by Carol Ross
“I went to the committee anyway. Long story short, we have made a special arrangement for funds to be awarded to Pacific Cove. We’re calling it the Judges’ Choice Award. For your pool specifically.”
She handed Aubrey a check. Two checks actually. “I hope I made them out correctly.”
She studied the numbers carefully, adding them together no less than six times, and coming up with the same outrageous total. Shock and joy mingled within her. “But this is way more than the original prize money amount.”
“I know.” Mary added a wink. “There’s something else I need to share with you.”
“I don’t think I can take much more. I’m about to cry as it is. And let me tell you, Mary, I don’t cry often.”
Mary looked pretty happy herself. “I hope they are the good kind of tears. My father is Werner Patrick.”
“Werner Patrick, the four-time Olympic Gold Medal swimmer?”
Mary awarded her with a satisfied nod. “I suspected you might know of him. That’s the one. Well, he was also a very successful businessman. He had more money than he knew what to do with—more than my sister and I needed to inherit, that’s for sure. And my sister and I agree that he would be delighted with us giving some of his money to a program like yours. That’s why there are two checks...”
Aubrey listened to the amazing news that would make her dream come true. The pool was going to be saved, after all, along with funds to expand her program for kids who couldn’t afford lessons. The phrase too good to be true flashed through her mind, but in this case she could rest easy. It wasn’t too good because along with the good had come the realization of a horrible betrayal.
* * *
ELI AND GALE LISTENED with rapt attention to Aubrey’s story, asking a few questions, but mostly absorbing the information.
“Why would he do this?” she finally asked. “Even though he wasn’t crazy about Pacific Cove’s participation initially, he really came through for me, helping out in so many ways. Just like this whole ordeal with Nina. He’s gone above and beyond. Helping with Marion while she was in the hospital, bringing her firewood, taking her supplies, repairing the shelves in her canning shed...”
Gale was wearing a scowl, no doubt wondering if Alex had designs on Nina.
With wide, somber eyes, she added, “He knows how much saving the pool means to me, how much that contest meant. If he would do this—sabotage me like this—then I have to believe he’s probably guilty of...more than I thought.” She held up a hand, palm up and out, in Eli’s direction. “Don’t say it,” she said. “Please don’t ‘I told you so’ me about this.”
“Aubrey, I won’t. I wouldn’t do that. I know how difficult this is for you, because in spite of what you’ve been thinking about me, I am not taking this lightly.”
Dipping her chin, she placed one hand on her forehead. He knew she was trying to absorb it all. He was still hurting himself, trying to accept the fact that Alex was guilty, that Alex was not the friend he believed him to be. He couldn’t imagine his life without Alex’s friendship in it. It hit Eli hard, then, knowing how it must have hurt her when he’d left. Ending their romance had been one thing, but withholding his friendship had been truly grievous.
“Drug running or smuggling or dealing or whatever he’s doing is horrible, of course, but this is unforgivable. To me.” She pointed at herself. “This is personal. Why would he do this?”
“It’s the promo, the commercial,” Gale, who had been mostly silent, finally spoke up. “He didn’t want Aubrey and the mayor to win because he didn’t want that commercial shoot here in Pacific Cove. He’s afraid of the town being in the spotlight. Afraid the attention and the publicity would put his operation at risk.”
Eli felt another piece of the puzzle fall into place. He agreed. “You’re right. That would explain why he’s been so against the recent development, as well. I thought that seemed odd for Alex with his business presence here.”
“Which means,” Gale said, “that he’s probably in even deeper than we think.”
Eli looked at Aubrey. “I know your inclination is to confront him. But please stay away from him—you and Nina and Camile. We believe that Nina was run off the road because they thought Alex was driving that pickup. If they’re willing to harm Alex, these people are not going to care who else gets in the way.” Eli didn’t say that Alex might be just as dangerous. He didn’t have to.
