Strands of Truth

by Colleen Coble

“No. Ridge wanted me to, but I just wanted to sleep.”

  The male deputy’s jaw hardened. “Well, I think we’ve done all we can do here. If you remember anything else about your attacker, call it in.” He passed a business card to her.

  Harper tucked the card in her pocket and watched them walk off. That had been a waste of time.

  * * *

  Ridge hadn’t wanted to leave Harper alone so he’d brought her out to the bivalve beds on his dad’s boat. The sea breeze ruffled his dark hair as he climbed the Wind Dancer’s ladder and tossed down the bag with the last of the pen shell harvest. Gulls squawked overhead, and an osprey dove off the bow and came up with a wriggling croaker. The wind brought the faint scent of sulfur from the mangroves from the inlet to his right. “There was a nosy manatee down there.”

  “It was probably Cyrus. He hangs out with me all the time.”

  She was still pale from her ordeal last night. The frown on her beautiful face told him she still suffered from the headache. After he insisted she get checked by a doctor, they’d come out here so he could harvest the mussels.

  She wore white shorts and a tank top that showed off tanned, well-shaped arms. Her dark-red hair was tangled from the moisture-laden salt air. “Thanks for handling all the work.”

  He dumped the big bivalves out of the bag onto the deck. “Your lungs still have traces of ether. It wouldn’t be safe. I got it done. How are you feeling?”

  “Almost human. The headache is gone and I’m starting to get hungry.”

  “There’s turkey in the cooler. Veggies and fruit too.”

  “I’ll fix us a snack if you’re ready.”

  “Let’s finish up here first.” He glanced around the deck. She’d cleaned the pen shells and put the meat into coolers. A stack of harvested sea silk was drying in a basket, and he spotted a small container of black pearls. “Looks like you did everything else. We need to deliver the meat to the restaurants and we’re done. How was the pearl harvest?”

  “Good. The seeding I planted took well. Look at this one.” She showed him a large, perfectly shaped black pearl. “This is the most unique one I’ve ever seen. It should bring a pretty penny. I’ll take the pearls around to some jewelry stores next week and see what I can get for them. A runner is coming for the clams in a little while so we’ll be done here for the day. I’ll save a few pearls and the sea silk for some fiber-art projects.”

  They worked in silence to clean the last of the pen shells and had them ready in minutes. He kept stealing glances at her bent head and perfect profile. The fishy scent of the mollusks permeated the boat’s deck, and when they were finished, he took a bucket of seawater and sluiced off the mess, then rinsed his hands.

  Harper leaned over the side of the boat and swished her hands in the sea. Her expression was pensive, and she didn’t say anything.

  “Is something bugging you? I kept an eye on the surface in case another boat came by, but everything seemed to be safe.”

  She gave him a long, speculative look. “It’s not the attack. It’s something personal.”

  Even though he didn’t have the right to probe, he wondered what was going on behind those beautiful turquoise eyes. “Anything I can do?”

  “Why are you suddenly so helpful?”

  He shrugged. “I told you—common courtesy.”

  “So you still dislike me?”

  How did he answer her? “We’re going to have to work together for Dad’s sake. The more I thought about it, the more I want to be part of the lab, and I don’t want it to fail. So we need to get along as well as we can.”

  And once he proved to his dad that she was only out to bilk him of his fortune, he’d be rid of her. Having her out of their lives would be a huge relief. His sister, Willow, felt the same way, and she’d be just as relieved when he succeeded in ridding their dad of Harper’s influence.

  Harper held out her hand. “Provisional friends then?”

  He hesitated a moment before he took it. “I guess you could say that.”

  He wasn’t proud of what he was planning to do, but he had to protect his father.

  Her hand was small and warm in his, and he found himself not wanting to let go. Was she deliberately trying to flirt with him? In spite of how easily men had to fall under her spell, he looked down into her eyes for a long moment before he let go of her hand. “So now that we’re friends, do you want to tell me what’s causing the shadow in your eyes?”

