Tides of Deception (Samantha Rite Mystery Series Book 3)

by Hope Callaghan

  The woman’s sultry brown eyes narrowed as she studied Sam. So this is Lee’s girlfriend. At least he still has good taste.

  Sam was a little intimidated. The woman standing before her was flawless. But Sam was not about to let this woman – Lee’s close friend – know she made her even slightly nervous. “Yes, I thought I’d drop by to see if you were able to find anything out about Lee Windsor’s disappearance.”

  Jen took a step closer. “Oh yeah. That’s right! We spoke on the phone the other day.”

  She went on. “You said you were his girlfriend or something?” She raised her eyebrows, as if in disbelief.

  “Yes.” Sam wasn’t about to elaborate. After all, this woman needed to do the explaining – not Sam!

  Jen crossed her arms in front of her and tilted her silky blonde head at an angle. “Hmm … I’m sorry if I seem surprised. It’s just that Lee has never mentioned your name.”

  Sam was getting a little ticked now. This woman was intentionally goading her.

  Sam crossed her own arms. Two could play that game. A small, wicked grin spread across her face. “I was going to say that Lee never mentioned your name, either, but come to think of it, I may have heard him talk about a Jen something-or-other.” Sam waved her hands in the air for emphasis.

  This lady was going to be real sorry she crossed her! “It was someone he dated years ago for a brief time. But they broke up. He found out she was cheating on him.” Sam shook her head sadly. “Sounded like she was a real tramp.”

  “But that was back when he lived in Texas.” Sam raised her eyebrows innocently. “You’re not from Texas, are you?”

  By now, Jen was steaming! Sam could almost see the smoke pouring out of her ears.

  She tried hard not to smile as she stared at the woman’s reddening face.

  Jen refused to answer Sam’s question. Instead, she changed the subject. “We’re still looking into Lee and Donovan’s disappearance.”

  Obviously the meeting was over. Jen turned to go. “If we find anything out, someone from the department will contact you.”

  And with that, she was gone. No goodbye. No “it was nice to meet you.”

  Sam slowly made her way back to the car. Most of what Sam said was true. There had been a “Jen” back in Texas that cheated on Lee. She might have added her own commentary… Just a little…

  Hopefully Lee won’t be ticked off when he finds out what I said to his “friend.” Sam was convinced there was nothing going on between the two of them. But still, she didn’t like the idea of him and his ex-girlfriend working in the same office. Not one little bit!

  Sam phoned Gabby on the drive back to the hotel and by the time she got there, Gabby was already waiting in the parking lot.

  Sam walked over to her car and tapped on the window. “Do you still want to take a drive over to the marina?”

  “Yeah. I mean it’s not like we have any other solid plan.”

  Sam nodded. “OK, let me run up to the room and get Deb.”

  With that, she made her way back to the hotel room. Deb was already ready to go.

  She looked over at her daughter. “Want to go with us?”

  Bri shook her head. “Travis is coming here to pick me up.” She looked at her mom nervously. “We’re going to have lunch with his parents. He wants me to meet them.”

  Sam walked over to where her daughter was sitting and gave her a big hug. “It’ll be fine. I’m sure they’ll love you!”

  Bri gave her a weak smile. “I hope so.”

  “We’ll be back in a little while. Tell Travis I said hi.”

  Her aunt chimed in. “He doesn’t have the “aunt stamp of approval” yet so tell him to hang around if he can. I’d like to meet him.”

  “Will do!” she promised. “But I’m sure you’ll love him.”

  Deb and Sam stepped into the elevator. As soon as the door closed, Sam turned to her sister. “I don’t get a good feeling about going out to the marina.”

  Before Deb could answer, the elevator door slid open and the girls stepped out. Gabby had already pulled the car around to the portico. Sam slid into the passenger seat. “I’m getting a bad feeling about this.”

  Gabby was already out on the main road. “But what else are we gonna do? Sit and wait for them to find the bodies?”

  Sam shrugged. She had a point.

  Gabby pulled into a nearby gas station. “Yeah, I gotta get some gas. Be right back.”

