by Dale Mayer
“Oh, Jesus,” he said, straightening. “Is Brenda okay?”
“Well, maybe head-on is not quite the right word,” he said. “Basically a vehicle smashed into the passenger side, right where Brenda sat. She’s been taken to the hospital, banged up but okay. The hospital’s keeping her overnight because of her other injuries and all. The admiral has posted two security guards as well.”
“Security guards?” Keane’s voice hardened. “Are we thinking this was deliberate?”
“The admiral said the other vehicle, which was driving on his side of the road, suddenly came across the center line and targeted the passenger side.”
“So somebody tried to kill her?”
“That’s what he’s afraid of. He’s opening a full investigation and has already found out that the vehicle was stolen.”
“From where?”
“The same apartment building where Brenda lives.”
Keane sat back and thought about that. “God, she just gets back after a trauma like nearly drowning, then the bullshit afterward with Greg, and now gets attacked?”
“Yeah. So then came the question of why.”
“Of course, the first off the top of my head is the smugglers,” he said.
“Exactly. That guy we let loose in his Zodiac, by the way? The other rescue boat did locate it and our smuggler. Dead, with a bullet between the eyes.”
“Wow,” Keane said. “Talk about tying up loose ends.”
“What are the chances somebody else was on that island?” Lennox asked.
“It’s definitely possible,” Keane said. “We knew that. Honestly, half a dozen people could have been there if they were familiar with island and knew what they were doing. We could have been under watch the entire time.”
“There’s a disconcerting thought,” Lennox said.
“I know, right? Now the question is, where and how do we find out who was after Brenda tonight? I doubt the smugglers followed us all the way back to her apartment.” But then he stopped. “Shit. I mean, we could have been followed all the way back,” he said.
“I didn’t see anyone,” Lennox said. “But, if they wanted to make sure she didn’t survive that trip to the island, that’s one hell of a way to do it.”
“Nobody else survived,” Keane said.
“The four of us did,” Lennox said, “but that’s it.”
“Great. Obviously, if Brenda’s in the hospital under guard, Sandrine is potentially in danger as well.”
“Which is why I’m calling,” Lennox said. “Brenda’s dad couldn’t identify the driver, but it was a lone male.”
“Well, that’s something, but that could be the smugglers, or it could even be her stupid ex-boyfriend, Greg.”
“Ex-boyfriend?”
“Well, I don’t know that Brenda broke up with him yet,” Keane said. “If she was smart, she would. Sandrine thinks she should. But the two of them haven’t had any time to talk. I’ve been with Sandrine the whole time, and Brenda’s been with the admiral.”
“But still, it’s quite likely that’s what she would have done. Especially if Greg kept trying to contact her when she made it clear she wanted some alone time.”
“But that’s not a reason to kill her.”
“No,” Lennox said. “I’m down at the hospital now, and I’m hoping to ask both her and her father some questions.”
“Well, maybe you should come here afterward,” Keane said. “I’ll stand watch on Sandrine tonight. She’s gone to bed now that we’re back from dinner, but I wouldn’t feel good about leaving her alone until we find out what’s going on.”
“Yeah, you definitely need to stay there. I’ll be by in a couple hours to give you a break on watch.”
“Well, check in with me when you’re done at the hospital,” he said. “I’ll see what’s happening here.”
“Hopefully nothing,” Lennox said.
“I hope so,” he said, “but I’m not that confident at the moment.”
“Later, man,” Lennox said as the hung up.
Keane put away his phone, his mind spinning. He looked up to see Sandrine standing nearby.
“What was that?” she asked. She wore the tiniest of nighties with little spaghetti straps.
Not only did it not hide a damn thing, it seemed to highlight every damn thing that he wanted to see. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes for a moment. “Do you mind putting on a robe?” But she either didn’t hear him or didn’t understand.
“What was that? What’s going on with Brenda?”
He groaned. “That was Lennox. He’s calling from the hospital. At Brenda’s bedside in fact.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Sandrine cried out, rushing forward. “Is she okay?”
“She’s okay,” he said, “but there’s been an incident.”
Sandrine stared at him in shock—her jaw literally dropping. “What kind of an incident?”
He motioned toward the table, and she sat across from him, her hands immediately reaching for his. Trying to avoid seeing her plump breasts right at the edge of the table, he swallowed and kept his gaze on her face. “She and her father were in a hit-and-run accident.”
“What?”
He explained what Lennox had said, and she sank back in shock.
“She survives nearly drowning in the ocean, being injured and stranded on a deserted island, drug smugglers trying to kill her, and, after she finally makes it home, somebody tries to run her down a block from her apartment?”
“Not exactly. Sounds like both vehicles were driving on a small side street, but the admiral felt the driver seemed to accelerate and to target her position in the car when he rammed it.”
“My God!” she said, huge tears welling up in her eyes. “What is going on?”
“Well, one of the first thoughts that Lennox and I were just discussing,” he said, “is whether the drug smugglers knew anything about her, and we wondered if they had decided to cross off more loose ends.”
She stared at him uncomprehendingly.
