Dangerous Waters (Lantern Beach Book 4)

by Christy Barritt

  “I’d say it is.”

  “Ty . . .” She could feel the chasm between them growing and expanding by the second. And it was all her fault.

  She’d created this divide. She should have never let herself get so close. Yet she didn’t regret it. The past month had been the best of her life.

  Which only made this moment more painful.

  Ty stepped away, his hands on his hips, and his muscles bristled and tight. The ache in Cassidy’s chest cavity built with pressure until she felt like she might throw up.

  But what else could she say? How could she begin to explain the unexplainable? She already knew the answer. She couldn’t.

  “Will I see you again?” he asked.

  Yes, say yes! But would he? Where was life going to take her? And for how long? What if the trial got delayed again? She could be caught up in this for a long time. Years.

  “I . . . I don’t know.”

  He nodded stiffly, his good mood evaporating like a summer rain shower on a ninety-degree day. “Have a safe trip then.”

  “Ty . . .”

  He pressed his lips together and shook his head. The questions in his eyes were loud and clear, as was the heavy silence while he gathered his thoughts. “I don’t know what else to say, Cassidy. I can’t force you to make the decision that I want.”

  “There’s so much more to this.” She hadn’t meant to say that, but it was out there now.

  “What’s that even mean?” Frustration tinged his words.

  With each minute that passed, Orion could be drawing closer. Ty could be in more danger. Yet she wanted to stay. To explain. To start over.

  “You’re not going to tell me, are you?” Ty asked.

  “Ty . . .” Cassidy licked her lips, caught between the proverbial rock and hard place. The position just might crush her.

  “Go,” he said.

  But the dull sound of his voice broke her heart. She’d hurt him. How could she have ever thought things would end differently? She’d been a fool to ever get involved with Ty in the first place.

  From the very beginning, she’d known the ending. But that didn’t make this any easier.

  Cassidy climbed in the car before her defenses weakened too much. And then she pulled out of the driveway, preparing herself to start a new life in a new place that already felt empty and incomplete without Ty by her side.

  Chapter Three

  Tears ran down Cassidy’s cheeks as she reached the end of the gravel lane beyond her cottage and started out of town. To the ferry. To another island. Where she would catch another ferry to another island. Eventually she’d get away from here. Away from Orion.

  Away from Ty.

  A small sob escaped at the thought.

  Focus, Cassidy. Focus.

  Once on the ferry, she’d call Samuel Stephens, her one and only contact while undercover. He might shed some insight on where to go. He’d secure a new identity for her and maybe a place to live.

  Then she’d start over. Again. Remember not to get too close to anyone this time.

  A hollow feeling expanded in her gut. Leaving might not feel so devastating if she hadn’t experienced the satisfaction of a full life—a life with happiness and friends and . . . love.

  Ty . . . an image of him slammed into her mind with enough force that she flinched right there in the driver’s seat. The ache inside her was so strong that she nearly felt beside herself, like someone else was driving this car out of town and away from everything she held dear.

  “I can’t leave him,” she whispered, unable to get a deep breath.

  But she had to.

  The two thoughts warred inside Cassidy until she felt as if she might throw up. It wasn’t supposed to be this hard. This agonizing. Then again, she’d never planned on meeting Ty. Of falling for him. Of having her life turned upside down in the best way possible.

  Cassidy’s grip on the steering wheel tightened as she replayed their conversation. The hurt in his eyes. The invisible wall that had shot up, separating them not only physically but emotionally. A wall created by pain. Created by her.

  None of this was fair—to her. But mostly to Ty. Cassidy was leaving him with questions he might never have answers to. Leaving him to struggle. To wonder if it was him. To wrestle with the unknown.

  Just like what had happened with his ex-fiancée.

  Renee had left his life in shambles, a mere rubble of what it had been, like a war-torn town.

  Now Cassidy was doing the same thing.

  You have to live with your choices for the rest of your life.

