by Lauren Berg
“I guess I do?” Benjamin asked. Then, sounding more pleased, he said, “You’re right, I do.”
“You didn’t think about that before now?” Cain’s voice sounded farther away, and Laura wondered if he was walking away.
“Of course I did,” Benjamin sneered. “But I don’t want to go on record saying that. It would give people the wrong impression, if you know what I mean.”
“That’s why I agreed to do all of this off record,” Cain said.
“And you better keep your promise,” Benjamin said, suddenly sounding a lot less like a toddler and a whole lot more menacing.
“Whoa, dude. Put that thing away. You have my word.” Cain sounded alarmed, and Laura desperately wanted to know what was happening. Despite her aching arms, she pulled herself up until she could peer over the edge of the pier.
Benjamin was pointing a gun at Cain, who was slowly backing away with both hands raised in a gesture of surrender. Laura’s heart hammered. If only she could reach her phone to call 911, then she could save Cain and alert the police to the fact that Benjamin seemed like prime suspect, numero uno. Too bad she’d left her phone back with her purse.
“Now show me your pockets and take off your shirt, I want to be sure that there are no recording devices on you,” Benjamin waved his gun impatiently.
“Take it easy man,” Cain demonstrated his empty pockets and unbuttoned his shirt.
“I also want you to go on camera with that promise,” Benjamin said with devil’s smile as he pulled his phone from his pocket.
“I’ll do that, no problem.” Cain continued to back away as Benjamin trained the camera on him.
“Say it again.”
“I promise that everything you told me is off the record,” Cain said. “Okay, man, put the gun away.”
Benjamin turned the camera on himself. “And if Cain McGrath breaks his promise, I will kill him.”
Laura watched as he stuck the phone back in his pocket. She groaned slightly as her shoulders burned, and her muscles cramped. She needed to get back to solid ground soon or she was going to fall from sheer exhaustion. She saw Cain look in her direction, and she saw the alarm register on his face as she dropped back down out of view. She held her breath.
A moment later she heard Benjamin’s voice say, “And your little girlfriend, too. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll take care of her right now.”
Then his head was looming over her. She scrambled along the ledge, trying to get away from him, but she wasn’t fast enough.
“You know, if you want the full story, you should just ask your friend, Amy,” he said. “I’ve heard about your skills with a phone camera, so we’ll just make sure that you have no way of using it. Salt water has an amazing ability to destroy electronic devices”
He gave her a sadistic grin as he brought his foot down on the fingers of her left hand. She yelped in pain and let go of the board. Then he stepped on her right hand, and she was falling backward. The scream that erupted from her lungs mingled with Cain’s cry of her name. And then all she heard was the rushing of wind in her ears as she plummeted into the dark water below.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The darkness receded from her vision as a face loomed large over hers. At first she thought it was Benjamin again, but before she could react, a cough wracked her body and water spewed from her mouth.
“Geez, Laura, you scared me.”
She looked up at Cain. He looked concerned, but her mind felt fuzzy, and she couldn’t place the angry feeling bubbling in her chest. Staring at him she zeroed in on his mouth. He seemed to notice because he said, “I had to give you CPR.”
She gaped at him, not sure what to say. Finally she sputtered, "It couldn't have been that dire."
Cain grinned at her. "Don't worry, you'll remember the next time I kiss you."
Anger flared in Laura's chest. "You've got to be kidding me! Who says I want to kiss you? What were you doing meeting with Benjamin Whitaker anyway?"
"Trying to find out what he knew about Edith von Farron's whereabouts. Same reason you were skulking below the pier."
"So what? You think Edith's alive?"
"Maybe," Cain said, as he narrowed his eyes slightly. "Don't you?"
"I don't know," Laura admitted. She wasn't sure why she was so angry with Cain, but she hated to be scooped. Besides she needed that story before anyone else got it. "Did you know how volatile he was?"
