The Beachside Cafe (Saltwater Secrets Book 5)

by Sage Parker

  Cameron swiveled around in the chair to watch her through anxious blue eyes. “It’s 504-”

  “I remember it,” Jaymee cut him off. She gazed at him with a blank look as she waited for the line to be picked up.

  After several rings, the receiver was lifted on the other end. Jaymee could tell it was a landline and not a cell phone.

  “Hello, special wards unit, who are you looking for?”

  “Jennifer,” Jaymee responded without hesitation. “Is this Jennifer?”

  “No, hold on just a moment please.”

  Jaymee heard the sound of a hand covering the phone and a woman calling out Jennifer’s name. She called her twice and fell quiet. Seconds later, the phone was unmuffled.

  “Hello, this is Jennifer.” The woman’s voice was as anxious as the look on Cameron’s face. “How can I help you?”

  “I saw you at my office today,” Jaymee said, wanting to sound vague in case they were being listened to.

  “Aunt Jaymee!” Jennifer said enthusiastically. “It’s so good of you to call me. I’ll still have to get back to you about taking a tour of the facility. I have to ask the people here if it’s okay but I think they’ll say yes, since you’ve come all the way from Virginia.”

  An image of a US map floated through Jaymee’s mind as she tried to fathom coming all the way across the entire continent to see someone. “Yes, it was a very long trip,” Jaymee said, “and we would so love a tour. Can you arrange it?”

  “I’m going to try. I think we can do it tomorrow, if you like. Maybe around two pm? You’ll need to go to the south entrance, though, that’s where I’ll be waiting for you. Can’t smoke inside the building, you know.”

  “Yes, I understand. The south entrance at two. I’ll see you there.”

  “Good. And if you would, just you, auntie. I don’t think they’ll let anyone but you in the building.”

  “Tight security, huh?” Jaymee said.

  “Yes,” Jennifer replied in a serious tone. “As a matter of fact, very tight. I’ll see you then?”

  “You will. Thanks for the invitation.”

  “No problem.”

  Jaymee pressed the end button on her phone and gave Cameron a close look. “Tomorrow at two, I’m supposed to go alone, though.”

  Cameron immediately shook his head. “You’re not going alone. You saw what they did to Jennifer. I’m not letting them take you and inject poison in your body. That’s not happening.”

  Jaymee was touched by Cameron’s concern. He really was the best thing that had happened to her since Cheyenne was born. Jaymee couldn’t possibly be happier with that part of her life. And she didn’t want to mess it up by getting killed.

  “It’s risky,” she admitted with a nod, “but I bet it’s worth it. Think of all the information I could gather.”

  Cameron grunted, a look of disapproval on his face. “We have this flash drive with a ton of information on it. I think we should take it to the detectives and let them go through it. After Alex makes a copy to analyze, of course.”

  “And that’s what we’ll do,” Jaymee said, hurriedly, “but first, I’ve got to get as much as I can, even if it’s dangerous. I need to…” She stopped. How could she explain to Cameron, whom she had fallen in love with and believed that love was returned, that she felt a great need to find Doug. She spoke carefully, choosing her words. “I need to find Doug. I won’t have any kind of closure until I do. I hope you understand. We might be divorced now but it won’t sit right with me until he’s found so he can either be told the developments or… or he won’t need to be told.”

  Cameron gave her a sympathetic look. “I get it. I really do. Okay, Jaymee. I’ll take you there, though, drop you off near the south entrance and wait in the car. Don’t even try to make me leave, I’m not going to.”

  Jaymee giggled, his gaze warm on her face. “I don’t want you to leave. I think it would be better if you stayed, definitely. And I’ll check in with you through text. I might call you and if I do, don’t say hello until after I do, okay? I might want you to hear what’s going on without letting them know I’ve called you.”

  Cameron’s disapproving look disappeared and was replaced by a satisfied expression. “Got it. So what are we gonna do until two o’clock tomorrow?” He rolled his eyes and put on a bored expression which made Jaymee laugh.

