by Lynn Cahoon
Greg and I didn’t talk about weddings or forever, but I knew we both were thinking about it. Right now it was more important to just spend time together. Both of us had been married before, so we knew what a big step it was both into the marriage and out of it if the relationship went south.
As if she was agreeing with Greg’s comment, a short woof came from Emma. She was still wet, but now she was laying in the sunshine and watching the chipmunks just out of her reach.
“Sound like a plan. I thought we’d make waffles.” I turned back from watching my dog and focused on the other people around me.
“I’ll fry some chicken to go with it.” Kathi moved toward the door. “I’m sure we have maple syrup somewhere.”
“Chicken? For breakfast?” Greg followed the group inside the cabin.
Blake slapped him on the back. “Welcome to the South. Kathi cooks like she’s still living in Texas. You should drink one of her margaritas.”
“Looking forward to it.” Greg focused on me. “Do you need help? I’d like to talk to Blake about the trails before we head out.”
“I think between the two of us, we can make breakfast.” I smiled at him. “But this means you’re on tap for dinner.”
“No problem. We’ll go into town and hit that Mexican restaurant we saw driving in.” He grinned. “Dinner done.”
“I’d complain, but I guess you and Blake are buying, so what’s the point?”
As Kathi and I went about making breakfast, I thought about Caleb and his missing fiancée. Breaking up was hard, but this Dania seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth. If she was just somewhere else, why hadn’t she checked in, just to tell Caleb that she’d had a change of plans. Questions circled through my brain, but I knew that I may never have the answer to the mysterious disappearance.
Chapter 2
By the time we got back on the trails, the fog had lifted and the sun peeked through the trees. Emma was in the back seat again watching the side of the road for critters. Blake and Kathi drove a two-seater sports model ahead of us. Greg dropped back a little to stay out of the trail dust. As we drove past the bend in the road, I saw a man standing on the hillside watching us drive by. From the brief glance I saw of him, Caleb took the woodsmen role seriously. A heavy beard and long, unkempt hair framed his face and then drew you to his piercing brown eyes. I shivered and turned my head away.
The guy was creepy. Now that I knew the story about his fiancée disappearing, the creep factor doubled.
When we turned the last tree lined corner and arrived at the beach, Blake and Kathi were waiting for us. Greg pulled our vehicle up and turned off the motor.
“Ready to ride the dunes?” Blake asked. “I’ve been here before so I’ll lead. Mostly, you just need to make sure you’re watching and don’t rely on your memory. The sand shifts with the wind and what might have been a gentle dip yesterday could be a steep drop-off today. I don’t want you all getting hurt.”
“We’ll take it slow this trip since I have Jill and Emma with me. Maybe you and I can go out later and really put the hammer down.” Greg grinned at me, knowing I wanted to complain about going slow just because of me. On the other hand, I didn’t want him to go too fast. I was a complicated mess.
“Buckle up and put your helmets on. Safety first.” Blake tapped the helmet that Kathi had taken off as soon as we’d stopped. “You too, princess.”
“I really don’t like what this helmet does to my hair. Do you know how long it took me to get it just right this morning?” Kathi looked hopeful, like she thought she could talk Blake out of the offending headgear.
As we sat there arguing about the need for head gear, a group of seven side-by-sides sped by on their way to the dunes. No one had on helmets. From where I sat, I was pretty sure at least one of the guys had an open beer in his hand. It couldn’t have been much past nine in the morning. I glanced over at Greg who shrugged.
He’d seen the same thing. “Not my sandbox.”
Kathi pointed to the disappearing vehicles. “They don’t have on helmets. Why are you making me wear one?”
“Sorry, sweetheart. As much as I love seeing your hair flow in the wind, out here we have to be prepared for anything. That requires helmets.” He tugged the helmet onto her head and tied the chin strap. “According to Nate, they’ve been having trouble with that group for years. He’s always calling the sheriff out here, but nothing seems to change. Any way, you guys ready?”