"I wouldn't have met with him if I'd thought he'd pull a gun on me." Cain frowned.
"I can't believe you would meet with him. Who else have you met with behind my back?"
"Behind your back? You're joking right? I'm doing my job. Tell me who you've met with."
"No, absolutely not. I need this story. It was stupid of me to agree to share information with you in the first place. Obviously you had no intention of doing that, did you?" Laura pushed herself into a sitting position, and pushed wet hair out of her eyes. The waves crashing around them spraying foam into her face, and she flinched. Her body ached, and her wet clothes clung to her in a way that made her shiver despite the heat of the day.
"I did," Cain said softly. "I wanted to sit down and talk it all through. I'm a firm believer that two heads are better than one."
"Except when you are trying to write an exclusive story so your boss won't fire you." Tears pricked the backs of Laura's eyes, and she was angry at herself for getting emotional. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, and let out a small growl deep in her throat.
"You can have the exclusive as long as I get a small piece of information," Cain offered.
"Just save it. You showed what kind of guy you are," she snapped as she climbed to her feet.
“Where are you going?” he called after her.
“I need to get my phone and my purse. They’re up there,” she said through gritted teeth.
He caught up with her. “How much did you hear? If you know everything I know now, then we’re even.”
She paused to glower up at him. “I heard enough. Besides I’ve got film of you two meeting, so actually I’ve got the upper hand right now. Just … leave me alone.”
As she struggled back up the damp sand she fumed. How dare he offer her the exclusive, and how was she supposed to respond to that? He'd saved her life and he wanted to give her the information she needed. She didn't know why she was angry. None of it made any sense. She stopped at the boardwalk, her heart suddenly hammering in her chest. What if Benjamin was still around? She peered around the side of the snack shack, and grabbed her things. When she was sure she was alone she hurried back toward the street.
Deep down she knew that Cain wasn't the real target of her anger and frustration. She was more upset with herself that she had let herself get into the situation she'd been in. Her sleuthing didn't always turn out the way she wanted, and that was probably why she wasn't a private investigator. The cases she had solved had been because she had kept her wits, and had followed the clues. She was trying to do that here, but every time she got a new clue, it led her to a new suspect. Her head ached at the sheer immensity of the problems she was facing.
What had Benjamin said before he'd kicked her off the pier? Something about asking Amy for the whole story. What did Amy have to do with this whole mess?
Laura rubbed her throbbing temples as she tried to remember what her friend had told her about her relationship with Edith von Farron. There wasn't anything that jumped out at her. Still ... she needed to follow up on every clue that she was presented with.
"I guess I know what I'm doing when I get back to the hotel," she muttered to herself.
She pushed her hair out of her face again, and walked purposefully toward the Seaside Inn.
The cool air of the lobby wrapped around her, and in her wet clothes, she shivered down to her bones. With chattering teeth she made a beeline toward the elevators. From the corner of her eye she could see Vincent Ferrimo waving at her from the front desk. She didn't want to talk to him, es
pecially after seeing how dangerous his partner was.
Pretending not to see him, she pressed the button anxiously. When the doors slid open, she got on and punched her floor without looking up. Her heart was still pounding, and she wondered if she was ever going to be able to calm down. Maybe a near death experience took a while to get out of your system.
She sagged against the wall. All she wanted to do was to take a warm shower and get into dry clothes so she could regroup. If she was really going to bring Amy into this mess as a suspect she knew that she'd need all the strength she could muster. Alienating her best friend was not part of her plan. Besides, now that Benjamin had said that, she knew she'd have to clear not only her name, but Amy's, too. He was the type to throw everyone under the bus.
Laura stepped into the suite, and held her breath as she listened for Amy. She wasn't there, so Laura hurried into the shower. After the scalding hot water had raised her internal temperature to something above freezing, she changed into jeans and a button down top, her hair wrapped in a towel.
Sitting down on her bed, she called Jerry. He answered on the first ring with a gruff, "What? You better have something for me now."