  At that thought, Cassidy hit the brakes. She jerked the wheel to the left. Her car fishtailed right there on the highway until coming to a dramatic stop.

  She eased from the center of the road and onto the nearest residential street. With her car in Park, she tried to gather herself. Her heart pounded into her chest, and her lungs heaved in each breath.

  She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t leave without an explanation. Couldn’t make Ty live the rest of his life—or even the next few months—with the questions he’d wrestle with.

  Cassidy’s instincts told her she could trust Ty. She knew that beyond a doubt.

  She’d grown up hardly trusting anyone. Trust always came with a price—usually betrayal, the gut-wrenching realization that someone had been using her because of her father’s position of power or because of her family’s money.

  But Ty . . . he wasn’t like that. He’d asked nothing of Cassidy, except for her to be . . . her.

  Cassidy threw her car in reverse and backed out. She was going to abandon all the rules for a minute, hoping and praying the fallout would be worth it.

  She wasn’t leaving without making things right.

  That was the only choice she could live with.

  A few minutes later, Cassidy pulled into Ty’s driveway. She parked and rushed upstairs to his place. He answered on the first knock, that hard expression borne of hurt still etched on his face. But surprise—and maybe hope—had inched into his gaze also.

  “You’re back,” he said.

  Cassidy just had to say this—get it all out—rather than try her hand at being eloquent. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Ty Chambers, and I can’t leave here without telling you what’s going on.”

  He leaned against the doorframe, still standoffish. “I’d love to listen.”

  “We can’t talk here.” Cassidy glanced down the beach, half expecting to see Orion headed this way. She didn’t. That didn’t mean the man wasn’t close. “It’s . . . it’s not safe.”

  “Not safe?” Ty squinted, as if struggling to comprehend her meaning.

  Anyone would. And this was just getting started. When he heard Cassidy’s larger-than-life story, she had no idea how he would react. It would be hard for even the most seasoned veteran to comprehend.

  “I can’t explain here.”

  He unfolded his arms and nodded slowly, thoughtfully. “I know just where we can go to talk privately.”

  “Thank you. Could we take your truck?”

  He nodded, but his gaze was still full of questions. “Sure.”

  “And Kujo?” Cassidy couldn’t live with herself if something happened to his dog. “We should take Kujo.”

  “Of course.”

  She still felt lightheaded at the possibilities before her. But she had no choice other than seeing this through to completion.

  For better or worse.

  Cassidy prayed it was for the better.

  Ty gripped the steering wheel of his truck, trying not to ask the hundreds of questions racing through his mind. He’d wait until he got to his destination and he could look Cassidy in the eye. Some conversations required no distractions.

  One truth remained: whatever it was that Cassidy needed to tell him, she was terrified like Ty had never seen her before.

  And Cassidy might be the jumpy type, but she wasn’t fearful. In fact, sometimes she could be downright fierce. Th
ose facts only made all of this more confounding and worrisome.

  Thank goodness, she’d come back. Because for the five minutes she’d been gone, Ty had felt like he lost everything. He’d realized that his world would never again be the same without Cassidy in it. He’d fallen hard, and he’d fallen fast.

  Ty glanced at Cassidy as the windswept landscape blurred past and noted how pale her skin was as she stared out the window. Her breathing was shallow. Apprehension lined her rigid back and shoulders.

  He reached over and laced his fingers through hers. Cassidy squeezed back but remained silent and stoic. A slight tremor shook her hand.

  Ty had suspected for a while there was more to her story. About why she came to Lantern Beach. An abusive ex. A crime she’d unwillingly been a part of. Whatever danger she ran from, it caused her to keep a hidden stash of guns. He’d known she would open up in her own time.

  He’d never imagined it like this.

  Fifteen minutes later, after driving through town and then through the wooded outskirts of the island’s southern end, he pulled up to the old lighthouse. He’d been helping their friend Austin restore the place over the past few months. It was secluded out here, but Ty would spot anyone who approached. Which made it perfect for whatever Cassidy had to share.

