by B. J Daniels
CHAPTER SIX
JULIETTE WAS ALREADY waiting for AJ at the café when she walked in. She’d picked a back booth and, because it was between lunch and dinner, the place was nearly empty. She’d ordered an iced tea, wishing she had travel-size liquor to pour in it to relax her nerves.
But even as she thought it, she knew it was a bad idea. She needed her wits about her. AJ was sharp. She had to be careful, she warned herself as AJ came in the door on a gush of cold winter air. Their gazes met across the café and Juliette felt her survival instinct kick in as AJ made her way toward the booth.
Juliette gave her a weak smile after reminding herself that she was in mourning. She had a wadded-up tissue in her hand that she used to dab her eyes as AJ took the seat across from her. She couldn’t help but notice that the other woman was dry-eyed, a hard, determined glint in those blue eyes that definitely could be cause for concern.
“I ordered an iced tea,” she said in her let’s-be-friend’s tone. “I didn’t know what you would like.”
The waitress appeared next to their booth, put down two menus and two waters. AJ ordered a cola. Juliette watched her cup her hands around the sweating ice water glass for a moment as if trying to cool down. Or was it calm down? It was clear that the attorney was worked up.
But when AJ spoke, her voice was deceivingly calm. “I’m glad you called. I have a lot of questions. I hope you don’t mind me asking?”
Was this what the woman was like interrogating a witness on the stand? Then Juliette could understand why she’d done so well with her law degree.
But she could be just as sweet, just as calm, just as conciliatory. “Of course not, although it’s so painful.”
“I’m sure it is for you,” AJ said as if she didn’t believe it for a moment. “I heard you met at the hotel where Cyrus was staying in Denver.”
Juliette had known she would have to tell this story again, but it still annoyed her. She wanted to question AJ, not the other way around. But she played along, talking like one female friend to another.
“As I told you yesterday—”
“But you failed to mention what you were doing at the hotel.”
Juliette hadn’t expected that. “I have a friend in Denver I visit from time to time.”
“And this friend makes you stay at a hotel?”
She swallowed and tried not to let AJ get to her. “She lives with her mother who has Alzheimer’s. She’s a full-time caregiver and needs a break occasionally, so my room seems like a haven for her.”
“You didn’t mention her name.”
The waitress returned and took their orders. Juliette ordered a burger and fries. AJ glanced at the menu and said she’d just stick with the cola.
As the waitress walked away, AJ said, “I see you haven’t lost your appetite though.”
Juliette bristled. “I eat when I’m upset.”
“You must not get upset very often.”
“You sound like you don’t believe me. My friend’s name is Dara.” She wasn’t stupid enough not to have someone available to back up her story—for a price. “As it was, I didn’t get to visit her this trip. She was busy interviewing nursing homes for her mother whose condition has gotten worse.”
AJ was looking at her as if she didn’t believe anything that came out of her mouth.
“I don’t go to Denver just to see Dara. I also go there to shop.” AJ looked as if she might push for Dara’s full name, but she didn’t give her a chance. “Anyway, I was in the bar the night before I was set to fly out—”
“Back home. Where is that?”
“Miami. I winter there. And before you ask, no I don’t have a home there. I usually do an Airbnb. I hadn’t gotten one yet.”
“So no home base?”
“No. I like being able to go anywhere I want.”
“You apparently don’t have a job,” AJ said.
“No, I’m fortunate. I have an adequate trust fund, but from the looks of you, I would think you probably know how trust funds work.”
“Actually, I’ve never touched mine. So you just happened to be in the bar.”
Juliette felt as if she were in a sword fight. She was holding her own. Bleeding, but not badly. She’d been in worse. “He walked in, our eyes met. He bought me a drink, we talked. He was so charming and sweet. I got the feeling that he didn’t get out much and the next thing you know we were in the elevator together heading up to his room.”
“That surprises me. He’s always been so shy and cautious.”
She shrugged. “You know how it is when you meet someone and chemistry takes over. Is that how it was with you and Cyrus? Love at first sight?”
AJ’s smile had teeth. “Cyrus and I were friends.”
She cocked an eyebrow at her. “Oh, I think it was more than that—at least on your part. Tell me about you and Cyrus.”
“We were friends.”
“Close friends.”
“Yes. Close.”
“I thought maybe...”
“Thought what?” AJ asked.
“I thought as his close friend he might have called you and told you what had happened.”
The attorney-turned-bartender said nothing.
“Cyrus and I promised each other that we wouldn’t tell anyone. We were determined to surprise everyone when we got home. But I thought if he would have contacted anyone...”
“You’re afraid that he called me.”
Juliette swallowed. She considered denying it, as if that would have helped. “Did he?”
“And told me what was really going on?” AJ asked.
She felt her pulse jump. Was it possible Cyrus had broken his promise not to tell? “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
“Whose idea was it to take the cruise?” AJ asked, clearly ignoring the question.
Juliette wanted to reach across the table and choke the truth out of the woman, but she played along since she had little choice. Also, she figured if Cyrus had called her, then AJ would have already told the sheriff.
