Desperate Measures

by Christy Barritt

  She shook her head, her thoughts continuing to swirl at a dizzying pace. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Maybe that you’re relieved?”

  She squeezed the skin between her eyes. “What if that hadn’t been the case, John? What if I was still on the list? What then? The police would have arrested me, taken Connor away.” Anger rushed through her at the thought.

  “I didn’t tell them I knew you.” His shoulders visibly tightened. “I’m on your side, Samantha.”

  “The police would have put it together. They would have come here, arrested me.” She started pacing as worst-case scenarios rushed through her mind.

  “Samantha, you’ve got to give me more credit than that. I called a friend, someone I trusted. I was trying to help.”

  “By contacting someone who’s a sworn officer of the law? Friendship usually doesn’t mean that much in those cases. I know all about that.” Billy’s face flashed through her mind.

  “Samantha, I thought you’d be happy.” Exasperation washed over his features. His shoulders slumped, and his eyelids sagged.

  “I’d be happier if you’d just minded your business, just like I’d asked you in the first place.” She closed her mouth, regretting the words as soon as they left her lips.

  His face hardened. “I was trying to help. You’re not under the microscope anymore, Samantha. You can turn over the information to the police and they can hunt down Billy. You’re at freedom’s door.”

  “Maybe, but Billy doesn’t have anything to lose now, either. His reputation is ruined. He’s probably living off all the money he stole and waiting for the precise moment to exact his revenge on me.” She shook her head, feeling a headache coming on. “I need to lie down.”

  “Samantha...” He extended his hand but dropped it before it reached her.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know what to say. I know I should probably thank you, but I just can’t do that right now. All I keep thinking is that I never should have trusted you.”

  * * *

  Frustration threatened to overtake John as Samantha’s words echoed in his mind.

  Women were so hard to understand. Why couldn’t Samantha have faith in him? He’d made the call for her own good.

  That conversation had not gone as he expected. Not at all. He thought she’d be grateful.

  He hit the nail with a little too much force. The wood vibrated through the board as he patched another porch. Alyssa hadn’t trusted him enough, either. Her ex had sent her another threatening letter the day before John left to go out of town. She hadn’t mentioned the note, probably because she hadn’t wanted John to worry. Possibly she thought she had more time.

  Alyssa’s ex had found her that weekend and she’d died at his hands.

  But no one could force others to rely on them. Some people had insurmountable walls built up around themselves. He’d built up some walls himself.

  “Everything okay?”

  He looked up at Rich. His friend took a long sip of water from a reusable bottle and stared at him.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” He hit another nail.

  “Well, have some mercy on those nails then. What did they ever do to you?”

  John ignored him and continued to hammer. “Have you been keeping an eye on that reporter guy?”

  His friend nodded. “He’s been doing a lot of research, asking a lot of questions. But nothing suspicious. Not that I can tell. What’s with all of your interest in him, anyway?”

  “I just got some bad vibes from him. Someone’s been behind some vandalisms in the area lately. You can never be too careful.”

  “That’s the truth. It’s just a shame that someone seems to be targeting you.”

  “I appreciate all of your help here. You guys have been lifesavers.”

  “No problem. We’ll keep our eyes on things around here and get these cabins finished up. I just hope that storm doesn’t come and mess up all of our hard work.”

  “You and me both.” The storm was supposed to be a doozy. They had to finish this work quickly, board it all up, then they would most likely need to evacuate the island.

  “Maybe my help here will finally make up for that time you saved my hide at the academy.” His friend took a sip from his water bottle.

  John had helped him with his swim finals; if Rich hadn’t passed, he wouldn’t have made it into the coast guard.

  Something about his friend’s statement made realizations start to click in his mind. Rich had been joking about repaying John for his help and finally feeling peace.

  But maybe the truth was that John was trying too hard to protect Samantha because he hadn’t been able to save Alyssa. Maybe subconsciously he felt like he had to somehow atone for his failure by ensuring nothing happened to anyone else.

  The realization caused his spirit to sag.

  Maybe it was time to come clean with Samantha. About everything. About his failures. About his need for repentance. About his inability to make things right.

  He’d overstepped his boundaries, and he had to be a big enough man to admit it.

  Before he could, Samantha came running toward them, a piece of paper flapping in her hand. “Did you leave this for Connor?”

  “Leave what for Connor?” What was she talking about? Her level of franticness alarmed him. He tried to prepare himself for whatever she was about to say.

  She held up the paper. “A note telling him to meet you to go canoeing?”

  John stood, his entire body tensing as urgency rushed through him. “Not me. We’ve got to go find him. Now.”

  * * *

  “Let’s split up,” Samantha urged, her mind racing in a million directions at once.

  Connor. Not Connor. Precious, precious, Connor.

  “If we split up, we can cover more ground. We’ll be more likely to find—”

  John grabbed her arm. “We need to stay together.”

  “But—” Samantha said.

  He leaned toward her, his gaze intense. “Listen, someone’s after you. You don’t need to go anywhere alone.”