  He hoped.

  Wordlessly, they climbed from his truck, Cassidy grabbing her backpack like it was a lifeline. He suspected, based on the weight and bulk of the bag, that her guns were inside.

  With Kujo on their heels, they stepped into the lightkeeper’s quarters.

  He’d wanted to bring Cassidy here sometime and show her around. She’d love this building that was full of history and intrigue. If these walls could talk, they’d have stories that were movie-worthy.

  But this wasn’t the time.

  With no AC, the humidity curled around them, blanketing them in a heavy, weighted heat. With it came the scent of age, of a space that had been closed up too long. Undercurrents of sawdust and lacquer floated through the air, mixing with the scent of the ocean, which roared outside.

  Ty led Cassidy to the couch that had been left years ago by the last family who’d acted as caretakers. He sat her down, not bothering to apologize for the cloud of dust that rose from the cushions as he lowered himself beside her.

  “Talk to me, Cassidy,” he encouraged.

  She didn’t break eye contact. No, she reached up and caressed his face, her eyes saying what words couldn’t: she cared about him. Her sun-kissed face pulled tight with anxiety. Her hair, normally around her shoulders in carefree waves, was yanked back and hidden under a baseball cap.

  It didn’t matter what she wore or how she did her hair. She was flat-out the most beautiful woman Ty had ever met, inside and out.

  “I didn’t factor you into my plan.” Cassidy’s voice cracked with emotion as she stared at him, storms raging in her gaze.

  “What plan, Cassidy?” She wasn’t making any sense.

  “The plan was for me to hide out here until I went back to Seattle to testify.”

  All Ty could hear was his heartbeat in his ears. What had Cassidy just said? Had he heard correctly?

  Testify. Hide out. Seattle.

  That was a long way from being an interior designer in one of the smallest towns in Texas.

  “Are you in witness protection?” Was that what she was trying to tell him? Was that what all this was about?

  Cassidy shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut as if she struggled to find the words. “No, I guess I should start at the beginning.”

  Ty’s breath hitched as he prepared himself for whatever she was about to say. He prayed he’d have the right words, the right reaction. That he could be the man Cassidy needed him to be right now.

  She licked her lips, and her gaze found his. The depths of emotion in her eyes nearly stopped his heart.

  “My name is actually Cady Matthews.” Her voice almost sounded robotic. “I’m a detective from Seattle, and I went undercover, infiltrating a dangerous gang. DH-7.”

  This was almost too much for Ty to comprehend. Cassidy wasn’t her real name? Yet the detective piece cleared up so many questions: her ability to solve crimes. The guns. The way she interacted with life itself.

  But DH-7? They were notorious. Dangerous. Deadly. Not a group of people you wanted to mess with, to say the least, even as a trained law enforcement officer.

  She rubbed her hands on her jeans. “While I was undercover, I got the information I needed to complete my mission, and I was about to leave.” Her voice quivered. “But before I could, the leader of the gang, Raul Sanders, caught me. He was about to kill me.”

  Ty grabbed her hand and squeezed it, hoping the small act might give her the strength to continue.

  She squeezed her lips together, and her gaze glazed over, like she was going back to a different time and place. “But in a strange turn of events, I found a baseball, threw it at his chest, and it stopped his heart on contact.”

  “Commotio Cordis . . .” he muttered.

  Not only was it a medical condition, it was also the nickname given to an urban folk hero, of sorts. Commotio Cordis was all the rage in underground circles. Some kids had even created comics about her, hailing her as a savior.

  “That’s me, though by no doing of my own.” She frowned. “I moved to a safe house in Washington, but the gang found me. That’s when we suspected there was someone on the inside working for them. It’s the only way they could have located me. I managed to get out of the safe house alive, but I realized I had to get far away.”

  Ty pictured it playing out and used every bit of his self-control not to flinch at the thought of everything Cassidy had experienced. Right now, he needed to give his all to this conversation.

