Starlight Dunes

by Vickie McKeehan

  Since he’d started his shift, they’d flirted with each other via text off and on all night. They’d bantered back and forth with suggestive byplay that had his juices revving up, even now.

  Deep in those kinds of thoughts, the next thing Brent heard was someone yell, “Get down. Hit the dirt! Now!”

  Brent ducked and dropped to the sand about the same time a gunshot crackled through the air. Several seconds went by as he lay there realizing someone had just taken a shot at him. It pissed him off. He heard leaves rustling. Then the sound evaporated into the wind and the waves. He got to his feet and took off in the only direction that made sense, the path leading to the dunes and down to the pier.

  But he saw no one ahead of him. Turning, he scanned the cliffs for any movement. He saw nothing but the light wind stirring through the California scrub dotting the side of the bluff.

  Just in case the shooter had outrun him, Brent took off as best he could around the bend. And ran smack into Zach Dennison. Wheezing a little, Brent shouted, “Did anyone run past you?”

  “Not a soul. I was halfway to the pier when I heard gunfire. Are you okay?”

  Instead of answering, Brent scratched his head and scanned the street to the east and southward. No movement anywhere. “They didn’t vanish into thin air,” Brent muttered. Surely they couldn’t have scaled the side of the overhang. “They had to have come this way,” he reasoned.

  “I didn’t see anyone but you.”

  “But you were right there on the dunes. You warned me to get down.” Brent caught Zach expression and felt a defensive band tighten his chest. Was it possible Zach thought he had fallen asleep on the job? “I didn’t imagine this.”

  “I didn’t say you did. I was just making my way across the street when I heard cannon fire. But it wasn’t me who warned you.”

  It was then Brent realized he was in no shape for a climb up the side of the cliff.

  “You want me to take a look around? Check up the hill in case they scuttled back to the top through that heavy brush over there.”

  Wondering if maybe he might have fallen asleep after all and dreamed the entire incident, Brent wanted verification from Zach. “You can confirm you heard a gunshot, right?”

  Zach nodded. “I heard that clear as day.”

  “That’s something, I guess. After we get this on report we’ll head up to the lighthouse, check to see if anyone parked there for any length of time,” Brent suggested as he took out his cell phone to make the nine-one-one call.

  By this time he looked up to see Ethan running up to him. Ethan clutched a service revolver in his fist. “I heard gunfire. You okay?”

  Ah, a second person verifying he’d heard shots never hurt, Brent decided. For some reason that made him feel better. “I’m fine,” he puffed out. “But I have to follow where I think the perp ran after he fired. Unfortunately, that’s the side of the cliff.”

  “You’ll never make it up there, Brent,” Ethan pointed out.

  “That’s why we’re taking your minivan and you’re coming with me,” Brent retorted. He turned to Zach. “I want you to stay here and make sure no one gets down to that beach. If there are any footprints, I want casts made. We’ll have to wait for daylight for that though.”

  Brent glanced across the street just in time to catch Julian and Laura darting toward him and into the mix. He shook his head. The last thing he needed was a group of people gathering out in the open. “I’d be a helluva lot better if busybodies didn’t decide to check out the situation for themselves,” Brent grumbled, putting out a hand to stop the couple from coming any further. “Go back inside the RV. You don’t want to be standing out here vulnerable to gunfire.”

  “I called River. She’s on her way,” Julian shouted from his position near the pier.

  Brent’s first reaction made him feel like he was back in middle-school, a starry-eyed teen, excited at the prospect of getting to see his best girl in study hall. Then, like any sane man, he remembered it was almost midnight and someone had just taken a pot shot at him from an unknown location. “I wish you hadn’t done that. The last thing I need is to have River, or anyone else for that matter, caught in the middle of another round of shots. That includes the two of you.”

  “I thought maybe she needed to know there was trouble out here again,” Julian said.

  While relating what had happened to the dispatcher, Brent keyed in a text message to River that read:

  Stay put at the inn. No need to head into town. Everything’s fine here. I’m fine.

  But while he’d been on the phone, McCready’s regulars had streamed outside, curious to see what was happening near the wharf. They began to mill around the back door, a few even headed down to the beach.

  What was it about people hearing gunfire and running outside to check it out? Weren’t they supposed to fear getting out in the open?

  Again, Brent reminded them all to move back inside and stay there out of the way. But just as he finished with one warning, River’s ancient Wagoneer shrieked to a stop. He watched as the woman hopped out and scrambled over to where he stood. The yoga pants and little top she wore that didn’t reach her midsection had his eyes on automatic perusing her body. The image of how detailed he’d explore every curve and fold inside the cave flitted through his brain. Under the circumstances, he did his best to rein in those lusty thoughts.

  But from three feet away he saw the fury dancing in her eyes. Brent wasn’t sure if she was angry with him or the situation. Either way, he felt the vibration she gave off—all the raw and heated energy between them bubbled to the surface. She had her hands on her hips, and looked like she was in no mood for an argument. Her chin jutted out and he saw her straighten her spine, ready for a good bout.