  “I’m sure we can think of something fun to do. Let’s go to the café and get a drink. That might calm our nerves. I think I need one after seeing that video. I’m afraid to look at any of the others. She looked really scared.”

  “She did,” Cameron nodded, “which is exactly why you can’t go there alone tomorrow. No telling what will happen to you. For all we know, she could be setting you up.”

  Jaymee lifted her eyebrows. “Seems odd to choose me for something like this. I have nothing to do with IDL.”

  Cameron shook his head. “You might not. But Doug did. And he’s the one that connects you to all the danger that you’re in right now. Think about it. She works for Amanda. Jennifer does. She might be a loyal employee luring you there so they can get rid of you.”

  Jaymee felt a momentary sense of terror. But it slipped away when she convinced herself the bad guys would understand the actual police and a private investigator were after them. She was pretty low on the totem pole. Taking her out wouldn’t stop anything at all.

  “I don’t believe that’s what’s going to happen. And I’m going to be in constant contact with you anyway. Maybe I’ll call you and put it in my pocket so you’ll hear everything that’s going on.”

  Cameron nodded, pushing himself to his feet. He leaned to grab his jacket from where it was draped over the back of his office chair. “Now that sounds like a real good idea. Let’s go get that drink you were talking about. I’m going to drop this off with Alex so he can make a good assessment of it. I don’t trust anything until Alex does his thing with it. Once he analyzes it and can tell me what it all means, I’ll be happier.”

  Jaymee chuckled as they walked down the hall to the entrance that led out to the parking lot. “You really do just expect him to drop everything when you bring him something to study, don’t you?”

  Cameron smiled at her. “It’s not that I expect it. He’s usually just that interested. It’s hard to catch him in the middle of something he can’t put aside for later.”

  “I wonder why?” Jaymee mused. “Let’s take my car.”

  Cameron nodded. “Okay. It’s because he’s constantly working. He doesn’t take breaks so he never gets behind. Sometimes he’s ahead of schedule, he’s told me, and had to turn to video games to occupy his mind.”

  “I can’t imagine.” Jaymee stated the words with conviction. She couldn’t imagine being so far ahead in work that video games were the answer.

  “Me neither, if I’m honest,” Cameron added.

  She got behind the wheel and they headed to Alex’s laboratory. Alex had been Cameron’s friend, confidant and computer nerd for several years, as far as Jaymee knew. They were close and relied on each other like brothers.

  The huge building loomed in front of them as they went down the long driveway to the parking lot outside the front. It stretched around to the left side of the building for overflow but there usually wasn’t a need for that. Few people visited Alex’s lab. Most of the cars belonged to employees.

  “I have no idea where I’m going to park,” Jaymee joked as she slid into one of the first parking spaces closest to the main entrance. “We’ll have to walk all the way there, I’m afraid.”

  “I think I can manage. Thanks for trying,” Cameron played along, pulling on the door handle and pushing it open. He climbed out of the passenger seat at the same time Jaymee was getting out. “Remind me next time that when I bring the Jeep, that’s what we should use. Your car is just too small for me. I like it, mind you. It’s just not my kind of car.”

  “I’ll remind you. Sorry.”

  They smiled at each other as they walke
d side by side to go talk to Alex.

  FOUR

  Jaymee’s heart slammed inside her chest when she walked up to the entrance of IDL. There was a woman standing outside. She was wearing a hoodie with the hood pulled up to hide her face. But her long, straight, light-brown hair came out of the hood and hung over her chest and Jaymee remembered the woman yesterday had the same color, length and straightness.

  She resisted the urge to look behind her at the corner where Cameron had dropped her off. He’d continued driving, as if he was leaving her there, but was only driving around the block and would be outside when or if she needed him.

  Jaymee felt inside her pocket and pulled out her phone just enough to see the front. She swept her thumb over it a few times and called Cameron. He didn’t answer with words but she heard when it was picked up.

  She slipped it back into her pocket and walked up to Jennifer, a serious look on her face.

  “Jennifer?”

