by Sarah Fox
Ray called into his radio, requesting an ambulance. Just as he finished speaking, Gavin stirred. I jumped backward, fear skittering over my skin. I bumped into Ivan, and he put an arm around me to steady me.
Despite Ray’s caution to lie still, Gavin sat up. When he spotted me standing a few feet away with Ivan, he pointed a finger at me.
“She’s crazy! She tried to kill me!”
“What?” I couldn’t believe he was trying to turn the whole thing on me.
“We know that’s not true,” Ivan assured me.
“He and Kirk were behind the meth lab on Mrs. Rideout’s property, and Gavin killed Ida after she found out about it.”
Gavin swore at me, but then his energy seemed to drain out of him and he slumped back to the ground. Ray nodded at Ivan, and he guided me over to the embankment.
“Let’s get you out of here.”
I was all for that plan. With the chef’s help, I made it to the top of the embankment, Chloe and Lisa converging on me as soon as I was up over the edge. They both hugged me while I held my sore wrist close against my stomach so it wouldn’t get crushed.
“I’ve never been so scared in my life,” Chloe said.
“That text message scared me out of my wits,” Lisa said at the same time.
“What text message?” I asked, confused.
“The one you sent me,” Lisa replied as she released me. “All it said was help.”
“I sent that,” Chloe said. “When I heard Gavin force his way into the house, I grabbed the closest phone—yours, Marley, since it was sitting on the table—and tried to send a text to Brett. I guess I hit the wrong name, but luckily it still did its job. Then I called 911, but I was afraid Gavin would hear me on the phone, so instead of saying anything to the dispatcher, I just left the connection open and hid the phone behind the kettle on the kitchen counter.”
I gave Chloe another hug. “That was quick thinking.” I released her and turned to Lisa. “But how did you guys find us out here? And why was Ivan with you?”
“I ran into him at the grocery store just before I got the text. We were heading to your place to check on you when we saw an unfamiliar vehicle come out of your driveway. We followed from a distance, and I used Ivan’s binoculars to see who was in the car. I thought one of the people in the backseat looked like you, Marley, and when we saw the car turn in to the woods, we got really worried, so we called 911.”
“I’m glad you did.” I remembered the flash of blue I’d seen as we left my house behind, and realized that it must have been Ivan’s classic VW bug. “But Ivan keeps binoculars in his car?” I asked after a pause.
“For bird-watching.”
A siren wailed in the distance, drawing closer and distracting us from our conversation. Ivan had rejoined Ray down in the ravine and Deputy Devereaux had switched on a powerful flashlight, keeping one hand on Kirk’s arm. He’d stopped swearing and now stood scowling at the ground.
“Ladies, let’s make our way back to the road,” Devereaux said.
Lisa, Chloe, and I followed him through the trees and undergrowth, the beam of his flashlight making the trip easier in the dark. I thought perhaps we were a long way from the road, but it turned out that the trip took only a few minutes. When we broke free of the tree line and arrived at the dirt road, an ambulance was slowly navigating its way toward us. Behind the ambulance came another sheriff’s department vehicle. A female deputy I hadn’t yet met climbed out of the car and joined Devereaux as he spoke with the paramedics.
Kirk was placed into the backseat of one of the cruisers, the female deputy standing watch next to the vehicle.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Devereaux told us after he’d broken away from the others. “Talk to Deputy Mendoza if you need anything in the meantime.”
He led the paramedics into the woods, and Lisa, Chloe, and I stood clustered together, watching them disappear into the darkness. Just as the beam of Devereaux’s flashlight faded away, Ivan stepped out of the trees and onto the road.
“What’s happening in there?” I asked him.
“Gavin is still making up stories about you.” I frowned, but Ivan added, “Don’t worry. The sheriff’s not believing a word of it.”
That was a relief, as was the realization that only Gavin’s fingerprints would be on the gun. Plus, I had Chloe to back me up, so even if we needed more than Ray’s personal belief, there was more than just my word to go on. There was even a chance that some of what Gavin had said back at my house was recorded by Chloe’s 911 call.
