He glanced at his watch. Allison should be along shortly. He made his way to the front of the store and stopped at one of the two large windows. Stained-and blown-glass creations hung in front of him, glinting in the morning light. Behind them, the window offered an angled view of City Hall.
Moments later, Allison’s golf cart eased to a stop. Brinks was tied off next to her. She looked around cautiously, then stepped onto the porch and disappeared inside. When she reemerged, a woman holding a set of keys followed her out and unlocked the center section of the triple board.
The woman had just relocked the glass cover when a third woman stepped onto the porch. Allison cast an uneasy glance in his direction, but there was nothing he could do. Her stalker was possibly nearby, watching to make sure she followed his instructions.
The city employee headed back inside, and the other woman leaned toward the bulletin board. Allison hurried to her golf cart. But before she could even get settled in the seat, the woman was beside her.
The conversation that followed lasted all of ten seconds. Then Allison eased away from the curb and headed down the street. Judging from the look of confusion on the woman’s face, she didn’t get the answer she was looking for.
Instead of following, he removed a spun glass lighthouse ornament from its hook and carried it to the cash register. His act would be a lot more convincing if he bought something.
When he reached Cedar Cove, Allison and Brinks were both waiting on her boat. He pulled a gift box from the bag he carried and handed it to her.
“Happy birthday.”
She gave him a crooked grin. “My birthday’s in April.”
“Then Merry Christmas.”
“Christmas is two months away.”
“I like to be early.”
She removed the lid, folded back the layers of tissue paper, then slid an index finger through the gold string, letting the ornament dangle. It was even prettier in the sunlight than it had been hanging in the window.
Her smile widened, and her eyes sparkled like the ornament. “Thank you. I love it. I always do my tree in lots of ribbon and lace and glass. So this is perfect.”
After packing it back into the box, she stepped off the boat with Brinks. She didn’t bring up the paper, and neither did he. He wouldn’t until they were well away from the marina. There wasn’t another soul in sight. Even Terrance’s boat appeared deserted. But he wasn’t taking any chances.
Within minutes, they were clear of the channel, and he accelerated until he was wide-open, planing over the choppy sea. When he glanced over at Allison, she was sitting with her eyes closed, face skyward. Bringing her boating was a good idea. Nothing soothed the soul like sun on the face and wind in the hair.
He pulled back on the throttle, dropping the noise level to a dull roar.
“Who was the older lady?”
She turned her head toward him and slowly opened her eyes. “Susan Brannen, notorious gossip of Cedar Key. It’ll be interesting to hear what rumors circulate on this one.”
He nodded. The woman with the city had known Allison would be there to post something. Bobby was going to see to that before Allison arrived. But they hadn’t made any contingencies for nosy residents.
“What did you tell her?”
“I told her that I didn’t know what it meant, that I was posting it for someone else, and that was all I could say.”
“Did she accept that?”
“I didn’t give her a choice. I drove away.”
“That was a smart thing to do, just in case he was watching.”
She heaved a sigh. “Whatever my family was involved in, before it’s all over, the details are going to be spread from one end of Cedar Key to the other.”
He pulled back the throttle even further. They were still making forward movement, but barely. “That really bothers you, doesn’t it?”
She shrugged and turned away. “I just don’t like people in my business.”
Yeah, she was a private person. He got that. But there was more to it than that.
“I know I told you this before, but whatever your family was involved in, that’s no reflection on you. And what little I know of the people of Cedar Key, I think they’d agree.”
Her lips curved up in a weak smile. “Thanks. I’m hoping you’re right.”
She sighed again, and the smile faded. Something else seemed to be bothering her.
“You all right?”
She crossed her arms in front of her. “When I found that first camera, I felt sick, violated. But I was also relieved.”
“Relieved?”
She nodded. “When I realized he knew about you pulling up arrest records, I wondered how he could have found out. Then he mentioned us searching the library for clues. Both of those were things that nobody knew about except you and me.”