  Jennifer’s gaze was already on Jaymee and the woman nodded. “Aunt Jaymee,” Jennifer said, smiling and holding out her hand with one hand while she dropped the cigarette she’d been smoking into the tall, black ash catcher beside the door. Jaymee shook her hand.

  “They told me I could show you around the lab as long as you were alone. Thanks for coming. I’m really hoping you can shed some light on the things that are going on around here.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Jennifer flushed and her eyes darted from side to side as if she was sure she’d been heard.

  “Is there somewhere we can talk?”

  Jennifer nodded. “I have something set up for you in one of our sound proof rooms. Follow me.”

  Jaymee nervously walked behind Jennifer down a narrow corridor lined with doors. There were a few windows but they were blacked out. She wondered if someone inside the room would be able to see out. If not, what was the purpose of having a window there at all?

  Long benches that reminded Jaymee of every courthouse she’d ever been in lined the corridor, making it seem like there was even less space to walk. No more than two people could walk side by side and if they encountered someone coming from the opposite direction, one would have to step to the side so they were walking single-file.

  Jennifer was obviously trying to look nonchalant. She asked Jaymee bogus questions about their relatives and Jaymee made up answers.

  “Right in here.” Jennifer stopped at a door near the middle of the hallway, close to a cross way. Jaymee scanned her surroundings to try to remember where she’d been taken.

  “Wait a minute,” she said quickly, noticing a “Out of Order” sign on the door. “What’s that?”

  Jennifer glanced at the sign and shook her head. “Don’t worry about that. They won’t.”

  She pushed open the door and let Jaymee in first, looking both ways up and down the hallway before closing and locking it. Jaymee didn’t like that she locked the door but it was a simple turn of the button on the knob. It wasn’t as if she was locked in with a key.

  The room was much bigger than Jaymee had anticipated it might be. It looked like a crew of at least six could man the computers. Gigantic monitors hung from the ceiling, attached to the walls at the very top. A row of computers ran along each wall and the island in the middle of the room was rectangle and currently covered with papers of all kinds, draft papers, grafts, documents, every kind of computer paper Jaymee could imagine.

  Jennifer hurried to the computers to their left and pulled out a rolling office chair, dropping into it. Her fingers flew over the keyboard. She hit enter with a purpose and looked up at the main monitor, the largest of them all, hanging on the other side of the room. Jaymee was reminded of a movie theater, except the monitor was about half the size of a movie screen.

  Jaymee was covered in chills when the monitor flickered on and she saw the front of her house. Her eyes darted to Jennifer. “What is this?”

  Jennifer turned to her and when she spoke, her words came out fast so Jaymee had to pay close attention.

  “This is the video feed from about six months ago. Dylan Lianetti was tired of being blackmailed by your husband-”

  “Ex-husband,” Jaymee interrupted sharply.

  Jennifer reacted, stammering for only a second before continuing, “Ex, yes, ex-husband, I’m sorry. He was tired, as I was saying, of paying through the nose. Doug kept wanting more and more. I remember him and Amanda yelling about it in her office. It wasn’t them yelling at each other, which was weird. They were both so angry at Doug and would vent to each other.”

  Jaymee nodded, her eyes returning to the feed on the monitor. Her house was unchanged in the last few minutes. Her car was in the driveway, which meant she was home.

  Her heart almost stopped when the feed changed and suddenly she could see her kitchen. It was obvious the camera was hidden somewhere on the counter. From the angle, she guessed her grandmother’s vintage ceramic cookie jar. She hoped Lianetti and his men hadn’t done any damage to the cookie jar. She had never seen the camera, so they must have done a good job.

  “What’s going on here?” she whispered, taking a step closer to the screen, her eyes glued to it.

  “This feed is from the day Doug… disappeared. I thought it was something you might want to see.”

  “Of course I want to see it!” Jaymee exclaimed. “I can’t believe this is… these cameras inside my house… are they everywhere?”

  “Not anymore. The day after this happened, Dylan had them removed while you were out. You really have poor security in your house, Jaymee. You might want to get that checked out.”

