Intimate Stranger

by Jan Springer

  “Thanks for the update, Officer,” Emily said, feeling her legs begin to shake at their close call and at their luck of not being caught with all those drugs onboard.

  The officer nodded.

  “I’ll leave you to your business then. Have a good day.”

  Emily held her breath as she and Chance watched the man climb the rope ladder.

  A few moments later the Coast Guard’s cruiser roared to life and disappeared into the curls of mist. Emily slumped onto a nearby cooler, her heart crashing against her chest like a battering ram.

  “My God, that was so close.”

  “You stay here,” Chance ordered. “Keep watch. I’m going to get the diesel into the system and then we’re getting out of here.”

  He hoisted the drum a little higher on his shoulder and headed to the engine hatch.

  Emily found herself looking up toward the white mist-filled sky to thank God that today hadn’t turned into a horrible catastrophe.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Five miles later Emily shook from both frustration and anger as Chance helped her climb out of Sweet Lies. Quietly they tied the tugboat to the mooring and he clutched her hand again before quickly leading her along the wharf through the thick mist up the rickety rock stairs toward her home. All the years she’d lived here she’d never been afraid of her lighthouse.

  This afternoon, however, with the dark, menacing clouds looming overhead, it looked almost as if it were nighttime. Up ahead, at the end of the rock stairs on the cliff, the towering silhouette of her home appeared ghostly and foreign as the trails of mist hugged the octagonal white building. It looked down on her as if it might crash right on top of her. She shook her head at the silly thought.

  She was tired from all the hard seaweeding this morning, weary from doing yet another check of the entire boat while Chance steered them back to Shipwreck Island and freaked because of the close call with the Coast Guard. As well, she was frustrated at being targeted in this way by someone putting heroin on her boat. On top of that, she was also angry at Chance for not trying to soothe her ruffled nerves.

  He’d been totally silent on the ride back. After he’d taken charge of her boat and maneuvered them toward home, she’d checked around for more drugs, thankfully coming up with nothing more. She was nervous, jittery and ready to start crying as she imagined that maybe someone might even have stashed drugs inside the walls of her boat.

  God! Was she being too paranoid? Or could someone have put drugs inside the walls? A drug-sniffing dog sure would find them and then they’d be in trouble. Anyone could be lurking around here in the foggy shadows. Any second a garrison of lawmen could appear from behind the scraggy pine trees lacing the rocky cliffs surround them and haul them off to jail.

  She should have kept an extra container of diesel in the shed. Should have kept the shed locked so no one could get in. But she’d never locked that shed since coming here. Never had trouble with the diesel disappearing. However, since she was going to sell the lighthouse, she hadn’t stocked up. She’d used it all except for the extra filled one she’d placed onboard Sweet Lies.

  She should have asked for more diesel from the Coast Guard. She realized that now. What she’d asked for was enough to get them to her place but not enough to get to the main island and get some help. Even if they could get to town, to whom could they tell their story? The cops? They’d want to know what happened to the drugs. That is if they believed their story. With her luck, they’d execute a search of Sweet Lies and conveniently find more drugs.

  She shivered at that thought.

  “When we get inside, we’ll hit the shower and crash for a while.”

  Chance’s unexpected whisper almost unraveled her, making her jump in fright, and she pulled away from his grasp.

  “How can you even think about sleeping?” she hissed to his broad back as he continued to climb the stairs.

  “Any second the cops could storm this place and search for planted drugs. And with our luck they’ll find them this time. Who knows who was here today? There could be drugs all over my place just like on the boat.”

  “Emily, just relax. I’ll check around.”

  “Not alone you won’t. I’m sticking to you like glue.”

  Ignoring his concerned grin, she grabbed the back of his jacket, and as he unlocked the door, she braced herself, anticipating police in SWAT clothing jumping out at them.