She paused and searched his eyes, as if trying to decide whether to continue. He was pretty sure he knew where the conversation was going. He should be hurt, but he wasn’t.
Finally, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I was so afraid I had been duped. All I could think was that you had been playing me, pretending to be my friend, all the while feeding information to my stalker.”
Her eyes met his. There was sadness in their depths. “That’s terrible, isn’t it?”
“No, it’s not. Something tells me you have good reason to doubt.” He sank into the seat next to her and took her hand. “What happened, sweetheart? Who violated your trust?”
Her gaze broke from his and fluttered to her other hand lying limp in her lap. Finally, she met his eyes.
“My husband.” She drew in a deep breath. “I told you he was killed. That was the truth, just not the whole truth.” She paused again, and another elongated span of silence passed.
Talking about it was obviously hard for her. Probably only a handful of people knew the story. He squeezed her hand, and she continued.
“He was murdered. Got greedy and crossed the mob. That’s when I found out that everything we had built our lives on together was a lie. The honorable man I thought I had married didn’t exist. He was a dirty cop owned by the mob. And I was completely clueless.”
A weary sigh spilled from her mouth. “He was buying me things that should have been out of reach on a detective’s pay. But he told me he had gotten a side job as a security guard. He said it paid really well.” She shook her head. “I bought it hook, line and sinker.”
He reached across to trace the line of her jaw with a finger. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. It sounds like he was a con artist. Any other young woman in your place would have been fooled just as easily.”
She turned, and her gaze slowly lifted to meet his. One side of her mouth rose almost imperceptibly. “Thanks. It’s sweet of you to say so.”
“I mean it. People get duped every day—people a lot older and more experienced than you were.”
He eased the throttle forward, and the boat began to accelerate. When he glanced back over at Allison, she stared straight ahead, expression pensive. Two and a half years later, and she was still kicking herself.
Of course, he was a fine one to talk. When it came to regrets and not letting himself off the hook for past mistakes, he was king.
He threw the throttle all the way forward, and the bow rose. Then the boat planed off to skid along the surface of the choppy seas. Gradually, excitement replaced the sadness in her eyes, and her lips curved up in sheer enjoyment. His goal was to take her away, to help her forget, at least temporarily. If her relaxed expression was any indication, he was succeeding.
Finally, he reduced their speed. “How about a snack? I’ve got fruit, pretzels and cookies.”
He left her to get the items and returned a minute later. She smiled up at him.
“Thanks
for not being angry.”
“Over what?”
“My thinking you might have something to do with what’s going on.”
He sat and handed her a washed apple. “No problem. Everything you learned about your husband has got to shake your trust in people.”
She nodded. “People in general, men in particular.”
“Well, some men can be trusted. And if you’ll let me, I’d like to prove it to you. With me, what you see is what you get. No surprises.”
“I’m glad.” The smile she gave him lit her eyes and created a tightness in his chest. He was trying hard to rein in what he felt, to take things slow and not make any moves he would regret. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. But taking it slow was harder than he had anticipated. He was already dangerously close to falling for her, head over heels.
He handed her a glass of ice, then poured her some tea. For the next couple of minutes, she sipped her tea and munched on the snacks, apparently deep in thought. Finally, she broke the silence.
“Tell me a secret.”
He raised his brows. “What kind of secret?”
“Anything. Something your closest friends don’t know about you.”
“Hmm.” That wouldn’t be too difficult. All he needed to do was think of something he was afraid of. Most of his close friends were guys. Guys didn’t normally sit around sharing their fears.
“Okay, here’s my big secret. I’m afraid of snakes. Terrified, actually. You know that Indiana Jones movie where he gets thrown into a pit of snakes? Gave me nightmares for weeks.” He let an exaggerated shudder shake his shoulders.
Allison laughed. “I can sort of relate. Not with snakes, but with spiders.”
He grinned at her. “So did you see the movie Arachnophobia?”
This time she gave the exaggerated shudder. “No, I’m smart enough to avoid movies like that.”
“Hey, that’s not fair. I didn’t know the snake scene was in there.”