  “Julian told me what happened. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to continue to work the site anymore. This is ridiculous. Someone’s out to see you dead and you’re out here vulnerable to anyone lurking around. There’s no reason to argue with me about it because I’ve already called Marcus and told him how I felt. And you know what? He agreed with me. And he’s in charge. And if I have to, I’ll ban you from the site by telling the council you’re a security risk to my project.”

  As soon as she let him get a word in, he said, “I think you might be right.”

  “There’s no point in being stubborn about this one point because…what did you say?”

  “Even though there’s no proof yet this was directed at me, I agree with you. But I don’t see looters firing at the security detail just to get at the bones and the few antiquities you’ve found so far. My being here is a detriment to the project.”

  She huffed out a relieved breath. “I lined up all my reasons on the fifteen minute drive into town. I didn’t think you’d be reasonable.”

  “I got that,” Brent stated, more than a little amused by her concern.

  “We’ve had to deal with looters before at other projects. They usually come at night, grab what they can in one fell swoop, and the stuff ends up for sale online. What makes this one so unique is that you can only get to this site from one source unless you count coming in by boat or dropping down from the cliffs.”

  “My thoughts exactly,” Brent muttered.

  “Plus, it’s like you said before, the few relics we’ve managed to find, we’ve locked them away for safekeeping. They aren’t out in the open to steal.”

  Brent nodded, pleased she understood his line of thinking. He took her by the arm, leading her to where she’d be safer if the gunman came back. But before he went, he turned to Zach. “Are you ready to start your shift? You can back out of this whole thing now if you want. I’ll understand. You didn’t sign on for this kind of trouble.”

  “I’m no quitter,” Zach replied. “Besides, I don’t think they were looking to steal relics just now. What they wanted they got. And that was you. Either to scare you or take you down.”

  River threw out her hand. “See. No one’s buying that this had anything
to do with thieves.”

  When Brent caught the worry on River’s face, he began walking her toward the house. He reached into his pocket for his keys. “Do me a favor. Wait for me inside.”

  “Where are you going?” River wanted to know, alarm rising in her throat.

  “I have to check out the cliffs, specifically the lighthouse area. And I’m about to look around inside my own house before I leave you here alone to make sure there’s no one hiding under the bed.”

  “Now you’re scaring me. You think the person crawled down the side of the cliffs to get to you? That reeks of desperation, Brent.” The thought of just how serious the situation was frightened her. “Did you ever think that maybe you should hire someone to…?”

  “Guard me?” Brent finished, as he led her into his living room. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I don’t need a bodyguard.”

  “That’s a stubborn male response if I ever heard one.”

  “How about we argue about this when I get back?” He went into the pantry in the kitchen and brought out several plastic baggies.

  “What are those for?” But she knew, even as she asked that it wasn’t every day she saw a cop in action. Until coming to Pelican Pointe she hadn’t even considered the dangers they faced on a regular basis.

  “If we happen to find anything that is. After I eliminate where the shooter originated, we’ll discuss my stubborn male response then. Whoever fired at me certainly didn’t disappear into thin air. They had to go somewhere and it wasn’t along the strand or into town.”

  “You can’t go alone. Let me go with you.”

  For some reason that made him smile. “I like hearing that but Ethan’s volunteered his time to the county tonight. I intend to take him up on it.”

  “Okay, but be careful.” She rose on tiptoes to touch her lips to his.

  Brent wrapped his arms around her. “Be here when I get back. Okay?”

  “Trust me, that won’t be a problem.”

  On the winding drive up the cliffs, Brent replayed the scene in his head right before the gunshot. Someone had yelled out a warning. If it wasn’t Zach, then it had to have been Scott, his friendly shadow of late. Nothing else made sense. The thought of Scott had him casting an eye around the area for any sign of him—or for any stranger lurking about. He saw nothing but darkness and shadows.

  Ethan broke the tension by cracking a joke. “Zach says your woman fired you just now.”

  “She did no such thing. I agreed that my being part of the detail might pose a hazard.”

  “Your woman fired your ass,” Ethan chided as only a brother could. “The thing is she acts like she genuinely cares about you.”

  “I’m sure she cares about her project.”

  “Zach seemed to think her reaction was all about you.”

  “Zach’s young and with that comes a certain amount of gullibility.”

  “Spoken like a jaded victim from the heart wars. Let me ask you something. Do you intend to go on forever letting Cindy ruin your outlook on matters of the heart?”

  “I’m doing no such thing. I got over Cindy a long time ago.”

  Ethan brought the vehicle to a stop at the top of the bluff and turned to study his brother. “Are you sure about that? Or are you still carrying around a shitload of resentment that every woman is like that heartless viper?”

  “Oh great, now in addition to Mom and Dad, you’re trying to run my love life. You don’t know a thing about it.”

  Ethan sighed, fully braced to hit that pocket of resistance. “I am not trying to run your life. And I don’t know anything about it other than the one-line explanation you gave us at the time laced with expletives before demanding we never bring it up again.”

  The glances they exchanged indicated a clash of wills coming before Ethan added, “But I also don’t want to see you getting to a stage in your life where you share it with no one because you’re distrustful of the opposite sex.”

  A defensive shield went up. “River isn’t like that.”