“After we got picked up off the island, as we were underway, we saw a boat floating out in the ocean,” he said. “The second coast guard boat went to check it out and identified the one smuggler that we had seen earlier on the island.”
“The one that left after shooting his partner?”
“Exactly.”
“And was he alive?”
“No, he wasn’t. He’d been shot between the eyes.”
“But why though? So he couldn’t say anything?”
“Yes, and probably as punishment for leaving the smuggling profession. Jobs like that are permanent. They probably assumed that he was trying to take off. Or maybe they had a conversation with him first. I don’t know. But the end result is that he’s dead.”
“So they definitely were eliminating outstanding threats to their operation.”
“Exactly. So the question is, did they know that you and Brenda were there, and are they trying to take down the rest of their loose ends?”
“Jesus,” she said, staring at him in shock. “Does this ever end?”
He nodded. “It does. Just not as fast as we had hoped.”
“Do you really think that’s likely?” she asked, speaking slowly. “The only ones who saw our faces are dead now.”
“The only ones who saw your faces that you know of,” he said quietly. “Lennox and I were just discussing whether somebody else could have been on that island. Who maybe didn’t know we were there or where we were at.”
“But, if we didn’t know they were there, and they didn’t know about us,” she said, “why would they care if we lived or died?”
“Because it could be a place they use on a regular basis,” he said, “and maybe they want to make sure nobody’ll keep sniffing around their operation.”
Chapter 13
“That is just so bizarre,” she whispered.
“I know,” he said. “But it is what it is.”
She shook her head. “I need
to go to the hospital and see her.”
“No,” he said. “You need to stay here, safe and sound.”
She jutted her jaw out at him.
He grinned. “Lennox has gone to the hospital to see what’s going on. The admiral has hired two security guards to make sure Brenda stays safe there.”
“None of this makes any sense,” she said, feeling bewildered. “We just went sailing for one stupid day.”
“And sometimes you cross paths with all the wrong people,” he said.
“Exactly,” she said. “And now what?”
“Now we wait,” he said. “You go to bed and sleep until morning, when hopefully we’ll have more answers. Lennox or I will be here all night. We also must consider the possibility that it could have just been an accident.”
“Because we’re all hypersensitive and think the boogeyman’s turning up in every corner?” She liked that idea. But somehow she knew it wouldn’t be that easy.
“Listen. I have to ask you this. Would Greg do anything like this?”
She stared at him in shock. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m clearly not the best judge. I wouldn’t have thought he would sleep with Brenda’s sister or go with the ‘all men are cheaters’ defense. Hell, I wouldn’t have thought he’d set me up to ride on the ‘happily ever after’ sailing adventure.”
“Got it. I understand,” he admitted. “And why would he try to hurt Brenda now?”
“Only in rage,” she said. “It doesn’t make any sense any other way.”
“Right,” he said. “Okay. So I really suggest you go back to bed and see if you can get some rest. Lennox will call me after he’s learned whatever he can at the hospital.”
“Nobody could identify the driver? If it was Greg, Brenda should have seen him, right?”
“Apparently she was lying back a bit, with her eyes closed, when they were hit. By the time the admiral managed to get his wits about him, the driver was already long gone.”
“And the vehicle?”
“Stolen from the same apartment complex she lives in.”
As he watched, Sandrine shoulders sagged. “I don’t want to believe it was Greg,” she said, “but I just don’t know anymore.”
Keane stood. Tugging her to her feet, he wrapped her in his arms and said, “Go on back to bed.”
“I can’t sleep now,” she said, staring up at him. “You can’t possibly think that’ll work?”
“I know, and I’m sorry,” Keane said. “I was hoping you would sleep and find this out in the morning, after we knew more.”
“I don’t want to find this out any time of day,” she said, but she did turn and head toward the bedroom. “God.” Not getting far, she collapsed on the couch in the living room and said, “It makes no sense at all.”
“I know,” he said, “but look. You still need to try to sleep,” he said.
She shook her head, yet she wandered back to the bedroom. “I just hate to think of Brenda and all she’d been through. I can’t believe it’s Greg,” she said.
“So who else?” he asked, leaning against her doorway.
She loved the look of him here. She looked back at her bed, then at him and said, “I know one way to put this all out of my mind.”
He shook his head. “Oh, no. I won’t be an exercise to help you forget the things going on in your life,” he scolded lightly.
She smiled. “Maybe not,” she said, “but you know it’s something that you and I both want. And right now, I sure as hell would appreciate something to take my mind off all this.” With a shrug, she crawled into bed. “It’s a pretty shitty world out there.”
“You don’t have to be part of it to that extent,” he said.
“Bullshit,” she said, surprising them both. “It’s already on my plate, so what am I supposed to do about it now?”
He frowned.
She nodded. “Exactly.” As she lay here, she looked up at him and said, “What if it was Scott?”
His mouth formed a tight grim line as he shook his head. “We can’t try to cram somebody into the role,” he said slowly, “just because we would like it to be him.”