  “So you came here to Lantern Beach?”

  She nodded, her face and muscles still stiff. “My contact got the house for me, and he bought Elsa. My only mission was to lie low and hide until the trial.”

  “Something spooked you today, though?” He bristled at the thought. At everything he’d just learned. At the secret identity Cassidy—or should he call her Cady?—had been living under.

  “I thought I saw Orion, one of Raul’s right-hand men.” She licked her lips, her wide eyes meeting his again. “You may have heard there’s a one-million-dollar bounty on my head for whoever kills me.”

  Grief—and anger—ripped through him at the thought of anyone hurting her at all, but especially for profit. “I do remember that.”

  Cassidy reached up and stroked his cheek again, a tear rolling down her own. “Listen, I don’t have time to play the dating game right now or to watch my words for fear of saying too much too soon.”

  “I’ve never liked games.” His heart pounded harder.

  “Ty Chambers, I care about you. I don’t want to get you killed. That’s why I need to leave.”

  Ty’s heart lurched at the sincerity in her words. He felt the same way. And, while hearing those words leave her lips both thrilled him and tore him apart, he also realized the stakes here.

  “Cassidy—Cady,” he started.

  “Just call me Cassidy. Please.”

  “Cassidy, if this guy realizes we’re connected, I’m already a target, whether you’re here or not.”

  She breathed out a small cry and lowered her head.

  Ty pulled her closer until her head hit his chest. He wanted to squeeze tight and never let go. “Don’t leave. Let me fight this battle with you.”

  “I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to you.”

  “I’ve fought for my country and been willing to lay down my life. Of course, I’m going to fight for the woman I love.”

  She sucked in a breath, pulling back until her eyes met his. Questions danced there . . . and maybe a little joy.

  “Yes, I said it.” He brushed a stray hair from her face. “I love you, Cassidy Livingston.”

  A smile finally cracked her face, along with a flood of emotion and a few more te
ars. “I love you too, Ty.”

  He tugged her closer and their lips met—the kiss almost desperate. Hungry. Speaking what words couldn’t.

  Kujo interrupted it with an incessant bark.

  Ty glanced at Cassidy and saw her face pale again.

  “Stay here,” he ordered. He stood, going on alert.

  Instead of obeying, Cassidy reached into her bag and withdrew a gun. “No way. Those are my monkeys, and this is my circus.”

  That was one way to put it.

  She handed him a revolver, pulled out another gun for herself, and then followed him to the window.

  Ty checked the weapon, saw it was loaded, and braced himself for the worst.

  Chapter Four

  Cassidy positioned herself at the edge of the window, her gun raised and ready. “Do you see anything?”

  Ty peered around the wall and shook his head. “No, nothing.”

  Kujo barked again, his motions more manic and agitated.

  Cassidy gulped down a deep breath before turning toward the outside. She glanced out the glass, desperate for a glimpse of what was upsetting the canine. Desperate also to avoid a bullet.

  Had Orion already found her? It didn’t make sense. It was too soon. Too fast. Unless he’d been two steps ahead of her this whole time. That was a possibility.

  She scanned the landscape outside—mostly shrubby trees against an otherwise barren stretch of land. Waves crashed in the background, their symphony loud enough to conceal any approaching visitors. Sand blew with the breeze, making everything appear hazy.

  But she saw no one.

  Ty nodded toward some trees. “Maybe it’s just a squirrel.”

  “Maybe. I’ll take a squirrel over a hit man any day.”

  Ty frowned. “We should stay here and keep watch, just in case.”

  Cassidy had seen the changing emotions on his face. The surprise mixed with concern and even anger. It would take him a while to fully process the extent of this. She wished she could do something to ease his worry, but she couldn’t.

  “What does this guy look like?” Ty asked.

  Gripping her gun, Cassidy grabbed her phone from her back pocket with her free hand and did an Internet search. Some gang members wouldn’t be caught dead on the web. Others liked the notoriety social media could bring. Orion fell into that second category.