by Carol Ross
His gaze flew to her again. “We could talk about this all day, but it wouldn’t change anything. You would never understand. Because you have everything you want. You’re a hero in this town, a hero to your dad, to my dad, to Eli—” He stopped abruptly and pointed. “You need to get down those stairs now. We need to get going.”
“‘We’?” She repeated as she saw movement just outside the doorway. A figure came into view. “No,” she said. No. No, no, no...
* * *
ELI TURNED ONTO the road that led to Nina’s. As they neared the house, he felt some tension loosen his shoulders. Nina’s and Aubrey’s were the only vehicles parked outside.
“He’s not here,” Eli said aloud.
“Thanks, Les.” Gale hung up. “He says they lost Alex earlier when they had to take a conference call. But the good news is that the call sealed the deal for the warrants. They’ve got them for his house and property. And the local police are bringing him in for questioning regarding Nina’s accident.”
They got out of the pickup and headed to the house only to find their relief was short-lived. Wild barking ensued as they knocked on the door. When no one answered, Eli pushed it open to discover a frantic Marion, barking and running in circles. A quick search revealed the house was empty.
Without saying a word, they headed out the door. An hour later, after thoroughly checking the barn, the grounds and the other outbuildings, they stopped in front of the shed.
Gale looked down at Marion, who was staring up at him anxiously. She let out a bark. “Why didn’t you get her a search and rescue dog?”
“What?”
“I know Nina has epilepsy and this dog is trained for that. But don’t you think it’s ironic that since I’ve known her she hasn’t had a seizure, but she’s been lost twice?”
“Where’s Nina?” Eli asked the dog.
Marion ran toward the shed, turned around and sat in front of the door, eagerly looking from him to Gale and back again. She let out a whine as she trotted smartly in a circle.
Eli walked over and pushed the door open. “I am going to call Grady and—”
That’s when he saw something sparkle on the floor. He’d know that knight anywhere.
He picked it up and showed it to Gale.
“Your ornament?”
“They’ve been here. Aubrey dropped this for me to find. They’re in trouble.” Eli felt his stomach drop. It must be bad. Aubrey had asked for help.
* * *
INITIALLY, AUBREY WASN’T scared in the least. Furious, yes. Scared, no. She wasn’t afraid to die. She faced death so often, she no longer feared it. She didn’t know an RS who did. But she didn’t want to go like this, at someone else’s selfish hand. The fact that Alex would lock them in there was beyond cruel. Not only was Nina in constant pain from her ribs, she was terrified of exactly one thing in life. Spiders.
It was pitch dark, but Aubrey could hear her quick, frantic breathing. “Aubrey, I’m pretty sure there is one crawling on my back right now.”
“That’s impossible, Nina. There are no spiders down here. It’s too dark. Nothing lives down here. What would they eat?” She had no idea if this was true, but she said it anyway. She’d say anything right now to calm her sister down.
“Me! I am dinner, Aubrey.”
“Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry.” Aubrey lightly patted her back from her shoulders to her waist and back again. “There. See? Spider’s gone.”
“Thank you. I’m cold.”
“I know. Me, too.” Which wasn’t really true. It had to be pretty cold before it got to her. Plus, she had anger on her side. Which made her think of Eli.
After she’d railed at him for not trusting her, now she couldn’t help but ask herself why she hadn’t trusted him. When he’d told her Alex was guilty, she should have believed him. And when she’d learned about his dad, she should have told him. Maybe, if she’d told him immediately, they wouldn’t be here right now. They were both guilty of wanting to protect the other. She’d given him so much grief about his actions when she’d been just as guilty...
When she saw him she would tell him all of this and more. If she saw him...and that’s when she realized she was scared. But not for herself. She was terrified for Eli. And she was going to tell him that, too. How terrified she’d been for him and how she knew she would do anything to keep him out of danger, too. She finally understood why he’d done what he had for her. The thought of something happening to him filled her with so much panic she could barely think straight.
