by Dana Mentink
“I love you, too, Ivy,” he whispered before he gently closed the door.
He took the stairs slowly to give his pinballing emotions time to settle. He discovered, to his surprise, that there was a gathering in the living room. Sarah, Pete, Dory and his father.
“Dad?”
Rocky grinned. “When you took our gal to the hospital, I figured me and Pete here could put our heads together.” His smile faded. “Time for us to quit squabbling since things have gotten serious.”
Pete didn’t exactly smile, but his tone was civil. “Blaze is getting desperate. We need to stop him before anything else happens to my daughter.”
“Agreed,” said Sarah, Rocky and Chad at exactly the same time. Chad took a seat next to Dory at the table. Her eyes were puffy from crying, but she appeared calm and resolute.
A ring of the doorbell announced Danny Patron, who joined them.
“We’ve got the roads sealed off around town. The bus terminal and the train depot are covered. Blaze isn’t going to slip town without our knowing it. Thanks for calling me, Pete. What do you have?”
“I located my computer file, believe it or not,” Pete said. “We’ve been going over the details of the case. We found something interesting.” He slid on a pair of reading glasses and thumbed a paper free from the stack. “Here it is, a five-dollar meal fee tacked onto the price of the fishing excursion.”
Rocky lifted a shoulder. “I picked up a roast beef sandwich that morning for Blaze, along with a soda. Stored ’em in the cooler while I took care of some stuff. I can’t remember clearly, but I assume he ate it.”
He paused. “Then I got to thinking about something that always bothered me. Why didn’t Blaze swim to shore? Save his mother? Told me he was a good swimmer, though I guess that coulda been a lie, or maybe the waves were too much for him.” He cleared his throat. “If I was intoxicated from something in my thermos, why weren’t Blaze and Mary able to swim for help or hold on to something?
“Mary was a tiny thing, but Blaze was a strapping nineteen-year-old kid. He shoulda been able to stay alive until help got there. Both of them were told to wear life jackets, but Mary didn’t have hers on when Tom found her.”
Chad shifted. “What are you saying?”
“One theory I’ve been cooking up is that there was something in that sandwich. Maybe Blaze called his Mom to come along and doctored it up when we weren’t looking. Drugged her so she couldn’t swim properly. Slipped off her life jacket.”
“The coroner did a tox screen on Mary,” Pete said. “It was inconclusive, but there was a trace of Seconal, which her doctor said he prescribed to help her sleep. It wasn’t enough to incapacitate, in his view, but it might have been enough to slow or confuse her.”
Dory pressed a hand to her temple. “But there’s still the big question... If Blaze’s motive was killing his mom for her money, why did he disappear for five years?”
“Could be he really did get a head injury,” Pete said. “The water was rough that day with the sudden storm that came up. There was no easy exit point in the direction he was swimming. Or maybe he figured he’d stay away until he made sure there was no question Rocky would be convicted and time got away from him.”
Danny frowned. “Okay. Let’s play it the other way. Let’s say Angela arranged the sinking by doctoring Rocky’s thermos and drugging Blaze’s sandwich. She didn’t know Mary was going to join in. Blaze shared his sandwich with his mom, and they were both incapacitated. Blaze was somehow able to get to shore anyway and save himself. Maybe he realized Angela set up the sinking and panicked, pretended to have drowned, fearful his aunt would try again to kill him.”
Dory nodded. “I still don’t get it. Angela already has plenty of money. Why would she attempt to murder her nephew for his inheritance?”
Chad was up and pacing. “We already know what kind of person Blaze is. He almost killed Dory.”
“But someone shot at us from the bridge, Blaze included,” Dory said.
“What if they were both in on it?” Pete held up a hand. “Hear me out. Blaze is tired of waiting for his money. For some reason we aren’t privy to, Angela agrees to help him get it by killing Mary and convinces her to join him on the boat. Blaze gives her the drugged sandwich. She drowns after Blaze strips off her life jacket. Blaze is supposedly swept out to sea, scheduled to resurface after Rocky is convicted to claim his money, only Angela double-crosses Blaze and sends people to kill him instead, keeping him on the run for five years.”
