Dangerous Waters (Lantern Beach Book 4)

by Christy Barritt

  Cassidy could hardly stomach the thought.

  “This isn’t like any bomb I’ve seen before,” Mac said.

  “One wrong move and we’re all gone,” Ty reminded him.

  “That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”

  Cassidy glanced at the digital timer.

  “We have less than a minute,” Cassidy told them. The realization took her breath away. “And we’re too far away from land to evacuate. We’re running out of time, guys.”

  “Tell everyone to hold on,” Ty shouted. “It’s too late for lifeboats.”

  Thirty-five.

  Cassidy didn’t ask questions. Instead, she turned around and shouted directions. But in her mind, she could still see that timer. She mentally counted down the seconds.

  Twenty-five.

  She knew they didn’t have much time. What was Ty’s plan?

  She glanced back over at him and saw him grab the bomb.

  “Everybody, get down!” he yelled.

  Fifteen.

  In one swift motion, he pulled his arm back and launched the device into the inlet.

  Only seconds after it hit the water, an explosion ripped through the air. Water sprayed high. The boat jerked to the side, rocking with the blast. People screamed.

  After what seemed like an eternity—but in reality, probably only ten seconds—the ferry righted itself. The water stopped spraying. And everyone seemed to take a breath together.

  Cassidy paused and glanced around, taking inventory of everyone in sight.

  They were okay, she realized.

  Everyone was okay.

  She released her breath.

  That could have turned out much worse. Much, much worse.

  She exchanged a glance with Ty and Mac. Their gazes said it all.

  Relief. Exhaustion. Gratitude.

  That had been way too close.

  Law enforcement swarmed the ferry docks. Everyone had been called in—the Lantern Beach PD, the Coast Guard, the state police, the NCSBI. Probably others, as well.

  All of the passengers had been relegated to the parking lot—once it had been cleared and a police line had been set up. Paramedics treated a few people for whiplash or minor cuts.

  Mac, Ty, and Cassidy had been pulled aside—asked to stand near the building that housed management offices. The position allowed them to observe all the activity.

  Cassidy watched as they questioned the truck driver. She stood just close enough that she could hear.

  “I didn’t put that box in my truck,” he said. “I have no idea where it came from.”

  The man looked to be in his seventies, and his voice sounded as frail and shaky as he looked.

  She believed the man. The truck driver wasn’t behind this. No, somehow Orion had planted that box in his vehicle.

  Could this tie in with Jimmy James? It had been a box of knockoff purses. Cassidy wasn’t sure yet. But everything was a possibility at this point.

  “I stopped at the General Store and got some gas,” the truck driver continued. “I didn’t bother to look in the back of my truck. I have some salvage metal back there that I was taking in to be recycled. Didn’t think anything of it.”

  Cassidy’s anxiety climbed. She knew her turn was coming. The police would question her. And she knew she’d blow her cover if she told the police the complete truth. She had to keep perspective here, despite the tug–of-war inside her.

  “Let me take the lead,” Ty whispered.

  Relief salved her heart at his offer. The last thing she wanted was to get him in trouble, but . . . it was worth a try. “Are you sure?”

  He nodded without a touch of hesitancy. “I’m sure.”

  Just as the words left his mouth, a man approached them. “I’m Detective Dan Peterson with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. I’m the lead on this case for now. Can I have a word with all of you?”

  “Of course,” Ty said.

  Ty kept a hand on Cassidy’s back as Peterson led them away from any listening ears.

  “Can you tell me your version of what happened?” he started.

  Cassidy let Ty and Mac talk. Ty, the ex-navy SEAL. Mac, the former police chief. It made sense that they had known what to do. She hoped she simply looked like Ty’s girlfriend, the woman who’d helped but who’d otherwise been clueless.

  However, Peterson had gotten her name. Her fake social. Her address.

  Samuel had set those things up for her, so hopefully, they’d fly if the police ran a check on her. But the situation was precarious at best and left her feeling unsettled.