  With that, she made her way to the back of the car to pump the gas.

  Deb leaned forward and whispered to Samantha. “What kind of get-up is that?”

  Sam hadn’t really noticed what Gabby was wearing today. Maybe she was just getting used to seeing her crazy outfits.

  Sam glanced in the rearview mirror. Today she had on shorty shorts with fake diamond studs adorning the pockets. Her sleeveless, silk blouse was covered with bright colorful stones lining the edge. A pair of high heeled wedge sandals completed the look. Sam studied her for a minute, trying to figure out what was missing…

  She grinned. It was all the jangling, “bangly” bracelets that were trademark Gabby. She was wearing virtually no jewelry – except for a large pair of gold hoop earrings and a multi-colored plastic watch.

  Gabby grabbed the receipt from the machine and tucked that and her credit card into her bra. Sam could only shake her head at that one.

  Back in the car, Gabby seemed overly-animated as she started talking about searching for the guys and how she had a good feeling about today.

  “Yeah! I was just thinkin’ you know. I’m positive we’re going to figure somethin’ out today.”

  She reached over and grabbed Sam’s arm for emphasis. “Ya’ know. Kind of like a premonition or somethin’.”

  “It’s hard to describe…” She trailed off.

  Sam had a premonition, too, and it wasn’t a good one.

  “Yeah, if I remember correctly, this place isn’t very far away…” With that, she reached over and switched on the GPS and scrolled through the current addresses. “There it is!”

  She pressed the button and watched it calculate the distance. Sam glanced at the GPS. They were thirty minutes away.

  The ride went by pretty quickly with Gabby talking almost the entire time, as usual. It didn’t take long before Sam and Deb knew a whole lot more about Gabby. So much more than they ever wanted to know. That she’d moved from the Miami area a couple months ago (which Sam already knew) and that she owned her own party planning business. She kept a small shop running in Ft. Lauderdale and was starting a new one in Orlando.

  “Ya’ know. Orlando’s a great market for my kinda business! Tons of people always throwin’ parties and stuff.”

  Gabby shook her head. “The only kind I don’t do are kids’ parties. Ya’ just can’t make that much money doin’ em.”

  “But some of the others like company Christmas parties and such. Now there’s some good money right there. Ka-ching!”

  Gabby was an only child. She’d never married. “Never really found the right one, I guess.”

  Finally, they turned into the marina parking lot. Gabby pulled her car into the parking spot next to Lee’s truck.

  Sam’s heart sank. This was undeniable confirmation that something was wrong. “How on earth will we ever be able to figure out what happened to the two of them – and if they’re even still alive?”

  Sam swallowed hard. She’d been pushing back her emotions for days but looking at Lee’s truck was just too much. Tears welled up in her eyes and threatened to spill over.

  Deb noticed right away and reached over to squeeze her sister’s shoulder. “You need to stay focused! From what you’ve told me, these two are more than capable of taking care of themselves and getting out of sticky situations. Put some faith in them and believe they’re alive and going to be found.”

  Sam nodded. “You’re right. It’s just seeing his truck and knowing he’s in trouble got to me.”

  Gabby was dealing w
ith her own feelings. Her voice cracked when she spoke. Her tough exterior finally vanished and a softness surfaced that Sam had never seen.

  “I’m worried, too, Sam. I’m trying to stay positive but it’s hard,” she whispered.

  Deb needed to get them moving and stop wallowing in their sorrows. She opened the back door and hopped out. The girls reluctantly followed her lead.

  Her sister made her way over to the driver side window and peeked in. She pulled on the handle. Not surprisingly, it was locked. A look inside showed nothing out of the ordinary.

  Gabby headed to the rear of the truck and opened the tailgate. She stuck her head inside as she looked around the empty truck bed. “Nothing here.” Her hollow voice rang out from inside the metal box.

  Sam surveyed the half-full parking lot. It was still pretty early in the day and there were several trucks and empty trailers scattered about. She estimated about a dozen different boats had gone out of this marina today.