I shivered and leaned back against the nearest cruiser, the one not housing Kirk. Now that Chloe and I were safe, the cooling night air was seeping into my skin, and the pain in my wrist was getting harder to ignore. Ivan left our group to speak with Deputy Mendoza in the pool of illumination created by the lights of the emergency vehicles. When he returned a minute later, he opened the back door of the vacant cruiser.
“You’re freezing. Sit inside,” he told me.
I glanced Mendoza’s way.
“The deputy said it’s okay,” he assured me.
I climbed into the cruiser and relaxed against the seat, only then realizing how drained I felt.
“You too,” I heard Ivan say.
A second later Chloe slid in next to me.
Ivan and Lisa remained outside, speaking in low voices.
“I could sleep for a week,” Chloe said.
“Me too.” After a minute of silence, I realized I should say more. “I’m sorry for getting you involved in all this.”
Chloe turned her head my way. “You didn’t. None of this is your fault. And I’m glad I was here.”
“You are?” The question came out heavy with incredulity.
“Well, okay, I’m not so much glad I was here for all the craziness as I’m glad that you weren’t alone when it happened.”
“That makes more sense.” I reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. “Thanks, Chloe.”
She returned the pressure. “I just hope our Fourth of July barbecue will be tame compared to this night.”
I laughed. “Same here.”
Then I closed my eyes and focused on nothing but the fact that we were safe.
Chapter 26
It seemed like forever before everyone was out of the forest, though in reality it was probably well under an hour. Once the ambulance had taken Gavin away, with Devereaux riding along, Chloe climbed out of the cruiser to speak with her uncle. He gave her a hug before she climbed back in next to me. After Ivan and Lisa had left in the chef’s car, Ray dropped Chloe off at her parents’ place and then drove me to the hospital in Port Angeles. I had another long wait until my wrist was x-rayed, but the result wasn’t as bad as I’d feared—I had a bad sprain but no broken bones.
I knew Gavin had arrived at the hospital ahead of me, but I hadn’t seen any sign of him, and I was glad of that. Now that I knew what he was capable of, I didn’t want to be anywhere near him, even if he was under the guard of one of Ray’s deputies.
The ER doctor put my wrist in a splint and cautioned me against doing anything that would aggravate my injury. I wouldn’t be carrying any heavy loads of dirty dishes for a while, but at least I had Leigh and Sienna to help me out at The Flip Side. I was just glad I didn’t have my wrist in a cast so I could continue to enjoy my swims in the ocean for the rest of the summer. I was covered in little scratches and bruises, but I didn’t care. I knew how lucky I was that I hadn’t received any worse injuries.
The doctor had just left when I heard a familiar voice on the other side of the curtain enclosing my cubicle.
“Marley?”
“Come in,” I said, already smiling.
Brett pushed the curtain aside, his blue eyes searching me up and down. “Chloe called and told me what happened. You’re really okay?”
I held up my splinted wrist. “Just a sprain.”
He gently pulled me into his arms and I rested my head against his chest, listening to the
steady and comforting beat of his heart. An overwhelming rush of emotions surged through me and my eyes filled with tears. There was so much I wanted to tell Brett, so many feelings I wanted to share with him, but I didn’t have the words. Not right then. I hoped I’d find them in time, but for the moment I contented myself with enjoying the fact that he was there with me.
Eventually I let out a sigh and stepped back, my tears having abated without ever escaping my eyes. “I guess I’ll have to provide a statement.”
Brett brushed a lock of my hair behind my ear. “I talked to Ray on my way in. He said that can wait until tomorrow.”
“I’d like to ask him if I can get it over with tonight. I have to work tomorrow, and I’m wide awake at the moment.” Despite the tiredness that had crept over me while waiting around on the forest road, my mind was now wired, replaying the events of the evening over and over.
“He’s just out here.” Brett led me out of the curtained cubicle and we found his uncle in the waiting room, finishing up a call on his cellphone.