  “Why did you think there was a bomb in the first place?” the investigator asked.

  “Because I got this text earlier.” Ty had Cassidy’s phone already in his pocket, and he held up the text.

  Peterson studied the screen. “Someone randomly texted you this?”

  Ty nodded. “I believe it came from a man who confronted me in the parking lot at church yesterday.”

  He looked unconvinced. “So someone randomly confronted you? Then texted you?”

  Ty raked a hand through his hair. He wasn’t as nervous as he let on. No, he was testing out his acting chops as well, if Cassidy had to guess.

  “Someone broke into my girlfriend’s cottage earlier, and we’ve been on the lookout,” Ty said. “I believe her ex-boyfriend may be indirectly involved.”

  “What does that mean?” Bozeman asked.

  “We think he was selling drugs to the guys who did this,” Ty said.

  “I can verify everything he’s said.” Mac nodded confidentially. “We’ve been looking into it for our own peace of mind. We must have pushed too hard.”

  “Why would this man put so many people at risk just to avoid potentially getting caught for some drugs? As far as I’ve heard, he wasn’t even on the police’s radar.” Peterson’s gaze traveled to each of them as he waited for an answer that would appease him.

  “I believe he’s a twisted individual who likes to play games,” Ty said.

  “He would have to be to do something like this.” Detective Peterson frowned. “Could this tie in with your time as a SEAL?”

  Ty shook his head. “I don’t believe that’s the case.”

  Mac shifted. “Anything else?”

  Peterson glanced up, his gaze heavy. Uncertain. Calculating. Finally, he shook his head. “Not at this time. But if anything comes up, we’ll be calling. Stay close.”

  “We will,” Ty said.

  Cassidy released her breath. That was over. For now. However, all of this was far from being finished.

  As soon as they got back to the truck, Ty handed Cassidy her phone. “It buzzed again while I was talking to the investigator.”

  She took it from him, climbed in, and read the first message aloud for Ty and Mac to hear.

  You passed the first test. Let it be a sign. The clock is ticking and the water’s rising.

  Cassidy shook her head and glanced back and forth from Mac to Ty. “What does that even mean?”

  “It’s just like you said,” Ty muttered. “He’s playing games with you.”

  “Games that could have killed dozens of people, including innocent children. I knew he was sick and twisted, but I didn’t realize the extent. What if that means there’s some kind of clock ticking before Serena dies?”

  A shadow crossed Ty’s face at her words. “We need to go talk to Jimmy James. Maybe he’ll have some answers.”

  “I agree. That bomb was found in a box of his purses.”

  They headed toward the marina. As soon as they got there, Ty and Cassidy started to climb out. Mac lingered behind.

  “I’m going to stay here in the truck,” he said. “Something about that bomb is bothering me. It’s just a hunch, but I need to check into a few things.”

  Cassidy and Ty headed down the dock, searching for Jimmy James. Halfway across the marina, they spotted him on a pier in the distance, unloading more cargo from a boat. He looked up. As soon as he recognized t
hem, he froze.

  In the next instant, he sprinted away.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ty muttered, taking off after him.

  Cassidy followed behind, desperate not to let the man get away.

  As Jimmy James reached the end of the pier, Cassidy realized he’d hit a dead end. Tempest water crashed against the pilings there, screaming of danger.

  Just as Cassidy slowed her steps, Jimmy James looked back at them. Then he jumped into the water.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Ty dove into the water after Jimmy James. If running was a sign of guilt, then Jimmy James was the poster child right now.

  Cassidy watched from the edge of the pier, ready to help however necessary. She’d be more use up here, however. She watched as Ty easily caught up to Jimmy James in the water.

  A Navy SEAL versus a dockworker? The SEAL definitely had the upper hand.

  Jimmy James struggled against Ty’s grip. Water flew into the air. Grunts sounded.

  Cassidy reached for her gun and then glanced at the crowd around her.

  Was Orion here?

  She didn’t see him. But she needed to be prepared, just in case things turned south quickly.

