“Hmm, maybe I should suggest that,” Anniston noted. “I’ll send Sebastian a text. He’s there at the station now waiting around for any news of the others. He’s the one who sent me the mug shot.”
“Personally, I don’t care if he does take his own life,” Tessa muttered. “I know that sounds cruel, but I can’t forget the day I went in there to report my brother missing. Sinclair sat behind his desk, smug and complacent, looking at me like I’d grown horns that made me the enemy. All the while he knew exactly what had happened to Ryan. So I’m not exactly concerned about his welfare now.”
Anniston threw an arm around Tessa’s shoulder. “How about we get together tonight for a spaghetti dinner, Marcelli-style. Lenore gave me the run of her kitchen so Sebastian and I plan to whip up dinner. It’d be like celebrating Sinclair’s incarceration while we prepare to go look for that gold.”
“Sure,” Tessa said after letting out a loud sigh. “Has Mitch or Garret spoken to you about going after the gold?”
“Dozens of times,” Raine replied. “Why?”
“No, I mean have they actually invited us along when they sail out of port? Jackson hasn’t said anything to me about it. In fact, whenever I bring it up, he changes the subject.” Tessa sent Raine a wry look. “You know I stayed behind with Lenore and Tanner during that whole time Jackson was on board The Black Rum dealing with getting you back.”
Raine picked up Tessa’s hand, squeezed her fingers. “I know you did.”
“Running the restaurant wasn’t easy while you were gone, especially not knowing what happened to you,” Tessa admitted. “Maddie and Charlotte and I were all distraught. Then Jackson texted me they were working out a deal with Duarte for your return. It was all very tense during that time until we got word that you were safe and headed back to the boat.”
Raine remembered the exact moment she’d spotted Mitch waiting for her to get to shore. Her heart had flooded with emotion. Thinking about Tessa’s question, Raine chewed her lip, remembering how he’d dodged Sebastian’s attitude toward Dominka going.
She cut her eyes between the two women. “Now that I think about it, Mitch hasn’t said anything about me making the trip with him, not in so many words, but surely he doesn’t plan to leave me here when he lures in Baskin and Dandridge, and that asshole Frawley. I’ve told him repeatedly I want to be there for that.”
“Garret wouldn’t dare try that kind of crap with me again,” Anniston assured them. But there was doubt in her voice. “I didn’t like the way Duarte used you as a pawn to get Nathan back. I’m wondering if Garret would try to keep us from going because he and his brothers see us as a liability. We could be used as pawns.”
Raine thought that over. “A liability? A pawn? Well, that’s not fair. I couldn’t help getting captured like a pawn. Okay. So which one of us brings this up to them?”
Tessa didn’t hesitate. “I don’t mind doing it. I’m mostly concerned they’ll sneak off in the middle of the night and then send us a text message.”
Anniston’s eyes grew wide. “If Garret did that, I’d—”
Raine’s jaw dropped just thinking about Mitch slipping off before daybreak like that. “He does that, and Mitch had better make it for good.”
Tessa grinned. “It was just a worry of mine. Do you ever think about having kids with the guy who makes you that angry on the one hand, but tries to protect you by not taking you with him during a dangerous mission? Do you ever think of going the whole nine yards and settling down…here…on island?”
Raine chewed her lip. “I’ve been settling down here my whole life. Sometimes I think Mitch had the right idea to get away and see the world while he could.”
Anniston decided this was worth more mileage. “That sounds promising for you and Mitch.”
“I wouldn’t go quite that far. It’s just that, for years, I held his not hanging around here against him. Mitch is the one who got to take off, see places I’ve only dreamed about, do what he wanted to do. Now, I think I understand things better. He had the courage to leave. I don’t fault him for that. I stayed behind because…I had zero ambition inside me to do anything else. There was a fear in me that kept me from ever leaving. I realize that now. It’s my failing, not Mitch’s. Look, the two of us have always been great in the sack. No question about that area of our relationship. But a blind man could see we’re not meant to be together. He does his thing thousands of miles away from here. I do mine in this little town. That’s just the way it is.”
