Love Inspired Suspense March 2015 - Box Set 1 of 2: Protection DetailHidden AgendaBroken Silence

by Shirlee McCoy

  “Florida,” Bailey answered.

  “So, someone took a picture of your sister in Florida yesterday and managed to get the picture here in this house sometime between then and now?”

  Bailey looked up at him, her big blue eyes brimming with tears. “I know it sounds crazy. I wish I had some answers. I really do. I have no idea how that picture got here, who took it or why. It’s all just really creepy, to say the least.”

  Ed crossed his arms, his thoughts racing. “I knew it felt like someone had been in the house when we got back yesterday.”

  “Of all the things someone could break in to do, though.” She shook her head.

  Ed didn’t miss how it seemed as if she’d gone into a trancelike state. She was really shaken up by all of this, and he couldn’t blame her. Someone was playing a twisted game, and he was only now beginning to realize what the stakes were. He’d known last night that the incident in the attic was no accident. But was someone threatening her? Had she gotten herself in too deep, become too entangled with the wrong people? Or was she a willing accomplice, playing a game and preying on his goodwill?

  He put a hand on Bailey’s elbow. “Come on. Let’s get out of here. Some fresh air will do us good.”

  They headed out and started across the grass toward the shed where the bikes were kept. A large barn, original to the property, stood behind the house, though no one except the groundskeeper ever used it.

  An hour later they’d bought five bags of groceries and ordered some boxes that should be in by the end of the week. Their trip into town had been surprisingly comfortable. Their chitchat as they traveled to and from had almost seemed familiar and easy.

  Bailey had stopped to talk to several people. It was obvious in the short amount of time she’d been on the island that she’d developed a sense of belonging. Ed wondered what that would be like.

  He couldn’t think that far into the future, though. Right now, he had to focus on finding answers, and he had very little to go on. He’d made some calls and wanted to get to know some people in town, find out who was coming and going.

  The picture of Bailey’s family lingered in his mind. What did it mean? He wouldn’t so easily believe that this was just a coincidence, not with everything that had been going on.

  Ed stopped in his tracks when they reached the backside of the house. “We didn’t leave that door cracked open.”

  Bailey’s steps slowed. “No, we didn’t.”

  Ed put his bags on the ground and reached into his jacket. “Stay back.”

  Bailey only stared at him. “A gun? You brought a gun with you to the grocery store?”

  He tried to ignore her, but she kept staring. “Do you have a problem with that?”

  “What kind of lawyer carries a gun with him everywhere?”

  “A lawyer who’s always ready for anything. Now, can we stop talking so I can check out the house?” Ed stared at her and saw the fear in her eyes. Did she really think he would hurt her? The thought was unsettling.

  She pulled her gaze away from the gun and frowned. “Of course.”

  He crept up to the house, listening for signs of any suspicious movements or intruders. All was silent.

  As he nudged the door open, he scanned the interior of the house. He didn’t see anything out of place. The kitchen chairs were as they left them. His coffee mug was still on the table. One of the curtains still hung lopsided. Even the picture of Bailey’s sister was still there.

  He really didn’t want to search this entire house again. But he would if he had to.

  Stepping into the kitchen, he noticed Bailey behind him. “I thought I asked you to stay outside.”

  “Why do we keep going back and forth on this? Stay together, separate. Separating seems like such a bad idea when danger could be close,” Bailey said.

  “Or you could have just walked into danger,” he groused. “Stay here while I check out the house. Please.”

  She frowned but nodded.

  Ed searched but found no one. Strange. Why was that door open, then? Had the wind blown it open?

  He shook his head and went back to join Bailey in the kitchen. She was waiting where he’d told her to stand, but she didn’t look happy.

  It was time they talked. Really talked. He needed to find out what she knew.

  “Everything okay?” she asked.

  He tucked his gun back into the holster. “I didn’t see anything.”