  She looked back at her sister. “Now what?”

  By now, Gabby had made her way to the passenger side of the truck. She shaded her eyes and looked inside. “Hey, there’s a piece of paper lying on the seat.”

  She pressed her nose against the glass and squinted to read what was scribbled on it.

  “There’s an address!” she added excitedly.

  Sam ran around to where Gabby was standing. She cupped her face and gazed into the truck. “You’re right!” She went on. “It says 716 Harbor Drive.”

  She turned to Gabby. “Is that what you read?”

  “Yeah! Yeah! That’s it.” She pulled away from the glass. “You think this is a clue?”

  Sam didn’t want to get too excited but so far, they had nothing else to go on. “I wonder how far away that is?”

  Gabby was already heading to her car. “Only one way to find out.”

  Back inside, Gabby punched the address into the GPS. The girls held their breath as they waited for it to calculate the drive.

  Gabby’s eyes widened. “It’s only about ten minutes north of here!”

  She buckled her seatbelt and started the car. “Let’s go!”

  Gabby stomped on the gas pedal as she tore out of the parking lot. Sam quickly fastened her own belt. At this rate, they’d be there in no time.

  “Man, Sam. I just have a feelin’.” Gabby’s eyes were gleaming. “We’re on to somethin’. Finally!”

  “I hope you’re right, Gabby. It seems like we’re grasping at straws.” She sighed. “Well, it’s better than sitting around twiddling our thumbs…”

  Chapter 11

  Lee’s heart started pounding loudly in his chest. He was close to the gold. He could feel it! Slow down, don’t go so fast. He was anxious to get there but descending too quickly was dangerous. The pressure on his body could easily rupture his eardrum or cause excruciating chest pains. Lee forced himself to move more slowly.

  Soon enough, he spotted the shelf he was on just yesterday. He pulled the dive light from the pouch and turned it on in the direction of where he remembered the shelf went up. It took a minute for his eyes to focus but when they finally did, he easily saw the spot he was looking for.

  Holding onto the shelf with one hand and the dive light with the other, he inched his way along the ridge until he reached the spot he was aiming for.

  He took a deep breath. The excitement was almost too much to bear. Don’t fog up your mask this time! He reminded himself.

  He paused for a moment as he carefully set the light down on the top of the ledge. He reached into the side of his wetsuit and pulled out his stick and the net that was tucked safely away beside it. He carefully attached the net to the bottom of the stick. If he accidentally dropped the net, he’d be in trouble and this would all be for naught. There would be no way to scoop up the coins. If only his rope was just a little bit longer, he could just bend down and grab a handful!

  He gingerly picked the light up off the shelf and held it in one hand. With the other hand, he gently lowered the net in the direction of the light. When he finally hit something hard, he painstakingly moved the net along the ocean floor.

  At first he couldn’t see anything but knew he needed to be patient. After a couple minutes of dragging the net along, he caught a glimpse of the now-familiar shiny coins. Slow and easy. Don’t be in too big of a hurry, there he told himself.

  He dug away at the shiny objects for several seconds before slowly pulling the net back up towards his face. Halfway up, he could see several coins laying in the bottom. He gently emptied the contents into his hands, unzipped the side pocket on the vest of his jacket and dropped them in. He zipped the pocket shut and lowered the net a second time.

  With slow and calculated movements, he repeated the process again. The second time he pulled the net up, there were 11 more coins nestled inside.

  Time was running out. He quickly dropped the precious coins into his pocket along with the others and made a last minute decision to scoop one more pile up before heading back to the surface.

  He didn’t dare leave Donovan alone with the two hoodlums for very much longer.

  He repeated the painstaking step one more time, bringing up a dozen coins the last time. Lee counted in his head. Twenty-nine coins this time plus the one he found the other day. Thirty gold Spanish coins would definitely give them a nice cushion. He’d done some research already and knew their value ranged from $1500 - $3000 each. That could be almost $90,000!!