  Thankfully nothing happened and she followed him into her home. When he flicked on the lights, she scanned the kitchen. Everything seemed to be in place. Then again everything had seemed fine on Sweet Lies too until the extra diesel barrel was found missing and Chance discovered the drugs.

  To her relief he reached around and took her by the hand. She followed him like a second skin while he checked the doors and windows. Everything was locked up tight.

  “You’ll feel better once you take a shower,” Chance said as they entered the living room.

  “Why do I get the feeling you want to get rid of me?”

  He chuckled, the friendly sound of his voice made her feel just a bit relaxed.

  “Go. Take a shower. Take as long as you need. I’ll be right here when you get out. I’m sure the worst is over. Besides, I don’t think anyone will be venturing outside in this weather.”

  He pointed to the windows where she noticed raindrops begin to splash against the panes. The wind was picking up too. She could hear the roar of the waves pounding the shores below.

  “It looks like we made it back just in time,” he commented.

  Plopping himself onto the couch, he crossed his arms, kicked off his shoes and placed his stocking feet on the coffee table, appearing as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

  Looking over at her with that reassuring grin she truly loved, he winked.

  “I promise you’ll feel better when you come out.”

  Yeah, right, she thought as she headed into the hallway.

  “Okay, but I don’t think I’ll ever feel relaxed again.”

  * * * * *

  Chance waited until he heard Emily turn on the shower taps before moving to recheck the windows and doors. He breathed a very small sigh of relief when he didn’t find any evidence someone had jimmied the doors or windows. Not that it didn’t mean someone hadn’t gained entrance to the house. There were plenty of ways to get inside a building without being detected. So he took this opportunity to do a quick check around the place to make sure there weren’t any drugs stashed here either. After doing a fast search of the first floor and coming up empty, he headed upstairs to his room and began to feel just a bit of the tension spill from his body when it passed inspection.

  He got the feeling someone was playing with them. Letting him know they knew he was back. Or warning him this time they were going to involve Emily and not just threaten to do it as they’d done over the years.

  He inhaled deeply at the thought of Emily. She was exhausted. Strained to the max. He was surprised she’d even agreed to take a shower, but he’d figured it was the safest place for her to be while he checked around.

  Visions of the movie Psycho suddenly danced around in his head. Wasn’t there a creepy shower scene in that movie? A woman in the shower and a knife slashing through the shower curtains, stabbing her?

  He gritted his teeth against the goose bumps racing up his spine and forced himself to shake those silly thoughts away. He needed to talk to someone who could calm him down. He’d call Daniel and tell him what happened today. Then he would tell Emily to call her friend Jen to come out and get them. Too bad Emily didn’t have a backup boat out here. He hadn’t seen one around, so he assumed she didn’t. But he would ask her just to make sure when she got out of the shower.

  Grabbing the phone, his stomach dropped in a gut-wrenching blow as he realized there was no dial tone.

  * * * * *

  “What a day!” Emily sighed into the hot shower spray, loving the way the wet liquid caressed her face as she tried to force herse
lf to relax. Now she knew how Steve must have felt when the Coast Guard boarded Sweet Lies all those years ago. He must have been absolutely horrified at having them find drugs onboard and then stunned at being hauled off to jail.

  She closed her eyes and felt the hot sting of tears crash against her eyelids. Thank God Chance had been around for her today. If she’d been alone, the Coast Guard would surely have found the drugs and she’d be in jail right now. Awaiting the same fate as Steve.

  Thankfully Chance had known what to look for and what to do.

  It’s happening again. Chance’s exact words while she watched him pull the white bag full of drugs from behind her Sweet Lies’ kitchenette cabinet. He must have been thinking about Steve and how he’d been framed this same way. Obviously whoever had been behind Steve’s frame-up had resurfaced. Why now? Why after all these years?

  Questions with no answers. It was enough to throw her hands up in the air and scream in frustration.

  * * * * *

  “Before you take your turn to hit the shower I need to ask you some questions.”

