Stranger's Game

by Colleen Coble

  Hailey studied the available globes. “The green one will be harder to see, and I love the orange one. You think it’s too bright?”

  “I think you can hide it well enough to mask the color,” Torie said.

  His daughter picked up the orange one first and glanced up and down the beach littered with driftwood and seaweed. “What if I put it in the crook of a tree and drape seaweed on it? I could leave just a glimmer of color peeking through.”

  “I’ll get the seaweed,” Joe said. “Since you hate to touch it.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “It’s nasty.”

  “I’m with you,” Torie said. “There’s nothing worse than feeling it wrap around your foot when you’re in the water.”

  Hailey shuddered. “I always think it’s a sea monster come to drag me down into its depths.”

  “Like Scylla,” Torie said. “Has your dad ever read you Greek and Roman mythology?”

  She shook her head. “Who was Scylla?”

  “A six-headed sea monster. It lived under a rock in the Strait of Messina.”

  “Is that why you quote Latin all the time?”

  “Our culture was built on the backs of the Greek and Roman civilizations that came before ours. There’s a lot of wisdom left behind by those kingdoms. And it’s just fun. Even if the stories aren’t true, they’re heroic and point to how we can have courage in the face of adversity.”

  “Like when we lost our moms.” Hailey stared at the orange globe she held.

  Torie draped an arm around her and hugged her. “You’re a wise little soul, Hailey. It took a lot of courage for us to go on, didn’t it? But we made it. All those hard trials make us better if we let them. And I love seeing how strong you are now. You’re a special girl.”

  Joe’s throat thickened at the joy on his daughter’s face. Torie affirmed her in so many important ways. He’d thought he was doing a good job of raising her by himself, but there was a softness a woman brought to a relationship. Hailey was soaking it up like a dry sponge—and so was he. How had he forgotten how important that was?

  He swallowed past the lump of emotion in his throat. “Where do you want me to hide the green one?”

  Hailey pointed back toward the tree line near the parking area along the road. “Into the greenery a little. Not far. Just enough to blend in.”

  “You’ve got it.” He carried the globe to where the sand ended and the vegetation began and nestled it into weeds and leaves. Stepping back, he could barely tell it was there.

  Next up, seaweed. As he turned toward the crashing waves, he caught a glint of something metallic. He squinted in the sun and walked a few feet closer until he saw it wasn’t the bike he’d first thought it might be.

  A diver propulsion device lay tucked into the vegetation. Someone had pulled boughs of pine atop it. If not for the care someone had taken to hide it, he wouldn’t have this tingle of trepidation down his back. It was an expensive piece of equipment too. Military grade. No diver would let this bring him to shore and then abandon it. At least no one he knew.

  He looked up and down the beach, populated by a few families strolling the packed, wet sand. No one in a wet suit or carrying dive tanks. This wasn’t a great place to shore dive so he hadn’t expected to see any scuba divers, but the sea scooter wouldn’t likely be used for anything else.

  His mind flashed to the hostile swimmers. Could it be related? His commander had said in times like this, there were no coincidences, but Joe stood frowning down at the piece of equipment.

  Something didn’t sit right, and he couldn’t let it go. Chen needed to know about this.

  * * *

  “You ignored my text.”

  Torie turned around at her aunt’s irate voice. Genevieve stood at the edge of the sand in her impeccable lavender suit and heels. The wind lifted strands of her blonde hair, and she smoothed it back into place.

  “I did. I was given this task, and I’ll do it my way, not Amelia’s. She’s not a hotel employee and has no say in what we do with the globes. They’re hotel property now.”

  Her aunt’s lips flattened, and her eyes narrowed. “Must you always make things so difficult, Torie? Just do what you’re told.”

  Torie could only imagine her aunt’s reaction when she learned Torie was going to settle here and take over the hotel. The fireworks between them would continue until her aunt figured out who was in charge.

  Torie glanced over to make sure Hailey was still out of earshot and saw the little girl wandering along the tree line with a globe in her hands. “Why have you always believed Mom’s death was a suicide?”