“You really think Eli and Gale will find us?”
“I know they will.” Eventually, she added silently. She knew he would literally raze this place to find her if necessary. She could only hope it wouldn’t be too late. And if they survived this ordeal, she hoped it wasn’t too late for them. She should have told him about his dad. She hoped...
“I can’t believe Alex is a drug dealer,” Nina said. “He was like a different person when he made us climb down here. He seemed angry and...dangerous.”
“Yes, he did,” Aubrey agreed. Alex was guilty. That much was definitely clear.
So guilty.
But he wasn’t the only one. And that was the part that had her scared.
* * *
“AUBREY? NINA?” ELI SHOUTED as he continued farther into the canning shed. That’s when he realized the shelving had been rearranged. Or, more to the point, a shelf had been moved. Right over the top of the root cellar door.
“Gale, help me move this.” They slid the heavy wooden shelf unit out of the way. Eli grabbed the latch that opened the cellar door. Marion began barking wildly as if excited that her two human helpers had finally figured out the obvious.
As soon as the door began to give way, he heard his name. “Eli?”
At the sound of Aubrey’s voice, Eli felt a wave of relief so strong it made him dizzy. He called out, “Yes, Aubrey, it’s me and Gale.”
“Nina and I are both here. We’re fine.”
He heard Nina let out a sob as he pulled the door all the way open. Gale had already moved around him and was running down the stairs.
He followed, grabbing Aubrey and holding her tightly in his arms. He held her for a moment, running his hands up and down her back, while he inhaled the absolutely irreplaceable scent of her.
“Get me out of here, Kohen,” Nina said with a sob. “What took you so long? I told you I hate spiders.” Her voice trailed off, lost in her tears.
Gale carefully lifted her in his arms and carried her up the stairs.
“I knew you would find me,” Aubrey whispered, her face nuzzled against Eli’s neck. “I knew you would help us.”
His voice was hoarse and choked with emotion when he finally responded. “I’m so glad you asked me to.”
Laughter mixed with her sob of relief. “I love you, too. Do you know that? I realized when I was down here that I haven’t told you that. I love the way you love me. And I love that you’ll do anything for me, even stuff I don’t want you to do, because now I think I understand why you do it.”
Eli pulled away and stared at her in wonder, hoping every bit of that love he felt was showing in his eyes. “I love you, too.”
“I know,” she said confidently. “We were stuck down here and I knew that, and it gave me so much comfort. But I was afraid that you didn’t have that same comfort. I was afraid I wasn’t going to get a chance to tell you back.”
He grinned. “Yeah? Well, now that you know that, you should tell me every single day just in case someone decides to lock you inside a root cellar.”
She laughed again.
“Did Alex say where he was going?” Eli asked, taking her hand and steering her toward the stairs.
“No, Eli, he didn’t. But... There is something I need to tell you.”
Sirens began to sound as they emerged into the daylight, signaling the arrival of the DEA and the police.
She stopped and tugged on his hand so he would face her. She stared int
o his beautiful eyes and saw his expression already full of pain and anxiety. She hated that she was about to make it so much worse. And in that moment she decided she would have done just about anything not to have to say the words.
“What is it? You can tell me anything, you know that.”
“Eli, your dad. He was...with Alex.”
His eyes closed on a look of sheer agony and her heart squeezed painfully with sympathy. She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him.
“I’m so sorry.” She whispered the words and was relieved when he hugged her tightly to him.
Gale called out to them from where he stood with two men she assumed were the DEA agents. A local police car had accompanied them and two officers stood nearby, as well.
Eli pulled away but kept her hand securely in his as they walked toward the house. They followed the agents inside where Aubrey and Nina gave their accounts of what had happened.
When they were finished, Les, one of the DEA agents, asked, “Did they say where they were going?”