  Emily’s strong tone made Chance realize she wasn’t going to let him let get out of not answering her questions this time around. This time she meant business. But when she noticed he’d placed a couple of blankets and a pillow on the couch he sat on, she frowned.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Thought I’d sleep down here.”

  She seemed to tense at the idea and a split second later she relaxed. He admired the warm flush of red in her cheeks from the shower and at how sexy she looked with tangled, wet hair. When wet, her hair was a dark blonde, almost brown. He’d always enjoyed seeing her like this. Sometimes blonde, sometimes brunette. Sometimes cute, sometimes downright bedroomy sexy.

  She’d changed out of her work clothes and donned a cute violet-colored track suit that hugged her curves quite effectively. He tried hard to ignore the throb of appreciation his cock threw his way as he suddenly remembered last night. Of touching those curves, tasting her nipples and taking her from behind. Oh man, he ached to have her in his arms again tonight. Heck, right now too.

  He swallowed at his suddenly dry mouth and cleared his throat.

  “What is it you want to know?”

  “How did you know it was the Coast Guard coming and not someone else?”

  “Saw the emblem on its side as it pulled alongside.”

  “What if they weren’t the authorities? What would you have done?”

  “Grabbed you, dove overboard and then kissed you.”

  Emily’s frown deepened. Obviously the shower didn’t do as good a job in relaxing her as he’d hoped.

  “Chance, be serious. How did you know those people weren’t simply imitating the Coast Guard?”

  “Emily, people don’t go around imitating the Canadian Coast Guard. They infiltrate it. I was looking for a suspicious character. When the man asked for water, I suspected him and that’s why I stuck to him like glue.”

  It wasn’t the truth. Another sweet lie to protect them. The minute Chance had spotted the fellow, he’d recognized him as the same man who’d found the drugs on Sweet Lies years earlier. Whoever was behind this nightmare was using the same techniques and same people they’d used in the past. Obviously they knew he was back.

  “Someone tipped him off there would be drugs on my boat?” she said in disbelief.

  He nodded.

  “The Canadian Coast Guard is crooked?”

  “No. Just one man. I think the next time we’re in town I’ll hit the library’s internet and send my…” He was about to say his brothers and caught himself. “I’ll send the McCullen brothers an email. Tell them what happened and to check into this guy’s background. I’m sure they’ll find something.”

  “You can use my internet, or you can call them from here.”

  “Someone is probably monitoring your emails and maybe even listening in on the phone lines. It’s better if I use a neutral computer.”

  He opted not to tell her about the phone not working. It would only add to her stress.

  “Who are they? Why would someone tap my phone lines? Or monitor my emails? What the hell is going on?”

  These were the questions he’d expected earlier and he already had his false story ready for her.

  “I’m sure it has something to do with the transplant surgeon Steve was interviewing just before he died.”

  He noted the puzzlement cross Emily’s face. He’d never told her how dangerous those interviews he’d done with the famous organ transplant surgeon had been. Had never explained he’d been doing undercover work for a top secret government organization either. Interviewing the surgeon had been a ploy to draw the usually secluded man out into the open so the government agents could follow them.

  It was time to tell her the truth about that part of Steve’s life. He hoped that she wouldn’t think too badly of him. But she had to know the danger they were in now.

  “Steve wasn’t working on anything that should have had someone frame him for drugs. I already asked his boss Helena, and she said there wasn’t anything dangerous.”

  Emily frowned and sat down on the couch beside him.

  “Helena didn’t know. Steve was working undercover. He didn’t want you to know how much danger he was in.”

  To his surprise, she held up her hands and shook her head. Anger flared in her eyes.

  “Okay, just stop. How do you know all this?”

  “His brothers told me.”

  He could tell by the tight twist of a smile that she was offended as well as frustrated at this new bit of news.

  “And they didn’t bother to tell me.”