  Her aunt’s gaze narrowed and her lips grew pinched. “I shouldn’t have said anything. It was all so long ago.”

  Should she ask her about Lisbeth’s handwritten remarks and the note Torie had found in the safe?

  “Lisbeth found a suicide note, but it’s not handwritten so I don’t know what to think. And Lisbeth mentioned you two had argued about it.” She paused and frowned. “Mom prided herself on writing personal notes. What could be more personal than a threat to kill herself? So why would she type it out? It’s strange.”

  Her aunt’s face reddened, and she looked down, as if she couldn’t meet Torie’s gaze. In that moment Torie knew what had happened.

  “You wrote my mom’s suicide note, didn’t you, Aunt Genevieve?” Torie reached into her bag lying next to a big downed tree and pulled out the original note. “Don’t lie to me. If I turn this over to the police, they will be able to match it to the paper you have always used. Did you actually kill her?”

  Her aunt gasped. “I did no such thing!” She glanced from side to side as if searching for a way out, then her shoulders sagged. “It was an accident. Your mom was so angry when I told her about your dad’s mistress, and she attacked me. I-I just pushed her off me. She stumbled, and I tried to catch her.” Her voice quivered, and she reached a hand out toward Torie.

  “But what about the note?”

  “I was afraid someone had seen me leave the apartment so I planted the note. The police never mentioned it, and I’ve always suspected your father took it to protect his reputation. He couldn’t let anyone think he’d driven his wife to suicide.”

  Torie absorbed the news for a long moment. She could imagine the struggle, hear her mom’s scream as she catapulted over the railing, and Torie shuddered. “I can see Dad trying to protect me. What about Lisbeth? Why did you argue with her about the note she’d found?”

  “The impertinence of that girl. Of course I told her nothing.” Her aunt’s chin came up.

  “Someone broke into the cottage and left Lisbeth a warning note. Was that you?”

  Her aunt nodded. “It’s such old history. There was no reason to dig into it all again.” She sighed. “I suppose you’re going to tell your father?”

  “He deserves to know.”

  “He deserves nothing! And if you tell him, my job here is over.” She was too proud to beg, and her chin came up.

  “You’re going to jail for manslaughter! You should have told the truth right from the start.”

  “It’s your word against mine. And your father would be in trouble, too, for tampering with the scene.”

  “My mother deserves justice.”

  Her aunt pressed her lips together. “Since you’ve made it clear you’re the boss, I’m submitting my resignation. I’ll be gone after this big weekend is over. I hope you’re happy that you’ve destroyed my life.”

  Such blindness to the pain she’d caused. Torie watched her aunt turn and walk away with her head high. Nothing got through to her.

  Joe approached and touched her arm. “You okay? From your body language it looks like you had it out with Genevieve.”

  Now that it was over, weakness washed down Torie’s legs and she exhaled. “She admitted to writing the suicide note Lisbeth found.” She told Joe what she’d learned.

  Just talking about it made her eyes flood with tears. At least her mother hadn’t left her
on purpose, but they’d missed out on so much together. Why did life have to be so unfair?

  * * *

  Joe walked a few feet away from Torie and called Chen. “Hello, Commander.” He turned away from the crashing surf in order to hear better. “You had no right to try to send MPs to apprehend me.”

  Hailey wandered down the beach toward Torie. He wouldn’t want his daughter to hear his worry about the propulsion device. Torie either, though he’d tell her what he found once he had a quiet minute.

  Chen still hadn’t responded, so Joe pulled the phone from his ear and looked at it. Still connected. He returned it to his ear. “Sir?”

  “I’m here. Just trying to figure out how you had the audacity to blame me after quitting on me today.”

  “I found something interesting on Driftwood Beach.” Joe told him about the diver propulsion device. “It was hidden like someone came ashore here and planned to return to use it. But it’s not a shore dive area. Too rough of an entrance. So what’s the diver want? I couldn’t help but think about our bomber.”