  “Now see, that right there is a good sign that you feel something about River you haven’t felt for any woman in a very long while.”

  Another barrier shot out, cold and cautious. “Ethan, you need to back off.”

  Ethan nodded. “Sure. But you’re scared shitless. What you’re feeling has you petrified. When you take that plunge it hits you in the gut like a steel rod. I know, okay? You think you’re the only one who was ever on shaky ground with a female?”

  “Is that how you felt about Hayden?”

  “Hayden and her situation scared the crap out of me. I was anything but confident we could make our relationship work, given our differences and her circumstances, let alone ever marry the woman.”

  “River has some issues.”

  “I know she does. But then everyone has something in their past that isn’t pretty. Hayden was no different. Remember I was so mistrustful I finally ran a background check on her. We all don’t get where we are without carrying around some baggage.”

  “I won’t break a confidence.”

  “That’s a good sign, too. Just don’t be stubborn about asking for help in that regard.”

  They finally crawled out of the van to begin looking around. It didn’t take them long to realize the area was deserted. Even with flashlights in hand though, it took some time to find anything in the blackness.

  Brent and Ethan walked the area around the lighthouse and trekked to the woods and back again. Both brothers discovered tire tracks near the forest of trees about the same time. Studying the trail of footprints leading away from the soft impressions, they came to the same conclusion.

  “Small car, like a Mazda maybe,” Ethan said to Brent. “Different treads indicate the tires don’t match.”

  “Shoe size isn’t that large either, maybe a size seven or eight.”

  “That’s small feet for a guy.”

  Brent nodded. “Someone no taller than five-eight for sure, maybe shorter.”

  “A woman maybe?” Ethan cocked his head, stared at his brother’s face in the murky gloom. “Could be a pissed off girlfriend, maybe the wife of a felon you put away. You pissed off any girlfriends of your own lately?”

  “Not that I know of. Whoever it is has good aim. If I hadn’t dropped to the ground when I did that bullet would’ve hit its mark.”

  “Interesting. Why did you drop to the ground when you did?”

  “I’d say I have Scott Phillips to thank for that. It was his voice I heard.”

  “Good thing he was looking out for you. Let’s see, a woman who hates you enough to blow up your house and take a shot at you. That isn’t just pissed off, bro, that’s warped. Like I said before, obsessed. I hope you realize that whoever it is intends to keep trying until they get the results they want.”

  “I got the message when my house went boom. Look, fast-food wrapper there,” Brent said, shining the beam very near the edge of the cliff. He took out one of the baggies, slipped the paper inside. “Just our luck it was left by one of Logan’s crew and not the shooter.”

  “You never know. If they staked this area out for hours, it might mean they ate a meal here. Might get DNA from it.”

  Brent eyed the fast-food packaging sealed in the plastic. “DNA won’t do much good unless we get a match. That restaurant is off the interstate, a good fifty miles from here. They’re obviously staying away from town so as not to draw attention to themselves. But they have to be staying somewhere.”

  “That’s why we need to check out all the motels within a hundred miles of Pelican Pointe.”

  Brent slapped Ethan on the back. “You think like a cop turned writer who now churns out mysteries for a living. And Ethan?”

  “What?”

  “Thanks for the pep talk.”

  “No problem. But Brent…”

  “What?”

  “Staking this place out at night, climbing down from a hundred-foot drop off point is nuts.”

  �
�Yeah. I know.”

  They stayed another hour, gathering evidence, taking pictures with their cell phones. It was too dark to do much else.

  By the time Brent got back to the house, River had cranked up his stereo. While Clapton complained about pretending, the music blasted him as he walked through the front door.

  “Find anything?” she bellowed out over the song.

  His eyes landed on her bare midriff. “I found a beautiful woman waiting for me back home. It can’t get any better than that.”

  Because his fingers itched to touch her, he streaked his thumb down her cheek, tugged the other hand through her massive hair. Heart racing with impatience, he brought her into him, crushed his mouth to hers. All the pent up emotions of the last two hours had him backing her down the hallway to the bedroom.

  As they went, eager to get his hands on her, he yanked her top up and off. He got rid of her bra while he toed off his shoes. Together they stripped.

  She tugged at the button on his jeans, ripped down the zipper. He stepped out of his pants, and yanked down hers. One pair flew to the right. The tee he wore, he dispatched to the left.

  By the time they reached the bed, no barrier remained. He filled his hands with supple breasts, leaned his head down to feast on a pink nipple. They fell back onto the mattress. That energy he’d seen earlier was still there, throbbing, vibrating beneath him.

  His tongue slid along her neck then lower, trailing slippery lines down her torso. But then he reared up, gripped her hips like a man starving and drove into her.

  As she sunk back into the pillows, she considered him. His hair was slightly longer than when she’d first met him, so much that it curled up at the ends. The carefree style suited him. After what they’d just done to each other, he looked tousled and more than a little full of himself.

  But since he was in the middle of nibbling her ear, she decided to give his smugness a pass. In the hopes of round two, a certain amount of encouragement couldn’t hurt. When he moved to her neck, the little nudge she gave him seemed to work.