Laura rolled her eyes and said, "Nice to talk to you, too, Jere. Listen, what do you know about Benjamin Whitaker?"
"Edith von Farron's current boy toy? Not much. He's clearly a gold digger. Why? Do you have a scoop on him?" Jerry's voice sounded excited, and Laura looked skyward again.
"Not yet, but I might. He's pretty young, isn't he?"
"He is. Hang on," Jerry paused. "It says here he's twenty-five. How old is Edith?"
"She's in her eighties."
Jerry let out a long, low whistle, and Laura chuckled. "There's a story there in and of itself, huh?"
"Let me get back to you on the story," she said. "I think there's a whole lot more here than I originally thought. What else has come over the wire about Edith? Is it blowing up every gossip site?"
"Absolutely. The conspiracy theorists are out in droves. I've read everything from the government kidnapped her to ransom to a foreign government to she was eaten by a shark."
"Seriously? Neither of those things make any sense." Laura laughed as she shook her head. Her conviction solidified as she thought of all the trash being printed about that poor old woman.
"Get me the story, kid." Jerry sounded gruff again, and she knew that the conversation was over. Sure enough he hung up before she got the chance to say anything else.
Just as she hung up with Jerry, Laura heard the door to the suite open. She shoved her phone into her pocket, and pulled the towel off her hair. She headed toward the living room area. Amy was folding her jacket neatly over the edge of the sofa.
"Hey, you. Where have you been? I was looking all over for you." Amy smiled as she reached down to take off her heels.
"I went out for a walk," Laura said. "Hey, listen, could we talk for a minute?"
"Of course," Amy sat down on a nearby chair. "What's up?"
Laura chewed on her lower lip, trying to think of where to begin. She parked herself on the sofa, and looked at her best friend. Amy's bright red hair was pulled back in a chic bun and her clothes were perfectly tailored, as usual. Underneath all the exterior shininess, Laura could still see her fun loving, childhood friend. She just couldn't imagine her friend being involved in anything nefarious.
"So you know that I'm doing an article on Edith von Farron even with her disappearance, right?"
"Absolutely. How's that going? Did you get any good interviews? Do you need me to make any phone calls? Any of my connections are yours," Amy said. "And if anyone gives you trouble, I know how to take care of that, too."
Laura had to suppress a smile. "How well did you know Edith?"
A frown flitted across Amy's pretty features, and she paused long enough for Laura to know she was considering a lie. "Not super well. I mean, we certainly moved in the same circles, but we weren't friends or anything, obviously. She's sort of in a different generation if you know what I mean."
"Sure, right. I was just wondering if you might be able to tell me about her in a way that other people can't. I mean, you know what it's like to have money. Geez, that came out wrong."
"No, you're right. I do know what that's like. That's definitely something that the two of us have in common. But I don't see how that helps your story."
Laura nodded. "I guess that's true, but I thought maybe you could tell me about the hangers on, you know, the people who just come around for your money. I've seen them. You know I have, but I have no idea what that must be like."
Amy shrugged. "It sucks not knowing who your true friends are. That's why I'm glad I have you, bestie." She smiled, and Laura wanted to jump up and give her best friend a ferocious hug.
"Have you ever had a guy want to marry you for your money?"
"Of course. What socialite hasn't?"
"We've never talked about that, have we?" Laura said.
"It's embarrassing. I mean, I'll never marry unless it's for love. And you better bet that we'll have one hell of a prenup."
"What would you say about Benjamin Whitaker?" Laura asked.
"Why do you ask about him?" Amy said.
"Because he's Edith's current husband."
"Right, well..."
Laura's alarm bells went off. She could see the left corner of Amy's mouth twitching. That was her tell. Whenever she lied, she got a little tic on the left side of her face. Sometimes it was her eyelid, other times it was her lips. And hadn't they just covered the fact that there were plenty of things the two of them had never discussed?
