Then finally, he said, “We’ll see what the blood test says. I’ll talk to my SAC. We might need to reopen Karon Casings’s investigation too.”
Crowley pursed his lips, hung his head and shook it. “I thought you were in the middle of trying to catch the drug smugglers off our coast. What are you even doing here, Sessions?”
“I pulled Sadie from the water. Or did I forget to mention that? But you’re right. I’m working on drug runners.” He’d just have to handle both cases. “So what’s it going to be, Crowley? Are you going to listen to her story or not?”
“All right. I’ll go talk to her.” Crowley put his hands on his hips. “But Karon’s death was an accident. End of story. Maybe I can convince her of that.”
Maybe, but you can’t convince me just yet after what happened today. Gage held his tongue and nodded, still troubled by everything that had happened and unsure what he was supposed to do. Uncertain if he could leave Sadie to face this with anyone except him by her side. With Crowley to look into things. It would all depend on his SAC’s take on it. But what if the man didn’t want to reopen the Casings investigation? What about Sadie? Someone had tried to kill her and she wasn’t Coast Guard. Crowley would be in charge of that. Could he trust the deputy to protect her and find the truth?
Gage’s cell rang. He glanced at the phone. Crowley waited for him to take the call, acting as if he had more to say. Gage answered.
“I’ve got some news.” It was his SAC—Jim Sullivan—at the regional headquarters in Seattle.
“What’s happened?”
“Lieutenant Sean Miller’s body washed up. Two bullets to the back. The same kind of bullets your drug runners use. So it could definitely be tied to your investigation, Gage. I need you to get to the scene the next county up.” Jim relayed the coordinates and ended the call. Well, that was it then. His spirits sank at the thought of leaving Sadie, but he had his orders. He’d talk to Jim about what happened today, but Gage doubted he would see Sadie any time soon until fate pushed them together again.
He lifted his gaze to meet Crowley’s. “A Coastie’s body washed up on the beach north of Coldwater Bay. Next county over, so your counterpart will meet me there to conduct his own investigation. I guess I have my marching orders. I’ll leave you to take care of Sadie.” And saying those words pained him more than it should. She wasn’t his responsibility. He struggled to force one foot in front of the other to leave her and trudged slowly toward the exit.
“Sessions, wait.”
Gage slowed and turned around. “What?”
“That would be the second body in two weeks, wouldn’t it? The other one belonged to Karon Casings, as you know. But Karon’s mother told me that Karon had been seeing someone. He’d been on leave and nobody could tell me where he’d gone. But he didn’t come to her funeral.”
Gage stiffened. Could it be? “What was his name?”
Crowley’s lips flattened. “Lieutenant Sean Miller.”
Gage glanced at the door to Sadie’s hospital room. And Karon Casings had been Sadie Strand’s best friend. The three incidents were all connected.
Fear fisted around his heart and wouldn’t let go. Sadie was in danger.
THREE
Exhaustion would overwhelm her soon. She hoped the deputy would finish up.
“Thanks for answering my questions,” Deputy Crowley said. “You’re sticking around town in case we have more, right?”
“Of course. I’m not leaving until I know who’s responsible for what happened to Karon. Finding out who tried to kill me today will give me that answer.”
Deputy Crowley angled his head, a deep crease in his brow. “We’ll see what we can find out. I need a number and an address where I can reach you if I have further questions.”
“I live with my aunt Debby.” She gave him the address.
After college she’d been busy traveling, working and researching and never actually took the time to move out. But someone had attempted to kill her; she should reconsider staying at the house.
“We know where to find you then. Get some rest.” He turned to leave and just as he reached the door, she called out.
He turned to face her. “Yes, ma’am?”
“The other man, the one who pulled me out of the water.”
“Special Agent Sessions?”
Special agent? Why hadn’t she known he was in law enforcement, a special agent, at that? She’d assumed he was Coast Guard. He’d been on the Coast Guard cutter. She frowned. “Gage Sessions. Is he still out in the hallway?”
He shook his head. “No, ma’am. He left a while ago.”
She sagged at the news, surprised at how disappointed she was.
“Can I do anything for you?” he asked.
“Do you know if he’s coming back?”
“I couldn’t say, but it all depends on if he’s involved with the investigation.”
She nodded and the deputy exited.
After the hospital staff had come in to get her signature on release papers, she waited on Aunt Debby to give her a ride home.
Sadie rubbed her head, which still felt a little woozy. And after she got home, then what? She weighed her options. Common sense told her to go back to her research on the other side of the world and let the authorities find out who tried to kill her—she’d be safer that way too. Let them find out who had murdered Karon. But as a marine biologist, she was also a researcher—she conducted scientific investigations, as it were. She didn’t trust anyone else to be as thorough as she would be. Conducting her own investigation would mean putting her future on hold indefinitely—possibly missing her chance at the grant she wanted. Still, there was nothing more important to her than bringing Karon’s murderer to justice. And she wasn’t entirely confident that Deputy Crowley was the man for the job.
She hoped that Gage would be involved. But she was getting ahead of herself. First she needed to get out of this hospital room.
