother is truly never coming back. So, I didn’t have a yardstick in which to gauge the true depth of sorrow and loss back then. But seeing Andy’s face tonight for myself, seeing him not know where his sister was or if he would see her again, broke my heart. I can’t imagine, not even for a second, what you’ve been through seeing your children…gunned down…” He couldn’t bring himself to say the words and just stopped talking in midsentence.

  But Marley didn’t need to hear it finished to know he meant well. “I’m just glad Faye’s safe. I’m glad she had the presence of mind to recognize she’d been tricked. Not every fourteen-year-old girl would’ve reacted so quickly and gotten out of there like that. She ran, Gideon. She had the maturity to know she was in danger. That’s an amazing thing. What blew me away the most, though, was the turnout. Once it got out Faye was missing, so many people dropped what they were doing to show up to search. Even if some of them had been drinking all evening, it didn’t seem to matter. I like that kind of robust spirit in a town. I like the way they came together in a crisis.”

  It warmed his insides to know she was settling in. “Me too.”

  “Another thing, how did Colt Del Rio know to do what he did with the loudspeaker?”

  “He said since being around Tibby, his own teenage daughter, he’s more in tune with how girls that age react to certain situations, especially when they think they’re in trouble. Colt was convinced Faye was too scared and maybe just a little too embarrassed to show her face. Faye knew she’d pissed off Andy. I was there when Andy had her on the phone, and he was yelling. To Colt, knowing that, meant she was probably hiding somewhere nearby and wasn’t ready to make herself known. At least, that was his take, that’s what he hoped for.”

  “I hope they go after that guy.”

  “Faye gave them a very good description. With his phone number and tracking his IP address, they’ll likely have him in custody by Monday.”

  “I hope you’re right.” Marley skimmed her hand across Gideon’s chi
seled chest. “Don’t let this spook you or anything, but you’re like my safe harbor.”

  “Why would that spook me?”

  “I don’t know. I just want to put your mind at ease.”

  He let his finger drift along her cheek. “Did you enjoy yourself tonight?”

  “I suppose. I got to know everyone a little better, even Jordan Harris. But I kind of missed being with you and Barkley.”

  He swung his legs to the side and sat up. Taking her hand, he pulled her off the sofa. “Let’s head to bed. It’s been a long day. I’m not ashamed to admit that I missed you tonight, too.”

  “That sounds…promising.” She got to her feet, letting him lead her to the staircase. “You make me think about sex…a lot lately, think about how fun it is.” She ran a hand up his chest. “With you.”

  “Good to know I’m not the only one thinking about how to strip you naked twenty-four-seven.”

  They mounted the stairs together. When they reached the bedroom, she unzipped her red dress and let it fall around her feet. He removed what was left.

  “Your turn,” she murmured and yanked off his shirt. After getting naked, she pushed him back on the bed and straddled him.

  Warmth from his body spread through hers. His heartbeat raced under her palms. She started with his mouth, a deep kiss before feasting along his throat. She ran wet kisses along his chest.

  “You’re driving me crazy,” Gideon groaned.

  “That’s the point. Slow. Down. Doctor. We’re taking tonight ever so slow. I want to enjoy every moment of this. The flavors. You.”

  This was a side to her he hadn’t seen coming. Her lithe body lingered over his. Whatever was between them shifted.

  Moonlight drifted through the curtain and backwashed the bed. There was love here. Gideon could feel it.

  Other than enjoying each other and the moment, he just wasn’t sure what to do about it.

  Later, Marley heard the sound of a cell phone that kept ringing and wouldn’t shut off. She rolled over to snatch hers off the nightstand to read the time on the screen.

  2:20 a.m.

  She groaned and rolled back next to Gideon, poking him in the ribs. “Gideon, your cell is ringing. It’s probably an emergency.”

  “Huh? Oh. Yeah.” He twisted around to pick it up. “Hello? When? Fever? Vomiting? Okay, start normal saline. I’m on my way.”

  “Who’s sick?”

  “Faye. Andy brought her in with stomach pains again.”

  “Could be a stress-related reaction to her ordeal earlier.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking. You could talk to her.”

  “Me? No, she needs a qualified therapist to figure out why she keeps having these episodes. That’s not me.”

  “So you keep saying,” Gideon muttered as he pulled on his jeans. “Just remember, if the social worker gets wind of what happened, and she probably will, that girl might end up in foster care away from her brother. She needs someone to talk to about what happened.”

  “I’m not a licensed therapist,” Marley pointed out.

  “But you have some idea what might be running through her head. Why did she feel the need to reach out to a guy online anyway? That’s the question.”

  “Because she feels like she’s not getting enough attention from anyone, not at home, not at school, and not from Beckham. That would be my ten-cent guess. Take it for what it’s worth. Ten cents.”

  “You bonded with Bette in one visit, jilted wife to jilted wife,” Gideon reminded her. But Marley’s eyes were shut tight. She’d already drifted off to sleep.

  After slipping into his Nikes, Gideon took the stairs down and headed into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. He went out to his SUV, doing his best to wake up on the short drive down the street to the hospital. The fog had hung around. It was like driving through clouds to get to the parking lot.

  Sauntering into the lobby, Gideon was immediately met by Andy who peppered him with a slew of questions.