“Which means,” Chad said slowly, “that Blaze and Angela could both be guilty, and now they’re desperate to save their skins and hang on to the Robertson money by blaming each other.”
Danny’s lips thinned into a grim line. “I’ve heard stranger things. I’ll bring Angela in for questioning and see if I can get anything out of her.”
Chad grimaced. “We’ve got to convince Tom that Angela might not be what she seems.”
Dory suppressed a yawn but her mother did not miss it.
“Enough for one night,” she said. “Time for Dory to rest.”
“Ivy asked you to check on her,” Chad reported dutifully as he followed Rocky and Danny to the door, letting them exit first before he turned back to Dory. She looked delicate there in the moonlight, as if she was made of something very soft and fragile, though he hoped her spirit was still strong as steel.
On impulse, he pulled her to his chest and kissed the top of her head. This woman, this incredible woman whom he’d despised, had given him the most precious gift he’d ever receive. She’d made him a father. He could not get over it, nor did he want to.
His arms went around her, and as the connection grew between them, he desperately wished it would not end, that they could stay together. Partners in life and in love? The skipping, swirling feeling swept him in and he tipped her face up to meet his. A kiss...just one kiss. His lips barely brushed hers when she scooted a step back. He blinked. What had he been about to do? When she’d made it so clear that he would be Ivy’s daddy and nothing more? Right after she’d been battered and almost killed?
“Good night, Chad.” Her voice was soft but strong. The message was clear.
“Good night, Dory.”
* * *
Dory quieted her skittering nerves. She’d almost let Chad kiss her. Somehow she’d found enough strength deep down to prevent what surely would have been a grave mistake. After a breath, she tiptoed into Ivy’s room and bent to kiss her.
“Do you feel better?” Ivy said.
“Yes, sweetie.” Dory sighed. “I thought you were sleeping.”
Ivy pulled a handful of Popsicle sticks from under her pillow. “I’m going to give these to Oliver.”
Dory smiled. Oliver was a little boy in her prekindergarten class who had trouble making friends. Mostly he sat by himself and built structures with Popsicle sticks, over and over, again and again, reworking the design until he got it just right. She was proud of her daughter for noticing, for trying to care for Oliver.
“Daddy said maybe Meatball can come visit.”
Dory felt a hitch at the word daddy. “That would be great. Go to sleep now, Ivy.”
“Daddy said he loves me.”
A sudden wash of tears blinded her.
“Does he love you, too, Mommy?”
She stood there frozen to the spot. Does he love you, too? What could she say to that? He had loved her once upon a time, and though she would give anything to recapture that love, she could not allow him to be yoked into a relationship out of duty. He wanted to be family—that much she knew—and perhaps he might even try to convince himself that he loved her. But she would not ask it of him.
“Go to sleep now, baby,” she said, hoping Ivy did not see her tears.
NINETEEN
Dory jolted awake with a pounding headache the next morning. It took her a few m
oments to calm her juddering heart. Images of Blaze hurling rocks down at her left her breathless. She climbed out of bed and hobbled into the bathroom to swallow two Tylenol. Her face in the mirror horrified her; eyes red rimmed, forehead swollen, skin pale. She was seized by a sudden anger at the man who had stoned her, framed Rocky and possibly killed his mother with or without his aunt’s help.
You’re a private eye, Dory. Why don’t you live up to the name and try to track him down?
Blaze would need help soon. He’d need money, food, shelter or maybe a way to escape town. He’d likely reach out to someone from his past. She decided to focus again on his acquaintances, friends, anyone who might render aid if he called. Throwing on some clothes, she groaned when she remembered her laptop was still in the saddlery. Since it would be foolhardy to travel on her own, she asked her father to ride along with her. She’d drive over quickly and pick it up. Chad would be busy with his morning ranch chores.