The shock and resignation on Aubrey’s face tore at him. She was tough, yes—tougher than any woman he’d ever known, and most men, too. But she’d been through an awful lot in the last few weeks. This emotional stuff was its own special kind of exhausting. It was mentally taxing.
He walked toward her and enfolded her hand in his. Her skin was so cold it seemed to seep right into him. He leaned over and kissed her softly.
“Why don’t you go home and take a hot bath? Get some rest. I’ll come over later when I can. And we’ll talk about some stuff?”
* * *
ELI WALKED HER OUT. He gave her another kiss and she climbed into her SUV.
She started the engine, pulled away from the curb and headed in the direction of her house. She couldn’t abide the idea of being alone. There was only one person she wanted to see right now, aside from Eli. And she knew he needed to do his job.
He was going to have their best friend arrested. Their third musketeer.
Alex...
She swallowed a sob. She couldn’t go home. She needed to move, to do...something. At the end of the street, she turned right instead of left.
She drove out to Nina’s farm, hoping for some solace. Instead that’s where the heartbreak really began.
* * *
ELI WAS STILL pondering Alex’s choices when he picked up his phone an hour later.
His dad answered on the second ring. “Hey, Dad.”
“Hey, son.”
“Are you still coming over for dinner? Gale is cooking.”
“Um, actually, I’m not feeling well. Can we reschedule?”
“Sure. But what’s wrong?”
“Just a headache. I’m going to turn in early tonight.”
“Okay. Get some rest and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Sounds good. Hey, did I by any chance leave my jacket over there?”
“I don’t know. Let me check.” Eli walked and talked and finally spotted it on the floor behind a dining room chair. He picked it up. “Yeah, looks like you did.”
“Good. I couldn’t find it.”
They talked for another moment. Eli clicked off. He went to hang the jacket on a hook by the door when something slipped out of the pocket. He picked up the paper and went to stuff it back inside. His eye was drawn to his dad’s neatly printed note. His flight itinerary: AA 1254 EYW to PDX, 5:30 pm, 2A. Below that he’d written “SB” and underlined it. SB? Did his dad have a girlfriend? Eli hoped so. Maybe that would explain his good mood of late.
He’d told Eli he’d flown from Key West to Portland standby, so why did he have his flight information written down? And since when had his dad started flying first class?
So, he’d heard him wrong. Good for him on all counts, he thought, replacing the paper and hanging up the jacket.
He slid onto the stool behind the bar between the kitchen and dining area. Gale, bless him, was cracking eggs to scramble for dinner.
“Remember how the DEA guys said that it was almost like no one was at Alex’s properties? And we figured it was because things were quiet for the holidays?”
“Mmm-hmm,” Gale said as he added a splash of cream and whisked the eggs. “Do you know why free-range egg yolks are darker than eggs from caged hens? It’s their diet,” he explained without waiting for Eli to answer. “They eat more natural pigments.”
“What does that even mean? ‘Natural pigments’?”
“Like flowers and bugs and stuff. I read it online. Isn’t that cool?”
“I think he knows. He knows we’re on to him, and he’s moved the d
rugs.”
Gale paused the whisk he’d been using to mix the eggs. He stared down into the bowl and then tossed it all into the sink where it made a clanking sound.
“What are you doing?”
“Let’s go,” he said, already running for the door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
THE DOOR WAS unlocked so Aubrey knocked and opened it at the same time. Since Nina’s ribs were still healing, she didn’t want to make her move around unnecessarily. Marion greeted her with a happy dance and a wagging tail.
“Hello, gorgeous.” She bent over and kissed the top of the dog’s silky head. “If my sister didn’t love you so much, I would dognap you. I would. I’m not saying it’s right, but that’s how much I adore you.”
Marion nuzzled her hand in appreciation.
“Where’s your mom?”
She let out one of those whine-yawns dogs do when they’re anxious. Aubrey looked around, suddenly struck with a nervous bout of “been there, done that.” She stood upright and called for her sister. “Nina?”