  Finally, Ty put the man in a headlock and began dragging him back to shore.

  A few other men helped pull Jimmy James and Ty back onto the pier. Jimmy James sputtered on the weathered wood, his breathing labored.

  Ty rose to full height and shook off the water, unaffected by the plunge, except for his shoulder, Cassidy noted. He rolled it back and cringed. Hopefully, he hadn’t undone what surgery had repaired.

  “We’ve got this from here,” Ty told the crowd. “Thanks for your help.”

  Ty and Cassidy stood over Jimmy James, daring him to make another impulsive move. He raised his hands in the air as he stood, signaling defeat. “Look, I’m sorry.”

  “Did you really think running was the best option?” Ty glared at him. This was more than a suspect on the run. Ty had invested in this man. He’d believed in him. Offered him the benefit of the doubt. And now this.

  “I freaked out.” He belted the words out in short syllables that made him sound like his nose was plugged.

  “Why’d you run?” Ty demanded.

  He gasped in another breath, his bloodshot eyes as grotesque as a dead fish—only in a different way. “I figured you learned the truth.”

  “And what truth is that?”

  “That guy stopped me in the church parking lot as I was leaving,” he started.

  Cassidy’s blood went a little colder. Orion. At church. On purpose. All of this had been on purpose.

  “And what did he say?” Ty continued. The hard set of his jaw amplified his experience level. He’d questioned terrorists.

  He could handle Jimmy James. Cassidy’s heart fluttered with admiration.

  “He told me he’d heard about my handbag business.”

  Cassidy shifted to see Jimmy James’s eyes more clearly, to ascertain whether or not he was telling the truth. “How did he hear about that business?”

  As far as Cassidy knew, those purses were hush-hush. Why else the secrecy at the lighthouse?

  “He seemed to have connections, and I didn’t ask questions,” Jimmy James said. “Anyway, he offered to pay me double what I usually get. He said it was urgent that he have the bags and that he have them as soon as possible.”

  “Weren’t you afraid of angering your other clients?” Ty asked.

  “Of course. But I’ll get more in and make them happy. This guy said he was only in town for a short time. I needed the money. Rent is coming due, and my roommate just moved out.”

  “And you didn’t think this urgency odd?” Ty asked. “Even though someone had been asking about Cassidy earlier?”

  His face reddened. “He seemed nice enough. I figured it was just a misunderstanding.”

  Ty let out a long, unhindered sigh before shaking his head. “So you sold him the purses. Did you have them with you?”

  “As a matter of fact I did.”

  “And then what?” Ty asked.

  Jimmy James swallowed hard and looked off at the marina a moment. His face reddened again. The tough guy was finding all of this a bit embarrassing.

  Good. He should be.

  “Then his girlfriend took them, put them in her car, and he apparently went to church,” he finished.

  “Wait . . . what girlfriend?” His words caused Cassidy to flinch with surprise.

  “I told you I saw him with a woman.” His voice held a hurt tone, like he was offended they hadn’t been listening earlier.

  “She was with him again yesterday?” Cassidy clarified.

  “Yeah, right beside him.”

  The woman hadn’t gone to church with him. Why? Who was she? “What did she look like?”

  “She was pretty, I guess. Long, dark hair.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. He wasn’t the type of guy I wanted to catch me staring at his girlfriend. She didn’t really have much to say.”

  Orion must have taken that box, placed the bomb in it, and then sent his girlfriend to plant it on that man’s truck at some point.

  Cassidy’s stomach turned as she pictured it playing out, as she began to understand just how devious his whole plan was.

  She stepped closer, a new fire burning in her gut. “Jimmy James, did you give this man information about us?”

  He didn’t say anything.

  There was more than Jimmy James was telling them. His shifty gaze said it all.

  Ty leaned closer and growled, “Answer the lady’s question.”

  He ran a hand over his face, pausing at his forehead. His eyes scrunched shut, as if he was in pain. “He may have asked a couple of questions about you. Like where you liked to hang out. Who your friends were. When I’d seen you last.”