“I had already booked the cruise as a surprise for my friend.”
“The one whose mother has Alzheimer’s and is going into the home.”
“Yes. I can give you her name if you don’t believe me. Dara had problems finding a nursing home that would take her mother. Her mother was violent. Such an insidious disease, you know. I mentioned the cruise to Cyrus. I said I was going to have to cancel. At first he said he had to get back to Montana, but...”
She shrugged and couldn’t help smiling at how easy it had all been—at least for a while. “Cyrus said he’d never been on a cruise. He thought it would be fun.”
“So it was your idea to get married on the ship,” AJ said.
“Is that what you think?” She shook her head. “You think you knew Cyrus, but there was a side of him that had never cut loose. I helped him find that side. He was having a ball—”
“Until he fell overboard. Not twenty-four hours after the wedding, Cyrus was in the ocean alone at night.” AJ tilted her head, studying her. “How did that happen?”
“If you’re trying to make me feel guilty, don’t bother,” Juliette snapped, and then calmed herself. “I feel guilty enough. There was a storm that night. The ocean was rough. I was seasick. Cyrus wanted to take a walk around the ship. If I hadn’t taken that medicine and I’d gone with him...”
“So you have the perfect alibi. Unless you turn up on the surveillance cameras on the ship that night. Sheriff Cahill is having them sent to him. He’ll be studying those in the hopes of seeing what really happened on that ship—before and after his brother went overboard.”
Juliette tried not to let on how hard her pulse was now pounding. Just her luck that Cyrus’s brother was a sheriff. No way would a family member go through all the surveillance videos. Nor would they even
know what to look for.
She met AJ’s challenging gaze, holding it, daring her to disprove that everything had happened just as she’d said. At the same time, her heart raced with worry that she hadn’t been careful enough.
“I was in the cabin the rest of the night. I ordered some chamomile tea. The porter brought it and turned down the bed. I showered, took the seasick medicine and went to bed.”
“And Cyrus wasn’t back. Didn’t that seem strange?”
Juliette let out a laugh to ease her growing tension. This lunch wasn’t going anything like she had planned. “Strange? Not when you’re married to a cowboy. Him and his long legs. He felt cramped on the ship. It was one reason I’d agreed to get off at the next port and fly home with him. He missed his wide-open spaces. He was also excited to share his news with his family, who apparently thought he would never get married.”
AJ said nothing.
“I was hoping you and I could be friends,” she said after the waitress slid her burger and fries in front of her along with a huge bottle of ketchup. “Help yourself to a fry. They look delicious.”
AJ gave her a disbelieving look. “You and I ever being friends is out of the question. Anyway, you aren’t going to be around that long, are you.” It wasn’t a question.
“Cyrus’s family and friends are strangers right now but once they accept that I’m family...” she said carefully. “Also it’s clear to me that you all want to blame me somehow for this.” AJ didn’t deny it. “But I guess if they don’t accept me, then there’s nothing here for me without Cyrus.”
AJ studied her openly, making Juliette more nervous than usual.
“I can see that something is on your mind,” she finally said, tired of being examined like she was something AJ had stepped in. She picked up a french fry, dredged it through a pile of ketchup and put it into her mouth to chew slowly, all the time keeping her eyes on the other woman.
“I was just wondering what will happen when I find Cyrus and bring him back home,” AJ said.
“Find him?” Juliette choked on her fry. Dropping the rest of it back into her plate, she said, “You aren’t seriously going to go look for him.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s gone. He fell overboard and drowned. Days ago. There is no chance that he could have survived.”
“We don’t know that,” AJ argued.
“He couldn’t have survived that long in the water—”
“He could have swum to shore.”
“There was no shore in sight,” Juliette said, wondering why she was arguing with this woman.
“How do you know that? You were in your cabin knocked out from a seasickness pill. Or did you see Cyrus go overboard because you were there?”
She picked up her napkin, stalling for time, as she dapped at her mouth and tried to gain control of her temper. “I told you what happened,” she said in her most calm tone. “The captain said that we were miles from a string of islands at the time Cyrus went overboard. Believe me, I made this same argument to him. I wanted to believe that Cyrus could survive somehow, but I’ve accepted that he couldn’t. He’s dead. His death certificate is being sent to me as we speak.”
AJ turned to look out the café window for a moment. “But what if he isn’t dead?” She shifted her gaze back. Juliette saw a fire in those blue eyes as if fueled by a love stronger than any she herself had ever known. “What if he somehow survived because he’s Cyrus Cahill? What if it is only a matter of time before he tells us what really happened from the moment he met you until he went overboard on that ship?”
Juliette stared at the woman. “You’re delusional. I feel sorry for you.”
“Don’t,” AJ said, getting to her feet and placing her hand over her heart. “Cyrus is alive. I feel it. He isn’t gone or I would know it. And when I find him...” The woman smiled then. “You’ll understand if I don’t stay. Enjoy your...lunch.”