  This time Chen’s silence followed an intrigued, “Hmm,” and Joe waited for more. Chen would be running every bit of data he had through his head and correlating it with what he’d just learned.

  “So what do you think?”

  “I hardly think we can talk about it, Joe. Not when you abandoned me today. Let me just say I don’t believe this has anything to do with the Navy. We’ve defused the danger and apprehended multiple threats.”

  Shut out. He’d known it was a long shot. Why would Chen tell him anything? “Sorry for bothering you, sir. I’ll let you go.”

  “Wait. What make is the device?”

  “It’s military grade, but I didn’t check the manufacturer. Let me look.” Joe went to the propulsion unit and squatted beside it. He raised a brow as he called it out to Chen on the phone. “Pricey. Our SEALs use them.”

  “Indeed.”

  This time Joe gave him space to think it through. His pulse increased at the thought of what this could mean. Whatever plan the morning’s diver had put in place might have pulled in this small island. And why come ashore up here? It was too far away from the naval base to be of much use. Unless he had brought something with big firepower that could reach out to sea as the sub came by.

  “I’ll send some men after it. We’ll sweep it for evidence just in case,” Chen said. “But I don’t believe it has anything to do with our threat.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Thanks for calling it in. I won’t hold your lapse in judgment against you if you decide to come back to work. Go ahead and take the week to see to your daughter. I’ll expect you back on Monday.”

  “Yes, sir.” The olive branch was such a surprise that Joe couldn’t think of what to say. Chen was usually by the book, so something must have changed his mind, but what? Maybe Simon wasn’t cooperating.

  “Thank you, sir.”

  If danger still swirled around Hailey on Monday, he’d worry about it then. Right now, he’d been given an unexpected gift, and he’d pray it all worked out.

  He ended the call and settled on a large twisted log near the propulsion device. If the guy came back for it, he’d strike up a conversation to see what he could find out. It might be innocuous, though Joe couldn’t imagine how.

  Her bare feet kicking up sand, Hailey ran toward him with seashells in her hands. He wanted to fix her image in his head because one day in the not-too-distant future, his little girl would be too grown up for days at the beach with seashells and sea turtles.

  “You made a haul.” He patted the log beside him, and she plopped down on it.

  His gaze went past her to Torie, who strolled along the edge of the water with her high heels in her hands. Her long legs, clad in rolled-up white pants, held a touch of pink from the intense sun, and the wind had teased most of her hair loose from its updo of braids. She looked like Aphrodite rising from the sea with her sun-kissed cheeks and bright eyes.

  He was such a goner. The more he was around her, the more compelling she became.

  Torie dropped her heels onto the beach. “I’d forgotten how much I loved this beach. It was my favorite place on the island. I have a tree house across the street, and I spent so many hours out here.”

  “That’s your tree house?” Hailey asked. “We found it, and Daddy fixed it up. The ladder boards had fallen off, and Daddy put on new ones and made it all safe again.”

  Torie’s brown eyes went soft. “I love that! I noticed someone had repaired it. And it wasn’t really mine. I mean, we didn’t own the property, but my dad had it built. Let’s go over and take a look at it together.” She slid her feet back into her heels, then held out her hand to Hailey, who was sitting next to Joe.

  Hailey situated her seashells on the sand by Joe’s feet, then jumped up and took Torie’s hand. “Want to come, Daddy?”

  “You two go ahead. I’m meeting, um, a friend here in a little while. I’ll be able to see you from here, but holler if you get scared.”

  At least he still had a job.

  Chapter 34

  The leafy tops of the trees shaded Torie and Hailey from the intense summer sun as they headed to the tree house. The hum of tourists walking and talking along the road blended with the birdsong in the trees all along the beach. They skirted a few bikers and plunged deeper into the trees.

  Torie reached the spot first and looked up into the tree. The thick foliage hid the tree house from view, but she couldn’t wait to share a few minutes with Hailey there. She hadn’t been here in the daylight since she’d arrived, and it would be a different view from what she’d shared with her dad during the fireworks.

