Cold Evidence (Evidence Series Book 6)

by Rachel Grant

  Luke went cold the moment his gaze landed on Stefan Gray’s brown-green eyes. So like Undine’s, and so full of loathing. For a brief time, the man had been a mentor. A father figure who’d filled a void created when Luke’s dad drank himself to death.

  Luke had worshiped Dr. Stefan Gray, and he’d been gratified to be the recipient of Stefan’s praise and attention. He’d been aware he was viewed as the new golden boy at the institute, and he’d believed his own hype. His own infallibility.

  Standing next to Stefan on the porch was Trey, a man Luke remembered from the months he’d lived and worked at the institute. He knew Trey was now Stefan’s second in command—the job everyone expected would one day be Undine’s.

  Trey flashed Luke a smug grin, and Luke had no idea why, but he was struck with the urge to deck the man. And he didn’t usually go for unprovoked violence with virtual strangers. But then, Trey had always rubbed him the wrong way.

  Luke leaned against the doorframe, making no move to invite the pair inside. Instead he glanced over his shoulder and shouted, “Sweetheart? You dressed? Your dad’s here.”

  He turned back to flash his own smug grin, well aware that was the most childish thing he’d done since he was twelve years old. He might as well have said I’m fucking your daughter. He took in the vein throbbing at Stefan’s temple and tried to find remorse but came up empty.

  He’d only feel bad if his words pissed off Undine. She didn’t deserve to have to pay the price for his baiting of her dad.

  She stepped out of the bedroom, disheveled and beautiful but clothed, and walked up to Luke. She kissed his cheek before she met her father’s gaze. Okay, she’d picked her side. Luke slid an arm around her waist, feeling even more smug satisfaction.

  “Hi, Dad. Trey. What a surprise to see you.” She made no move to hug or even shake either man’s hand.

  He hadn’t realized how worried he was about this moment until it had arrived. He wasn’t sure why, but he’d feared she’d abandon him in the face of her father’s scorn. Stefan Gray had a magnetic personality. It was one thing to reject him on the phone, but quite another to face him down in person.

  “May we come in?” Stefan said in a stiff voice.

  She looked to Luke for permission.

  He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers. He was being a total dick but couldn’t seem to stop himself. “Your call, babe.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You are such an ass sometimes.”

  “Yes. I am. I really am.”

  She shrugged. “But he has it coming.” She faced her father. “Fine. You can come in.”

  That Stefan hadn’t said a word disparaging Luke meant the man had taken Undine’s ultimatum seriously. He had to give Stefan credit; the man did love his daughter. “Coffee or tea, Stefan? Trey?” he asked.

  “Coffee, please,” Stefan said. Trey requested the same.

  Luke filled the coffeemaker and set a fresh pot to brew.

  “How did you know where to find me?” Undine asked.

  “There are only a few motels and resorts here. We drove around until we spotted Luke’s SUV.”

  He didn’t explain how he got Luke’s vehicle description, but no doubt he had friends willing to divulge that information.

  Stefan frowned. “You didn’t mention you’d checked out of your room at the Cape.”

  “We made the decision when it was clear someone had tried to kill us. Because I’d been targeted twice, it seemed wise to keep my name from any registry. I didn’t mention it to you because I figured you might stroke out. I’d have given you the heads-up today, but you didn’t call first.”

  “The cell tower is still down.”

  She gave a sharp nod. “Is Nereid here?”

  “No. Trey and I caught a flight to SeaTac yesterday. We spent the night in Port Angeles and drove here after the road opened this morning.”

  “How bad was the road?” Luke asked. It was rare for the coastal road to be closed for more than a few hours.

  “Fine now, but there was a mudslide before Sekiu and another one between Sekiu and Neah Bay. Crews had to clear one before they could even get to the other.”

  “Which explains why they haven’t been able to fix the cell tower,” Luke said.

  Stefan cleared his throat. “I’d like to speak with my daughter in private.”