  He went to the cabinet and pulled out some tea he’d found this morning. He put the kettle on the stove, thankful to finally have power. He didn’t want to scare Bailey by bombarding her with questions. He’d take a gentle, more friendly approach by offering to chat over tea.

  “I found the canister this morning. It was my dad’s favorite. Would you like some?” he asked.

  Bailey shook her head. “No, I think I’m going to try to organize your father’s things and straighten up a bit. Is that okay?”

  Interesting.

  Change of plans. Maybe instead of talking, he’d see exactly what she was up to. He’d give her a few minutes and then catch her red-handed.

  *

  Bailey paused in the laundry room. It was one of the few rooms that she hadn’t searched. It seemed an unlikely place to hide anything, but maybe that would essentially make it the perfect place to stash something of importance.

  She started on the top shelf of the cabinet and searched through tubs of cleaners, rags, old batteries and tools. As she looked, she thought about Ed’s gun. For a moment when he’d pulled it out earlier, fear had coursed through her.

  She had no proof that he was a good guy. And the man last night had warned her that Ed wasn’t who she thought. Everyone seemed insistent on playing mind games with her. She couldn’t tell which way was up anymore.

  She hadn’t even finished the first cabinet when her cell phone buzzed. She climbed from the ladder, wiped the sweat from her brow and leaned against the washer.

  A text message was waiting for her.

  Maybe your search would be more effective if I got Ed out of the way first.

  She gasped. What? Though she’d just been questioning Ed’s innocence in all of this, there was no way she wanted someone to die in this twisted game, no matter what side he or she was potentially on.

  With trembling fingers, she texted back.

  Why don’t you just search for yourself? Why do you need me?

  She held her breath, waiting for his response, wondering if she should have remained silent. The last thing she wanted was to provoke this man even more.

  You’re our inside connection.

  She started to reply and then froze. Those leaves she’d seen in the attic last night—the ones beside the rat poisoning. Were they…tea leaves? Had someone messed with them and returned them to the kitchen?

  Ed was making himself some tea.

  With a gasp, she dropped what she was doing and darted toward the kitchen. She reached the tile floor there just as Ed was raising a cup to his lips. Without thinking, she smacked it out of his hands.

  The cup flew through the air before smashing against the wall. Shards of porcelain, as well as hot liquid, splattered everywhere.

  Ed looked up, an incredulous look in his eyes. “Have you lost your mind?”

  Bailey swallowed hard. She hadn’t had time to think of any kind of reasonable-sounding explanation. “That tea’s bad. Old. No good.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Is that right?”

  She nodded. “I meant to tell you that earlier. I didn’t think about it until just now. I didn’t want you to get sick.”

  “From tea?”

  “Nothing worse than bad tea.”

  “I’m pretty sure tea never goes bad.”

  Did tea expire? She didn’t know and she didn’t have time to think about it. “We found bugs in a couple of canisters. I thought I’d thrown out this old stuff already.” She grabbed the old tins and dumped them in the trash.

  Ed still stared on as though
she’d lost her mind. He rose slowly, his gaze laced with skepticism as he started toward the living room. “You know what? I think I’m going to change. Some of that tea splattered on me.”

  Bailey sat down hard in a kitchen chair. Had she overreacted? Should she try to send a sample of the tea in to be tested? Where would she even send it? Even if she found somewhere, by the time she got the results back, it would probably be too late.

  Fear continued to grow inside her. She couldn’t just sit here all day. She had to keep looking for something she wasn’t sure she could even identify. Whoever the man was behind this, he was making it obvious that he had eyes on her at all times. It was unnerving.

  She stood and took a deep breath, trying to wipe away her frustration. As she stepped back toward the laundry room, a distinct scent caught her nose. What was that…smoke?

  She sprinted toward the stairway.

  She glanced down the hallways on the first floor and saw nothing. Taking the steps by two, she darted upstairs. The hallway appeared clear.

  Skirting the landing at the center of the house, she reached the west wing.