  She took a step back, refusing to believe that was the truth. They just needed to move. “Let’s stop talking and get going. We’ve got to find him, John.” Her voice broke with emotion.

  “Rich, Larry—head to the north side of the island on my boat.” He tossed them some keys. “Just in case they took off in the water, I want you to be there. We’ll go to the boat launch.”

  He grabbed Samantha’s hand, and they began sprinting down the road. In the distance, John spotted Alvin and waved him down. “We need your golf cart. I’ll pay you triple whatever you get paid normally.”

  Alvin raised his bushy eyebrows. “Sure thing. Where ya headed?”

  “Sewell’s Point,” John barked.

  “Let’s go.” Alvin nodded toward the back.

  John and Samantha jumped into the back of the vehicle. John pulled out his phone and dialed the sheriff.

  The golf cart was the fastest transportation on the island, yet it seemed so slow, at odds with the frantic urgency pounding inside Samantha.

  Connor should have known not to go anywhere without telling Samantha. Yet, he’d probably thought it was okay if John had asked him. He thought the man was a superhero.

  Connor had trusted, and now he was in trouble. Could anything good come out of relying on other people? She’d yet to see it.

  They bumped down the road. Her eyes scanned every shadow, every movement, every possibility, looking for a sign of her son. Finally, the trees cleared and the bay was right ahead.

  Before the golf cart even stopped, Samantha was off. She ran toward the walkway leading across the marsh grass. John pushed ahead of her.

  His strides increased when he hit the sand.

 
“Connor!” he shouted. He sounded worried. He really did care about Connor, didn’t he?

  Samantha’s heart rate quickened. Had he spotted her son? As soon as the dunes cleared, she frantically looked around.

  She spotted Connor and Rusty near some canoes with...Kent Adams? The real estate agent?

  Was he the one behind all of this?

  Kent spotted them and took off in the opposite direction.

  “Stay with Connor!” John yelled. “And call the sheriff!”

  She didn’t have to be told twice. She reached her son and pulled him into her arms.

  “Connor, are you okay?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, Mom. I’m fine.”

  “I’m so glad you’re okay.” She held him closer.

  In the distance, she saw John running with all of his might.

  Please catch Kent Adams, she prayed silently. Please catch him.

  FIFTEEN

  John’s leg muscles burned. The strain didn’t slow him down; in fact, the burn pushed him harder. He had to reach Kent and put an end to this madness.

  Anyone who lured a child away from home had to be punished...not by John, but by the proper authorities. But John had no problem with catching the man and waiting until the sheriff arrived.

  His feet dug into the sand and sweat scattered across his forehead.

  He climbed a dune and pushed through marsh grass. Water covered his ankles as the mucky ground suctioned his feet.

  Kent’s breaths were coming deeper as he sprinted in front of him. Right now, John had the advantage. He was younger, faster and stronger.

  The bay appeared and Kent ran into the water. What was the man going to do? Swim? John would have him there since he’d started his career in the coast guard as a rescue swimmer.

  Suddenly, Kent tripped.

  His mess up gave John just enough time to catch him.

  John jerked the man to his feet and held him by his collar. “Who are you working for?”

  Kent’s eyes widened. “I can explain. Really. Please, don’t hurt me.”

  “Start talking.”

  “I wasn’t going to hurt the boy,” he rushed. “You’ve got to believe me.”

  “What were you trying to do then?”

  “I just wanted to see if he could convince you to sell your land.” His voice cracked.

  “A little boy? You wanted a little boy to convince me?” He squeezed the shirt collar tighter. “You’d better keep talking, because I’m not buying this so far.”

  Kent raised his hands, his voice trembling. “It’s not what you think! Put me down! We’ll talk.”

  John heard footsteps behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Sheriff Davis rushing his way, gun drawn.

  “I’ll take it from here, John. We’re going to take this man down to the station. I can promise you this—I’ll get some answers for you, if it’s the last thing I do.”

  * * *

  John paced back and forth in his cabin as he waited for the sheriff to come by and give him an update.

  The good news was that Connor wasn’t hurt. He’d said that he’d just gotten there when they’d arrived. Still, he was shaken by all of the hoopla around the incident. The boy hadn’t missed the worry in everyone’s eyes.

  They’d had lunch, John had played another round of battleship with the boy, and then Connor had taken a nap.

  At two-thirty, the sheriff knocked on the door.

  Samantha looked beside herself as she rose to her feet and stared at the door. John wished he could comfort her, that he could do something to make her feel better, but he knew there was nothing that would make this situation any less grim. She probably wouldn’t even want his comfort.

  They’d kissed and had both realized it was a mistake.

  He’d found out information on the status of her investigation, and that had also been a mistake.

  All they seemed to have now was a series of slip-ups.

  “Come on in, Sheriff.”

  Davis nodded and stepped inside. “Sorry. It took longer than I anticipated.”

  “We appreciate you stopping by,” Samantha said quietly.

  John pointed to a chair at the dining room table. “Have a seat.”

