Low Country Dreams

by Lee Tobin McClain

  “Nothing to stop us doing a little fishing at Bonita Point, where the water might’ve spit something up.”

  “Makes sense. I’ll come along,” Cash said. “I always liked that place.”

  “You might get your fancy shoes dirty. I’m talking about walking around in the marshland.”

  Cash punched his shoulder. “Maybe I’ve changed a little, okay? Can’t a guy change?”

  “You better change those shoes.” Liam looked scornfully down at Cash’s Italian leather loafers. “You got any boots around here?”

  “Nope. Running shoes.”

  “Yeah, those’ll protect you from a copperhead,” Liam said sarcastically.

  “You suck.”

  Twenty minutes later, Liam had grabbed evidence-collecting supplies and they were out in the marshland below the bay where the body had been found. All Liam’s years of fishing had made him familiar with the swirls of water where flotsam gathered. And yeah, it was a place that had a personal history to him, but it was no big deal.

  At least he didn’t think so until Cash brought it up. “Hey, isn’t this where you beat up some guy who was assaulting Yasmin?”

  “Yeah.” Liam didn’t want to talk about it.

  “I was already gone. How’d you happen to be in the right place at the right time?”

  “Night fishing.” Being in nature by himself had always calmed Liam. He and his foster dad had had their struggles, but Liam couldn’t be anything but grateful that he’d passed along his love of fishing, and the skills to go with it. “One night when I was down here,” he said, “I heard a car in the woods. At first I was mad because I wanted to be alone. But it wasn’t long before I heard a woman screaming for help.”

  “Yasmin?”

  Liam nodded. “That entitled bozo had ripped off her shirt and was getting ready to do more. I pulled him out of his car and...” He didn’t need to go into it. Cash had been in plenty of fights himself, a couple of them protecting women. It was something in their DNA, or at least from their childhood. They’d let their mother be lost, and granted, they’d just been kids, but it had haunted all three of them. “Then I took his car and drove her home in it.” He’d taken off his own shirt and given it to Yasmin to cover up with, but it had been impossible to forget that glimpse of her breasts he’d seen, which made him feel like a complete dog.

  “Bet her parents freaked.”

  “They blamed me at first.” Liam remembered the bitter taste of that, but he also remembered the way Yasmin had pulled herself out of her own misery to defend him to her parents. To explain that he had saved her. “Once they figured out the truth, her dad was grateful. He took care of that rich kid’s family trying to get me arrested for assault and car theft, and he set up a scholarship for me to go to college up at UNC, where he’d gone.” No coincidence that the scholarship had also taken him far away from Yasmin. Liam couldn’t fault Yasmin’s dad about that. He’d never even dared to have the dream of being with her, and he hadn’t blamed her father for being protective of her, not wanting her to get caught up in a relationship with Liam out of gratitude. He’d just been thankful for the opportunity her dad had dropped in his lap.

  “Heavy, man.” Cash was texting and Liam rolled his eyes. Here he was spilling his thoughts to his brother and Cash wasn’t even listening.

  They came to the series of eddies where all kinds of things gathered from the surf. He found a big stick and started poking around. Bottles and empty Valvoline cans, a kids’ plastic lunchbox.

  “See anything?” Cash was looking into the brackish water with distaste. “Man, it sure does stink down here.”

  “Wimp.” Liam saw something red and stirred the water, fished up a red rubber shoe.

  Now, where had he seen one of those recently?

  He squatted down, studying it, and then it came to him. There’d been one hanging off Rocky’s backpack that night when he’d first come to the center. Only one, which had struck him. But he’d never asked the kid about it.

  He pulled it closer and dropped it on the ground to study.

  “What do you make of that?” Cash knelt beside him.

  “Rocky had one,” he said slowly. “Guess there’s all kinds of reasons a kid’s shoe could end up in the water, huh?”

