Twilight at Blueberry Barrens

by Colleen Coble

“Like where?”

  “I was thinking about Mermaid Point. There are plenty of places to hide in the vegetation. Plus a couple of officers could be just offshore in what appears to be a fishing boat. I think it’s foolproof.”

  Claire folded her arms across her chest and sat back. “A million things could go wrong, Kate. I can’t believe Drake would agree to this either. What did he say about this harebrained idea?”

  “I didn’t tell him yet. We, um, we had an interesting evening.” She told her sister about the kiss and what he said in the hotel suite. When she’d called Claire last night, she hadn’t mentioned anything but the note.

  Claire said nothing for a long moment. Her blue eyes were shadowed with worry. “Kate, you are worthy of love. Where did you ever get the idea that your only value is in bearing children? God has a plan for your life, and he’s your real security. Whether that includes children or not is immaterial. The right man will love you for you and not for anything else. And Drake told you it didn’t matter, so why do you cling to your childlessness? It doesn’t define you. The way you love others is your defining attribute.”

  Kate put her head in her hands. She kept replaying that kiss over and over in her head. But then she would remember the way he looked when he talked about children. “But if I really love Drake, wouldn’t I want what was best for him? I wouldn’t want to deprive him of his dream. That’s not real love either.” She straightened and reached for her coffee.

  Claire shook her head and sighed. “Why aren’t you letting Drake decide? What gives you the right to make the decision for him about what his dream really is? And who among us hasn’t had to adjust a dream we thought we wanted? You thought you wanted a father who would love you for you. My life took a radical change once the truth about our families came out. But I’m happy with the change that’s happened. Events alter our wants and dreams, Kate. You should know that better than anyone.”

  Kate studied her sister’s face. Two years ago, she didn’t even know her sister existed other than faint memories of a pretend friend. Two years ago she’d thought trying to please her mother was the only important thing in life. She wanted people to like her no matter what the cost to her peace of mind because she always knew she had to earn any love she got. Her life had proven it, so of course that’s what she worked for. Her heart recognized the truth in Claire’s words. She was unconditionally loved by real friends, by her sister, by God. Maybe even by Drake.

  “It’s too soon to know if what Drake and I have is love,” she finally managed to say.

  “Yes, it is. But you’ll never know if you don’t quit making assumptions.”

  Kate picked up her fork. “I’ll try my best.”

  Relief lit Claire’s eyes. “And tell Drake about this idea for rooting out the stalker. I have a feeling he isn’t going to be in favor of it.”

  Kate narrowed her eyes and shook her head. “I’m going to do it anyway. That guy took pictures of us with the girls. What if he hurts them because they’re in his way? I can’t let anything happen to them. I love them dearly. I have to do this.”

  Claire held her gaze, then nodded. “Okay, I understand that. But I want Luke involved in this too. He can be in his cutter offshore too. I’m not saying Danny and his deputies are inept, but you’re my sister, and I want all the firepower around you that we can get.”

  Kate forked up a bite of her omelet. “I’ll take that help.”

  THIRTY-ONE

  Drake tossed the note Kate left onto the bed and looked at the bereft dog. “You know how it feels to be left, huh?” He hadn’t taken her for a coward, yet she’d skipped out this morning without a word. She was going to have to talk to him sometime though.

  He peeked in on the girls, who still slept curled together on the big king bed. The bedside clock read 7:00 a.m. His stomach rumbled, and he started for the phone to call down for room service when the door opened and Kate stepped inside. Jackson immediately went to her.

  Her gaze met his and she sent a tentative smile his way. “Good morning. Did you find my note? I met Claire for breakfast.”

  “Just read it. I thought you were avoiding me.”

  She looked beautiful in the slim-fitting jeans and pink top he’d bought last night in one of the hotel shops. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a loose coil that he longed to rake free from its pins.

  He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I was just about to call down for breakfast. You need more coffee or anything?”