Her father was uncharacteristically quiet as they walked to the car.
“What are you thinking about, Dad?”
He shrugged. “Just wondering what Chad’s planning to do about Ivy.”
She sighed. “I don’t know, Dad. Everything’s a muddle right now.” Ivy’s comment scrolled through her memory.
Does he love you, too, Mommy? How beautiful and perfect it would be if she allowed herself to imagine it. She and Chad in love again, raising Ivy as a couple.
Don’t do that to yourself. Two weeks ago, she was a committed single mother taking care of herself and her child with no help from Chad. Nothing had changed.
Jamming the key into the ignition, she drove a little too quickly to the ranch. By the time she got to the saddlery, she’d settled her thoughts. Her father stayed on the porch to take a phone call. Letting herself in, she hastily snagged her laptop. A pile of clothes sat on the table, laundered and neatly folded. There was a note on the top.
Washed these for you, Dory. Praying for your healing and strength. Love, G.
On top of the pile were some pieces of metal she didn’t recognize at first. In a flash, she was back in that awful cistern, reliving the moment when Blaze hurled the first missile at her. She’d been so shocked and angry, she’d snatched it up and thought about throwing it back until she’d realized the futility of it.
The broken bits were clean-edged, speckled with blue paint. She vaguely remembered he had drawn the objects from his pocket, not picked them up from the ground. When he’d thrown them, they had echoed like metal against the rusted cistern wall.
She fingered the half orb—iron, with a hole drilled in it. Her brain made the identification quickly. It was a broken cable weight.
A memory from the past sizzled to the surface. She was a young teen sitting on an overturned bucket in the boathouse, listening while Rocky had patiently explained.
These little steel balls are fixed to the boathouse cables to hold them straight when the vessels are being lifted in and out of the water.
She remembered the feel of them in her hands; cold metal, smooth, painted a glossy navy blue.
She stared at the metal piece in her palm with a growing certainty.
I know where you’re hiding, Blaze.
* * *
Though the argument had died away for a moment, Chad’s blood was still hot as they raced to the boathouse. He did not dare risk shooting a look in the passenger seat at Dory. Instead he gritted his teeth and tried again.
“I am with your dad on this one. You shouldn’t be involved in this.”
“Neither should you,” she fired back. “The police are going to arrest Blaze.”
“I’m going to be an extra set of eyes because he’s not going to get away.”
“Ditto. Like I told my dad, this is my case and I am going to see it through.”
The woman positively infuriated him. Almost stoned to death and she still insisted on coming. She wiggled a cell phone at him. “Got my phone, and I’ll stay in the truck, just like I promised Dad.”
“Not good enough.”
“It will have to be.”
He’d been worrying needlessly about how the trauma of the attack had affected Dory. Her spirit was completely intact. So was her stubborn streak.
The boathouse was a ramshackle structure jutting out over the water. The sides were weathered wood under a rusted red corrugated roof. Overhanging oak trees crowded the rear of the building and dropped acorns and leaves onto the dilapidated rooftop.
Danny Patron was parked behind a grassy hill and suited up in a bulletproof vest, along with two other officers. His face was void of its usual good cheer when he saw Chad’s truck pull up.
Chad got out and Dory kept her word by rolling down her window to listen.
Danny jerked his chin at them. “You two are not welcome here.”
“We’ll stay out of it, but we’re gonna be here when you take him down.”
Danny’s lips thinned. “If you get in the way, I will arrest you. Got me?”
“Yes, sir.”
Chad stood next to the passenger’s-side door to make sure Dory wasn’t going to change her mind. They both watched as Danny and the officers silently moved into position. Danny raised a fist and all three burst into the boathouse.
Chad realized he was holding his breath. The minutes ticked by with no sound. “He’s not in there.”
Dory groaned. “Maybe I was wrong.”