  Smoke.

  That was definitely smoke.

  And it was coming from…the direction of Ed’s room.

  NINE

  Bailey only took two steps when she spotted the flames. They flickered from Ed’s door and grew larger by the minute. Adrenaline surged in her.

  This was not going to be the way it all ended. Not if she had anything to do with it. She was a nurse; it was her job to help people, not to leave them in their time of need.

  She darted back downstairs, into the laundry room, and grabbed a fire extinguisher she’d seen there while cleaning. Tucking it under her arm, she sprinted back to Ed’s room. She wasted no time in spraying the flames.

  Finally, any visible flames disappeared, leaving only a faint orange flicker to the black charred wood and a lot of heavy smoke. She had no idea what it looked like inside the room, though.

  She jerked off her sweatshirt and wrapped it around her hand before grabbing the doorknob.

  Please open.

  Thankfully, it did.

  She pulled her shirt over her mouth as thick smoke billowed out. Where was Ed? She could hardly see through the thick, gray air.

  She pushed her way inside, using the extinguisher to douse more flames.

  Despite her shirt, smoke filled her lungs. She swatted the air in front of her, desperately wanting to see.

  She spotted Ed, bent over with a hand on his head.

  “Come on!” she shouted.

  She slipped an arm around his waist and led him out of the room. She didn’t stop until they’d reached the end of the hallway. Her shoulder ached, she could hardly breathe, and her head was pounding by the time she lowered Ed to the ground. She sank down there beside him.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  He nodded, still trying to catch his breath and looking a bit dazed. “Someone hit me over the head. It’s the last thing I remember before waking up with flames around me and then seeing you.”

  “I’ve got to call 911. You going to be okay?”

  He nodded again, sucking in a raspy breath. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

  She grabbed her phone and dialed, knowing things could have turned out much worse.

  *

  “We won’t know for sure until the fire marshal investigates, but it looks to me like an electrical fire that started between the walls,” Sheriff Davis said. The man was probably in his early thirties with curly blond hair and blue eyes. Bailey had insisted that he was trustworthy, but Ed remained leery of most people.

  Should he tell the sheriff that someone knocked him out before the fire happened? Or would that raise too many questions? The last thing he wanted was people poking into his business.

  “An electrical fire, huh?” Ed ran a hand over his face.

  The sheriff nodded. “Not unusual in older homes. With the power just being restored, there could have been a surge. Anyway, it’s a good thing you got out when you did and that Bailey thought to hit the breaker. When the fire marshal gets here, he’ll be able to tell you whether it’s safe to sleep here in the residence.”

  Just then, a shadow filled the doorway. Ed looked back and saw Henry Wilkins there. The man had been the groundskeeper here for many years. His wife had recently become ill and he’d drastically cut back his hours. He was in his late sixties with thin light brown hair, a protruding gut and at least three chins.

  Ed had called the man this morning and asked him to stop by and take a look at the window. Plus, he wanted to talk to Henry, see if he knew anything. “I heard there was trouble and headed over here early,” he said. He glanced up, where smoke still clung to the ceiling. “Looks like more than a window that will need to be fixed.”

  “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go file my report.” The sheriff slipped away. “I’d stay out of that wing of the house until we know if there’s any structural damage.”

  “Will do,” Ed said.

  Ed and Henry chatted about the fire for several minutes before Wilkins turned toward Bailey. “I meant to tell you, a man stopped by the other day looking for you.”

  Bailey raised her eyebrows. “A man?”

  He nodded. “Said he was trying to find you. That was the day you went over for the funeral. I couldn’t make it because my wife was feeling especially ill. I stopped by here for just a moment to grab some tools before heading home.”

  “No one’s been in contact with me since then,” Bailey said, shaking her head. “What did he look like?”