  “I’m stuffed. I need to tell you something though.” She held up a finger, then stepped to the other bedroom door and peeked inside. “Good, they’re sleeping.”

  He had a sinking feeling she was going to quit and refuse to see him. It was his own fault for rushing things last night. He’d spit out what he was feeling without thinking it through. “Okay.”

  She laced her fingers together in front of her. “Claire told me I had no right to make decisions for you, and she’s right. So let’s start over and take it one day at a time, okay?”

  All she’d said was a jumble in his head right now. “Okay.” What exactly did she mean? That they’d explore the possibility of his moving here? There were a million reasons that wouldn’t work. His business needed him, and even now, he was itching to be back at the drawing table hunched over a design for a new drone. Working energized him. And a huge amount of work needed to be done to clear the rest of Heath’s estate as well.

  He freed one of her hands from its death grip on the other. “I meant what I said, Kate. Having kids of our own doesn’t matter. I was just rattling off some crazy dreams that I realized aren’t that important. Don’t shut me out. We can work through anything if we’re talking.”

  She stood on tiptoe and brushed her lips across his. “That sounds perfect.”

  Her breath mingled with his, and he caught her around the waist and pulled her closer for a real kiss, but she twisted out of his grasp. “I hear the girls.” She headed for the bedroom.

  He grinned and reached for the phone. As his hand touched the receiver, it rang. Who would be calling up to the room at this early hour? “Drake Newham.”

  “Mr. Newham, you have a visitor here in the lobby. He said to tell you his name is Mr. Wang.”

  Wang? “Are you sure that’s his name?”

  “Yes, sir. He asked me to tell you to meet him in the restaurant.”

  That was Wang all right. Imperious and dictatorial. “I’ll be right down.” He hung up and went to find Kate. She was getting the girls dressed. “I’m going to run down to meet someone in the restaurant. Order room service for the girls, and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  She must have picked up on his tone because alarm flashed over her face. “Who are you meeting?”

  He glanced at the girls and shook his head. “I’ll tell you about it later.” Before she could object, he quickly retraced his steps and headed for the door. Wang wouldn’t try anything in a public place, but why had he come this far when he could have called? The crime lord had the resources to track down Drake’s cell number.

  He punched the button for the elevator and rode it down to the lobby. When he stepped out of the gleaming brass doors onto the pink marble floor, he looked in both directions in case Wang was lying in wait, but he saw no one but two older women leaving the other elevator. Hurrying to the Bistro, he spotted Wang at a corner table. The man’s black hair reminded Drake of a seal’s fur, all sleek and groomed. He wore a gray Armani suit and a silk tie in an understated green.

  He rose when Drake reached the table and extended his hand. “Mr. Newham, thank you for meeting with me.” His cultured voice held only a hint of his Chinese ancestry. “I’m sure it was a shock to hear I was down here.”

  Drake didn’t want to shake his hand, but he forced himself to reach out and briefly touch palms. The man’s dark good looks exuded power and sleek danger too—a powerful attraction to many women. “Shock is an understatement. I’m not sure we should be meeting, Mr. Wang.” />
  Wang settled back onto his chair. “It’s about Melissa.”

  Drake clenched his jaw and sat down. How dare the man even utter Melissa’s name. It took all his strength not to leap across the table and grab him by the throat. “I see.”

  The man fixed calm, dark eyes on Drake. “I don’t think you do. I want to help you find the killer. I don’t believe Heath killed her, then took his own life. In fact, I’m sure of it.”

  Drake stared at the man who held his gaze with a resolute expression. “Everyone else believes it.”

  “I know. That’s why I’m here. I have had my men investigating for weeks. Have you seen the autopsy reports?”

  “I just saw them last night.”

  “She was strangled first by someone who was left-handed. The bruises clearly show it. And there was a large lump on Heath’s forehead. It could have happened in the fall from the rocks, but I don’t think so.”