I nodded because I hadn’t taken the helmet off. I looked back at Emma and wondered if letting her ride with us was the smartest thing to do. Greg must have sensed my hesitation because he put his hand on mine.
“I’ll be careful and she’ll be fine.” He’d read my mind. Giving Blake a thumbs-up, Greg started the engine. As we moved toward the dunes, I started feeling nervous. I didn’t like heights so this was going to be an experience for me.
No, I rephrased that. This was an adventure. Just like in the books I loved to read.
* * * *
After what seemed like forever, my hands cramping from gripping the handle bars too tightly, Blake pulled over at the top of a dune. Greg parked next to him. We climbed out, taking off our helmets. Kathi did a little toss of her head and her hair went back to perfect. I figured mine was a curly mess plastered to my head. It wasn’t like I wasn’t trying to look good for Greg, but we’d been together for a while. So if his activities caused me to have helmet hair, I didn’t see why I should feel bad.
Kathi and Blake, however, had just started dating. And Kathi was, well, Kathi. The woman was nice and super sweet in a southern way, so I didn’t quite trust her. I was hoping she would become, if not a close friend, someone I could hang out with. Like today.
I got my backpack out of the vehicle and poured Emma some water. She lapped it up like we’d been gone for days, not just a couple of hours at most. I’d also stuck her favorite tennis ball in the bag so I was hoping I could get her to play some chase and burn off some of her extra energy. After she’d drunk the entire bowl, Greg took the ball from me and got her attention.
Tossing the ball down the dune. Emma took off like a shot. When she found it, she grabbed the ball and then rolled several feet past the spot because her momentum hadn’t let her stop so quickly. She bounded up the hill and back to Greg.
He took the now wet and sandy ball from her and threw it again, wiping his hand on his jeans. “Go get it, Emma.”
“Man, that’s gross. I guess that’s one reason I don’t have a dog.” Blake squatted next to me, a sports drink in his hand.
“You don’t have a dog because you’re on the road forty weeks a year now.” Kathi sat next to me and handed me a bottle of pink sports drink. “Try one of these. They’re low calorie but don’t taste half bad.”
Leave it to Kathi to bring diet food on vacation. Figuring out how to be friends with her was going to be a challenge. My BFF Amy and I had a lot in common, but one of the most important things was food. We both loved food. Kathi was going to be different. “Thanks.”
I heard a rumble in the distance and, all of a sudden, the group of riders we’d seen before were on us. They flew up the hill, then stopped behind us. No one got out of their vehicles for a minute. I could see that they had on headphones. Finally, one guy took off his headphones and climbed out. He wore a black t-shirt with a skull on the front and the sleeves cut out to show off his biceps. Devil Riders was written under the skull.
Emma, who laid next to me with her ball, growled under her breath as the man approached. I reached out as if to pet her, grabbing her collar instead.
“Hey, we saw you all at the top of the trail. You guys staying over at the Woodses’ house?” The man casually asked.
Both Greg and Blake stood and put themselves between Kathi and I and the newcomer. I could see the alpha stance as the men sized each other up. Finally, Greg reached out a
hand. “Greg King. My friends and I are at the Woodses’ complex. Are you guys local?”
“As local as they come. Most of us went to school together. All the way from first grade until whenever.” The guy shrugged. “At least a few of us finished out the program. I’m Denny Doan. My friends call me Double D. Which they think is hilarious. I just figure it’s the kind of woman I’m looking for.”
The guy’s grin deepened and his eyes flickered over Kathi.
Blake stepped forward but Greg put an arm out to stop him. Male drama. It was so cliché I almost laughed. But even I could feel the tension.
Another man climbed out of his vehicle and ran up to Kathi. He stared at her. “You look just like her. Blond hair, pretty smile, blue eyes.”
“Russell, get back in your hunk of junk.” Denny growled and for a minute, Russell didn’t seem to hear the order. Denny raised his voice. “Russell! Leave the nice people alone.”