  “They wanted to protect you. Steve promised you he had stopped doing dangerous assignments. What he didn’t tell you was he had one left that he was working on. It had to do with a series of interviews he was doing.”

  “With that organ transplant surgeon you mentioned. I remember. Dr. Seth Martin. He’s the same one Daniel was investigating undercover. Daniel killed him last year down in Florida. He had something to do with the illegal organ transplant trade and murdered a teenage friend of Daniel’s wife Jo and illegally harvesting his organs.”

  “That’s right,” Chance agreed. Heck, she seemed to be taking this pretty well. He’d expected her to be angrier at being kept in the dark.

  She flinched.

  “Now things make sense. Somehow they were on to Steve. So they planted drugs on the boat so they could get him to jail. But why go to all that trouble when they could have just killed him and tossed him overboard? Unless they were trying to ruin his reputation and something went wrong in jail?”

  “I’m sure they had their reasons for doing what they did.” No use telling her how close to the truth she was. He was sure they were only looking to toss him into jail to scare him. The jail guards going ballistic and practically beating him half to death during the interrogation probably hadn’t been planned. He’d been cocky with the guards. Teasing them, provoking them. Hell, he’d been pissed off and scared shitless at having all those drugs found on the boat. Had thanked God over the years that he’d been the one on the boat that morning and not Emily.

  If they hadn’t covered up his beating with a suicide story, then the cops would have had a lawsuit up their asses and left no choice but to let him go. So they’d given Emily his supposed ashes in the hopes she’d go away with her questions and his criminal defense brother Daniel would vanish too. Then they’d stuffed him in some prison infirmary until he was healthy enough to be questioned again and again over the years.

  “What do we do now?” her soft voice cut into his thoughts.

  “It’s safer if you go and stay with Daniel and Jo.”

  She looked shocked at his suggestion. He hadn’t expected anything different. She was an independent, strong woman who wasn’t used to being ordered around.

  “You’ve got to be kidding. I’m not leaving my home because of those assholes.”

  “Do
n’t be stubborn about this, Em. This is serious. We’ll take the laptop to their place and see if we can crack the password into it.”

  “So why do you think they want the laptop? They don’t know about it. Chad was the one who found it…”

  Her eyes widened with sudden understanding.

  “No, you don’t think Chad mentioned the laptop to Skip and that Skip is somehow involved in all this?”

  Chance shrugged his shoulders. It was about time she knew Skip may not be such a great guy as they’d thought.

  “The thought crossed my mind.”

  “But you’re just speculating, right?”

  “You mentioned someone had broken into your place right after Steve’s death and his computer and other items were taken. And then a second break-in shortly after. And now with the discovery of the laptop they realize we may have something important against them if Steve has something on that laptop…”

  Emily frowned. “And if Chad did mention the appearance of the laptop to Skip and he is somehow involved in all this, then all this trouble with the siphoned diesel fuel and planted drugs is what? A message? That they are powerful enough to do whatever they want to me? So why not just break in and get the laptop? Why not just kidnap me and demand I tell them where it is?”

  “For all I know they’ve already searched this place and found it. Have you checked if it’s still where you put it?”

  “I already checked before I went for my shower. The laptop is in the exact spot I left it.”

  A tinge of relief swung through Chance. Wherever she’d hidden it, it didn’t mean they hadn’t been here and possibly erased the contents of his hard drive and removed the disc then slipped the laptop back into its hiding place. The fact she’d been able to so quickly check led him to believe it was in the bedroom, probably in the wall safe behind their wedding portrait.

  Cripes! Instead of checking the windows and doors and setting up a cozy bed for himself on the couch he should have seeing if that safe password was the same as the one they’d had all those years ago. He could have pretended they’d taken it and that would have been that. She would be in the clear. But even as he thought it, he knew she was now in deep danger right along with him. They wouldn’t believe her if she said she had no idea what was on the laptop, even if it did disappear. They would kill her just to make sure there weren’t any loose ends.