  Drake should have looked at Heath’s autopsy more carefully, but it had been too painful. He’d find the courage to do it today though. He nodded. “I thought you hired them killed because Heath found out about your affair.”

  Wang took a sip of his water, then set the glass back on the table. “You should understand that I loved Melissa. I intended to marry her. If I’d had to kill Heath to have her, I would have done it. But it wasn’t necessary. She was also pregnant with my child.”

  Drake clenched his fists at the man’s casual threat. “You are the father of that baby? How do you know?”

  Wang took a sip of his tea. “Heath was out of town on business when Melissa conceived, and she and Heath had been sleeping in separate bedrooms for a while.”

  “How long did Heath know?”

  Wang’s dark eyes were grave. “He found out just before they came to Maine. She’d saved the positive pregnancy test to show me, and he discovered it hidden in her dresser.”

  Drake winced at the thought of his brother’s pain. “Yet you still believe he didn’t kill her? Why?”

  “He was a good man. I tried to bribe him, you know. He refused. But my outfit isn’t the only organized crime working in the city. Heath was on the trail of another one he thought had set me up. I think he might have found out the truth and was killed.”

  “What other outfit?”

  Wang pressed his lips together. “I have yet to find out which one.”

  “Did he know she planned to take the girls to China?”

  “She wasn’t going to do that. We talked it over, and she agreed to leave them behind with him.”

  “Her partner found the plane tickets.”

  Wang shrugged. “Purchased before our decision was made.”

  Drake knew when someone was lying, and he had the strong sense that Wang spoke the truth. “Was the target Melissa or Heath?”

  “I suspect Heath was the initial target, and Melissa was collateral damage. I could be wrong. It’s possible Melissa was targeted to hurt me, but I don’t think so. I’ve been trying to get hold of Heath’s external hard drive, but I can’t find it. Maybe you can.”

  Drake ran through the possible places where he might find the hard drive.

  “Do you know where it is?”

  “I might.” Drake reached for his cell phone and called his uncle who owned a storage company. Some of Heath’s things were in storage there.

  * * *

  The waves rolled onto the rocks, then receded to the vast blue of the sea. Kate stood on a spit of land in Sunset Cove with the girls and Jackson and breathed in the tang of the salt air. Lobster boats bobbed in the distance, and she heard the hum of fishing boats. She glanced back at the pink granite steps leading to the hotel. She’d thought Drake would be back before she took the kids to the water, but he hadn’t returned, so she left him a note. Her nerves hummed with her need to know the reason for his somber expression when he left to meet whoever it was down in the restaurant.

  Claire and Luke were going to come over and take Kate and the girls for a ride any minute. She hoped Drake got here in time to join them. She zipped her Windbreaker. It was a good thing they’d all dressed in jeans. A chill wind rolled in off the sea, and it would be even colder out on the water. She heard her name and saw Claire wave in the distance as Luke’s boat approached. It would be a few minutes before he docked.

  She turned back one last time and saw Drake wave from the steps. She waved back. “Here comes your uncle.”

  “He would have been disappointed not to go on the boat ride.” Emma pulled her hand from Kate’s and went to peer into the shallow depths of a tide pool. “I see a crab!” Phoebe ran to join her, and neither girl left their entranced observation at the water’s edge when Drake reached Kate’s side.

  His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Glad I caught you in time.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  He glanced at his nieces, then took Kate’s arm and moved a few feet farther away. “Chen Wang came to see me.”

  “The killer?” No wonder he seemed distracted.

  He shook his head. “That’s the thing—he came to tell me he wanted to help me find the murderer. He claims he didn’t do it, that he loved Melissa.” Bending his head closer to her ear, he spoke more softly. “I got the autopsy last night. Melissa was pregnant.”

  Her eyes filled with tears. “Oh no!”

  “Wang says she was pregnant with his child. And maybe she was. Heath was out of town a lot several months ago.”

  Kate put her hand on his arm. “Do you think he’s telling the truth?”