“Aubrey?” Her sister’s voice instantly calmed her racing pulse.
“Where are you?”
“Kitchen.”
She found her on top of a step ladder. The very top. She forced herself not to think about what would happen if she fell or had a seizure while she was up there. Instead she asked, “What are you doing?”
Nina pointed to the light fixture above her. “Changing a lightbulb.”
“What about your ribs?”
“I’m not going to lie to you, Aubrey. They hurt. Bad. The pain you hear about broken ribs is not an exaggeration, FYI. I’ve been up here about ten minutes and I’ve barely taken a breath.”
“Why are you doing it, then? That light fixture has, like, ten bulbs. It can wait. And you know there’s a warning on that top step, right? You’re not supposed to stand on it.”
“You know,” she said, slowly inching a foot down onto the rung below and then pausing, “for someone as brave and adventurous as you are, you are such a stickler for rules. There wouldn’t be a step if you weren’t supposed to step on it, right? And I’m up here because I’m really tired of not being able to do what I want to do. So I decided to do some stuff. Earlier today, I started taking down the Christmas decorations. Then Alex showed up and offered to help. This burned-out bulb has been bugging me.”
“Alex?”
“Yeah, he brought some groceries out for me and offered to help haul the decorations out to the canning shed.”
“What time was he here?” Aubrey asked, careful to keep her voice even.
“He got here about an hour ago.”
“Got here? Where is he now? I didn’t see any of his vehicles.” Alex had several cars. She suddenly wondered if what she’d assumed were business vehicles had been purchased with drug money.
“He loaded the Christmas stuff in his pickup and drove it out to the shed to unload. Pretty clever, huh?”
“Nina, can you come down from there? There’s something I need to talk to you about.”
“Yes, I can. I’m done. This might take a while...” As she slowly moved one foot to the step below, Aubrey felt herself expel a relieved breath. When she reached the bottom she asked, “What do you need to talk to me about?”
“About Alex. There’s something I need to tell you.”
Marion let out a whimper and somehow Aubrey knew he was behind her before he said a word.
“Hey, Alex,” Nina said.
“What about me?” His voice was the same jovial Alex, yet a frisson of fear tickled along her spine. She told herself not to panic. There was no reason to believe he was dangerous.
Forcing her mouth into a smile, she turned to face him. “Hey, there. You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
“Why not?”
Was she imagining the tightness in his tone? “Because it’s a surprise.”
“A surprise?”
“Uh, yep. I have a surprise for you. To thank you for everything you’ve done for Nina lately.”
He leaned against the door frame, a enigmatic smirk on his face. “What a coincidence. I have a surprise for you, too.”
And that’s when Aubrey knew. The man staring her down was not Alex. Somewhere, at some point, while she was too busy with her own life to notice, that Alex had disappeared. Her mom was right; she could be oblivious. Because her friend had disappeared and she’d missed it.
“I love surprises,” Nina said, shuffling closer. “Where is it?”
“In the canning shed,” Alex said. “Come with me, ladies. I’ll show you.”
* * *
AS ELI DROVE, Gale explained his theory while scrolling through his phone. “She told me about all the storage space she has out there. I saw it even, and it didn’t occur to me.”
Eli had seen it, too. He’d worked there for years. The farm would be the perfect place to stash drugs. Alex could have easily hidden anything out there while Nina was in the hospital. And she likely wouldn’t have found it since then because she could barely move. It was a brilliant solution on his part. But then again, he knew very well how clever Alex could be.
“She’s not answering.”
“Call Aubrey.”
“I am.”
They waited. She didn’t answer.
“Try Camile.”
“Already on it... Camile? Hey, it’s Gale... Uh, yeah, I am, thanks. Have you by any chance talked to Nina today?” They chatted for another minute before he hung up. He banged a fist on the dash. “Camile talked to her an hour ago. She was busy taking down her Christmas decorations. With Alex.”
