by L. T. Vargus
She slipped into the house a few seconds after him, spotting Hendrick near the barrel, holding a lit match aloft. In the flickering glow, Loshak seemed to solidify out of the shadows.
He got low, like a defensive lineman in football. Crashed into Hendrick at hip level. The flame went out, plunging them back in darkness.
Darger heard them strike the ground. An “oof” sound of wind being knocked from lungs. Grunting and struggling. There was a clang and a slosh, and she heard Loshak cry out. Hendrick must have walloped him with the gas can.
Hendrick was scrambling away on hands and knees, halfway out the back door just as Darger reached them. She stopped short, weapon drawn and aimed at his chest.
“Stop right there.”
He froze. Put his hands up.
“You’re not gonna shoot me, are you?”
“I haven’t decided yet.” Darger kept her eyes on him while she addressed her partner. “You alright, down there?”
Loshak sat up, his hand pressed to a gash over his left eye.
“I’ve been better.”
Darger didn’t have any cuffs on her, so she made Hendrick lay face down on the ground with his hands over his head.
“Come on,” Hendrick whined. “He came outta nowhere and attacked me. I wasn’t even doing anything.”
“You weren’t trying to destroy evidence?”
“I don’t know anything about any evidence.”
“You like to splash gas around for shits and giggles, huh? So that blanket in the burn barrel… the one covered in blood? That wasn’t used to cover Micaela Tolliver’s body after you killed her?”
“I didn’t… I don’t know what you’re talking about. Your friend is the one who killed her. He’s in jail for it.”
“Did your brother tell you that?”
Before Hendrick could answer, she heard the telltale shriek of sirens in the distance. A moment later, the lights appeared.
“Ah shit,” Hendrick said. “I’m fucked, aren’t I?”
“I’d say so.”
CHAPTER 25
Darger and Loshak spent much of the night watching the aftermath of the scene. Detective Vinke led the charge to the abandoned house, slapping the cuffs on Hendrick personally. Even as the police got him to his feet, Mr. Snake Car was blubbering out snippets of a confession, cheeks soggy with tears.
“It was an accident,” he whimpered. “She had this little knife in her purse. One of those ones with all the attachments. She came at me with it. Sliced me across the arm, and it made me mad. I was just defending myself. I didn’t mean to…”
“And what about her father?” Vinke asked.
“He… I didn’t…”
“We know it wasn’t suicide.” Vinke crossed his arms. “The medical examiner has ruled his death suspicious.”
Hendrick slumped forward, putting his bound hands to his face.
“He told me about the FBI coming down here. And I got scared. I panicked. I knew I needed to start cleaning up the mess I’d made and—”
Vinke held up a hand.
“Did you talk to your brother about any of this?”
“Martin?” Hendrick gulped.
As if summoned by the mention of his name, a car driven by the deputy chief himself sped onto the scene just then. He came to a screeching halt, a billowing cloud of dust churning around the car as he jumped out.
“What is going on here?” he asked, red-faced. “Who authorized this?”
“I did, sir,” Vinke said. “And if you’ll come with me, please, we have a few questions we’d like to ask you.”
Beethoven’s eyes darted over to where Hendrick was being tucked into the back of one of the cruisers. His eyes went wide, and he took a step backward.
“I… have to…”
Without finishing his sentence, he turned on his heel and sprinted for his car. He threw himself into the driver’s seat, closed the door, and took off back down the road at high speed.
Vinke calmly picked up his radio and spoke into it.
“Officer Linden, could you please follow the deputy chief’s car, and let me know where he ends up?” He glanced over at Darger and Loshak as he replaced the radio on his belt. “That’s the thing about living on an island. There’s nowhere to run.”
Something Vinke had said while eliciting Hendrick’s confession earlier had caught her attention.
“Did the medical examiner really rule Sully’s death suspicious?” Darger asked.
“He actually hasn’t ruled anything yet.” A sly smile spread over Vinke’s mouth. “But I figured Hendrick wouldn’t know that.”
“Good work, Vinke,” Loshak said, clapping him on the shoulder.
The pink splotches appeared on Vinke’s cheeks again.
“Thank you, Agent Loshak. And you as well, Agent Darger,” he said, putting out his hand. “If you two want to head back to town, I can radio in to the station and have your friend released.”
It was a moment before Darger realized he was talking about Owen. With all the excitement, she’d almost forgotten that Owen was still sitting in a cell at the local jail.
Satisfied the scene was in good hands, Darger, Loshak, and Spinks drove to the station in Willemstad. Dawn was just cresting the horizon as they spilled out onto the sidewalk outside of the station with Owen in tow.
“Damn concrete mattress is just terrible for your chakras.” Owen wiggled and shrugged his shoulders. “Anyhow, I suppose I owe all three of you a debt of gratitude. I knew you’d have my back, but I still can’t believe you went rogue like that.”
Spinks clapped Loshak on the back.
“As it turns out, you have a little cowboy in you after all.”