Before Anniston could point out that Raine had the ability to change her own future, the doctor walked out to the waiting room. “Are you here with Maddie Denham?”
Raine stood up. “I am. How is she?”
“She has a concussion. But with rest, she should be fine. The MRI shows some light bruising but no swelling on the brain or bleeding. She does have a gash on the top of her scalp that took eight stitches to close. I’d like to keep her here twenty-four hours just to make sure her condition stays on an even keel, less likely for inflammation to set in if she remains in a calm and monitored environment. She took a pretty nasty hit.”
“I know she did. I’ve put in a call to her daughter. She’ll be here tomorrow. I should go sit with Maddie, let her know Gabby’s on her way.”
The doctor shook his head. “Actually, you shouldn’t. Mrs. Denham needs rest and quiet right now. The less interaction and conversation with anyone, the faster she’ll recuperate.”
“Okay. Could I at least see her, let her know her daughter is flying in from Memphis?”
“Sure. But you should do it now. It’ll take us at least thirty minutes to get her admitted to her own room. After that, I want her resting without any undue stress.”
That evening, Raine closed The Blue Taco and watched Anniston and Sebastian make spaghetti Bolognese. Tired of the stress and strain of the last few weeks, she curled up on a side bench in the kitchen to veg. She heard the banter about Sinclair but tried to push the image of him holding a gun pointed at her heart to the back of her brain.
But when the talk turned to what they needed to do to before going after the gold, her ears perked up. She listened as Mitch laid out his plans.
“Klaus’s diary may have given us a general location of where the U-boat went down. But it’ll still take several underwater sonar scans to narrow down the exact spot.”
“Why is that?” Garret wanted to know. “We have the longitude and latitude of where the boat sank.”
“Approximate, big difference. Due to the strong underwater currents in that area, the tides would’ve shifted and carried the wreckage five, ten, maybe even fifteen miles or more from its original sinking. That’s a lot of ocean. Remember, this is the same strong current the Spanish used to their advantage in the eighteenth century. The tides helped the galleons make better time as they headed back to Spain. The fleet would catch it in the Gulf of Mexico and then follow the same current around to the Keys, and up the coast before letting their sails catch the prevailing winds.”
Garret stared at his brother. “You really are good at this.”
Mitch grinned. “Yeah, I really am.”
True to her word, Tessa turned to Jackson, hands on her hips, defiant. Out of the blue, she stated, “Don’t think you’re going to hunt for that gold without us along. It sounds as if you three are planning this trip without us. Here, now, you need to know, we’re going with you.”
Jackson had a look on his face like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Be reasonable,” he said. “This could get very ugly. We’re dealing with hardened criminals, desperate men who have nothing to lose. They want this gold at all costs.”
But Tessa just bulldozed past his defense. “You seem to forget that I’m the one who got this whole thing rolling by being at Buchanan’s house that night. You guys wouldn’t even know about Sinclair’s involvement, let alone Baskin’s or Boone’s, if not for me. You’d probably still be scratching your heads over that. I’m the one who brought that piece of
the puzzle to the table. You’re not keeping me here on land while you guys go off to play cat and mouse with the Patagonia Pike.”
“Didn’t you just hear what I said? It could get very dangerous out there.”
“It could get dangerous right here if I stayed,” Tessa pointed out, spreading her arms out wide. “Like this entire thing hasn’t been risky from start to finish? I lost my brother to these men. I buried him too early in life. When I reported him missing, that lying excuse for a police chief stood two feet away and stonewalled me, made me believe he’d do whatever he could to help, and then did nothing. I know now he didn’t do anything but try to make himself look good by hiding behind his authority. So don’t even think about leaving me behind. I want to know for certain which one of those assholes put the bullet in Ryan’s head. Because I’d like to return the favor. I suspect Sinclair, but I don’t know that for sure. And until I know something concrete, I’ll wonder if it could’ve been Baskin or Dandridge. I have to be there with you to make that determination for myself.”