“I’m calling Les and Tom.” They were the DEA agents who’d been handling the surveillance.
Eli tried to control his fear even as he pressed the accelerator to the floor.
* * *
THE FIRST THING Aubrey noticed as she stepped into the storage shed were the two wooden crates on the floor. The door to the cellar was open and she knew immediately what Alex had planned. Her only chance was to stall until she could figure out a way to incapacitate him. He probably outweighed her by close to a hundred pounds, but she knew he would be no match for her training and superior physical condition.
She pointed at the boxes. “Is that what I think it is?”
Alex shrugged. “Probably.”
“What is it?” Nina asked, following her inside. “Is this our surprise?”
“Yes, Nina. Our surprise is that our friend Alex, who we love like a brother, is a drug dealer. Alex, please don’t do this.”
He answered with a harsh laugh. “You have no clue what you’re saying, Aubrey. The problem, however, is that I don’t know what clues you do have. But it’s obvious that Eli has told you something, enough that I can’t risk you trying to stop me from leaving. Please, get in the cellar.”
“Really? You’re going to lock us in the root cellar? How original.”
“I have no choice here, Aubrey, and you know it. And before you get any ideas—Or maybe I should say before you decide to implement any of the ideas that I know are flying through that military-trained brain of yours, please take note of the fact that I have this.” He opened his jacket and there was no mistaking the gun in the holster on his side.
Nina wore a look of total confusion. “Wait, is this a joke? What is going on?”
“I’m sorry, Nina.” And he did look kind of sorry as he turned toward her. “I know you’re in pain. So I’ll give you plenty of time to get down the stairs. Lean against the wall for support, okay? Aubrey will be right down.”
“What are you guys...?”
Aubrey reached out and squeezed her sister’s forearm. She tried to convey the seriousness of the situation with her expression and her tone. “Nina, just do it, please. I’ll explain later. Alex is in trouble.”
“Not yet I’m not. Thanks to the use of Nina’s farm. Thank you, Nina.”
Nina stood frozen with shock as she stared at Alex. Her mouth opened as if she was going to say som
ething. Aubrey willed her to cooperate with a look. Nina turned and shuffled toward the stairs. Anger and contempt welled in her as she watched her sister’s snaillike descent. She knew every step must be agony.
“Alex, this is crazy. How could you do this?”
He shook his head. “I don’t have time to explain my motivation to you. And I don’t think I need to. Why does anyone enter into a business enterprise?”
“Money? You have all the money you could ever need.”
He scoffed. “What does that mean? How do you know how much money I need? And it’s not just money... You wouldn’t understand.”
Aubrey slipped her hands into her pockets, her fingers grazing the knight-shaped ornament Eli had crafted for her. She curled it into her fingers and held on tight, feeling the tiny lance bite into the flesh of her palm.
“Did you get Pacific Cove disqualified from the Christmas competition?”
He looked surprised by the question for a second. Then he rolled his eyes and said impatiently, “Yes, Aubrey, I did. I’m sorry about that. But it was clear to me you were going to win the stupid thing and I couldn’t have TV cameras, reporters and people snooping around. Amazing what the threat of a lawsuit can accomplish.”
Eli would come here. She knew he would. But how long would it take? If only she had told him where she was going. And how would he figure out where they were once he got to the farm? Once they were sealed inside that root cellar, it could be days before anyone found them. Slowly, she removed her hands from her pockets.
“You’re my best friend, Alex. And I suddenly feel like I don’t know you at all.”
He scoffed. “This doesn’t have anything to do with our friendship, Aubrey. As far as I’m concerned, you’re still my friend. But I’m not like you and Eli. There are things that are important to me beyond honor and loyalty and love of country. Believe it or not, there are things that are more important than our friendship.”
A noise sounded outside the door. As Alex glanced in that direction, Aubrey seized on the distraction, tossing the ornament to one side. She tried to cover the sound with a cough.