  Luke met Undine’s gaze. She shrugged. “Why don’t you and Trey take a walk?”

  He nodded and stepped into the bedroom to grab a sweatshirt. He slipped on his running shoes and stepped outside. It was a bright, perfect morning with patches of blue sky peeking through the clouds. At least, the day had started perfect when he’d figured he’d get to enjoy a run with Undine and then maybe make love to her again before they went to the gym.

  But instead he was stuck walking on the beach with Robert Kilpatrick III, aka Trey, while Undine’s dad tried to convince her Luke was pond scum and taking advantage of her.

  He was both of those things, but that didn’t mean it didn’t still rankle.

  “You didn’t waste any time,” Trey said, his voice full of self-righteous disdain.

  “On the contrary, Undine’s been legal for ten years now. I’ve wasted a lot of time.” The taunt slipped out, and yet, at one point yesterday, the thought had occurred to him. Not that he should have pursued her as soon as she was of legal age, but that maybe, if they’d met again when she was in her early twenties, their paths would have been different. He’d have been able to let go of the anger sooner.

  “You know you’re just her rebellion. A way to piss off Stefan. So if your plan is to use her to get back into the institute, think again. Besides, Undine never sticks with anyone for long. I give you six weeks, tops. ”

  Something in Trey’s tone tipped Luke off. “Six weeks? Somehow I doubt you lasted even that long. I bet you were pissed when she dumped you. And there you were, hoping it would seal the deal with you as Stefan’s right hand.”

  “She told you that?” Trey’s tone was defensive.

  Luke laughed. “Hell no. She’s never mentioned you at all.”

  Trey went silent. Luke could practically see gears in the man’s head turning as he searched for words to put Luke in his place. But there was nothing he could say that could hurt Luke. Trey was the one with dreams of being the next Stefan Gray. Trey was the one who gave a damn about receiving the man’s praise. The only person who mattered to Luke was Undine.

  The thought was a revelation of sorts. She mattered to him. He was still unclear how, and he had no delusions there was a future for them, but he cared about her and suspected he always would.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “He’s using you to get to me,” Undine’s father said as he paced in front of the couch.

  “Bullshit, Dad. You aren’t that important in his life, so get over yourself.” She crossed her arms. “I don’t understand how you can harbor so much animosity toward the man for twelve damn years. And even if he were to blame for seducing me—which he’s not—I’m fine. The only psychological damage that occurred came from your reaction. I’m not saying what I did was okay, but it didn’t break me or warp me. I get that you are and were looking out for me, but let it go. For the love of God, please stop.”

  “You say you’re fine, but you’ve never had a relationship that lasted very long. You’re afraid to get close because you were used as a means of professional advancement when you were sixteen. You never gave Trey a chance, because even though you were older, the fact that he’s in line to take over the institute was too similar.”

  Undine flung up her hands, exasperated. This was what her father had believed all these years? “I didn’t give Trey a chance because he’s a smug prick. If anyone has ever dated me to get in your good graces, it’s Trey. And I’ve never dated a man longer than a few months because I don’t believe in wasting my time when I can tell the relationship isn’t working, not because of some deep-seated trauma stemming from what happened with Luke. All my trauma, every da
mn bit, stems from you calling the prosecutor and pushing for Luke to serve time for what I did. I was devastated when you took away his future. Yes, Luke’s loathing crushed me, but I could deal with it because I knew I deserved it. Because I knew it was my fault. I owned what I did.”

  She wanted to pace, but her father stood in the only good pacing area in the small cabin, so instead she tapped her foot. “We’re done discussing this. I don’t need your psychoanalysis. I don’t need your shaming. I’m happy, Dad. In spite of everything that’s happened since Petrel blew up, I’m happy. Probably happier than I’ve ever been in my life. If you can’t see that, if you can’t be happy for me, then get the hell out of this cabin and my life, because the one thing you should want for me is to be happy. Isn’t that what parents are supposed to want for their children? But your coming here and disparaging Luke and bringing Trey—when you know how I feel about him—is a blatant attempt to ruin my happiness.”