“I’m with Tessa on this,” Anniston stated emphatically. “I’ve had my share of tough cases, but this one’s topped them all. I’ve done a lot of hard work here, good work, work I’m proud of. Because of it I’m not sitting here on island waiting for you three to bring in the bad guys.”
“You don’t understand how risky…” Garret began.
Anniston whirled on him. “Don’t you dare tell me I don’t understand. I’ve been in this long enough to know all the risks. I’m going and that’s final.”
Hands on her hips, Raine’s eyes flashed with temper, directed at Mitch. “So you thought I’d stay behind…again?” She shook her head. “I’m coming with you whether you approve of it or not. I don’t need your permission. Even if Maddie can’t work, I’ll offer Charlotte a huge bonus to run things while I’m gone. Give me two days to hire kids to help after school. If that isn’t possible, I’ll shut the doors until we get back. But I’m not staying behind.”
Lenore spoke up. “With Maddie out, no need to close the doors. Tanner and I will work the counter and the kitchen. You go with the others. We can handle things just fine.”
Raine’s mouth fell open at the offer. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“I don’t know what to say except thank you. And relieved.”
Tanner put an arm around his wife. “Just give us a few pointers before you go, like how you do things, a few tips on how to work your magic in the kitchen, and we’ll take care of everything.”
When Mitch started to protest, Raine’s hand flew out in response to grab his arm. “You don’t want them helping me? Unbelievable.”
“No, it isn’t that,” Mitch said. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea to have you involved in this.”
“Involved? I got kidnapped, for God’s sake. You seem to forget that I’m the one who discovered Boone’s connection to Willis Hartman, which eventually led Sebastian to the man’s murder. I deserve, no, we deserve to be included in whatever your plans are to bring down those assholes. This is my town, too, just as much as it is yours.”
She paused in mid-rant. “Now that I think about it, it’s more mine than yours. You live off in the Bahamas somewhere while I still live here every single day. And it’s where I’ll have to live no matter what the outcome is. Whatever this brings to my door, I’ll still be here.”
“That’s hardly relevant.”
She ignored his comment and went on, “You really don’t understand how much I want these men off the street, locked up, and gone for good. So I’m going even if I have to somehow get my own boat to do it.”
Tessa’s eyes lit up. “That’s a great idea. We’ll get our own boat.”
Anniston high-fived the other two women. “What a turn of events. Maybe we’ll rent a boat from Oakerson, although he’ll never know anything about it. On second thought, maybe we should just take it, right out of the bay.”
“Where do you suppose Oakerson’s body ended up?” Raine asked. “I guess it doesn’t really matter. Surely the mayor would want to help us out by loaning us a boat. We should definitely take one of his. Problem solved.”
Mitch shook his head, rolled his eyes. He glanced over at Jackson, who in turn, gave Garret a pitiful stare. All three men’s resolute demeanor buckled like a casino imploding under several tons of dynamite.
“As you can see, we’re united in this, Mitch,” Raine declared. “You won’t shut us out and that’s final.”
Mitch lifted a shoulder, accepting Raine’s thundering stand in the name of righteous indignation. “Fine. There’s no need to get testy.” He pivoted toward his brothers. “I never really thought there was much chance they’d stay behind.”
Raine punched his arm. “But you made a fuss any way. Is that it?” She glared at the brothers. “Shame on you. We’re equals in all this and deserve to be treated as such. We’ve all worked so hard to get to this point, it’s wrong to keep us out of anything else you have going on.”
“Yeah, yeah, we get it,” Mitch grunted. “But there’s a lot to do in preparation. It’ll take planning and timing if we want to get the Patagonia Pike to follow us.”
Across the kitchen, Garret helped Anniston with her sauce, dicing onion and mincing cloves of garlic. “The plan is simple enough. If we’re able to make the rat bastards think we know the location of the gold, things will likely start popping.”
“Luring them in has always been on the table,” Raine said. “Luring’s one thing. Being prepared to ram it down their throats is another matter entirely.”
“That’s just it,” Mitch explained. “We don’t have anyway of knowing how this will go down once we bring the leeches out in the open. Duarte’s crew is lean and mean and prepared for battle.”