“It’s good to know there are people in the world like you, is what I’m trying to say,” Owen went on. “Fighting the good fight. And you’ve probably already got your next case lined up to go out and do it again.”
Loshak consulted his watch.
“We actually do have a flight to catch in about two hours.”
“Well, can I buy you all breakfast before you go? I know this place with a dynamite Caribbean breakfast buffet.”
Spinks patted his belly.
“I don’t know about these two, but I can’t say no to breakfast buffet.”
CHAPTER 26
After breakfast, they bade a quick farewell to Owen before heading for the car rental office to return the Kia. On the shuttle ride to the airport, a feeling of dissatisfaction settled over Darger. At first she couldn’t determine why. They’d solved the case. They’d cleared Sully’s name in the murder of his daughter and brought the real killer to justice. She should feel at least some sense of gratification in achieving justice for Micaela and her father.
It wasn’t until they pushed through the doors of the airport that she realized where the feeling was coming from.
Owen.
Now that the trip was over and they’d parted ways, she realized she’d been waiting for him to give her some kind of sign. That he missed her. That he still had feelings for her. That he wanted her to stay.
The fact that he hadn’t left her feeling… depressed.
They found their gate and settled into a row of seats near a window. Darger stared out at the rippling blue water in the distance, wallowing in her disappointment.
“Well, Agent Darger?” the reporter’s voice broke in. “Any thoughts on your first Caribbean vacation?”
“Sure,” Darger said. “It was too short.”
Spinks laughed.
“Now you’re starting to get it.”
Darger suddenly recalled something he’d said at the beginning of the trip. Life is too short to not spend as much time as possible on sandy beaches. Then she thought back on how excited Spinks had been to simply try some food from a roadside stand. And she wondered if the reporter had figured something out there.
Maybe the key to a happy life was to stop waiting for some big, life-changing thing to happen to you, and to instead take the small
opportunities for joy as they presented themselves.
Without realizing it, Darger stood up.
“Problem?” Loshak asked.
“Uh… yeah.” Darger’s throat felt dry when she swallowed. “I can’t get on the plane.”
“What’s that?”
She picked up her bag.
“I’m staying. I have some vacation time saved up. And I already flew all the way here.” She shrugged. “It would almost seem like a waste to not stay a few more days and actually get some enjoyment out of it.”
Loshak rolled his eyes over to Spinks.
“Finally.”
She furrowed her brow.
“What?”
He leaned back in his seat.
“It’s just that I’ve been waiting for you to figure out that there’s more to life than work for a while now.”
She scoffed.
“Says the guy that almost died of pancreatitis rather than take a day off.”
Loshak held up a finger.
“Ah, but I learned my lesson.” He smiled then. “Go on, then. Run along to the beach. Go drink one of those funny blue drinks they’ve got here. Relax for once.”
EPILOGUE
After several minutes of explaining to the woman at the rental car service that yes, she had just returned a car, and yes, she really did want to rent another, she was back in the very same Kia Picanto they’d had in the first place. She parked in the marina lot and waved at Raul as she passed by the outdoor office.
The closer she got to Owen’s boat, the more nervous she felt. What if he didn’t want her to stay? What if he really did have a girlfriend somewhere, and she was about to make things very awkward?
She paused just before his slip. What if he wasn’t even here? Should she wait? On the boat? Or was that presumptuous? Or maybe even rude? Like entering someone’s home without their permission.
She was still hovering there, trying to decide if she should climb on board and knock at the cabin door when it swung open. Owen appeared from the depths below, a beer in each hand.
“Well, hello,” he said, spotting her immediately.
“Expecting someone?” she asked, nodding at the second beer.
“Yeah.” He walked over to the rails and handed her one of the bottles before helping her climb aboard. “You.”
She pursed her lips.
“How did you know I’d be back?”
He raised his arms in the air and looked up at the sky.
“I manifested it.”
Darger let out a snort.
“Manifesting. Chakras. You didn’t go all new age on me, did you?”
Owen opened the top of his beer and took a seat.
“Hey, worst-case scenario: you don’t come back, and I have to drink both myself.” He crossed his legs at the ankle. “Best case scenario, I impress you with my laser-like instincts and end up looking pretty fucking slick.”
Darger laughed.
“There it is. The classic Baxter arrogance.”
His mouth spread into a grin.
“After we finish our beers, we should head down to the beach. You haven’t been yet, have you?”
“Nope.”
He tapped a finger against his lips
“Of course, I’ll have to call all of my beach bunny skanks, first. Tell them I’m off-limits for a few days.”
Darger’s cheeks went red.
“You’re not going to let me forget that one, huh?”
“Not in a million years,” he said, then gestured at her with his bottle. “I missed that, you know?”
“What?”
“Making you blush.”
“The beach bunny skanks don’t blush?” Darger asked with a smirk.
“Not the way you do.”
When they’d emptied their bottles, Owen stood up.
“So what do you say? Should we head down to the beach?”
“Yes,” Darger said. “But first, I need to do a little shopping. There’s no way I’m spending this impromptu vacation in my work clothes, and I can’t wear those itty bitty denim cut-offs all week.”