  “And you answered them?” Ty’s voice held an edge of unmistakable disgust and disbelief.

  “He slipped me some extra money,” Jimmy James said. “I knew I should keep my mouth shut, but . . .”

  “I’m disappointed in you,” Ty said. “But I’ll deal with that later. Right now, we’ve got to find Serena.”

  Ty stormed away, his shoulders tight, his steps fast, and his gaze simmering. Cassidy had never seen this side of him before. She scrambled to keep up with him.

  “I can’t believe he would do this,” Ty muttered.

  “I can’t either. But when this is done, you can talk to him again. Ty, I realized something.”

  He paused. When he glanced at her, some of the anger drained from his face.

  “Orion knew about the ferry, yet he wasn’t in the crowds.”

  “Okay.”

  “He’s obviously somewhere he can watch all of this play out,” Cassidy said.

  “The lighthouse.” Realization spread across his features. “Let’s go.”

  Cassidy’s pulse spiked as they sped away from the marina. This could be it. This could be where Orion was keeping Serena.

  Please, God, let her be there. Let her be okay. Keep Ty and Mac safe.

  “We need a plan for when we get there,” Cassidy said.

  “We take him by surprise,” Mac said.

  They’d updated him when they climbed into the truck.

  “I agree,” Ty said. “We can park to the side of the road before we reach the lighthouse and stay concealed in the trees.”

  “If he’s watching from the lighthouse, he’ll see us coming,” Cassidy reminded them.

  “If we come around the east side, there’s more cover,” Ty said. “We just have to make it a hundred yards or so to reach the building. It’s still risky, but doable.”

  Mac leaned forward on the bench seat and glanced at both of them. “We could create some type of distraction so he’s not looking.”

  “Like what?” Cassidy wasn’t sure she liked the glimmer in his eyes.

  “I have a flashbang,” he said, pulling something from his pocket. “I could throw it out on the other side of the st
ructure while you two go inside.”

  “Do you always carry one of those with you?” Ty asked.

  “Not always. Just most of the time.”

  Ty relaxed his face by shaking his head slightly. “That might work.”

  “You going to be okay with an explosion?” Mac asked.

  PTSD, Cassidy realized. It had to affect Ty in ways she didn’t even know and couldn’t even comprehend.

  “I’ve been through one explosion already today and one chase through the water,” Ty said. “I’d say I’m well on my way to reliving my days as a SEAL. And, yes, I’m okay.”

  Cassidy let them talk. Both were more qualified with the tactical side of this. She’d been good at tracking down clues and interrogating suspects, but she’d never trained for SWAT-type missions.

  “Cassidy and I will storm the lighthouse,” Ty said. “We both have guns. We’ll try to catch Orion off guard. Our first priority has to be finding Serena.”

  “Absolutely,” Cassidy said. “We can’t do anything that puts her in danger.”

  “I’ll stay back,” Mac said. “And I can take them off guard if we need to. Or call for backup. Not Bozeman. But maybe that detective from NCSBI. Dan Peterson.”

  “Both of you, please be careful,” Cassidy’s voice wavered. “This is my mess, and I’ll never forgive myself if either of you are hurt because of me.”

  “Your mess is our mess.” Mac winked. “That’s how family works.”

  Her heart warmed for a moment. She liked the sound of that. Family.

  But she still hated the fact that she’d brought the trouble here with her.

  Ty pulled to a stop on the side of the road and coasted his truck into the woods. The branch cover over this part of the road should have concealed them this far—in the best-case scenario, at least.

  “Let’s do this,” Mac said. “I’ll see you both at the end of this—with Serena safe and sound. Got it?”

  “Got it,” Ty said.

  Mac took off through one side of the woods, and Ty and Cassidy through the other. Ty took her hand, leading her through the thick brush. He stopped about ten feet in.

  “There’s his SUV,” he said. “Orion is here, Cassidy.”

  Her heart pounded harder. “At least we know we’re on the right track.”