Safe Harbor

by Hope White

  Chief Roth.

  “Not possible,” he muttered to himself.

  The chief had been Alex’s champion and an inspiration for the entire town of Waverly Harbor. Alex refused to add him to that list. Yet, the killer had found them immediately after they’d left the chief’s house.

  A soft tap on the door between his and Nicole’s room jerked him out of his thoughts. He opened the door. When she smiled up at him he practically forgot what he’d just been thinking about.

  “Good morning,” she said. “Did you eat?”

  “No, I was waiting for you.”

  “Good, because I ordered for both of us.” She motioned him into her room. Three covered plates were set up on the table by the window.

  “You already ordered room service?” he asked.

  “Yep.”

  “You shouldn’t have done that.”

  “Don’t worry, I got a little of everything. Pancakes, French toast, eggs.”

  “You shouldn’t have opened your door.”

  “Quinn delivered it.”

  “All the more reason why you shouldn’t have—”

  “Stop. Whatever is going on between you and Quinn is your stuff. He and I get along just fine.”

  “I’m sure you do.” Alex wandered to the table and removed a metal cover. His stomach grumbled at the sight of French toast with strawberries and whipped cream.

  “I’m actually offended that you’re jealous,” she said.

  He snapped his attention to her. “What?”

  “You think I’d fall for Quinn’s smooth lines?”

  “Women usually do.”

  “I’m not just any woman in case you hadn’t noticed. I don’t trust easily. At least I didn’t until I met you.” She sat at the table and uncovered a plate. “Pancakes, yum. Wanna split some?” She glanced up and looked at him with curiosity in her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

  “Trust,” he said.

  She cocked her head slightly and waited.

  “I’m not sure who we can trust anymore,” he said.

  “Well, you can trust me and your brother, even if you want to tackle him every time you see him.” She stabbed her fork into the pancakes and cut them down the middle with a knife.

  “No, I mean in my own department,” he added.

  She glanced up. “What are you saying?”

  “How did the driver know where to find us last night? That we’d be heading back to the mill?”

  “You’re not saying you think the chief had anything to do with it.”

  “I’m not sure what I’m saying.” He sat down and pressed his fingers against his temples.

  “I can’t see it, Alex. The chief and Gayle are such amazing people.”

  They sat there for a few seconds in contemplative silence.

  His phone rang and he recognized the chief’s caller ID. “Hey, Chief,” he answered, eyeing Nicole.

  “How’s it going, Alex?”

  “I assume you spoke with my brother?”

  “And Doc Monroe. Said the perp kicked the stuffing out of you.”

  “I just can’t figure out how he found us.”

  “Checked the plate number. The truck was reported stolen yesterday in Mt. Vernon.”

  “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

  “There’s more. Edward’s driver, Artie Wagner, left a voice mail. Says he’s got information but only wants to meet with you. Left his number for you to call him back.”

  “Okay, hang on.” Alex went to the nightstand and pulled out a hotel notepad and pen. Then he noticed the Bible laying open on the bed. A hopeful sign that Nicole was opening her heart to God?

  Alex wrote Artie’s number down on the notepad.

  “I don’t want you meeting him alone, Alex. Let me know the details and Officer Adams and I will be backup.”

  “Thanks. I’ll keep you posted.”

  Alex hung up, unsure that he wanted to include the chief in the rendezvous.

  “What is it?” Nicole asked.

  “Edward’s driver, Artie, wants to meet with me.”

  “Just you? Not the chief or FBI?”

  “Just me. I figured you’d stay here.”

  “You figured wrong. I go where you go, remember?”

  He stood and wandered to the window.

  “You’ll have backup, right?” she asked.

  He glanced over his shoulder at her. “No, I’m doing this alone.”

  “All the more reason for me to go.”

  “Why, so you can save me again?” He heard the bitterness in his voice.

  “We shouldn’t go into dangerous situations alone. We’re better as a team.”

  “But you’d be safer at the resort, in this room.”

  “You don’t know that. Someone could have seen us check in last night. We’re safer when we’re together.”

  “I’m surprised you can say that after what happened last night.”

  “You’re down on yourself because that guy got the jump on you after you sacrificed yourself to protect me? Don’t even go there, Alex, not after all the times you’ve saved me in the past few days. It was about time I returned the favor. Now, eat your breakfast.”

  He watched her take a bite of her pancakes. Who was this woman? Surely not the same redheaded beauty he’d found shivering in the closet at Edward Lange’s lake house.

  Something had changed. She’d changed. With straight shoulders and a firm set to her jaw, she exuded a newfound confidence. She said he’d had something to do with that but perhaps she’d grown stronger after reading the Bible. Certain passages always gave Alex a sense of peace when the world seemed to offer nothing but chaos.

  He hoped they weren’t walking into a mass of chaos when they met with Artie Wagner.

  * * *

  “What an odd choice,” Nicole said as she peered through the trees at the dilapidated church.

  Alex scanned the grounds with binoculars. “Why odd?”