  “You love Luke, don’t you?”

  She gave a sharp nod. She’d been eager to tell someone—that someone being Luke—and had considered confessing to Trina when phone service returned. Ironic that her father was the first person she’d told.

  “He’ll break your heart.”

  She shrugged. “That’s my problem.” She glared at him. “And as my father, you damn well shouldn’t be wishing for that outcome.”

  He went silent. Finally, he said, “I never want to see you hurt. Ever.” He sighed. “And I had no choice but to bring Trey. He knows technical diving better than anyone at the institute after me. But he wouldn’t be second in command if you’d come back. His job is yours if you want it. It always has been.”

  “And Trey knows it, which is why he asked me out to begin with. And once I realized his agenda, I broke it off.” She’d been twenty-four and felt utterly used. A few months out of grad school, she’d moved back home and was trying to decide if she’d been wrong in turning her back on the institute, if maybe she should give up her penance and go back to the field that was her first love. But Trey’s pathetic courtship had pushed her in the other direction, and she’d taken an internship at NHHC, which later became a permanent position.

  Of course, that worked in Trey’s favor too, as he’d taken out Undine as competition for the institute’s top spot. Of all her relationships, Trey was the only man who made her skin crawl.

  And her dad loved him like a son.

  It was no wonder her friends in DC had become a surrogate family. Her real family sucked.

  I wonder what kind of relationship Luke has with his family?

  She pulled herself back, full stop, from that line of thinking. It didn’t matter what his relationship was with his mother and brother, because odds were, she’d never meet them.

  “Nereid should arrive around noon. The film crew wants to get some setup dive shots, stock footage to sprinkle throughout the documentary. The weather is perfect today. Blue sky in November is rare along this stretch of coast. Are you available this afternoon?”

  “I don’t want to be in your documentary, Dad.”

  “It’s not my documentary. It’s UAB’s. The Navy’s going to get a lot of mileage from this.”

  She shook her head. “Seven people died when Wrasse sank.”

  “They died heroes, and you’ll make sure everyone knows it.”

  “And four—maybe five—died on Petrel. Is that going to be part of the documentary?”

  “Only if it becomes important to the narrative. That’s a separate investigation. The film crew will want to interview you about that to splice it in if needed. But including it will depend on what’s learned in the investigation and what the Justice Department wants to keep classified.”

  “I won’t parade my experience in front of cameras for the sake of added drama. I won’t sensationalize the deaths of Jared, Scotty, Loren, and Sandy that way. But the documentary will be dedicated to them, or I won’t participate at all.”

  “Done,” her father said.

  “I won’t dive with Trey. I will dive with Luke, but only if he’s willing to participate. You won’t pressure him.” He’d already been forced to dive with her by UAB once.

  “Fine.” Her father cleared his throat. “Will you dive with me?”

  She stared at him as she considered the question. Twelve years ago, she’d given her ultimatum: drop his attempts to prosecute Luke and reinstate his scholarship, or she’d never dive with her father again. She’d never wavered on that ultimatum and hadn’t gone scuba diving with her father since she was sixteen.

  Now they’d need a time machine for Stefan to retract the complaint he’d filed with the district attorney or to give Luke his scholarship back. “I’ll dive with you on one condition.”

  “And that is?”

  “You need to shake Luke’s hand, thank him for saving my life, and tell him you were wrong.”

  “I thought your father was going to dive with us?” Luke said as he donned his wetsuit.

  “I did too. But apparently, he couldn’t bring himself to meet my terms,” Undine said.

  “What were they?” he asked. She’d been quiet when he and Trey returned to the cabin and hadn’t even groused when he dragged her to the gym after their run.

  She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”

  For the first time, Luke found the limits on their undefined relationship constricting. If they were a true couple, he could push her to open up. But a temporary fling held no such rights. She could cut herself off emotionally, and he had no room to complain.