With a sigh, Russell turned away from Kathi and after one glance backward, ran to his vehicle and climbed back in.
“Sorry about that. You can’t take that guy anywhere without him making a scene. Especially over a beautiful woman. Anyway, you all should stop by the cabin north of the dunes one night while you’re here. We have a bonfire every night this week. Holidays bring out the guys who’ve moved away so we always do it big.” Denny turned his body sideways so he was looking directly at Greg now. Apparently, he realized his attention on Kathi had been noticed.
“We just might do that. We have more friends arriving.” Greg nodded to the vehicles. “Those are all turbos?”
“If it doesn’t scream up the dune, what good is it, right?” He glanced over to another guy who was making a circular motion with his finger. “Well, I guess we’re out of here. Make sure you stop by. It’s a bring your own drink kind of thing, but I’ll buy the first round.”
Greg nodded, then turned back to us his hand on Blake’s back. When they reached us, instead of sitting down with me, the men leaned against the side by side and watched the others leave. He nodded to each driver as they passed by.
Finally, we were alone. I let go of Emma’s collar and let out a long breath. “That was intense.”
“Men like that know one thing. Power and position. It’s not any different than a group of frat boys. Except these guys have big toys.” Kathi stood and walked over to Blake. “You shouldn’t have reacted. Now he knows your weakness is me.”
“We probably won’t see them again this week.” Blake pulled her close. “And besides, everyone knows my weakness is you.”
I watched Greg as he tracked the vehicles around another sand dune and out of sight. When he glanced at me, I could see an emotion in his gaze. Concern, worry? Or was it just the cop side of him that was on edge with our new friends.
I stood and joined him. “Everything okay?”
He pulled me close. “Sorry, cop habit I guess. They seemed fine.”
But I knew that wasn’t what he really thought. And I knew we’d run into the gang again, even if we didn’t take their bonfire invitation.
“So are we sitting or are we riding?” Blake asked.
Kathi held up her drink. “I’m finishing this first. It’s strange here. You’d think it would be humid since we’re on the coast, but actually, it’s very dry.”
I glanced around. We weren’t on the tallest dune, but all I could see was sand, no ocean and no forest. “Are we in the middle of the dunes? Where is the ocean?”
Blake grinned. “Finish that drink and we’ll head there next. You’re going to love the view.”
Greg offered Emma some more water but she wasn’t interested. Before we could even ask, she climbed into the back, ready for the next part of the ride. “I think your dog is addicted to adventure.”
“She’s always been fond of road trips.” I rubbed Emma’s soft ears. She was my rock. Well, her and Greg. He bought her as a puppy for me after I’d moved into my house. And he’d been right, she was the best security system I could have. Maybe that should be the motto for Golden Retrievers, Security R Us? I closed the lid on the diet drink Kathi had given me and put it in the cup holder. I was sipping liquid, so I didn’t need to run back to the cabin before the group was headed there. “I’m ready whenever you are.”
The wind whipped sand in my eyes as we went up and down the sand dunes. I could feel the ocean breezes cooling the air as we got closer. All of a sudden, Blake stopped and we parked next to him. We sat on the top of a dune and as we walked to the edge, the ocean sparkled blue in front of us. The dune was at the far end of the riding area and, although you could ride down to the beach, it would be a pretty steep descent. My stomach rolled, just a bit.
Blake hugged Kathi in front of him. “I wanted to stop here before we headed down so you could see the view. Isn’t it great?”
“Did you grow up here, Blake?” I knew he had gone to school with Caleb but I guess I thought he’d lived in California.
“Here, there, a bit of everywhere. My dad was in the army, but my grandmother lived near here. I stayed with her when he and my mom went overseas to Germany. She had a small house just inside town. Bonus for me, she still had my dad’s old dirt bike. I worked on that thing for months before it would even start.”
“You do have a stubborn streak, my love.” Kathi turned her head and kissed him lightly. “Does she still live in town? We could take some time to go visit.”