  “Our meeting is about a murder and he picks an abandoned church?”

  Alex lowered the binoculars and glanced at her. “Maybe he’s looking for forgiveness.”

  “You mean he’s the killer? No, I would have recognized his voice. I’d met him a few times before.”

  “Maybe he didn’t shoot Edward but he feels indirectly responsible.”

  “So he blames himself. Seems to be going around.” She eyed Alex, but he’d gone back to searching the property for Artie.

  “Alex?”

  “I got him. He’s coming around the back of the church.”

  “How will he get in?”

  “Kids are always sneaking inside. It’s not hard.” He hooked the binoculars to his belt. “Let’s go.”

  He took Nicole’s hand and she absorbed strength from his grip. Her heart raced with adrenaline as they darted between trees on the outlying property, making their way toward the church.

  “I wish you’d stayed back at the resort,” he muttered.

  “I think I heard that already, like thirty-seven times.”

  He hesitated, one corner of his mouth lifting into a subtle, crooked smile. “I’m proud of you.”

  “Why?”

  “For getting your sense of humor back.” He redirected his attention to the church. “Looks like he’s inside.”

  “What do you think he wants to tell you?”

  “Have no idea. He gave me nothing over the phone. Let’s—”

  A shot rang out across the property. Nicole was slammed to the ground. Wind knocked from her lungs, she couldn’t think, couldn’t make sense of what just happened, except that Alex’s body was pressed firmly against her back.

  “Alex,” she gasped.

 
; TEN

  Nicole struggled to breathe, to get air back into her lungs. She couldn’t accept the possibility that Alex had been shot.

  “Alex,” she gasped and wiggled to free herself but his muscular body pinned her to the ground.

  “I’m okay,” he whispered against her ear. “We’re both okay.”

  “I thought you were...” She couldn’t finish. It hurt too much.

  “Shh.” He shifted off and rolled her onto her side. “It’s okay.”

  Nicole felt anything but okay. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. With a relieved breath she released him. “You...you threw yourself on top of me?”

  “Instinct.”

  “Having fun?” a male voice said.

  Alex whipped out his gun and pointed it at the source of the sound: Quinn.

  “I heard a gunshot,” Quinn said, stepping out from behind a tree. “But maybe you guys were too busy to notice.”

  “What are you doing here?” Alex snapped.

  “Watching your back.”

  “You shouldn’t be here, Quinn.”

  Quinn eyed Nicole. “And she should?”

  “I’m not having this conversation.” Alex stood and helped Nicole to her feet.

  The sound of squealing tires echoed across the property. Nicole glanced at the church. In the distance she could make out a pickup truck racing away.

  “The shooter?” Quinn asked.

  “I’m going in,” Alex said. “You two stay here until I give the signal.”

  Alex took off before Nicole could utter her protest. She did a quick scan of the property and started to move forward but Quinn grabbed her arm. “Uh-uh. He said stay back.”

  “Funny, I didn’t imagine you as a take-orders kind of guy.”

  “Usually I’m not, but he’s my big brother.”

  She snapped her attention to the church, waiting, hoping for Alex to poke his head out of the back door and wave them over. Although she figured the shooter had probably taken off in the truck, she still didn’t like the idea of Alex going into a potentially dangerous situation alone.

  “He’s a good cop,” Quinn said. “He’ll be fine.”

  “You obviously didn’t think so or you wouldn’t have followed us out here.”

  “Ah, that’s why he likes you. You’re feisty.”

  She barely heard him, she was so focused on the back door of the church.

  “You probably see an honorable Mr. Do Good in my brother,” Quinn continued. “Every girl’s dream guy.”

  She guessed he was trying to engage her to distract her from the worry they both felt as the seconds ticked by.

  “Where is he?” she whispered. “He’s got twenty seconds and then I’m—”

  Alex waved them over from the back of the church. She jogged across the property, Quinn right beside her.

  With a worried expression creasing his forehead, Alex hurried them inside.

  “What happened?” She stopped short at the sight of a white drop cloth over what appeared to be a body on the floor. “Is that...?”

  “Artie Wagner. Dead,” Alex said. “I just called it in. The chief read me the riot act.”

  “Because you were doing your job?” Nicole said.

  “Because he was playing Lone Ranger,” Quinn explained.

  “Do I look alone, Quinn? The two of you are standing right here, which is actually worse since it could have been one of you lying on the floor in a pool of blood.”

  “Alex,” Quinn said in a chastising tone, like he thought the graphic description would upset Nicole.

  “What? Artie was shot to death and is bleeding out on the floor right in front of us. And neither of you should be here.”

  “It’s not your fault,” Quinn said.

  The room went strangely silent. Alex clenched his jaw and stared past them out the window. Nicole hadn’t seen this side of Alex, so raw, so tortured. She wished she knew what to say but didn’t want to upset him further by saying the wrong thing.

  “I should have had backup. They would have caught the guy as he fled the scene.”

  “Artie may not have met you if you’d brought backup,” Nicole offered, wanting desperately to say something to ease his pain.

