by Lee, Rachel
“Um… why don’t you come up here and have a seat,” she suggested. Warning bells were going off in her head, reminding her of what this man had done, reminding her that abusers were great apologizers, but she refused to listen to them. Some deep-rooted instinct told her Chase wasn’t an abuser. And she was impressed and touched that he’d faced his fear of the dark to come apologize. That had to have been so hard for him.
He took the wicker chair next to hers. They sat quietly for a while, as the night deepened and the waves continued to lap at the seawall.
“Are you… comfortable out here?” she asked finally.
“Hell, no.” He gave a harsh laugh. “But that’s okay. I’ll just sit out here until the darkness suffocates me or morning comes. There doesn’t seem to be any other way to get around it.”
“Maybe not,” she admitted. “Would you rather go inside?”
“No. No, I’ve got to face it.”
“Sometimes that’s the only option,” she agreed. “So you were married?” The idea bothered her, though she couldn’t say why. Nor did she especially care. Whatever effects Chase had on her, she wasn’t going to waste any time analyzing them, because she wasn’t going to allow him that degree of importance in her life. Or so she told herself.
“For about four years.”
“Not happy?”
“I thought I was. She wasn’t. But maybe that was my fault. I was always away training, or at sea, or on some kind of a mission. Not much of a marriage.”
“She found someone else?”
“She found a half dozen someone elses. Finally, somebody clued me in.”
Callie’s heart ached again for him. “I’m so sorry, Chase.”
“I’m not good husband material.”
“You know that from one marriage?”
“I don’t generally need to be beaten over the head with an idea before it penetrates.”
“Mmm.” She made the sound as noncommittal as possible.
He turned to look at her. “Are you saying I do?”
“I’m just not sure you got the right lesson, that’s all. My mom didn’t fool around on my dad, and he was gone for long stretches, too.”
“Who the hell was she going to fool around with out here?”
“This may surprise you, but she had a car. She went to town, she went to visit friends. She had an entire life when my dad was at sea. But she didn’t cheat.”
“Hmm.”
“As for nobody to fool around with out here… well, there was the guy who built that ridiculous A-frame of yours.”
“What’s ridiculous about it?”
“It looks like somebody lifted it off a snowcapped mountain somewhere. Let’s just say it doesn’t fit the local decor.”
“Matter of taste I guess. So what about the guy who built it?”
“He wrote mystery novels for a living. Lived up in Detroit and came down here in the winters. He made more than one pass at my mom when dad was away. She used to make me answer the door so she wouldn’t have to talk to him.”
“Sounds like a pest. What happened to him?”
“I don’t know. One day the house was sold to a couple from Miami who liked to come out on weekends. Then you.”
He sighed. “Some neighbor I’ve turned out to be. I really am sorry, Callie.”
“I believe you.” At least talking to him was easing the tightness of grief in her chest, distracting her from all her concerns about Jeff.
“I suppose,” he said, “that you’re mad at me for offering to teach Jeff to dive.”
“I was.”
“I guess I can see that. My last dive hardly makes a good recommendation for a teacher.”
“I wasn’t even thinking of that. It never crossed my mind.”
“Maybe it should have. Anyway, Jeff and I were talking about treasure hunting, and it suddenly occurred to me the kid really needs something to look forward to right now. So I figured I could give him some instruction. I’m not talking about showing him how to use a regulator, putting a tank on his back, and throwing him into the water. I’m talking about learning to do it right. All of it.”
“That’s good.” She felt a little better realizing that.
“I honestly don’t believe people should go diving just for a lark,” he said. “It’s important to know what you’re doing, and important to know how to do it safely. A half hour of instruction might work for a tourist who wants to go just once, but it doesn’t make a good diver.”
Her mood was lightening as she listened to him. “Sounds good. If Jeff is willing to put that much into it.”
“I think he is. But if he’s not, I can promise you I won’t put him in the water.”
“Thank you.” She was warming to him again, and glad of it. She didn’t want to be angry with him, she realized. Another warning bell sounded, and again she ignored it.
“No need to thank me,” he said. “There are too many divers who don’t know what they’re doing. I’m not going to add to the number. Hell, recreational divers even get careless about using dive charts and computers. You’ve got to treat the sea with more respect than that.”
“They’re probably the same people who get behind the wheel and drive by faith.”
“Drive by faith?”
“Sure, faith that everyone else on the road is going to look out for them.”
He chuckled. Callie thought his laugh sounded a little strained, but given that he was sitting in the dark with her, determined not to give in to a fear that had been keeping him a virtual prisoner for weeks, it was hardly surprising.
She felt an impulse to reach out to him, to take his hand and offer him the comfort of touch, but she was afraid how he might mistake that. Afraid of how she might respond if he did mistake it. She couldn’t forget the astonishing surge of desire she had experienced when he had kissed her in anger. How much more might she respond if he touched her with simple need?
She had a feeling that she was walking through a swamp here, on a barely visible path, where one misstep might land her in serious trouble. She didn’t want to get involved with a man, and she most certainly didn’t want to get involved with one who had Chase’s kind of problems. She was, however, beginning to doubt her ability to be friends with this man without getting involved. Something about him kept tugging at her heart, drawing her closer.