  The sheriff lowered himself there. “I’ll just cut to the chase, since I know that’s what you want to hear anyway. First of all, Kent Adams is the man’s real name. He really does work for a man who’d like to purchase your land here. In fact, he’d like to purchase most of the land on the island.”

  John shook his head. “Who is this man?”

  “I’d never heard of him before, but his name is Tom Chambers. Apparently, he’s a billionaire who made his fortune in the stock market. That name doesn’t ring a bell with either of you, does it?”

  Samantha and John both shook their heads.

  Relief washed through John. Good, he wasn’t one of the men Samantha’s husband had swindled. Kent Adams appeared to be unconnected to her past.

  “Since this Tom Chambers came into the money, he’s tried his hand at several businesses, most of which were not successful. He opened a line of gift shops. He invested in a product that only reached a few thousand in sales. He started a restaurant. Apparently, his next idea was to buy this island and open a retreat for couples.”

  Samantha exchanged a look with him. Finally, Samantha spoke. “Really? He was telling the truth about buying this land?”

  Sheriff Davis nodded. “That’s right. He had enough money that he’d basically hired this Kent guy to be his right-hand man. Somehow, Kent was convinced that if he could talk you into selling your land, everyone else might cave.”

  “So, why did he ask Connor to meet him?” Samantha shook her head, looking perplexed.

  The sheriff let out a long sigh. “He thought that news of a possible child abduction on the island might make people rethink living here.”

  John shook his head. “Let me guess—he’s been the one behind these vandalisms, wasn’t he? He was trying to scare people.”

  “You got it. He claims he never wanted anyone to get hurt. At least he got caught—and just in the knick of time, as the saying goes.” The sheriff stood. “He’s been taken into the custody of the state police. He won’t be bothering you anymore.”

  “Did he own up to the shooting?” John asked.

  The sheriff shook his head. “He said he doesn’t own a gun. State records show he doesn’t have one registered. It could have been obtained illegally.”

  “How about the fire in the cabin?” Samantha asked. “The home invasion and assault?”

  “He didn’t deny it or take responsibility. My bet is that he’s behind it. He did mention some kind of message that had been spray-painted on the wall of a cabin.”

  Samantha nodded. At least they had some answers.

  But the truth remained that, while one nightmare might be behind them, an even bigger one probably loomed on the horizon.

  * * *

  Samantha and John had spent the rest of the evening with Connor, running on the beach and playing board games and eating popcorn.

  Now, Connor was asleep and John had just fixed some coffee. He handed her a mug before sitting beside her on the couch. The cabin, with its open windows and a soft breeze rushing through, seemed perfect and idyllic at the moment.

  “Thank you for your help today,” Samantha started.

  “I’m glad we got there when we did.”

  “You’ve been a real life saver. I don’t think I can say thank you enough.”

  John shifted on the couch, the truth pressing down on him. He knew he had to tell Samantha the whole story of what had happened. It would solidify, for both of them, why they could never be together. The reasons went beyond the fact that Samantha
didn’t feel like she could trust him. “There’s something I want to tell you,” he started.

  She leaned back, drawing her legs underneath her, and giving him her full attention. “Okay.”

  He shifted, hating how uncomfortable he felt, and the fact that he was going to rehash the worst moments of his life. He was scared of what Samantha might think of him when he was done. “At the coast guard base where I worked, we had this wall of fame. It’s these life jackets that we wore when we rescued people from sea. There’s a mark on the jackets for each life saved.”

  “How many marks did you have?” Samantha asked. Her fingers hugged the mug of coffee.

  “Fifty-six.”

  Her eyebrows shot upward in admiration. “Impressive,” Samantha muttered.

  He shrugged. “Maybe.” He didn’t mention that he’d taken top honors, saved more lives than anyone else there. It didn’t matter.

  The only reason he’d decided to tell Samantha these things was so that she’d realize he didn’t deserve anyone’s love. He’d blown it in that area. Big-time. He’d been fooling himself to think that he and Samantha could ever work together.

  Not that she’d given any indication that she wanted things to work between them. In fact, she didn’t seem to want a relationship, either. Yet he knew he needed to come clean, before either of their feelings grew any deeper. He needed to make it clear—just in case her feelings ever grew—that he was unavailable. Nothing anyone could do would change that.

  He turned away from her eyes, from that gaze that always managed to soften his heart. “The problem is that I couldn’t save the one person who meant the most to me.”

  “Alyssa,” Samantha whispered.

  He nodded. He was so accustomed to resisting the memories that it felt strange to conjure them now. He closed his eyes and let himself go back in time. “We met at Nate’s restaurant, actually. She was staying in the same apartment you’d rented and had started working as a waitress there. She waited on me one night, and that was it. I finally understood what the term ‘love at first sight’ meant. It was as though I couldn’t stop myself from loving her. It happened fast. We were engaged three months after we met that night.”

  “Sounds as though you were smitten.” Samantha smiled, a touch of sadness in her gaze.