  But he had an uneasy feeling about it. If Rocky’s shoe had floated down here—and there was no evidence that it was Rocky’s, there were probably a hundred pairs of these shoes along this stretch of coast—it meant Rocky had been near the water that night. He’d copped to hanging around the docks, but he’d vehemently denied getting anywhere near the water.

  Rocky was a strong kid, and he was angry.

  Liam couldn’t believe he’d bludgeoned the unidentified victim and then sent him driving off the dock in his car. But he was secretive about what had happened that night. Could he have been somehow involved?

  * * *

  YASMIN LOOKED AT the text from Cash again as she climbed out of her car in the Chaloklowa Nature Reserve, shuddering as memories assailed her. He’d said Liam needed her. It seemed a little odd.

  “Bad place,” Josiah said.

  She nodded. It hadn’t seemed bad, not until she’d made the mistake of parking here with Lenny Ekstrom and nearly gotten herself assaulted. Truth to tell, she hadn’t been back here since then.

  “Thanks for coming with me, Joe,” she said. Her brother might have his problems, but he was big and strong and protective. She stepped a little closer to him.

  Sounds rose up around them, the marshy aliveness of the bayou: frogs, and chattering squirrels, and birds. The lapping of the water a made a constant, rhythmic backdrop. It reminded her that she had loved this place once.

  Instinctively they started on the trail toward the water, and soon enough, they heard voices. She put a hand on Josiah’s arm.

  He stopped, glanced over at her, and listened. “Liam and Cash,” he said.

  So that was all right. Yasmin started along the path again, and within two minutes, they came out of the wooded section and into the view of the bay. And there they were, two of the best-looking men this side of the Mississippi River. Even though she and Joe were walking quietly, Liam caught sight of them, or maybe just sensed them. He was a great police officer that way.

  He tilted his head to one side, looking confused.

  Cash said something to him, and his eyes widened. “Really?” she heard him say.

  So maybe Liam didn’t want her here. She’d have turned back if it wouldn’t have been so awkward. But with Joe here, she just plunged forward.

  “Hey,” she said to the two of them. “Cash, I got your text. What’s up?”

  Cash smiled his easy smile. “Just thought you two might have a few things to talk about. Josiah, if you want, I can take you home.” He grinned at Yasmin. “That is, if you can take Liam home.”

  Yasmin didn’t get it. “But why—”

  Josiah was making a noise in his throat, high-pitched and creepy. She looked at him, and then looked in the direction of the item he was staring at.

  A red shoe? Why would he be freaked out by a red shoe?

  “That shoe look familiar, Josiah?” Liam asked. Subtly, he shifted from friend to police officer, watching every nuance of Josiah’s expression and body language.

  Josiah stared at Liam, then knelt and looked at the shoe.

  “Does it mean something to either of you?” she asked Liam and Cash, partly to take the spotlight off Josiah.

  “Maybe.” Liam studied it steadily. “I think it’s Rocky’s.”

  “Rocky’s?” Yasmin looked from the shoe to Liam and back again. “Why would Rocky’s shoe be here?”

  “That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” he said. “I think he lost it on the night of the murder.”

  Those few words made everything shift inside Yasmin. Did Liam suspect Rocky of m
urder? It didn’t seem possible. The boy was just thirteen.

  But if Rocky had done something, and Josiah had witnessed it... That would put the night’s events in a whole new light.

  “But the murder happened in Safe Haven,” she said. “We’re at least two miles downstream.”

  “The pattern of the tides,” he said. “Lots of stuff from there ends up here.”

  “Are you going to turn it in as evidence?”

  “I don’t think they’ll take it.”

  She looked at him steadily. “So this is the start of our investigation.”

  “I suppose it is,” he said. He took a plastic evidence bag from his pocket and used a stick to pick up the Croc and drop it inside. “Exhibit A, if anyone wants to see it.”

  Josiah grabbed for the bag, but Liam had extremely fast reflexes, and pulled it away. “Hey, buddy, I need that.”

  “I have to have it,” Josiah said. “I have to take it to them.”