  He pulled her against him. “How serious was your relationship with Trey?” She’d told him once that she’d never been in love. Had she lied? And why did the idea that she might have cared for the prick grate so much?

  “On my end, not serious at all. On his end, he said he loved me. But only because he was worried I’d return to the institute and steal his job.”

  “Asshole,” Luke said.

  “Yep. He actually did the thing my father accuses you of, and my dad turned a blind eye.”

  “Because you were older.”

  “Yeah. But to me, what Trey did was far worse than anything you did.”

  “That’s because I’m amazing, while he’s a dickhead.”

  He got the laugh he was hoping for, and she rose up on her toes and kissed him. “You’re amazing drenched in double chocolate awesomesauce.”

  “Careful. You know what that does to my ego.”

  She smiled. “I’m counting on it.”

  Thank God for cold water, because otherwise the documentary would have some ridiculous footage given the snug fit of his wetsuit.

  “Let’s get this over with,” she said.

  They grabbed their remaining gear to meet with the film crew, including the director, Diego Ojeda, who’d been filming Stefan Gray’s work for fifteen years. Diego and his cameraman, Mario, were probably as knowledgeable about marine biology as anyone on the boat.

  Diego wanted a series of water shots first, with both Undine and Luke fully outfitted for scuba. They didn’t dive below twenty feet, so there was no need for recompression. As Stefan had promised, all they wanted were random clips of them both in the water. B-roll shots taken while the light was good.

  Back on deck, Diego asked them to answer a few questions, speaking directly in the camera while they froze their asses off in their saturated wetsuits. “It’s because you look too damn good in a wetsuit, Sevick,” Undine said with a snicker. “If you ate more butter and cut down on the exercise, they wouldn’t want you for cutaways.”

  Luke couldn’t resist and grabbed her by the waist and pulled her onto his lap. He kissed her neck and whispered in her ear, “No way am I getting rid of these guns you love so much.”

  “You two are dating?” Mario asked. “That’s cool. Can we include that in the documentary? Viewers love it when things get personal.”

  Undine stiffened against Luke. “No,” she said firmly as she pushed up from his lap.

  He was
left feeling irked but had no idea why. He shouldn’t want their temporary relationship documented in a permanent film any more than she did.

  “We should check on the case at the museum. It might be openable now,” Undine said as they walked down the dock.

  “We’ll probably need to break the lock.”

  “I told Greg that. He said as long as we photograph everything first and film the opening, we’re fine.” They’d discussed shipping the item to DC right after they discovered the Soviet submarine, but no one wanted to interrupt the electrolytic reduction process to ship it back. Aside from it being fragile due to the corrosion, there was always the possibility that whatever was inside shouldn’t be shipped at altitude.

  Of course, electrolytic reduction had halted during the power outage, but at least it had remained submerged in the tank, preventing it from drying out and turning brittle before the corrosion was washed away.

  The curator had given Undine a key to the storage facility and the alarm security code at the end of their last visit, allowing them to bypass finding an employee to admit them. When they reached the door, Undine punched in the code before using the key, as instructed.

  The control panel flashed as if nothing had registered. No tones accompanied the buttons as she pressed them.

  She tried again. Nothing on the panel changed.

  “The power outage may have fried the system.”

  She glanced at the main museum building. “I hope it’s just here, and not the whole museum. I’d hate to think of all those artifacts unprotected.”

  He nodded in agreement and said, “Try the key anyway. If it sets off the alarm, all the better.”

  She twisted the key in the lock, and the door swung free without resistance or noise.

  Undine wrinkled her nose, and Luke caught the acrid scent a moment after she did. She took a step forward, but he held out a hand to stop her. “I go first.” He pulled his gun from his back holster and entered the room. He rounded the corner to the area where the tank was set up and stopped short. Annie, the enthusiastic tribal member who’d helped them before, was slumped over the tank, her head facedown in the brown water.