  “And now he’s dead because of our meeting.”

  “Artie should have met you at the station where he’d be surrounded by cops,” Quinn said. “But he didn’t, which means he wasn’t comfortable around cops, so he must have been dirty.”

  Alex snapped his attention to his brother. “So, what? He deserved to die?”

  Quinn shrugged as he eyed the body. “We all get what we deserve.”

  Alex grabbed Quinn by the shoulders and slammed him up against the church wall. “Yeah, Quinn? And what do I deserve, huh?”

  Nicole could feel the anger floating off Alex but it didn’t frighten her. She understood his anger was a normal reaction to a bad situation.

  “I wasn’t talking about you,” Quinn said, calmly.

  “Well, I am, so say it. Tell me what a loser brother I was for enlisting and leaving you behind to be tortured by the dragon lady.”

  Quinn stared at Alex with a passive, almost detached expression. Nicole would give anything to know who the dragon lady was and what she’d done to create such angst between the brothers.

  The wail of sirens echoed through the windows. Alex released his brother and strode across the church. He paused at the door. His shoulders rose and fell with a deep, contemplative breath.

  “I’m sorry.” He walked out of the church.

  Nicole snapped her attention to Quinn who hadn’t moved from his position against the wall.

  “Who’s the dragon lady?” she asked.

  Her voice seemed to jerk him out of his trance. He relaxed his shoulders and ran his hand through thick, dark hair. “Our stepmother. Not the cookie-baking type.”

  “She was abusive?”

  “Not physically.”

  Which meant she’d emotionally abused Alex and Quinn.

  “How old were you when Alex left for the service?” she asked.

  “Old enough. Twelve.” He motioned for her to join him outside. “I didn’t need to be protected.”

  She suspected he said the words more to convince himself than Nicole. He held the door open and she went outside.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “Actually, I should be the one thanking you,” he said.

  “Me? Why?”

  He gazed across the property at Alex, who was waving emergency vehicles toward the church. “For whatever you’re doing to my brother. He’s actually talking about it, which is good. At least that’s what my ex-wife used to say. She was a counselor and kept trying to get me to open up, said it was good for the soul.”

  “But you never did? Open up I mean?”

  “It’s done. Why talk about it?”

  “Yet you’re glad Alex blurted out that stuff about your stepmother.”

  “It’s good for him, not me.”

  “Oh, okay.” She cracked a knowing smile.

  Alex approached them. “The chief wants to talk to you,” he said in a stern tone. Was he upset because he’d seen her smile at his brother? No, she chided herself, he was absorbed in the case and frustrated that someone killed Artie.

  Chief Roth got out of a squad car along with Agent Trotter from the other night at the inn. Not good. She surely didn’t want to be taken into Trotter’s custody.

  The chief planted his hands on his hips and glared at Alex. “You don’t call me for backup and you bring along two civilians?”

  “It’s my fault,” Nicole said. “I won’t let him go anywhere without me. He’s the only one who can protect me.”

 
Agent Trotter snorted in disbelief.

  “Detective Donovan reported a dead body in the church,” the chief said to Nicole. “That’s not very good protection.”

  “Well, I’m not dead.”

  The four men looked at her as if she’d lost her mind.

  “And what about little brother, here?” The chief motioned to Quinn.

  “Alex didn’t know I was following them,” Quinn offered. “I tracked the GPS on his cell phone.”

  “Aren’t you clever? Maybe you should be the detective.” The chief eyed Alex. “Detective Donovan should have seen you following him. He is usually very observant.”

  “Hey, he’s recovering from being beaten up last night,” Nicole defended.

  Alex shook his head slightly, indicating he didn’t want her help.

  A brown sedan screeched to a stop and David Woods jumped out. “What happened?”

  “What are you doing here, Mr. Woods?” the chief asked.

  “Artie Wagner sent me an email asking to meet with him at two.”

  “Please go back to your car and I’ll speak with you in a minute,” the chief said.

  “He said he had information about who killed Edward. Finding her brother’s killer is the only thing I can do for Abigail.”

  “I’m sorry, sir, but Artie Wagner is dead,” the chief said.

  David glanced at the church. “Oh.”

  “Please, wait in your car,” the chief said.

  With an absent nod David Woods walked away.

  “This case is a mess. You’ve got two dead bodies, and you’re no closer to narrowing down your list of suspects,” Agent Trotter said. “Chief, I have to insist—”

  “Detective Donovan, I’m placing you on temporary leave,” the chief said.

  “What?” Alex’s eyes widened as if he’d been slugged in the gut.

  “Come on, Chief,” Quinn argued.

  Nicole noticed Agent Trotter eyeing her like a steak fresh off the grill. He wanted her in his custody and today’s events might get him his wish.

  “Then I’ll be taking Miss Harris with me.” Trotter moved forward and Alex automatically stepped between them.

  “You’re on leave, detective,” Trotter said.

  “But Miss Harris is still in our protective custody,” the chief said. “You’re welcome to interview her any time.”