Aubrey answered. “No, but I heard them talking about Savannah. Savannah,” she repeated. “Wait! When I was on board the Angela Sue I heard the crew talking about the Savannah B. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. But a boat would be—”
“Of course,” Eli said, remembering the slip of paper in his dad’s pocket. “It’s a boat. The Savannah Bound. They’re on Brett West’s boat. The boat he purchased for Alex.”
* * *
“DID YOU FIND THEM?” Aubrey asked as she let Eli into her house the following evening.
“Yes.” He came in and collapsed on her sofa. “They’ve been arrested and detained in British Columbia. The DEA is already working on extradition with Canada. They have agents on the way up there to question them.”
“Were they on the boat?”
“Yep. They left on the Savannah Bound just as we suspected. It was a lucky catch. Thankfully, the Canadian Coast Guard was on it. As soon as they got the information, they had their eyes on the water.
“Hard to believe, though, given there’s so much water out there. They could have run up or down the coast, put in at any port and hopped on an airplane to anywhere in the world. They could have met another boat at sea...”
The same scenarios had been running through Aubrey’s mind. Relief mingled with disappointment and a myriad other emotions she felt for her oldest friend and Eli’s dad.
Eli had tipped his head back and was now staring up toward the ceiling, long legs stretched out in front him. “My dad had a scrap of paper in his coat pocket that I’d found. He’d written his flight itinerary on it and the initials S.B. I was happy because I thought maybe he was seeing someone...
“I feel like I should have suspected or, at least, something should have occurred to me later...
“When we were bowling with Danny and Brendan, who have both been cleared, by the way, Brendan was talking about his dad’s new boat, the Savannah Bound. It was the same boat my dad has in Florida, but a newer model. Expensive. Dad bought his about three years ago, right after Alex and I were down there fishing. I never thought to question how much he’d paid for it—or how he’d paid for it. He told me Alex helped him get a good deal. Which he likely did, but it wasn’t for fishing. Obviously.”
“Eli, don’t be too hard on yourself here. Who could suspect their own father of something like this? It was hard enough to believe Alex was guilty.”
“The DEA suspects that my dad’s been in charge of Alex’s distribution along Florida’s coast. This was their getaway plan all along. When my dad flew up here, they knew the DEA was on to them. Remember when I told you a tip came in that Coast Guard personnel were involved?”
She nodded.
“The DEA was able to identify the tipster. When they found him, he added the information that the suspect was working out of Florida but had connections on the West Coast. He was a former Coast Guard. My dad.”
Aubrey hurt for him, for the disappointment—the complete devastation—she knew he must be feeling. “Eli, I’m so sorry.”
“You know what’s funny? I see now that he never really loved the Coast Guard. Not the way I do. He faked it for my sake.” He raked a hand through his hair. “He faked a lot of things for my sake. Him and Alex both.”
“I know,” she said softly, her voice choked with sadness. “The part I don’t get, though, is why? Why would Alex need to smuggle drugs? He has all the money he could want, right?”
“Nope. Apparently he’s not such a great businessman, after all. The DEA interviewed Carlisle this morning. He cut him off about three years ago, around the same time my dad got the boat. Got tired of bailing him out financially.
“And the tough love seemed to work. Alex appeared to get his act together. He was doing well. His business seemed to be thriving. Carlisle and Heather were finally proud of him. Thought he was really making something of himself. Poor Carlisle. He’s devastated. I can honestly say I know how he feels.”
“Me, too.” Aubrey wiped at the tears on her cheeks.
“We’re tied now, you know.”
“What do you mean?” she whispered.
“Two out of the three people I loved the most have now broken my heart, too.”
Aubrey felt like someone had driven a wedge into her heart. She steeled herself because she was pretty sure her next confession might cause it to split right in two. She stepped closer.
“I don’t know if this is too soon. I know you have a lot on your mind. But I need to tell you something.”
He stared up at her. “Okay.”