“Or he saw them coming. He could be—” Chad broke off as he saw Blaze appear underneath a nearby pier just as Danny stepped out of the boathouse. Blaze’s surprise morphed into a look of fear as he took in the situation and whipped around to retreat.
“He’s out here!” Chad yelled.
By the time the fully armed police officers started off in pursuit, Blaze might have already vanished into the thicket of trees that cloaked the inlet. Chad took off, plunging into the shadowy corridor under the pier.
Blaze was fast. Chad pressed harder, his boots digging into the soft dirt. He shot an arm out and grazed the hood of Blaze’s sweatshirt. Blaze stumbled but did not go down. Veering away from the water, he beelined toward the trees.
Chad found himself slipping farther behind as he raced across the uneven ground. Blaze broke into the open area between the water and the trees. Maybe Danny’s people would catch him there. Chad continued his dogged pursuit, but Blaze was outpacing him. Where was Danny?
A rumbling started up in his ears. From the corner of his eye, he saw his truck lurch into motion, speeding across the mucky earth.
“Dory, stay out of it,” he shouted uselessly.
She pressed the gas until the truck flew by him. Her gaze was focused out the windshield, fire in her eyes. Heart in his throat, he watched her press the truck to the max until it drew up next to Blaze. Blaze tried to correct course but there was nowhere for him to go. It was the woods or face Chad and the cops closing in behind. His only hope was to get to the trees before he was caught.
With a roar of engine noise, Dory pulled ahead of Blaze. One foot then two. He could hear the protesting brakes as she abruptly slammed the truck to a stop so quickly it skidded sideways. Blaze smacked into the driver’s side and ricocheted backward, tumbling twice until he came to a stop on the wet grass. He struggled to right himself.
“Get away from me,” Blaze shouted.
Chad threw himself on Blaze, pinning him in place. “The only place you’re going is jail,” he grunted as he gripped Blaze’s arms behind his back.
One of Danny’s officers made it there first, taking over Chad’s spot on top of Blaze. Chad stood, panting, and Dory hopped from the truck.
Smiling in triumph, she embraced him. “We got him, didn’t we?”
“You got him.” He chuckled. “Where’d you learn to drive like that?”
“Morning car pool at school. It’s a killer.”
<
br /> He threw his head back and laughed.
The officer was joined by another. They struggled to slip handcuffs on Blaze, who was now screaming and writhing on the ground.
It happened in a flash. He was under control one moment and the next he was leaping to his feet and grabbing for the officer’s gun. The cop and Blaze were locked in a lethal wrestling match for control of the weapon.
Chad pushed Dory behind him.
Danny ran toward them.
Blaze’s body was rigid with rage as he struggled to remove the gun from the holster. He pulled the weapon clear. Chad stood fast in front of Dory.
A gunshot exploded through the air.
* * *
“Blaze is in surgery.” Danny’s expression was haggard as he delivered the news to Chad and Dory in the hospital waiting room. “I’ve never actually shot anyone in my whole career. It’s hard to believe it happened.”
“I’m so sorry.” Dory imagined how difficult it must be for Danny. She’d been second-guessing her own actions, too. If she hadn’t insisted on going... If she hadn’t pursued in Chad’s truck...
Danny waved a weary hand. “It was the right decision. My officers were in danger, so were you and Chad, but, man, it sure feels like a punch in the gut.”
Chad blew out a breath. “What’s the prognosis?”
“Doc says he’s got a good chance if they can control the bleeding. It will be a while before we can get any kind of information out of him.”
“At least we know he’s not out there able to hurt anyone else for a while,” Chad said.
Mitch and Liam arrived in the courtyard. “Sorry for the barking,” Liam said. “Jingles and Meatball are in the truck and they are mortally offended to be locked in.”
“Situation under control?” Mitch inquired.
Chad filled them in.
“All right,” Danny said. “The district attorney’s office has someone en route to go over my statement about what happened, but let’s have you two down at the station for a proper statement. You’ll be talking to another officer who wasn’t on scene.”