  Wilkins shrugged. “I figured he was an old boyfriend or something. He was tall and big. Not like fat big, but weight-lifting big. He had a bit of an accent. It was slight, but it was there. He had dark, curly hair, a cleft chin, and maybe he was Middle Eastern or from India? I’m not sure.”

  “Doesn’t sound familiar.”

  “Either way,” Wilkins continued. “He said he was going to be back. Something about picking up something that you have for him? I’m sorry I forgot to mention it. I’ve had so much on my mind lately.”

  Ed could read the emotions washing over Bailey. Surprise, confusion, fear.

  What was she scared of? Something lurked beneath the surface. He had to figure out what. She’d saved his life, but her earlier behavior was so peculiar.

  “Wilkins, have you noticed anything strange going on around here lately?”

  The older man rubbed his chin. “I did see a boat outside at your dad’s pier a week or so ago.”

  His instincts spiked. John had mentioned the same thing. “Really? What were the people on board doing?”

  “I figured they pulled up thinking the place was abandoned or something, so I shooed them off.”

  “Did they say anything?” Ed asked.

  “Naw. Not much. Just apologized and went on their way. It was a guy and a girl. Couldn’t tell much about them. Both were wearing hats.”

  “Is that unusual?” Ed continued.

  Wilkins shrugged again. “Wouldn’t say so. People come from all over to see this island. They think it’s the place where time stood still. People just get curious. This house, of course, stands out. It’s about ten times the size of the rest.”

  “It is a big one. You would know that better than anyone, since you’ve been keeping the grounds up for…for how long now?”

  “Nearly twenty years. Even before your father bought the place. I’ve been coming twice a week to cut the grass, trim the bushes and pull the weeds. Can’t do some of the other stuff anymore. But I can find people who can.” Wilkins fixated on Ed a moment. “You going to stay here?”

  Ed shrugged. “I don’t know yet what I’m doing, Mr. Wilkins. The idea is tempting, I suppose. I’m not sure island life is for me, though.”

  “Stay here long enough and you’ll realize that it is. The slower pace does a body good.” He turned toward Bailey. “How about you?”

  “I’ve got to figure things
out. I’ll probably look for another job as a home health nurse and see where that takes me.”

  “You could help Doc Jennings out,” he suggested.

  “I hardly think the island needs a doctor and a nurse.”

  “Rumor has it he wants to retire and move down to Texas to be with his son and grandkids.”

  She shrugged. “Tempting, but who knows if that will happen or when it will happen. I’m just trying to wrap everything up here.”

  He glanced back at Ed. “You want me to take a look at that window?”

  Ed nodded. “That would be great. If you can’t fix it, if you could point me in the direction of someone who can, that would be great. I’ll show you where it happened.”

  They started walking toward the kitchen when Bailey called to him and motioned him over. For a moment—and just a moment—he wondered what it would be like if she was calling him over for some reason other than all the craziness happening lately. What it would be like if the two of them were a couple enjoying time together.

  Then he realized that the thought was crazy. No matter how hard he might want the possibility.

  TEN

  Bailey leaned against the wall as Ed walked away. She folded her arms across her chest, trying to get her pulse back down to a more stable rate.

  She didn’t care what the chief said. She knew the truth. Someone had started that fire—tampered with the wiring maybe—and made it look like an accident. The person behind the crime probably hadn’t intended to kill Ed, but he was trying to send a message, one that Bailey heard loud and clear. No one was safe.

  These guys weren’t afraid to take action, to claim lives.

  And who was the man Henry had mentioned who’d stopped by? Had someone scoped her out before the funeral even ended? The man certainly didn’t fit the description of any of her exes. Besides that, none of them knew she was here on Smuggler’s Cove.

  There had only been one thing to comfort her in the past hour, and that was the fact that Mr. Wilkins recognized Ed. From the way they talked, it sounded as though Ed had been here before. That he’d been here quite often before. That didn’t fit with Bailey’s theories about him, though. And if that was the case, why hadn’t he been here when it was most important—at the end of his dad’s life?