  She smiled. “I found a sister.”

  He listened while she launched into the saga of the DNA test and everything her sister had said. “So now you’re wondering if your mother was murdered? Seems a stretch. You’d think the detective would have explored all the evidence.”

  “But maybe hearing a previous mistress was murdered would make a difference.” She hunched her shoulders and stepped back. “It sounds crazy, doesn’t it? But it’s even crazier they would both die when Annabelle and I were so small. You’re probably right about it being meaningless, but I want to at least talk to the detective. I tried calling the police, but they wouldn’t give me his address or phone number.”

  “I have a good friend who’s a cop. What’s the detective’s name?”

  “Don Ward.”

  He pulled out his phone and shot off a text. “I’m sure he’ll get it for me.”

  And if he did her a favor, she might really lower her guard so he could uncover her true nature. It was easy to hide her real motives behind her beautiful face. He was certain she had an agenda he wasn’t going to like, and he intended to find it.

  13

  The Sea Silk bobbed in her mooring at the slip, and Harper walked beside Ridge past Edgewater Park toward downtown Dunedin. It wasn’t quite five yet, but the commuter traffic in town was already steady. The quaint town was at its best in the twilight. The streetlights and shops cast a spell from yesteryear.

  Her stomach rumbled. “I’m starving. That turkey sandwich didn’t last long.”

  Ridge touched her elbow and guided her across the street. “What are you in the mood for?”

  She couldn’t believe they’d been together this long without a single argument. “Pizza sounds good.”

  “Tony’s? It’s only a couple of blocks.”

  Tony’s was small in size but big in flavor. A big guy with a scar on his cheek exited and held open the door for them as they entered. He looked at Harper a little too long for her comfort, and she moved closer to Ridge. The young man smiled and touched his scar as he moved away. The guy creeped her out, and she wasn’t quite sure why.

  The yeasty aroma of pizza and calzones made her mouth water as they entered and approached the big glass counter that displayed the pizzas. She stifled a giggle as a server carried a pizza bigger than her out to a family at a table. Tony’s was famous for their eighteen-inch New York–style pizza.

  “I don’t think we want one that big. What’s your favorite?” She scanned the menu.

  “You won’t like it. I always get the Philly steak and cheese.”

  “That’s my favorite too.” When he grinned, she knew he’d seen straight through her. “Okay, I’ve never had it, but I’m game to try a slice.”

  “We can get it by the slice. What do you usually order?”

  “Pepperoni.” She laughed when his eyes went wide with alarm. “Okay, I’m not adventurous. Get me a slice of your Philly favorite.”

  “Just one?”

  “And a pepperoni slice.”

  “You’ve got it.” He turned back to the counter.

  Good grief, he was handsome. His dark hair was mussed by the wind, and the kiss of the sun had deepened his tan, which made those dark eyes even more attractive in his square-jawed face. She suspected Oliver had looked this devilishly handsome in his younger days.

  Her attraction to Ridge was a disastrous turn of events so she backed away. “I’ll grab us a table. I’ll have sweet tea to drink.”

  She claimed an empty table and sat watching other patrons. If
they’d gotten here even fifteen minutes later, they probably wouldn’t have found a table. Her gaze collided with a man who sat in the back corner. Something about him felt familiar. Was it the jut of his jaw or the way he watched her that made her feel suddenly scared? His head was shaved, which made his dark eyes even more piercing.

  She glanced around for Ridge and saw him coming her way with two plates of pizza. Her mouth was dry, but she managed a stiff smile.

  He sat across from her and frowned as he slid her plate over to her. “What’s wrong?”

  “That guy.” She jerked her head to the left a bit. “Back there in the corner. He’s watching me.” She reached across the table and took his hand when his head started to swivel. “No, don’t look. Glance that way naturally.”

  His thumb moved against her palm in a soothing motion. “Do you recognize him?”

  “I don’t know—maybe something about his shape. He hasn’t quit staring at me since I saw him.” She darted another glance toward the man. “He’s standing up.”