“Some people call that persistent and say it’s a positive quality.” Blake’s eyes twinkled as he squeezed Kathi. “Grandma died about five years ago. My dad sold her house and put the money in trust. He says it will be mine as soon as I decide to settle down. I guess he doesn’t think being with the same band for over five years is a settled life.”
Kathi’s eyes misted for a second and I wondered if she agreed with Blake’s dad’s definition of settled. But then the emotion was gone. “So are we driving down to the beach?”
“As soon as you’re ready.” He turned to us. “Follow me. It’s a little tricky going down.”
I snapped a few pictures of the ocean and then hurried to join Greg and Emma in our vehicle.
“Make sure you’re strapped in. I know Blake said it was doable, but I’m just a little nervous about the incline.” He handed me the helmet. “Definitely wear this. I have a feeling Kathi’s going to try to talk Blake out of wearing them before the week’s over.”
“Really?” My eyes must have brightened a bit at the prospect.
He closed the chin strap and tapped the top of the helmet. “I said Kathi was going to try. You on the other hand are wearing yours because I happen to love your quirky head.”
I knew he was right, but the darn thing wasn’t the most comfortable. Greg started the side by side and we watched as Blake and Kathi started down the dune. For a moment, they were fine, but all of a sudden, the vehicle lurched to the left. Then to the right. To my horror, then it started rolling side over side.
“Oh, my God.” I unbuckled my seat and climbed out of the vehicle. I’d heard a yell from Greg, but I was too busy watching my friends roll down the dune, the side by side finally stopping about half way down.
Greg backed the vehicle a few feet off the edge then climbed out, his helmet coming off as soon as he left the driver’s seat. I pulled mine off. “Do you think they’re all right?”
“Stay here. I’m going down.”
I dropped my helmet on the sand and started to follow him. He glanced back at me but instead of yelling at me to go back, he just shook his head.
“Just be careful.” He warned as he made his way to the overturned vehicle.
Blake was already climbing out when we got there and he grinned. “We’re fine. Just a little excitement to the day.”
“Kathi?” Greg asked.
“Shook up but not hurt. I could use some help in rolling this over. Her door’s tot
ally blocked.
“I’m fine. Just get me out of here. Wait, I found something.” Kathi called from the inside of the off-road vehicle. “It’s a ring. With a pretty big diamond too. So pretty, it’s a marquise cut…”
She got quiet for a minute. I leaned closer, trying to see into the vehicle and the newly found ring. Leave it to Kathi. If she fell on a deserted street she’d find a hundred-dollar bill. I’d never met someone so lucky. “Kathi? Are you okay?”
The only answer was her screams.
Chapter 3
Greg and Blake strained to pull the side by side upright and Kathi scrambled out the driver’s side door into Blake’s arms.
“Oh, no, oh, no,” Kathi repeated, over and over as Blake stroked her back.
“Darling, I’m so sorry, you must have been scared. Sit here and calm down. I’ll get you one of those pink drinks you like.” Blake led her away from the vehicle and sat her on the sand. As he turned to go, she grabbed his pant leg.
“You don’t understand. When I picked up the ring to look at it, it was stuck. I thought it was a tree root.” Kathi wildly looked around. “Which is totally stupid, because there aren’t any trees nearby, but maybe a shrub? It totally could have been a shrub root, right?”
“Kathi, calm down. Tell me what you found?” Greg knelt beside her. I could see that he’d immediately went into full force cop mode.
Instead of answering, she just pointed toward the side by side. Since I was the closest, I walked around to the passenger side of the now righted vehicle where Kathi had been stuck. A skeleton hand covered in what appeared to be jerky stuck up from the sand. On the finger next to a shriveled pinky sparkled a diamond ring. It hadn’t been a tree or shrub root holding on to the piece of jewelry. Kathi had not only found a diamond ring, but also the body attached to it.
“Jill, get back. This is a crime scene.” Greg pulled out his phone and dialed 911. “This is Detective Greg King and I’d like to report a body. We’re at the sand dunes park.”