Shaking with anger, Juliette watched her walk out. Cyrus must have called her, must have said something that had AJ suspicious. She tried to compose herself. She was letting the foolish woman get to her. If AJ knew anything, she would have said something. Or she would have told the sheriff. No, the woman was clutching at straws, driven mad by love and loss.
Let her go look for Cyrus. She wasn’t going to find him. Juliette had done her research. Few people who’d gone overboard survived even for a few hours. It was going on days now. Cyrus was dead.
But the worst part was that AJ Somerfield had ruined her appetite. She pushed the burger away and signaled the waitress for her check. It was time to move things along. This town and these people were getting to her.
* * *
ONCE THE STORM moved east two days later, the snowplows opened the roads again. It had been almost a week since they’d gotten the call about Cyrus. Flint knew he couldn’t go back on his word to AJ. Just as he knew she hadn’t changed her mind about going to look for Cyrus.
They spoke little about his brother on the two-hour drive to Billings to catch her flight. But not everything had been said. He couldn’t let her go without knowing everything. Not that it would change her mind. He understood that she had to do this. He figured it was her way of finding closure.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” he said as they neared the airport. She looked over at him as if expecting a blow. “The entire search was called off days ago. Juliette requested a death certificate.”
“By now she already has it.”
He shot her a look. “So you already know.”
“It doesn’t make any difference. She can get all the death certificates she wants. Cyrus is still alive and I’m going to find him.”
“There’s something else. Another passenger went overboard the same night as Cyrus, different cruise line, only a few miles from where he went in.”
“You think they are somehow connected?” she asked.
He shook his head and then thought better of it. “I honestly don’t know. I’m still shocked by Cyrus even being on that ship, let alone...” He glanced over at her and didn’t bother to finish the sentence. No one in the family believed his brother would marry Juliette the way he had. “The missing man’s name is Jordan Hughes. Like Cyrus, no one knew he was missing the entire night. They began to search for him when it was discovered that he was missing and that wasn’t until the next port. He was apparently a businessman traveling alone. He also hasn’t been found. These ships are so huge I doubt you see the same people twice, especially if you aren’t on the same level.”
“You said the captain was sending you copies of the surveillance videos taken on board Cyrus’s ship,” she said.
“Once I get them, I’ll go through the footage.” He could see that he was getting nowhere. She was going. Nothing could stop her.
“I’d be interested to know if Juliette was on those videos.”
“I’ll let you know if I find anything,” Flint said as he turned into the airport. “We know she wasn’t in the one right before or after Cyrus went overboard. Her alibi seems to be airtight.” He pulled up in front of her airline. The terminal was small by most standards. He left the engine running and turned to AJ. “Here,” he said, handing her a thick manila folder. “This is everything I’ve been able to get from the cruise line, the police commissioner, the coast guard.”
She met his gaze as she took the envelope and smiled, tears welling in her eyes. “Thank you. I know you think I’m wasting my time...”
He shook his head. “I’m worried about you, yes, but truthfully, I’m glad you’re going. I feel like someone should. Just be careful down there and good luck. If you need anything...”
AJ nodded. “I’ll keep in touch.” She opened her door.
He hopped out to help her with her suitcase. She traveled light, one small bag. “Seriously, if you need anything at all... And, AJ?” She looke
d up at him. “Just know when to come back, okay?”
She took the handle of her bag from him. “I’ll be back. With Cyrus. He’s still alive. I...still feel it.” With that, she turned and walked away.
He stood out in the cold for a few minutes, watching her disappear inside before he climbed back into his SUV and headed toward Gilt Edge. If there was a chance in hell that Cyrus was alive, he thought, AJ would find him.
Flint wished he believed there was any chance at all after all this time. He was more worried about AJ. There was no way she was coming back the same woman who’d left and that broke his heart.
CHAPTER SEVEN
AJ SAT ON the plane that would fly her to Minneapolis where she would catch a flight to Miami. From there she’d hired a private plane. As she buckled up, she was feeling anxious and yet she would be in St. Augusta by tonight. Had she been forced to fly commercial it would have taken her days and she didn’t have days.
If Cyrus was out there... The thought of him floating somewhere in that ocean made her sick with worry. How long could he last? She’d read everything she could get her hands on about cruise ships and missing people who had gone overboard. One had made it over fifteen days.
She couldn’t imagine the horror of going overboard, coming up and seeing the stern of the ship in the distance. Had he called for help? Had he been unconscious when he hit the water? Had he been pushed? Jumped? She shook her head, unable to think about it and yet unable to stop. Nothing felt right about any of this. Worse, she could feel the clock was ticking.
That feeling that Cyrus was alive was so strong days ago. She hated to even admit to herself, let alone voice it. But the feeling was weaker. If she didn’t find Cyrus soon...
Her phone buzzed. When she saw that the call was from Lillie Cahill, she quickly took it, praying that it was good news.
“Can you believe he married that woman?” Lillie cried.
Not the news AJ had been praying for. “Juliette?”
“Her lawyer just contacted the family attorney.” Lillie sounded mad enough to chew nails. She also sounded scared and close to tears. “She wants Cyrus’s part of the ranch.”