Until tonight, she had believed that he wasn’t seriously interested in her. Now she wasn’t so sure. Kissing her in anger had opened up a whole pile of unpleasant possibilities. It had also made it impossible for her to ignore what she was feeling.
A sigh escaped her, and slipped away on the breeze.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
“Life in general. But nothing new.”
“Mmm. Same here.” He moved, and the wicker creaked a little. “I was thinking about what you said.”
“Which what I said?”
He chuckled again. “About my buddy, Bill Evers. You’re right. Ten million is a lot of motivation. Maybe even enough to get Bill to lie.”
“It would take an awful lot less than ten million to make most people lie.”
“Probably.” He rubbed his chin with his hand, and his beard rasped. “But there’s a problem, Callie.”
“Which is?”
“He might lie for ten million, but I honestly don’t see him killing two guys for it.”
Now she understood why he’d reacted so strongly to her suggestion. It wasn’t so much that Bill might have lied, but that he couldn’t believe Bill was a party to murder. She twisted in her seat and tried to read his face. It was a dim blur, though, so she had to guess. “So maybe he didn’t. Maybe somebody paid him to lie, and somebody else went back to get the diamonds. Maybe he was out of the picture once he told the lie.”
He thought about it for a few seconds, then nodded slowly. “That’s possible. That falls within the range of believability. I don’t like what it would say about him, and I never figured him for the type, but it’s at
least possible.”
He stood and began to pace the porch. “There’s just one problem with this, Callie. If he lied, then dropped out of the picture, he’s still a loose end. And the guys who killed Rush-man and Westerlake obviously don’t want to leave any loose ends.”
Callie’s stomach fluttered nervously. “I didn’t think of that. Maybe you’d better call him, Chase. Maybe you’d better warn him. Right now.” She stood up and started toward the door, then had a thought that froze her on the spot.
“Chase?”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t forget. You’re a loose end, too.”
CHAPTER 14
“It’s long-distance,” Chase said when they got to the kitchen and she pointed to the phone.
“Go ahead.”
As he was punching in the number, Jeff came out of his bedroom, diving instruction manual in hand. “What’s going on?”
“Chase and I just thought of something. He’s making a call.”
Jeff looked at Chase, then back to her. “I thought you were pissed at him.”
“I got over it.”
Jeff started to smile. “You never could stay mad for long, sis.”
“Only for as long as you keep shouting back at me.”
He laughed. “So what’s up?”
“Tell you in a minute.”
Jeff pulled out a chair and sat at the table. Chase hung up the phone.
“He’s not answering.” He glanced at the dive watch on his wrist. “It’s not that late. He could be out somewhere, or maybe he’s out at sea on a contract.” He looked at Callie. “Mind if I make another call? To Miami?”
“Go right ahead.”
Callie waited impatiently, hoping that this time Chase could at least talk to someone. Now that the idea had occurred to her, she didn’t want to wait indefinitely to get whatever answers they could.
“Tom.” Chase’s voice was warm as he spoke into the phone.
Callie found herself wishing his voice would sound like that when he said her name. It would be nice to have that kind of friendship.
“Tom, you got a minute? I want to talk about the dive back in March… yeah. You said something didn’t feel right to you… mmm… well, I was wondering. How did Bill seem to you that day? Was he okay?”
She tried to read his face but couldn’t. All she could do was sit on the edge of her seat and wait.
He listened for a while, then said, “Thanks. Thanks for telling me. Yeah, why don’t you?” Then he hung up.
He turned to face Callie, his expression grimmer than she’d ever seen it.
“Bill is dead,” he said. “They found his body early this morning. Apparently he’d been dead for some time.”
Callie felt ice wash over her. “How?” she asked. Her voice was little more than a croak.
“They don’t know yet. Tom just heard about it on the news. He was going to call me…” He trailed off and looked away.
Callie didn’t know what to say. Part of her was feeling icy tendrils of fear wrapping slowly around her spine and touching the base of her skull, and part of her was feeling sympathy for Chase. He and Bill had shared a special bond. They had relied on each other for safety.
She was moving before she really thought about it, crossing the kitchen to wrap her arms around Chase and hug him. He was so much bigger than she that it seemed almost pointless, but then his arms closed around her and held her tightly, and she could feel just how much he needed to be held.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“Yeah. Me too. We didn’t have a whole lot in common, but he was the best diving buddy I ever had.”
Jeff cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, Chase.”
“Thanks.”
Reminded of Jeff’s presence, Callie suddenly felt embarrassed and backed away from Chase. He let her go instantly.
“So,” said Chase after a moment. “This puts a kink in things. Tom said he’s going to look into what happened to Bill. He’ll let me know what he finds out.”
“If he’s been dead for a while, it’ll be hard to find out what killed him.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Chase limped over to the table, pulled out a chair, and straddled it, resting his arms over the back. Callie returned to her seat.