After outfitting herself in more island-appropriate clothing, she and Owen found a little thatched-roof cabana on the sand where they drank cocktails with tiny umbrellas and had a lunch of fried lion fish. The next day, he took her snorkeling in Playa Lagun, and then they fed flamingos at the sea aquarium. They drove out to a rocky beach far on the northwest end of the island where waves crashed violently into the shore, sending spray everywhere. They hiked through Christoffel park, and Darger finally got a taste of the jungle terrain she’d been expecting. One afternoon they spent just lounging in hammocks at Mambo Beach.
Owen put a hand up to shield his eyes from the sun and squinted over at her.
“We could do Hato caves tomorrow,” he suggested.
Darger put up a hand.
“No caves.”
“Oh right,” Owen said. “You had that whole thing with your last case. The guy with the caves and tunnels under his house.”
Despite the heat of the sun beaming down on her, Darger felt a sudden chill and resisted the urge to shudder.
“But this is different,” Owen went on. “The caves are all lit up, and there are spots where the caverns open up overhead, and you can see the sky—”
“No caves,” she repeated.
Instead, Darger agreed to go parasailing, which turned out to be way more fun (and less terrifying) than she’d anticipated.
They mostly ate at small stands and rustic seaside restaurants, but one night Owen insisted on taking Darger to dinner at one of the luxury resorts, where they dined in a private gazebo literally built on top of the water. They ate an absurdly priced meal paired with fancy cocktails meant to “enhance each course,” to quote the pretentious-as-hell menu.
And then toward the end, Owen got down on one knee and pulled a ring from his pocket.
“Violet Darger…”
She gaped at him, her mind reeling. She couldn’t believe this was happening. They were having a great time, sure. But proposing after being kinda-sorta back together for barely a week? It was insane. And even worse, the waiter was heading down the dock at this very moment with their dessert.
“Owen, what are you doing?” Darger hissed. Her face felt hot.
“Just go along with it,” Owen said through his teeth. “I heard a rumor that they’ll comp your drinks if you get engaged here.”
Darger’s mind whirred. It was… fake?
OK. That actually made sense. And was kind of funny, now that she thought of it.
She started to laugh.
“Violet Darger,” he began again, cranking his Georgian accent up a notch. “Ever since the time I took you to see Mötley Crüe, and you threw your panties on stage, I knew you was the one. And I was going to wait to do this at the Red Lobster where we first met and fell in love on account of how I had won a gift certificate off the radio, but well… I simply couldn’t wait any longer. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”
Darger tried to choke out a yes, but resorted to nodding instead. She was laughing so hard now that she had tears in her eyes.
Owen slipped the ring on her finger and kissed her.
“Allow me to be the first to congratulate you,” the waiter said, setting a crystal goblet filled with chocolate mousse in front of each of them. “And on behalf of the Twin Palms, your drinks tonight are on the house.”
“Well that’s awful generous of y’all,” Owen said, winking at her from across the table.
As they exited the resort that night, Darger was still giggling over the whole thing.
“If you ever do anything like that again, I will murder you. And unlike Hendrick de Haas, I could actually get away with it.”
Owen cackled.
“You thought I was for real there for a second, didn’t you?”
“Of course I did,” Darger said, chuckling. “What kind of maniac does something like that just to get the drinks comped?”
> “You should know me well enough to know that’s not my style. I cringe every time I see some fool pulling out a ring in public.”
Darger groaned.
“It’s so awkward. Painful. Seems like these guys are trying to max out the peer pressure.”
“Exactly,” Owen said. “Can you imagine just springing that on someone?”
“I knew a girl in college.” Darger shook her head. “She’d been dating this guy for a few months, and she went to some kind of family function with him. He ended up popping the question in front of his entire family, in the middle of an Olive Garden. She said yes because she didn’t want to embarrass him, but as soon as she was alone with him later, she gave him the ring back and backed out of it.”
Owen clutched his chest.
“Oh God. That is the most tragic thing I’ve ever heard.”
The fake diamond on Darger’s finger glinted orange in the glow of the lights in the parking lot.
“So… where did you get the ring?” Darger asked, holding up her bejeweled hand.
“At that little souvenir shop we went into this morning.”
Darger stopped.
“Wait. You had this whole stunt planned that far in advance?”
“Of course,” Owen said with a smirk.
Darger put her hands on her hips.
“Why didn’t you warn me?”
Owen’s smirk intensified into a devilish grin.
“You kidding? The whole point was to see your face go maroon when I got down on one knee.”
Darger gave him a playful shove.
“You fucker.”
“And I must say, it was a priceless expression. I wish I’d taken a picture. You looked like you were about to mess your drawers.”
“I was about to mess my drawers,” Darger said, wiping a tear of laughter from the corner of her eye. “I really thought you’d lost your damn mind there for a second.”
When the week came to an end, so did Darger’s impromptu vacation. She was due back at Quantico on Monday to start a lecture series for the newest group of cadets entering the Academy. There was no putting it off.