"Well, what?"
Amy cleared her throat. "Well, he was her legal husband, that's true, but it's not like they'd ever consummated the marriage."
"How do you know ... oh my gosh! Amy, you can't be serious?" Laura's jaw dropped open as she stared at her best friend.
"I didn't set out to have an affair with him. It just sort of happened. We met at a party that Edith threw over the summer, and we just clicked. He understood what it feels like to be an outsider in this world, to marry someone decades older and be smeared by the media for it. Things just sort of snowballed from there."
Blood rushed to Laura's head, and suddenly she felt dizzy. She could not believe that Amy had never told her. She stood up. "I ... I have to go out for a while."
Laura's head was spinning as she rode the elevator back down to the lobby. Amy had just admitted to her that she'd had an affair with Benjamin Whitaker, the same man who had just tried to kill her, the same man who had pulled a gun on Cain. How could her best friend have been intimate with someone like that? Did she know? Her temples throbbed, and she still felt dizzy, so she did the only thing she could think of. She headed toward the hotel's bar.
She dropped onto a stool at the smooth mahogany bar, and pressed her hands to her forehead. When the bartender approached to take her order, she ordered a cocktail that she hadn't drunk in years. How were things spiraling out of control so quickly? When was she going to stop shaking? She pressed her hands firmly against her thighs, and tried to get control over her thoughts, but everything was racing at one thousand miles per second. Was this what happened when you almost died? Could post traumatic stress disorder start so quickly?
"I'm glad to see that you got back to the hotel safely."
Laura turned to look up at Cain. In her discombobulated state of mind, it made complete sense that he would show up at the bar beside her.
“Thanks for saving me," she blurted out.
He gave her a long, appraising look, and sat down beside her. "You're welcome. Are you okay?"
Laura shook her head. "I don't think so."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"I don't think so."
"You don't sound so sure about that," Cain said.
"I'm not," Laura said with a shaky laugh. "I'm not sure about anything right now, to be honest with you."
"Do you want me to go to the police with you
when you report it?"
"I'm not going to the police," Laura said. As soon as the words left her mouth she knew they were true.
Cain frowned. "But we can't let him get away with what he did."
"In a perfect world, we wouldn't let him get away with it, but this is the real world, as twisted as it is. He's going to get away with it, at least for now."
"Why?" Cain's voice sounded hard, and a bit desperate, and Laura realized that he was just as shaken by the experience as she was.
Laura bit her lip. "I have to tell someone this, but this can't appear anywhere. Can I trust you?"
"You can."
"Amy, my best friend, you know who she is, of course. She just told me that she has been having an affair with Benjamin for the past few months."
Cain's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything for a long moment. "Wow, that's pretty heavy. I don't understand what that has to do with going to the police. I mean, what did Amy say when you told her about what happened?"
"I didn't tell her. I couldn't," Laura said, shaking her head ruefully.
"Look, I don't know what to say about that. Relationships are complicated, especially between best friends. And this might sound really abrupt, but would you like to go out with me? Now, maybe? We could go grab some food. Late lunch, early dinner?"
"Yes, let's get out of here." Laura shoved the drink back at the bartender. "I can't stay in this place for another minute."
Cain's eyebrows shot up almost to his hairline, but he smiled. She didn't want to think about her rationale. She didn't care that she'd been furious with him an hour ago. She just wanted to go somewhere that she didn't have to think about Edith von Farron or the fact that the police still wanted to talk to her. None of that was healthy, was it?
Besides Cain was a cute guy who had saved her life. Their careers were similar. She still hadn't asked him who he worked for, and she had to admit that she was curious about him.
Cain put his hand on the small of her back as they walked out of the hotel. She shivered with delight as she felt the heat from his palm burning her skin.
The sun had sunk lower in the sky, but the air was still warm. The breeze had picked up, though, and she stepped closer to Cain to absorb more of his body heat.