“Then we’ll be prepared, too,” Raine offered. “I had an idea to get into the safe deposit box. I wanted to tell you about it during the party, but we got sidetracked. I think I know a way into the vault where the boxes are located. Every time I go in the bank to make a deposit, one of the vice presidents is always flirting with me.”
Mitch glowered. “Which one?”
“Remember Derrick West from high school?”
“That prick? I whipped his ass in tenth grade because he wouldn’t leave you alone during biology class.”
She poked Tessa in the ribs. “Isn’t it cute the way he remembers Derrick bugging me in class?”
“Every woman’s heart does a somersault when a man defends her by whipping ass. So what’s your plan with Derrick?” Tessa wanted to know.
“I’ll sashay in there wearing my halter top and short shorts. It’s a sure fire way to get his attention. But I’ll need a partner, a volunteer to act at the appropriate time.”
Before Mitch could offer, she pointed a finger at him. “Not you. It can’t be you. Derrick will never flirt with me if you’re standing there shooting daggers at him.”
“So once you parade through the lobby with Derrick fawning all over you, what’s next?”
“I’ll get him to walk into the vault with me to open my box, like he always does. Before he leaves me alone, I’ll distract him by bending over or dropping something so his eyes are directed down to my butt. Once I know his eyes land hard on my ass, that’s when my partner has to step up and pull Derrick’s key out of the lock, make an impression of it, then put the key back in the lock and get out of there.”
“How did you come up with that?” Mitch asked.
“I watch a lot of late-night TV reruns.” When he just kept staring at her, she added, “Okay. I saw it done on an episode of MacGyver, never thought I’d ever get to try it out in real life, though.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s been done in about two dozen movies, maybe more,” Garret pointed out. “And that’s probably the only times it’s ever worked.”
Raine put her hands on her hips. “You don’t know Derrick these days. He isn’t the brightest. Plus, lately he’s all testosterone, never misses a
day working out at the gym. He’s got this steroid thing going on, has for about six years now. Besides, do you have a better idea?”
Garret twisted up his mouth. “Actually I do.”
Anniston elbowed him in the ribs. “Breaking into a bank is a federal crime. If you think the feds wouldn’t send you straight to Leavenworth, think again. It won’t be that cushy minimum security camp outside Miami, either. I’m sure of that.”
“If I get caught. Besides, I was thinking of getting it done tonight after we eat.”
Anniston gave him a lethal stare. “You’re planning to eat my spaghetti and then traipse over to the bank and do a little B&E? You’ve gone completely off your rocker.”
“Maybe you and Raine want to act as my partners? I’ll handle all the technical aspects. All the two of you have to do is play lookout at the front and back.”
“If you want lookouts,” Mitch prompted. “Jackson and I will go with you.” He held up a hand before any of the women could stutter out a protest. “We’ll take care of this part. Besides, I’d like to go by the police station and see Sinclair sitting in a jail cell. I’ll bring my phone with me and grab a photo. I could always use it as a Christmas card.”
Raine snickered. “Or a Facebook post.”
For once, they used the dining room table for something other than a meeting place. Raine and Mitch set out Lenore’s best tableware while Tessa and Jackson made sure there were enough chairs for everyone.
The professor had hung around and was eagerly awaiting a sit-down meal with all the fancy trimmings, a huge bowl of greens, a platter of hot dinner rolls, and the tasty promise of Marcelli spaghetti.
“Are you really making a stop at the jail?” Raine asked between bites.
“You bet. I already cleared it with Briggs.”
“Not me,” Raine tossed out. “If I never set eyes on that man again, I’d be fine with it.”
Garret piled on more sauce over his spaghetti. “It’d be a perfect time to ask him a couple of questions. Not that he’d answer any of them, but we could stand there and throw the monkey a few peanuts through the bars and see if he’ll give anything up. It’s worth a try. Plus, maybe we should go check and make sure he hasn’t done anything stupid, like taking his own life.”
The Indigo Brothers Trilogy Boxed Set Page 89