Well, he was right that she would like it to be Scott. She was so done with that man. “What if he heard that Brenda had seen him push me?” At his indrawn breath, she nodded. “I don’t know how he would have heard that, or maybe he didn’t know for sure,” she said. “I’m grasping at straws. But, if he found out what she saw, maybe, by taking her out of the equation, it becomes my word against his.”
“And if he tries to take you out again?” Keane asked.
She stared at him and swallowed hard. “Jesus, I don’t like this theory.” She sat up against the headboard, grabbed her covers and pulled them up to her chest. “So, if it is him, how do we find out?”
Keane had his phone out and was walking into the other room, probably talking to Lennox.
She groaned and dropped her head against the headboard. She really did want him in bed with her, but not just as a teddy bear for comfort for the night.
As she lay here, staring at the balcony, she remembered something else. She got up slowly and went to the glass doors. Opening them, she stepped out. She stood there for a long moment, and, reassured that nobody was here, she finally stepped back into her bedroom.
Keane stood there, staring at her. “What’s the matter?”
She shrugged and then said, “I just remembered that one time we were locked out of the apartment. Scott managed to get in by climbing onto the balcony.”
His eyebrows shot up, and he strode over to the balcony and looked down. “You’re on the second floor, and those trees are too damn close.”
“And,” she said, “look. Dumpsters over there by the lower patio, and they have that long trellis there.”
He looked at it and nodded. “Still a bit dodgy but, if it doesn’t work, that’s a short fall to recover from.”
“But that would mean we were thinking that he might try to break in.”
“Well, who knows at this point?” Keane said. “And why would he need to, if you’ll leave him a key under a mat?” he said, raising his eyebrow and shaking his head. “Greg told me that Scott tried to call you multiple times and tried to come see you, and you didn’t answer.”
She frowned at him. “I didn’t answer the phone calls, but I don’t know anything about him ever coming here. I didn’t know he even knew where I was living since we broke up two months ago.”
“Have you noticed any trouble?”
She shook her head. “No, nothing. And, for the record, I just stuck that duplicate key there because I wasn’t taking my purse or anything on the sailing trip.”
“I don’t know,” he said. “Is everything still the way it’s been? Any valuables missing?”
“Everything’s the same. No, nothing’s missing that I’ve noticed.” She studied where his focus landed, places oddly inconsistent with his questions. She looked up at him. “Come on. Something is on your mind. What is it?”
“The reasons why a boyfriend who doesn’t want to break up with somebody might come into her place.”
“And you’re thinking what?”
“Video cameras,” he said bluntly.
The color drained from her face, and she felt her stomach sinking. She sagged down on the bad. “What for?” she asked faintly.
“To put on the internet for revenge is one thing,” he said. “For his own personal voyeurism is another.”
She buried her face in her hands as she thought about it. “I haven’t noticed anything, but can you check?”
“I’ll check now,” he said. “But tomorrow morning, let’s get these locks changed.” As he looked at the balcony, he frowned and said, “On second thought, how about you just move? This place isn’t very secure.”
“Right,” she said. “I really don’t like this apartment anyway.”
“You don’t really need anything else to give yourself permission to move,” he said; then he went through th
e apartment. When he came back, he shook his head. “I don’t see anything.”
“Oh, good, thank you,” she said. “You hear such nightmares about an ex posting sex pictures to humiliate their partners and things like that.”
“Did he ever take videos or pictures of you like that?”
She shook her head. “No, it’s not my thing,” she said slowly. “I’ve always been a little worried about that.”
“Good thing,” he said, “and we don’t know for sure that he had ever done that before, in your former apartment or his, when you were together. Guys with bruised egos aren’t always that truthful with their friends.”
“Right,” she said, giving her face a scrub. “You’ll stay for the night, right?”
“Yes, and, should I need to leave, Lennox will come over,” he said.
“And you’ll call me if Brenda’s condition worsens? Or if she needs me?”
“I promise,” he said.
“Okay then, I’ll try to sleep because it sounds like I’ll have a lot to do tomorrow. First thing I’ll do is give notice and find a new apartment.”
“Let’s get you through tonight first,” he said.
“But seriously, I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to.” And, with that, she dropped her head onto her pillow and waved her hand.
“Does that mean goodbye, get out of here or what?” he asked with a smile.
“Well, I’d ask for a good-night kiss, but that would be too dangerous.”
“I wouldn’t mind a good-night kiss,” he said, his voice thickening. When he came over and dropped down beside her, he gave her a gentle kiss.
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “A real kiss would be better.”
By the time he kissed her for real, and he finally lifted his head, they were both panting. “Jesus,” he said, dropping his forehead to rest on hers.
“I know,” she said, sliding her tongue along his mouth and just inside the edge of his lips. “So much damn heat is between us.”
“It’s not always like this,” he said, gently kissing her on her cheeks and her chin. “And this doesn’t change anything. I won’t be just a fling to get you through the night.”
“You’re not a teddy bear to comfort me tonight,” she said. “You’re somebody I want to spend some time with. To figure out if what we have can go anywhere. And that’s not a surprise to you.”