Ray agreed that I could provide my statement that night and told us he’d meet us at his office shortly. He was true to his word, and soon I was sitting in his office in the brick building that housed the sheriff’s department, the county jail, and the courthouse. I went over everything in detail with Ray and wrote down all that I could remember, starting from the moment when Gavin had knocked on my front door. Once I’d signed my written statement and had said good night to Ray, I met Brett out in the waiting area and he drove me back to Wildwood Cove.
During the journey, I went over my story yet again, since Brett hadn’t heard all of the details from Chloe.
“So Ida was never blackmailing anyone?” he said once I’d finished.
“Not until she tried to get money out of Gavin to keep quiet about the drug lab.”
Brett reached over and put his hand over mine. “I’m glad it’s all over now.”
“Me too.” I rested my head back against the passenger seat, sleepiness finally slowing down the whirring of my thoughts. “How was Chloe when you talked to her?”
“A bit shaken, but all right. She’s staying over at our parents’ place tonight.”
I pressed the palm of my right hand to my forehead as I remembered something. “My house has been unlocked this whole time.”
Brett patted the pocket of his jeans. “Don’t worry. Chloe mentioned that, so I stopped by your place before going to the hospital. I found Chloe’s phone outside and your keys in the kitchen. I locked the place up before I left.”
My shoulders relaxed. “Did you see Flapjack?”
Brett nodded. “He’s fine, and I made sure he had fresh water.”
“Thank you.” As we turned off of the highway, I remembered that he had his new canine friend waiting at home for him, all alone in the new-to-him house. “I guess you need to get back to Bentley.”
“I do, but you’re more than welcome to stay over at my place.”
I smiled at him through the darkness. “I’d like that.”
—
The following day passed mostly in a blur. Unsurprisingly, word of Gavin’s arrest and his attempt to do away with me and Chloe had spread through town, and all of the locals who showed up at The Flip Side wanted to hear the full story of what had happened. By the end of the day, I’d lost count of how many times I’d repeated the tale, but although I was weary, I wasn’t annoyed. Everyone was so kind, assuring me of how relieved they were that I was safe and sound. Sienna too was firmly on my side, though she was shaken by the fact that she’d gone on a date with a killer.
People shook their heads over Kirk’s involvement, but they were far more surprised by Gavin’s criminality. I felt bad for his parents, even though I wasn’t exactly fond of Deanna. It had to be terrible to find out that your only child was a murderer. I hoped they’d find a way to move forward with their lives, but I knew that would probably be very difficult for them to do.
I felt no sympathy for Gavin though. He was a devious, callous killer, and he’d planned to do away with me twice. When I’d retrieved my phone that morning from the place where Chloe had hidden it, I discovered that Joan had returned my call. She hadn’t been home when I was waiting for the author of the note to show up in Ida’s yard. Gavin, however, had specifically asked her if he could work on her broken closet door at that time of day, and she agreed, fine with leaving him alone in her house because she’d known him his whole life.
At the end of the day, once I’d locked the door behind the last customers to leave The Flip Side, I sank into the nearest chair, resting my sprained wrist on my lap.
“You look done in, Marley,” Leigh said as she untied the red apron from around her waist.
“I am pretty beat,” I admitted.
The kitchen door opened and Ivan strode out into the dining area, Tommy on his heels.
“What’s going on?” Sienna put down two empty coffee mugs and joined the small crowd that had gathered around me.
“We just wanted to make sure that Marley’s doing all right,” Tommy said, and Ivan nodded his agreement.
I thought about my response, noting the aching of my wrist and bruises, the exhaustion that was settling deep into my bones. But then I looked at all the friendly faces around me, genuine concern in their eyes.
A sudden surge of contentment welled up inside of me, and I smiled and said, “I’m doing great.”