  “Take it to who?”

  Yasmin’s heart sank. This was a new development in Josiah’s illness. He talked about “them” a lot. People who were giving him orders. He felt like he was on some kind of a mission. Apparently, it was a classic symptom. She put a hand on her brother’s arm. “Joe,” she said, keeping her voice low and soothing. “Joe, I think it’s the voices.”

  “No, I really need it!” Joe grabbed for the bag again.

  “Afraid I have to take it, buddy,” Liam said. “But if you go with Cash, he’ll help you figure out a different plan. He’s good at that.”

  Cash’s eyebrows drew together. He obviously wasn’t in on the nuances of Josiah’s illness. But to his credit, he played along. “Come on, pal,” he said to Josiah. “Let’s go talk about it at Liam’s place. I know he’s got a cold one in the fridge with your name on it.”

  Josiah was puzzled by that comment, given the expression on his face, but when Cash took his arm and urged him along, he didn’t resist.

  Yasmin and Liam watched the two of them disappear up the trail.

  “Do you think he’s getting worse?” Liam asked her.

  “Not exactly. It’s just, some things bother him. Something about that shoe triggered something in his mind. And it’s like older voices drop off and new ones come in. Right now, he thinks he’s on a mission.”

  Liam put an arm around her and tugged her next to him. The gesture was completely friendly, but still, it made Yasmin’s heart beat a little faster. “I’m sorry, babe,” he said. “That must be tough on you to see him like that.”

  She nodded and blinked as tears pushed against the backs of her eyes. She wasn’t going to cry.

  “Any ideas on what he was seeing when he looked at the shoe?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “No idea.”

  “You don’t think it’s Rocky’s, then?”

  “I know boys are wearing those shoes now, but I’ve never seen a pair—or just one—among Rocky’s stuff.” She looked out across the black water, listened to the rise and fall of the night frogs and tried to let her shoulders relax. Not easy to do with Liam’s arm still around them, because really, she wanted to turn into him, put her arms around him, feel his strength and relax into it.

  That, obviously, would be a mistake.

  “I’m sorry Cash called you here,” Liam said.

  She glanced over at him, but he was looking out across the water, not at her.

  “I think he’s trying to push us together.”

  “Why?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine. I never saw Cash as a matchmaker before, but he’s been acting a little weird lately. Like he’s changing.”

  The thought of Cash pushing them together made Yasmin’s skin heat all over. If only things were different. If only she could be the woman who would make Liam happy.

  But she couldn’t. “That’s nice Cash is changing. But he really doesn’t need to interfere like that.”

  “Look, Yasmin,” Liam said, his arm tightening on her shoulders. “I know you said you weren’t ready for a serious relationship before. But we’ve both changed. Maybe now, we could give it another try.”

  His words stoked a longing in her. She looked up. His face was just inches away from hers. She could feel the rise and fall of his chest, feel his breathing against her cheek, smell his faint cologne blended with the slight, sweet sweat that was his own indefinable masculine scent.

  She’d always loved how he smelled.

  Standing this close together, looking out at the romantic, moonlit water, wasn’t a good idea. But her brain had gone too foggy to remember why.

  She lifted a hand to push him away, but seemingly of their own volition her fingers stroked his cheek instead. Rough stubble. “You need to shave,” she murmured.

  A half smile quirked his mouth. “True, if we were going to kiss. Then, I might scratch you with this beard. But we’re not going to kiss.” His eyes never left hers. “Are we?”

  “We shouldn’t,” she whispered.

  “Shouldn’t we?” He stepped around to fully face her, his other arm coming up to touch her chin. “Would it really be such a bad thing?”

  Her breathing got away from her, running fast, like she’d been working out. She couldn’t take her eyes away from his. “Yes. It would be a bad thing.”

  “We wouldn’t want to do a bad thing.” His voice was smoky and husky, promising tantalizing pleasure. It sent a tingle through Yasmin’s very core.