  She fell silent as the guy came directly to their table. She couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze.

  Ridge tipped his head back and looked at the guy, and a smile lit his face. “Dirk.” He rose and the two pumped hands. “I thought you moved to the Keys.”

  “I did, but I’m back in town and searching for a job.” The man’s voice was deep and melodic. “Someone said your dad was equipping out a new lab. Are there any openings left?”

  “We haven’t even started hiring.” Ridge pulled out a business card. “Shoot me your résumé, but it’s just a formality. I’d thought about trying to track you down and see if I could entice you back to the area, and here you are. Seems like fate to me.”

  Ridge smiled down at Harper. “Harper, this is Dirk Allen, the sharpest researcher I’ve ever worked with. We roomed together in college too. Dirk, meet Harper Taylor. She’s conducting some research with pen shell beds, and she’ll be supplying us with some mollusks to examine for possible pharmaceutical uses.”

  “I thought that was you, Harper. You probably don’t remember me, but I dated your roommate in college a few times.”

  It clicked then. Harper remembered the bad breakup that had happened when he hit on her at a party. And wasn’t he married with a kid now?

  Harper managed to grab her composure enough to rise and shake his hand. “Nice to see you, Dirk.” She’d never liked him, but at least his animosity made sense now.

  She pulled her hand back and sat in her chair. What was proper here? Ask him to join them? It’s not like she and Ridge were on a date, and he clearly knew this guy well.

  Dirk took the question out of the equation. “Well, I have to run. I’m supposed to take a look at an apartment in a few minutes. I’ll be in touch, Ridge, and thanks so much.” He clapped Ridge on the back, then skirted past several customers coming through the door and exited to the street.

  Harper let out her breath. “I was overreacting. Sorry.”

  “It’s understandable. You don’t have to worry about Dirk though. He’s a good guy.”

  “That’s great.” She felt like an idiot. Was she going to be jumping at shadows and perfectly normal men for days?

  She ate while Ridge talked about his ideas for the lab. He’d long thought various sea life held possible answers to health problems.

  “Asia has used many marine animals for medicinal applications for centuries. There are so many things we haven’t examined with clinical trials, though fungi, plants, and bacteria are already treating cancer. You never met my grandpa, but he died of Alzheimer’s. My main goal for years has been to see if there’s some cure for that disease. We lost him long before he took his last breath. It was painful to watch.”

  She reached across the table and touched his hand, then withdrew before it got awkward. “I’m sorry.” Reaching for her slice of pepperoni pizza, she smiled at him. “That Philly pizza was better than I expected.”

  “You should never doubt me.”

  Maybe there was a flip side to not having family. She’d never had to watch a loved one suffer and die.

  * * *

  The morning sun baked against Harper’s skin through the open window in Ridge’s pickup. “What do you have against air-conditioning?” She handed him a thermos of coffee.

  He took it and set it in his cup holder. “You’re a mind reader.”

  He seemed chipper this morning too. He’d only agreed to leave her at her houseboat last night because she was in a slip with other boats around. It had been a peaceful night, and she felt rested. Her headache was finally gone too.

  He slowed to turn into a quaint neighborhood of houses built in the sixties. “Fresh air is good for you. And the sunshine on your arms gives you vitamin D.”

  She swiped a bead of perspiration off her forehead with the back of her hand. “Do you ever use AC?”

  “Not if I can help it. It has to be really hot and humid for me to breathe in canned air when I can smell the sea.”

  They drove in companionable silence to Clearwater. She looked out the window at the egrets snatching up bugs in the grass along the road while he turned up Garth Brooks singing on his sound system. He hummed a few bars in a pleasant baritone, then fell silent as red washed up his cheeks.

  “Here we are.” He braked and pulled into the drive of a neat bungalow.

  She eyed the house. Black shutters enhanced the style of the white siding, and the red door seemed freshly painted. The scent of freshly mown grass wafted to her, and the growl of a mower grew louder. A slim man with white hair rode it around the corner of the house. She opened her door and stepped out onto the drive.