  “Is it her appendix again? Will she need surgery? I just got her back from Brent’s interview an hour ago, and she started complaining that her stomach hurt. Plus, she threw up.”

  Gideon listened, but he wasn’t ready to address any of Andy’s concerns. “Sounds like you are equally as stressed out. Go sit down, get a grip, take a few deep breaths, and grab a cup of coffee from the vending machine. In the meantime, I’ll look at Faye’s vitals and see what’s what. How does that sound?”

  “She’ll be all right?”

  “Andy, she just had the scare of her life. She’s probably still freaking out about it. Relieving her ordeal with Brent didn’t help the situation, but it had to be done. Give yourself a break and get off your feet. Calm down. I’ll be right back with an update for you.”

  He proceeded down the hall and into the last curtain on the left where Sheena Howser was hovering over Faye with a stethoscope. “How’s she doing?”

  “I think she could use a good night’s sleep. But that’s just me.”

  “Still no fever?”

  “Nope. And her vitals are normal.” Sheena traded knowing looks with the doctor.

  “Mind if I take a look at your belly, Faye,” Gideon asked as Sheena lifted up the girl’s shirt. He felt around Faye’s abdomen until he was satisfied that everything seemed normal.

  “Are you still having stomach discomfort?”

  Faye shook her head. “No, not anymore. I just want to go to bed now.”

  “Would you feel better spending the night here or going home with Andy?”

  “I want to go home with Andy and sleep in my own bed in my own room. He’s worried about me and overreacted when I got upset about having to talk to Chief Cody about what happened. But there’s no need for anyone to worry. I won’t talk to anyone online anymore. I promise.”

  “Is that what you’re upset about?”

  Faye covered her face with her hands. “It was stupid. I feel so embarrassed that I got tricked like that. I even broke up with Beckham just to make a fool of myself. I’m such a loser. The kids at school will have a field day.”

  Gideon squeezed her fingers. “We all get tricked once in a while. It’s not personal.”

  “Not you. Not Sheena. Not Andy. Not Beckham. I’m the stupidest one of all.”

  “You gotta stop beating yourself up about that,” Gideon said, pulling up a chair next to her bed. He remembered something Marley had said earlier. “Do you know how smart you were to recognize the fact that this jerk had tricked you into meeting him? You knew it with one look. Not only that, you immediately knew you might be in danger and ran just like you did. That was incredibly brave, Faye. You were brave, not stupid. And that’s what everyone will remember.”

  “You think so?”

  “I know so. And if they think otherwise, they’re the ones who are just plain stupid. You didn’t go with the guy. You knew he was a creep and took off. That was an amazing thing to do.”

  “He couldn’t run very fast.”

  “Doesn’t matter. You got away from him. And hid so that he couldn’t find you. That’s thinking on your feet.”

  “But I have to face Beckham.”

  “Yeah, you will. There’s not much you can do about that except be upfront and honest with the guy. Tell him how much you regret your mistake.”

  “You don’t think he’ll hate me?”

  “Upset, yes. Hate, no. Tell you what, I’m going to let you go home. But if you have any questions or concerns, call me or go in to see Dr. Blackwood first thing. Promise me you’ll do that, and I’ll let you go home.”

  “Okay. I promise. The social worker won’t be coming around, will she?”

  “Maybe. I don’t know. If she does, be honest with her.”

  “Okay. Thanks, Dr. Nighthawk.”

  “No problem. Go home and get some sleep. And take care of your brother. He could use a break. You know that, right?”

  Faye smiled. “Yeah. I’ve been a big pain lately.”

  “You
have. But I’m sure you’re worth it. Andy certainly thinks so.”

  “Part of me lately forgot about him being a great brother.”

  “Then remedy that. Start doing your homework and stop giving him such a hard time about everything. Cut him some slack once in a while. He means well.”

  “I know.”

  After Andy left with Faye, Gideon went into his office to update the girl’s chart.

  That’s where Sheena found him hunched over the computer. “You were pretty good in there with Faye. Do you suppose Brent went ahead and called social services?”

  “I guess we’ll find out soon enough. Marley mentioned that Faye seems to be under the impression she’s just not getting enough attention.”

  “That’d be my armchair guess as well. Teenagers get some strange ideas into their heads. My younger sister is like that. That’s why I try to make sure I do stuff with her on my days off. Do you ever think about having kids of your own?”

  He leaned back in his desk chair. “A long time ago maybe. But I’m thirty-eight and those days have pretty much passed me by. How about you?”

  Sheena sputtered out a laugh. “Maybe if Mr. Right comes along one day, but so far, he hasn’t shown up on schedule. You still like living here, right?”

  “I love it here. I don’t regret making the move.”

  “That’s good. Marley seems to be happier; don’t you think? I saw her at the store the other day, and she seemed content. Although she had this idea about becoming a dog walker. Can you imagine giving up being a therapist for that? Personally, I don’t see it. But I know she’s gone through hell. So I guess whatever she decides she’ll figure out what’s best. She’s lost her confidence, hasn’t she? Do you ever think she’ll get it back?”

  “We can only hope,” Gideon said and left it at that.

  Twenty

  Marley and Gideon spent their Sunday on the water, kayaking across the bay, Gideon in his blue kayak, Marley in her brand-new yellow one.