  Jaymee shook her head, unable to believe what she was seeing. She watched herself wander into the kitchen, her phone in her hand, holding a sandwich. She remembered it clearly as she was seeing it. She took a bite of her sandwich and, without taking her eyes from the phone, pulled open the refrigerator door and got out a single bottle of Coke. She closed the door with her foot and left the kitchen.

  Such a mindless thing to do. But seeing it made Jaymee sick to her stomach. Her privacy had been violated for so long.

  “How long were the cameras in my house?” she asked, breathlessly.

  Jennifer shook her head. “I don’t know. Six months maybe? That’s not relevant anyway. This is the day you want to see. I’m sure of it. Here.” She turned to the keyboard and tapped several keys. She hit enter and swiveled in the chair to look at the screen.

  Jaymee felt sick once again when she saw the video switch to her bedroom. It was placed somewhere near the floor but gave a complete view of the entire bedroom, even the bed. Fortunately, the camera was so low, she was sure any private activities would be mostly unseen by it.

  Still, it gave her a feeling of unease. She crossed her arms over her chest and watched as Doug stumbled backward into the room, Amanda Dinklage hanging off him. He was laughing and joking with her. Her eyes were narrow and she staggered when she walked, indicating she was drunk.

  Jaymee held herself together as she watched the two begin to undress, with Doug taking off his tie first. He excused himself from the room. Jaymee was stunned to see Amanda’s demeanor completely change. She wasn’t as drunk as she pretended to be, if she was drunk at all.

  Amanda dashed to her bag, which she’d thrown to the side when they both came in the room. She rifled through it quickly and pulled out a vial with clear liquid in it. The vial looked very familiar to Jaymee, who frowned.

  “Help yourself to the mini bar!” Doug’s voice came from off camera. Hearing his voice, despite what he was doing, made Jaymee’s hair stand on end.

  “That’s just what I had planned!” Amanda called back, happily. The smile she’d put on to say the words disappeared and she sent the most hateful look in Doug’s direction Jaymee had ever seen. It almost made her giggle. But not because it was funny. Because it was ironic.

  Amanda rushed with the vial to the mini-bar and poured them both drinks. She dumped the vial contents in one of the glasses. Just as she was finis
hed, Doug came back into view, wearing only his boxers.

  Amanda turned around and Jaymee thought her reaction was priceless. It was clear she had no intention of doing anything intimate with Doug. At least it was to Jaymee. Amanda handed the drugged drink to Doug with a smile.

  FIVE

  The fact that Amanda drugged Doug was the least shocking thing Jaymee saw on that video. She wished she could pull out her phone and direct it to the screen on a video call to Cameron.

  After drinking the laced liquor, Doug fell down almost immediately. He didn’t even make it back to the bed to lay down in it. He fell over onto it with just his upper body, face first.

  Amanda went quickly to where he was and looked over her shoulder at the door. “Come help me!” she said frantically. Jaymee’s eyes flicked to that side of the screen to see who was going to come in and help her. She expected Dylan Lianetti and was stunned to see who it actually was.

  “Oh my God,” she murmured when Martin Granger hurried into the room. He didn’t look like the weak, mild-mannered person Jaymee and Cameron had met all those months ago. He appeared to be very strong.

  “Help me clean this mess up. We’ve got to get him out of here before his wife gets home.”

  “If she does, we’ll just have to take her, too.”

  “Only if we have to,” Amanda said.

  Jennifer put the video on pause and looked at Jaymee. “There’s a lot more of this coverage. But what they did after they cleaned up the place and took Doug out of there is unclear.”

  “They took his car, that much we know,” Jaymee said. “When he first went missing, we didn’t expect that something had happened to him in the house and he’d been taken out. Not until I found that vial.”

  Jennifer’s eyes opened wide. She stared at Jaymee. “You found one of the vials?” her voice sounded alarmed.

  Jaymee nodded, still looking at the screen. “One of them, yes. We found others, too. At various crime scenes.”

  Jennifer frowned. “Pretty careless of them, don’t you think?”