“Your dad took that assignment twelve years ago because he was in debt. Deep debt. From gambling. He’d missed some shifts at work and was facing expulsion. I suspected there was more to his transfer than we knew... I found some information in his personnel file and asked Dad about it. My dad helped arrange the transfer to try and smooth things over for him. My dad also got a second job and helped pay down your dad’s debt while they waited to learn his fate.” She continued explaining the details she’d learned.
Finally, she added, “Eli, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for not telling you. Maybe if I would have told you sooner you would have figured this out? I don’t know. I wanted to but... I couldn’t decide if you needed to know. I knew how much it would upset you, and I was afraid it would cause problems between you and your dad. Embarrass your dad...”
“You couldn’t decide if I should know?” His blue eyes were piercing but unreadable. “You couldn’t decide if I should be privy to this incredibly important, revealing and potentially damaging information about my own father?”
She whooshed out a breath. “I know how it sounds. It’s exactly the same thing I got upset with you for doing. It’s the same thing that broke us up.”
He crooked a finger at her.
She eyed him warily.
“Aubrey, I’m absolutely both physically and mentally exhausted. I’m also heartsick and emotionally...defeated. Please come over here and sit next to me. I need you.”
Her heart squeezed inside of her chest, letting her know it was still whole—hurting but whole. She could see the pain in his eyes and she hated having contributed to it.
But she could also see the love. She moved toward the sofa and sat next to him.
He looped an arm around her and pulled her tight against him. He held her there for a long moment.
Finally, he inhaled a deep breath and asked, “This has been bothering you? This failure of yours to disclose information?”
She nodded.
“Have you been afraid that this information—information that you kept from me because you love me and care about me and were worried about what it might do to me—would tear us apart? Again?”
“Yes.”
He reached out and trailed a hand from her shoulder down to her fingers, which he entwined with his own.
Her soul seemed to take flight. She didn’t deserve this man, yet she wanted to. And he did need her. She knew
that now. And she needed him, too. More than she needed air. More, even, than she needed the water.
“That’s impossible,” he whispered. “Do you want to know why?”
“Because you’re my knight and I’m your mermaid?” she croaked hopefully.
A mix of surprise and wonder flashed briefly across his face before settling into a familiar expression of love and desire that set her pulse racing dangerously. He reached out with his other hand and pulled her across his lap. He cupped her cheek and grinned.
“Yes,” he whispered as his lips sought hers for a kiss. “That’s exactly right. Because you’re my mermaid and I’m your knight.”
* * * * *
Don’t miss the exciting PACIFIC COVE sequel coming from acclaimed author Carol Ross. Available from Harlequin Heartwarming soon!
Meanwhile, check out Carol Ross’s SEASONS OF ALASKA series available now from Harlequin Heartwarming!
Keep reading for an excerpt from MEET ME ON THE MIDWAY by Amie Denman.
Meet Me on the Midway
by Amie Denman
CHAPTER ONE
THIS SHOULD HAVE been my big day. Evie Hamilton wore a white linen dress and high-heeled sandals as she stood on the long sunny dock in the Starlight Point Marina. The project she’d dreamed up for her family’s amusement park last summer and worked on all winter was scheduled to open today. The morning weather was perfect. Reporters lined a parallel dock, and a camera crew from the local news station waited. Starlight Point would be on the cover of the July issue of the Roller Coaster Times.
“You look like an advertisement for summer in that gorgeous dress,” Evie’s sister, June, said. “Why don’t you toss your plain navy blue skirts and dress like this all the time? It’s more dramatic.”
“The role of the dramatic sister is already taken,” Evie said. “And nothing is less practical than white linen. If it rains, I’m going to look like a naked waif.”
“You might get a good offer,” June said. She stood next to Evie and smiled and waved at the reporters.
Evie shook her head. “The only offer I want right now is the offer of a signature on our occupancy permit from the local fire inspector.”