Someone knocked lightly on the door. “Sadie?”
Gage’s voice rang out. The sound warmed her.
“Come in.”
He opened the door and stepped all the way into the room. His shoulders were broad. And his arms. She remembered those strong arms around her, scooping her against him as she nearly drowned, swimming her to the smaller boat that took them to the Coast Guard cutter. The Kraken, if she remembered correctly.
An image came to mind. Gage Sessions swooping down from the Kraken to rescue her. And she’d thought it wasn’t a princess story, and more than that, she’d wanted to save herself. Ha!
She realized she was grinning.
He studied her with those alert hazel eyes, which seemed to take in every detail, everything about her. Her cheeks warmed. She was glad he couldn’t read her mind.
“It’s good to see you have your color back.” His smile was engaging.
“I’m so glad to see you. I wasn’t sure if you were coming back.”
His expression turned serious. “Of course. I had to make sure you’re going to be okay.”
“Earlier when you were here, I forgot to thank you for pulling me from the ocean.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I hope they didn’t give you a hard time. I heard that you kind of broke protocol.” And she wondered why. She had a feeling his willingness to risk his life in the ocean for her, and willingness to go against the Coast Guard’s protocol, had saved her life.
“Anything for a friend.” He jammed his hands in his pockets. “So...how are you doing? Really?”
She leaned back in the chair. That was a good question. Sadie closed her eyes to think. Looking at Gage was too distracting. She didn’t remember that about him from before. “I’m still shaky after everything.”
“That’s understandable.” Gage sat on the edge of the bed.
She opened her e
yes. Yeah, he was still a distraction. “So what happens next?”
“Someone will investigate on your behalf, Sadie, don’t worry. In the meantime, my office will be looking into the death of your friend Karon again. We’ve learned some new information that gives us reason to believe you could be right that she was murdered.”
Sadie released a heavy sigh. “New information...you mean something more than I told you about what happened to me?”
He nodded gravely, but didn’t look like he was going to reveal anything else.
“Gage, you said your office. You mean the Coast Guard? You were on that cutter. What exactly do you do in the Coast Guard? The deputy called you a special agent. And you’re investigating. You never told me anything. I figured you’d just jumped in the water for me because you were part of the Coast Guard cutter.”
“I’m CGIS. Coast Guard Investigative Services. But I’m a civilian, not military. CGIS is a federal law enforcement agency. We operate outside the Coast Guard chain of command. That said, some agents are active duty military and others are Coast Guard reserve. And others like me are civilian special agents.”
“Oh.” Well, now, that was something. Impressive.
“And... I jumped in the water when I saw it was you. I had to save a friend.” That grin again.
What would have happened to her if she hadn’t had a friend out there today? Still, Karon hadn’t had a friend when she’d needed one. Fatigue tugged at Sadie and she yawned. “I want to help you with your investigation into Karon’s murder.”
“Wait. One, I’m not sure I’ll be the one to investigate. Two, you aren’t helping with the investigation, regardless. Let the authorities do their job without your interference. You don’t want to stand in the way of the process or hinder the investigation...or mess with evidence. Besides, it could be dangerous. Don’t forget, someone tried to kill you today.” He hung his head as if that thought disturbed him deeply, then raised it again.
“I haven’t forgotten, believe me. It’s obviously related, don’t you see?” Her voice pitched higher than usual, and a little too loud for the close quarters.
“Yes, I see. I assure you we’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“Gage, please see if they will let you be the one to investigate.”
“I don’t know. I’m already involved in another case—that’s how I ran into you on the ocean. I was out chasing down drug runners when we learned about your sinking boat.”
“I’d feel so much better if it were you—someone I know and trust. Will you talk to your boss?”
His forehead wrinkled.
“I mean, unless you don’t feel comfortable. I’m sorry. I guess I overstepped.”
“It’s not that.” He leveled his intense gaze on her again. “I’m concerned for your safety.”
And her heart swelled. She had the feeling if the deputy had told her the same thing, it wouldn’t have meant nearly as much.
“I’m back, sweetie.” Aunt Debby entered the room carrying a plastic bag of toiletries and clothes.
Aunt Debby nodded. “Hey, Gage. Good to see you again.”
He smiled. “Same here.”
Sadie grabbed the toiletries and clothes and changed in the bathroom.
When she stepped out fully dressed, Aunt Debby looked her up and down. “Oh. They’re releasing you so soon?”
Sadie chuckled. “You act like that’s a bad thing.”
“Well, no, it’s not. As long as you’re better and they’re not rushing the process.”
“I’ve been waiting on a wheelchair for half an hour. I wouldn’t call that rushing.”
“Why didn’t you call me? I would have come right back and lit a fire under them.”
“Now that you’re here maybe you can alert the nurse so we can get out of here.”
“I will. Just a second.” Her aunt dug around in her pocket. “Oh, I found that item you were looking for.”
She handed it to Sadie, then left the room. Sadie lifted the small dolphin pendant up to examine it in the light.
“What’s that?” Gage asked.
“Proof that Karon was on that same boat that sank today.”