Chapter 27
The sun didn’t disappoint on the Fourth of July, shining brightly without a single cloud to mar the perfect blue sky. The Flip Side was closed for the day and I was able to spend my time enjoying the beautiful weather, preparing for the barbecue, and hanging out with my mom and her fiancé, who’d come over from Seattle for the holiday. In the late afternoon, Brett and Chloe’s family began to arrive, and before long everyone was there, including Brett’s parents, his cousin Jourdan, and his aunt Gwen. Even Ray was there, out of uniform and looking relaxed.
While the food was grilled and eaten, Flapjack settled on the porch railing to watch the festivities, and Bentley—his leg still on the mend—made the rounds from person to person, putting on his best sad puppy-dog expression, hoping for a few tasty morsels to come his way.
At one point, Chloe pulled me aside and spoke to me in a low voice. “I told my family about Matthew, and about the blackmail.”
“I’m so glad, Chloe,” I said with a sense of relief. “How did they react?”
She blinked as her eyes grew damp. “They were angry on my behalf, both at Matthew and Sheryl, but they don’t seem to think any worse of me.”
“Of course they don’t.” I gave her a quick hug.
“I feel better now that I’ve told them. Ray’s investigating Sheryl for blackmail, but I’m hoping I can put it all behind me before long.”
“I hope so too,” I told her. “You know, Sheryl told me she never collected any money from the park.”
“Somebody must have found it. I walked by the day after I left it under the bench and it was gone.”
“It could have been Ida, since that was her favorite spot.”
“I’ll probably never know who took it,” Chloe said. “It doesn’t really matter. I just want to move on.”
“That’s the best thing to do,” I agreed. “Does Brett know that I knew you were blackmailed?”
“Yes, but don’t worry. I told him I got you to promise not to tell. He’s not mad at you.”
That was a relief, and we were both able to rejoin the others with smiles on our faces.
As the afternoon slowly melted away into evening, Brett and I lit a fire in the fire pit between the back porch and the top of the beach. Flapjack retreated indoors for a nap on the couch and the rest of us gathered around the fire, sitting on rough-hewn wooden benches. Bentley settled at Brett’s feet, and we passed around a bag of large marshmallows, using sharpened sticks to toast them over the open flames.
I tried not to get my marshmallow too close to the fire, want
ing it to end up evenly browned instead of charred, but somehow it still caught fire.
“Oh no!” I quickly blew out the flame and frowned at my blackened marshmallow.
Brett grinned. “All these years and you still haven’t got the hang of it.”
I elbowed him in the ribs, but he was right. When I’d known him in our teens, all my marshmallows ended up charred, and nothing had changed since then.
“I’ll eat it,” Jourdan piped up. “I love charcoaled marshmallows.”
“Be my guest.” I let her pull the burnt sugary treat off the end of my toasting stick.
“Here.” Brett removed his latest marshmallow from the fire and offered it to me. “Have this one.”
It was perfectly toasted, evenly brown all around.
“How do you do that?” I asked before savoring the marshmallow.
“What can I say? When you’ve got the knack, you’ve got the knack.”
From that point on, I left the marshmallow toasting to him.
The sun slowly sank toward the western horizon, and after it had disappeared from sight, the first firework shot into the air and burst into a shower of sparks with a loud bang. Bentley’s head shot up and he let out a worried whine. The fireworks were being set off closer to town, but near enough that the show would be a loud one.
Brett got up from the bench, the end of the dog’s leash in hand. “I’m going to take Bentley inside. I don’t think he’s going to like the noise much.”
“Good idea.”
I followed Brett into the house, leaving everyone else outside. I shut the French doors and paused by the couch to give Flapjack a scratch on the head before joining Brett over by the family room window. Bentley settled at Brett’s feet, leaning against his legs and looking up at him with worried eyes as more loud bangs went off down the beach.
“It’s all right, bud,” Brett assured him with a pat on his golden head.
I stepped up next to Brett and he put an arm around me. Together we watched the colors erupting in the sky. As the show went on, I moved closer to Brett and he kissed the top of my head. I let out a contented sigh and leaned into him.