  His hands splayed across the back of her head, fingers forking through her hair. “Thing is,” he said, “I really want to kiss you.”

  Her body was throbbing and she wished he would just do it. But his lips hovered a few inches from hers, and she realized that he wouldn’t. He was too honorable. He was waiting for her to say yes.

  And that made all the sense in the world, given where they were, given that once in this very same spot, a boy had tried to take away her right to choose.

  And this man, who had been a man, even back then, had saved her. Had she ever properly thanked him? All she remembered was a continued sense of devastation as she’d recovered from the horror of the assault. When she’d gotten her head back above water and looked around, Liam was away at college.

  Now, he was here with her, and he wanted to kiss her, but he was leaving it up to her.

  Wisdom dictated that she pull away, because she knew that she wasn’t right for him, that she couldn’t give him what he needed long-term, that she was too much of a risk.

  But with the night warm around them, with the water lapping gently against the shore, with the stars twinkling overhead, she didn’t seem able to do the wise thing. She rose up on her tiptoes, shoved her fingers into his soft dark hair and kissed him.

  She started it, but she didn’t have to work to keep it going. Liam took over, at first gently, brushing his lips across hers. Then with a playful nip and growl that sent shivers down her spine.

  And then with the passion that had been building during all these hurtful months when they hadn’t been together but had been 100 percent aware of each other. He deepened the kiss and pulled her hard against him, and her breathing went ragged.

  She’d blocked this out, how well they fit together, how their kisses seemed to have a rhythm all their own.

  Finally, he lay his cheek against hers. “Did I scratch you after all?” he asked, his voice husky, deep, impossibly sexy.

  She reached up to run a shaky finger down his cheek. “I didn’t mind.”

  He caught her finger in his hand and brought it to his lips, his eyes hot on hers. “We’re playing with fire.”

  The words, meant to ignite, threw cold water over Yasmin’s passion. They were playing with fire. Liam didn’t know the half of it. Yasmin couldn’t take this relationship anywhere. And though Liam was good-looking and could have any number of women for a night or a month
or a lifetime, Yasmin knew his secret: at heart, he was a one-woman man who wanted nothing more than a family.

  It wouldn’t be fair to pursue their feelings for each other, physical or emotional. She pulled away. “We should go,” she said, hearing the shakiness in her own voice, her heart breaking for what she was giving up, throwing away.

  He narrowed his eyes, studying her. “You sure?”

  No.

  “I’m sure,” she said.

  He nodded once, took her hand and led her to the car. Drove her home without talk. Walked her to her door, and once there, put his hands on her shoulders. “We started something up again,” he said, “and I want to see where it goes.” Then he kissed her fast and hard, turned and strode to his apartment without looking back.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  THE NEXT DAY, Liam walked through town with his brother Sean, who had just returned from his honeymoon the previous day. It was the end of a twelve-hour shift, and all was right with the world.

  He’d kissed Yasmin and she hadn’t pulled away. She’d been into it in a way that you couldn’t fake. And though they hadn’t made plans to see each other again, he was hoping she was home and that, after he got a shower and walked Rio, they could spend a little time on her porch.

  That was what mattered to him, what he liked: hanging out with the woman he cared about, on her porch.

  “Hey!” Sean nudged him with an elbow. “You’re out of it.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Check it out.” Sean scrolled through his phone and showed Liam picture after picture of the honeymoon. It was kind of funny. Sean was a big, quiet hulk normally, but now he couldn’t shut up about his family.

  “Did you and Anna get any alone time, with the twins there?”

  “It’s Disney, man. There’s babysitting. Ma and Pudge paid for a couple of nights of it as a wedding present and we made good use of the time.”

  Sean looked so happy that Liam envied him, wondered why he couldn’t seem to find the relationship and the happiness his brother had. Mostly, though, he was just glad for Sean. As the oldest, he had struggled the hardest over losing their mom, and he’d felt a big weight of responsibility for Liam and Cash. He deserved happiness.