  “I think he might be. He’s a snake, no doubt about that. But he seemed genuinely distressed by Melissa’s death, and he wanted vengeance.”

  “What about Heath? Did he know?”

  Drake let out a long sigh. “Yeah. And those plane tickets I found? They were supposedly purchased before they decided to leave the girls with Heath. I’m not sure I believe that.”

  “Did he have any idea who might have killed them?”

  He dropped his arm around her waist and hugged her to his side. “He thinks it might have been a rival organized-crime group. There are several in Boston. He says Heath had a big knot on his head, and Melissa was choked by a left-handed man. I stopped by the room to look at the autopsies again, and he’s right. I couldn’t bring myself to study them very closely last night. Heath was right handed, so that’s a clear sign Heath didn’t do it. I need to talk to the sheriff about it.”

  “So we’re back to square one.”

  He nodded. “Wang told me he feels it’s related to Heath trying to find out who framed Wang for the murder charges he faces. I decided to have Heath’s backup hard drive shipped to me. He’d replaced his computer at the office and put the old one in a storage shed our uncle kept. I’ve been looking over his new computer files and found nothing conclusive, but there might be something on the other hard drive. My uncle is shipping it out today.”

  She leaned her head against his chest. “Maybe we’ll get to the bottom of who killed them, and you can move on.” It was time to tell him her news as well, though the timing couldn’t be worse when he was worried about getting to the truth.

  She pulled away and stared into his face. “The more I’ve thought about it, the more convinced I am that whoever is watching me might be the person I saw the day Heath and Melissa died. What if he thinks I can ID him?”

  “Whoa, where did this come from? You’ve been thinking it was your uncle who broke into your house.”

  She exhaled, hating to admit her desire not to face the truth. “I was up a lot last night thinking about it. Uncle Paul might have broken in, but he wouldn’t have put the chocolate in the picnic basket. He wouldn’t have taken the pictures or put that X on your face in the photo. He couldn’t call and breathe in the phone. Someone is trying to terrorize me, and I’ve tried to pass it off as Uncle Paul. I don’t believe it is any longer, not after last night.”

  His expression changed from indulgent to alert as he listened. “So you think maybe both of these
cases are linked somehow?”

  She shook her head. “I think it’s a stalker, and I’m his current victim. He has to be stopped. I called the sheriff while you were gone.”

  He stared down at her with a question in his eyes. “Did the sheriff have any news?”

  Her pulse throbbed in her throat at the thought of his reaction. “That’s not why I called. I told him I want to be a decoy and lure the guy into the open where they can catch him.”

  His hands went to her shoulders, turning her to face him. “Wait a minute, that’s way too dangerous, Kate. The guy’s unpredictable, and I doubt he’ll act like you expect him to. Let the sheriff catch him. They’ve got all their resources on finding him and will nab him soon.”

  “He was near the girls! I can’t sit back and let them be in danger. If I don’t do this, I’ll have to quit taking care of them so they’re not in the line of fire.”

  His eyes narrowed. “I don’t want you to be his next target either.”

  “We will catch him. Nothing can go wrong.” She told him the plan she’d devised. “Danny was hesitant at first, but I told him he could put his best deputies on it, and he’ll be there himself. Luke will be just offshore with some Coast Guard buddies. Kevin will be only a few feet away and will be watching from a tree stand. I’ll be surrounded by law enforcement. I’ll have my pepper spray in my pocket, too, and my gun. I’m not going in there unarmed.”

  “What if he smells a trap?”

  “I did some research on serial rapists and killers. They often fixate on a subject and imagine there is some kind of personal relationship. I think he’ll be all too willing to believe I reciprocate his affection. They are highly egotistical. I think this will work.” She put more confidence in her voice than she felt. In truth, her knees shook at the thought of facing him on that lonely stretch of rocks, but she couldn’t see any other way of making sure this was over.

  A new life awaited her, but only if she could remove the threat to the girls. And she was willing to do most anything to have a stab at what beckoned.