  He saw them and killed the engine, then dismounted and approached them. The fishing cap he wore had sweat stains and rips in it. His face was brown and leathery from the sun. “Can I help you?”

  Ridge got out of the truck and came around the front of it to stand by Harper. “You’re Detective Ward?”

  The interest in the man’s faded blue eyes sharpened. “Well, not a detective any longer. I’m just a normal Joe now. If you need a detective, I can call a friend at the police department.”

  Harper stepped forward. “We’d like to talk to you about an old case.”

  A smile lifted his wide mouth. “Come around to the deck in the back. I just made some sun tea, and I’ll fix you a glass while you tell me what you’re looking for. I’m about to go bat crazy with my own company. I should never have retired. A man can only fish so much.”

  Harper liked the guy, and she exchanged a grin with Ridge as they followed the detective around the side of the house. The redwood deck was nearly as big as his small house. Turquoise and white patio furniture circled a freestanding fire pit. A massive outdoor kitchen lined the far end of the space on the other side of French doors.

  “This is nice.”

  He shrugged and went to a small refrigerator. “I don’t get enough company to fill it. Most of my friends are still working a beat or have families. Since Angela died, the place is too quiet.”

  Harper settled onto a lounge chair, and Ridge dropped into the one beside her. “Angela was your wife?” she asked.

  Ice clinked into glasses, and the detective topped the glasses with tea. “Married thirty-five years. We had plans to travel and see our kids who are spread out all over the West Coast, but cancer got her a year ago.”

  “I’m sorry, Detective Ward.”

  He handed her a water-beaded glass of tea. “Call me Don. Now what can I do for the two of you?”

  Ridge took the glass Don offered. “You might not remember this case because it was almost thirty years ago. A car accident involving a pregnant woman. She died shortly after giving birth.”

  Don settled across from them on a chair and set his glass of tea on the table beside him. “The Taylor case?” His gaze probed hers. “You’re the kid?”

  Harper nodded and leaned forward. “You remember it?”

  “It was a hard one to forget.�
�

  Ridge wiped the moisture from his glass. “Because of her being pregnant, or was there something more?”

  “That made it stand out, of course, but it was what happened afterward that was peculiar. I never swallowed the official decision that it was an accident.”

  A swell of emotion rose in Harper’s throat. She swallowed a mouthful of cold sweet tea to gain her composure. “What happened?”

  Don frowned and propped one foot on his other knee. “The car disappeared from our lot. Just poof, gone right out of a fenced-in lot. My partner and I went over to examine it for evidence after your mother died, and when we couldn’t find it, I thought it had been moved. But no one in our department knew where it had gone or who had ordered it.”

  “What made you think it wasn’t an accident?”

  “No skid marks approaching the intersection. Your mom didn’t try to stop the car before it rammed the truck, so that made me wonder if she couldn’t brake because the lines were cut. But without the vehicle to examine, I had no proof. Without evidence it was just another accident. I talked to a couple of coworkers and her best friend, but they didn’t know anything.”

  “My mother had a best friend?”

  “Sure. Most women do.”

  “Do you remember her name?”

  He shook his head. “I can check my notes though. Give me your phone number, and I’ll let you know when I find it.”

  Ridge dug out a business card. “Here, take mine. She never has her phone on her.” He handed it to Don.

  “I’d appreciate that. Did my mother say anything?”

  Don’s brow wrinkled. “Now that you mention it, she said something about mermaids.”

  Harper clasped her hands together. “Mermaids? Do you remember exactly what she said about them?”

  “She said, ‘The mermaid was right.’”

  “Nothing more?” Harper’s thoughts flashed to her new sister. Her mother was a Weeki Wachee mermaid, but Judy Russo had been dead for many years at the time of Mom’s accident. There couldn’t be any real connection.

  They finished their tea and thanked Don, then headed to Ridge’s truck.