  “Can I go up first?” Hailey asked.

  Torie stepped away from the tree ladder. “Sure.”

  Hailey clambered up the rungs nailed into the old tree and disappeared from view amid the rustling of leaves and the indignant squawk of a bird the girl’s presence had chased away.

  Torie secured her crossbody bag around herself, then put her foot on the first rung. It gave way a bit. She retracted her foot and jerked on the rungs she could reach. Only the first one felt a little loose, so she scrambled up the tree trunk. Her head poked above the first layer of leaves and she spotted Hailey still a few feet up.

  The little girl was sitting where Torie used to perch, staring out over the treetops to the water. She pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of the idyllic scene. If only she had a few pictures of herself at this age in the very same pose. It was the iconic scene of her childhood and would have meant so much to her.

  She slipped her phone back into her bag, then climbed up the rest of the way. When she put her foot on the surface of the platform, it felt off somehow—spongy. And that couldn’t be with the new boards Joe had installed. She clutched a close branch with her left hand and studied the boards at her feet. There were holes where new nails used to be.

  The hair on the back of her neck rose. “Hailey, you need to move slowly toward me. Test the boards before you put your full weight on them. Someone has been up here messing around.”

  She stretched out her hand as far as she could reach as Hailey, her eyes wide, sidled toward her. “Keep one hand on a branch, honey. Get as close to the tree trunk as you can.”

  Catching her breath felt like trying to suck air through an empty oxygen tank, and her heart struggled to keep beating. A fall from this height could kill the little girl if she tumbled down the wrong way. Torie couldn’t let that happen.

  Hailey froze. “I-I’m scared.” Her face had lost all color, and her lids fluttered as if she wanted to close them so she didn’t have to see what was happening.

  Torie inched a few more feet onto the platform. She didn’t dare move too fast in case her weight made the whole thing plummet to the ground, but she had to reach Hailey. “I’ve got you, honey. Reach for my hand. You can do it.”

  The little girl flung both arms around the tree trunk. “I don’t want to fall like Mommy d
id! I want my daddy!”

  Torie could hear the wail building in the little girl’s throat. Any minute now and she would be sobbing and hysterical. “Hailey, look at me. We’re both going to be okay, but you have to be brave, okay? You’ve got your daddy’s bravery in your genes. He’d expect you to listen and do what I tell you, wouldn’t he?”

  Hailey’s nod was almost imperceptible. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, then opened them and reached one hand toward Torie. “I can’t reach you.”

  Torie glanced at the tree branch she’d been gripping. The rough sensation of the bark against her fingers was her lifeline, but she had to let go of it to grab Hailey’s hand. She released her grip on the tree, but it took several long moments to peel each finger away from the safety of the branch.

  Without that steadying grip, she inched her way along the floorboards, waiting for one to let go and throw her into the air. It seemed forever before her fingertips grazed Hailey’s and she was able to walk the little girl toward her.

  “Come on, honey, just a little farther.” Inch by inch Hailey moved toward her until she was finally in Torie’s arms. “Scoot around me and start climbing down the ladder. I’ll hang on to you until you’re secure on the ladder.”

  Tears hung on Hailey’s lashes, and she nodded. “Don’t let me fall.” She swung one leg over the edge of the tree house, then slid down onto the first rung.

  Torie held her gaze. “I’ve got you.” She sank to her knees to be able to hang on to Hailey until the little girl pulled her hand away to grip the rung and climb on down.

  She closed her eyes briefly. “Thank you, God.”

  Now to get down herself. Still on her knees, she eased her left leg over the side and felt for the top rung. There it was. As she started to swing her right leg over the edge, she felt the big tree house shift and tilt to her right.

  “No!” She flung out her hand to grab for the branch that had been her lifeline moments ago, but her fingers barely grazed the rough bark before it slammed onto a board. The movement tilted the floorboards even more, and she felt a dizzying sensation as the tree house lost its grip on the perch that had sustained it for twenty years.