“What’s going on?” Jeff asked. “I get the feeling there’s more than just that your friend died.”
Chase looked at Callie. She motioned him to explain.
“Callie suggested that maybe Bill was paid to lie about the diamonds not being on the boat. Then she pointed out that if he did that but wasn’t involved with plans to recover the diamonds, he became a loose end.”
“Man!” Jeff’s eyes grew huge. “You think somebody killed him?”
“I don’t know. Nobody knows yet. It could have been some kind of accident or something.” But Chase didn’t sound as if he believed it.
“It’s too coincidental,” Callie said. “There are entirely too many coincidences running around here, Chase.”
“I’m beginning to agree with you.”
“And let’s not lose sight of the fact that you qualify as a loose end, too.”
He shook his head. “Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t remember anything about the dive, so they don’t need to worry about me.”
“Except that you might remember.”
His gray eyes met hers. “Well, there’s your theory about the lights and the seaweed. Keep me off-balance, keep me doubting my sanity, and I won’t trust my memory even if it does return.”
She nodded. “It’s been working, too, hasn’t it.”
“I guess so. I was actually wondering if I’d put the turtle-grass on my porch myself, in some kind attack of craziness.”
“Jeez,” Jeff said. His eyes were still big.
“And now that you went back to check out the dive report,” Callie said, “they could be even more worried about you.”
Chase’s eyes narrowed, and he nodded. Theoretically, no one but Tom, Dave, and Callie knew he’d checked that report. Still… “Do you know how paranoid we sound right now?”
“I saw the lights and the seaweed, too, Chase. And for all my flaws, I’m pretty stable psychologically.”
“She is,” Jeff agreed. “Look what she’s been through.”
Callie looked at him in surprise. “What are you talking about?”
“Losing Mom and Dad.”
“You lost them, too.”
“But I didn’t have responsibility for my kid brother.” He gave her a smile. “I do notice, Callie, even if you think I’m an ingrate.”
She felt her throat tighten, and felt tears well in her eyes. “Enough mush,” she said huskily. “You’ll make me cry.”
“Nah. Wouldn’t want to do that. I always panic when you cry. Okay, so Callie saw the seaweed and the lights. Which means Chase didn’t imagine them. Am I following here?”
Chase and Callie nodded.
“Of course,” Jeff said, “that still doesn’t mean you didn’t put the seaweed there yourself, Chase. But you couldn’t have done the lights.”
“No lights,” Chase agreed. “And it’s logical to think the seaweed was done by the same person who does the lights.”
“Which means you probably didn’t do it yourself,” Jeff said. “I can buy that. Especially since you don’t seem all that crazy to me. Now, Callie thinks someone might be doing this to you to make you think you’re crazy? Did I get that right?”
Chase nodded. “What you don’t know is about my nightmares and my fear of the dark. I’ve… been pretty close to the edge since my accident. Callie thinks someone has been playing on that.”
“And that’s intended to keep you from believing anything you might remember about the dive?”
“Or,” said Callie, “to make Chase unbelievable if he does remember something and tells someone.”
“Better yet,” Chase agreed. “Ruin my credibility. That would work even better than pushing me over the edge.”
“Sure. And didn’t y
ou say lots of people know about your nightmares and your fear of the dark?”
“Apparently Maritime knows about it,” Chase said, suddenly remembering. “When Dave stopped by to visit me, he said the doctors had been keeping him posted, and he did mention my nightmares. From that I took it that he even meant my psychiatrist is keeping them informed.”
“So lots of people probably know. Whatever happened to medical confidentiality?”
Chase shook his head. “I don’t know. Maritime was paying all my bills. Maybe it was necessary to keep them informed to justify their payments. I’m sure there’s some loophole there somewhere. Maybe even something I signed. I don’t remember.”
Jeff spoke. “It doesn’t matter how they know. Just that they know. So a lot of people could have known that you were seeing a psychiatrist, and could have guessed that with a little help you might not be credible if you remembered something.”
“Exactly,” Callie said. “Imagine Chase trying to tell someone he had remembered something from the dive, and these guys come along to say he also sees red eyes in the woods in the dead of night, and finds strange seaweed draped all over his porch.”
“Seaweed that disappears,” Chase said. “Let’s not forget that part. It was gone later.”
“Sheesh!” Jeff rolled his eyes. “These guys aren’t too good at this. Callie saw the seaweed, and she saw the lights.”
Chase shrugged. “Maybe they paid some kid a few bucks to do it for them. Or maybe they’re just not as bright as they think.”
“So you think,” Jeff said, “that all of this is related to the diamonds?”
“Well, Callie said something interesting earlier. She asked me just how many weird things could be going on at one time and not be related. It got me to thinking. We have the coincidence of you finding a boat a short distance from the wreck of The Happy Maggie, a boat on which two people were killed, a boat which had taken two divers out there. Then you have the two divers nobody can find anything out about. Which reminds me, what did your lawyer say about that?”
Callie answered. “Only that the cops haven’t been able to find the divers. Nobody’s been reported missing, nobody vanished from a hotel room. Phantoms, she called them.”