* * *
Gage stiffened. This could be an important piece of evidence.
She held the silver pendant out. “It’s a dolphin. I gave it to her on her twenty-first birthday.”
Scraping a hand through his hair, he paced the room. The nurse pushed a wheelchair through the door, Aunt Debby behind her.
“All right. Your aunt tells me you’re ready to go home,” the nurse said.
Sadie nodded.
Gage couldn’t walk away from this. He’d been to the beach, met with the coroner and watched as Sean’s body was removed. Sean’s death had likely occurred two weeks after Karon’s, but that didn’t mean they weren’t related. And it was tied to the attempt on Sadie’s life somehow. His drug running investigation would normally take second place to a Coast Guard murder investigation, but his SAC wanted to know if the deaths were somehow tied to the drug runners. He could still assign Thompkins and not Gage. Since Gage had absolutely no intention of leaving Sadie without protection, he’d give Jim another call to press him.
And if Jim gave him what he wanted—to work the investigation on Sadie’s attempted murder as it tied to Karon’s death, which would give him the opportunity to protect her, Gage had to be careful. Under no circumstances could he let himself crush on her again.
An image flitted through his mind of them walking the beach together years ago. He’d been enamored with her, but all she talked about was the Coastie she was in love with. Gage had been able to get over her then. He’d moved on and found someone who returned his affection, and he allowed himself to fully, completely love. But that had left him heartbroken in the end.
Lesson learned—love wasn’t for him.
And carrying that lesson in his back pocket, no way would he have a thing for Sadie this time, no matter how much time they spent together. But his protective instincts had kicked into full throttle. He had to stick close enough for long enough to protect her and help her find the truth. He’d make a call to his SAC and hope for the best.
All this he considered as he walked alongside Sadie as the nurse pushed her in the wheelchair down the hallway.
“Sadie. I have a question about the dolphin pendant,” he said. “You woke up on a sinking boat and you thought to grab that?”
“My cheek was pressed into the carpet. The pendant was there when I opened my eyes. It was small but I recognized it, so I grabbed it.”
Gage tugged a latex glove from his pocket and held his palm out as she handed it over.
“You think you’re going to find prints on that after what it’s been through?” Aunt Debby asked.
He eyed her. “Has it been through the wash?”
“Well, if you count the ocean...”
“You never know. Maybe the tiniest fiber could be important, and it’s still there.” He stuck it in one of the small evidence bags he kept in his pocket. The sheriff’s department would take the lead on murder and attempted murder investigations, but the Coast Guard would conduct a parallel investigation of their own since a Coastie had been a victim, and they believed it could be tied to the drug runners. CGIS had jurisdiction over maritime drug smuggling. Gage hoped he could find the evidence he needed for jurisdiction. He would have to consider if he should turn this pendant over to Crowley or send it to be analyzed himself—that is, if he was assigned to the investigation. Otherwise, it would go to Thompkins.
“Wow, you’re prepared, aren’t you?”
“Always. In fact, I’m going to grab my vehicle and meet you at the exit.” He took off down the hallway and headed out the door. He jogged over to his SUV, holding the dolphin, proof, Sadie claimed, that Karon had been on that boat. It could be something. It could be
nothing.
Inside the vehicle, he called his SAC at the regional headquarters in Seattle as he maneuvered over to the hospital doors where Sadie and her aunt would soon exit.
“Jim, glad I caught you.”
“You’re just the man I was about to call.”
“Oh?”
“Both CGIS special agent Thompkins and the sheriff’s department investigated Karon Casings’s death. You likely already know that nothing led them to conclude her death had been foul play or that the Coast Guard had any jurisdiction, even if it had been. I’m reopening the investigation into Karon’s death.” Jim hesitated, then said, “Gage, I need fresh eyes on this. With what you’ve told me about Sadie Strand, if you dig into who put her on that boat to die, you might find a link to Karon’s death and to your drug runners. You and Thompkins can work it from different angles.”
“I agree, sir. It has to be related.” Gage thought he heard something more in Jim’s words—some emotion he couldn’t quite pin down. Suspicion? “What if Karon and Sean had been on a boat? Maybe they ran into trouble out there. Sean was held against his will then shot and killed later so they washed up on shore at separate times.” How did all of this play into Sadie’s abduction and attempted murder?
“It’s your job to figure it out. And Gage...”
“Yes, sir?”
“We need to wrap this up quickly. I don’t want another Coastie washing up onto the beach.” Anger infused Jim’s tone, but Gage knew it wasn’t directed at him.
He ended the call, pleased on the one hand that he could stay close to Sadie, keep an eye out, as he investigated. But there was a downside to that—he’d have to stay close to Sadie.
When he pulled around the circular hospital drive for pickup and drop-off, Sadie was just being wheeled out the door, her aunt Debby plodding faithfully behind her. He hopped out and went around to open the door for her.
“What are you doing, Gage?” Debby asked. “I can take her home.”
He assisted Sadie up into his SUV, soaking in her smile.
“But we’re not going home, are we, Special Agent Sessions?” Her blue eyes shimmered with expectation.
Thread of Revenge Page 3