  Lee carefully zipped the remaining coins in his pocket, folded up his stick and put that and the net back in their place. He looked down at the still shiny ocean floor that was full of what Lee now knew were hundreds of coins – and millions of dollars. They shimmered and glowed, taunting him. With one last longing glance, he started the slow ascent back to the surface.

  Donovan was starting to get really nervous. Lee had been down there a long time. He glanced over at Daniel and Carlos. The natives were getting restless. Their heads were close together as they whispered to one another.

  Donovan was just about to tell them to move away from each other when he noticed the telltale bubbles floating on the water’s surface. Lee was finally coming back up!

  Moments later, his head popped out of the water as he reached for the side of the boat. He quickly pulled the mask off and looked up at his friend.

  He decided on the way up to let Donovan and the others believe that this wasn’t the spot. His thinking was if these two ever got loose and opened up their mouths, they’d know where the treasure was. After all, they had the GPS coordinates. It wouldn’t be hard to remember exactly where they were.

  Lee hated to do it but he needed them all to believe this wasn’t the spot. “I looked all over down there. Nothing!”

  He shook his head in dismay as he climbed into the boat. “I don’t know how we missed it. Somehow my GPS must’ve gotten the wrong coordinates.”

  Donovan shoulders slumped. He looked despondent. “Really? Man, we were so close… now we’re going to have to start all over again…”

  “Yeah, this really sucks! I was so sure this was it but I looked everywhere. I tried to stay down there as long as I could but it’s getting late.”

  For good measure, he threw in. “On top of that, there’s a crevice on the ledge and I darn near got tangled up in it.”

  He shuddered. “If I got caught in that, I probably would’ve died down there!”

  Donovan shook his head again, his disappointment clearly visible. “I thought we were so close…”

  Lee placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Yeah, me too.” He shook his head dejectedly as he gazed at the water. “Looks like we’re back to the drawing board.”

  He glanced back at Daniel and Carlos. “Did we decide what to do with these two?”

  Donovan shrugged. He was so depressed about the treasure he didn’t even care anymore. “I guess we’ll call Marine Patrol when we get in range. They can meet us somewhere.”

  Daniel sneered at Lee. “Wel
l, when we don’t make it back to our rendezvous location soon, you two will be hunted down.”

  Lee walked back to where Daniel was sitting on the bench. “Not if we find them first!”

  Donovan was in no mood to listen to Daniel’s empty threats. And he was really mad about going on a wild goose chase in search of the treasure.

  He made his way back to where Donovan was standing. He leaned over until he was eye level with Daniel’s beady little eyes. He reached over and put a powerful hand around Daniel’s throat.

  “So why don’t you share with us exactly where this meeting spot is?” he asked menacingly.

  Daniel started to shake his head “no” until Donovan tightened his grip. Cough! Cough! Daniel started to choke from the pressure on his wind pipe.

  Carlos watched the unfolding scene from nearby. His eyes grew wide. He didn’t want to die! “We’re meeting at the shack we kept you in last night,” he blurted out. “In about an hour,” he added.

  Daniel sneered at Carlos. “Fool. When they find out, they’re going to kill you.”

  Carlos shrugged. “They were going to kill us anyways.”

  That was enough for Lee. He started the boat’s engine and jammed the throttle all the way down. It was time to get rid of these two, and the rest of them…once and for all.

  Lee glanced back in the mirror and grinned. Donovan’s look was dark and ominous as he glared down at Daniel and Carlos. And he was about to share his foul mood with the poor, unsuspecting captives in the back.

  Donovan looked up at Lee, his face masked in fury. “Stop the boat,” he barked.

  Lee dropped the throttle and the boat quickly slowed to a stop. As it sat bobbing in the rough water, he turned to watch the scene unfolding behind him. This was going to be fun!

  By now, Donovan was towering over Daniel. He reached down, grabbed Daniel’s arm and jerked him to his feet. He shoved him to the side of the boat and started to lift him up, as if he planned on tossing him over the side.

  “No! No!” Daniel was freaking out. “I’ll tell you whatever you want, I swear.”

  Donovan paused briefly, as if considering his words.