“Okay, I’ll give you that one.”
He tipped his glass and downed the last of his tea. When he turned to reach for the jug, a now-familiar sight drew his gaze. A single boat bobbed up and down in the waves. Unwilling to alert its captain, he picked up the jug of tea and turned back around.
“I’m going to get something from below.”
Worry flashed across her features. “Is something wrong?”
“Don’t turn around, but I think our friend might be back.”
Her eyes widened.
“I’m getting my binoculars. Just act normal.” In his boat, they might actually have a chance of catching him.
Before stepping back into the open, he raised the binoculars. A man stared back at him through binoculars of his own. They immediately came down, the figure spun, and the boat turned and took off in the opposite direction, heading toward the Cedar Keys.
Blake set out in pursuit, bouncing over the choppy waves. The distance between them didn’t shorten or grow. The boats seemed to be evenly matched for speed.
A minute later, the lead boat disappeared around the west end of Seahorse Key.
By the time Blake rounded the small island, the boat they were pursuing was nowhere to be seen. Three boats sat in the water, their occupants fishing. Two of the men he didn’t know. The third he did. Terrance sat with his feet propped up on a cooler, shirtless as usual, a fishing pole in one hand and the ever-present beer in the other. He set the can down and began reeling in the line.
Blake eased to a stop next to him. A bait bucket sat at Terrance’s feet, an open tackle box next to it. A towel was draped over the next seat, along with a shirt.
“Did you see a boat come by in the past few minutes?” There was no time for pleasantries.
“Yeah. The idiot screamed through here like he was headed to a fire.” Each word was annoyance underlined with anger. “I yelled at him for scaring the fish away. Didn’t do no good. He kept it wide-open, headed toward Atsena Otie.”
Blake looked in the direction Terrance pointed. Whoever it was had apparently disappeared behind the key. And looking for wake a minute or so after the fact was pointless. The seas were too choppy.
His shouted thanks was lost under the roar of the engine as he gunned it, scaring Terrance’s fish away for a second time. If he was annoyed before, he would be furious now. Blake kept his attention straight ahead. He would apologize later.
When they reached the other side of Atsena Otie Key, two more boats sat in the water. Two others made their way toward Cedar Key. One appeared to carry a family, two adults and a couple of kids. Definitely not Allison’s stalker. The other was one of the local fishermen. He usually came in around this time from his early-morning jaunt out to sea. Not likely to be Allison’s stalker, either.
None of the occupants of the two idle boats were able to offer anything useful. Besides the fisherman and the family, the only boat they had noticed had headed in a northeasterly direction, paralleling the keys.
Blake sighed. Following was futile. After stopping twice, they had given him too much of a lead. He looked down at Allison. “I think we lost him.”
His tone was heavy with disappointment. He had wanted to give her something special—a reprieve from every reminder of the nightmare she had fallen into. He had failed.
“It’s okay. Eventually we’ll catch him.” She reached over to squeeze his hand. “What do you say we eat our lunch at Atsena Otie? Then we can explore the island.”
He nodded and turned the boat around, a sense of discouragement weighing down on him. He couldn’t take Allison away from the nightmare because everywhere she went, a menacing figure was somewhere in the distance watching her. Especially on the water. They could count on it.
But predictable was good. It could be used to set a trap.
Ideas began to churn, and adrenaline pumped through his veins. Hunter had a boat. So did several other people.
Maybe it was time to enlist some help.
TEN
Darkness surrounded her. Not even the slightest sliver of light penetrated the inky blackness. She crept forward, arms extended, trying to feel her way to safety. Something waited for her. Something deadly. She couldn’t see it, she couldn’t hear it, and she didn’t know what it was. But she could sense it. And its presence sent tendrils of fear slithering over her.
Somewhere close, a baby whimpered. The sound brought her up short. She couldn’t leave it. She had to find it, get it somewhere safe. Somehow they would escape together.
The whimpering increased, growing in intensity and volume. It came from somewhere to her left, accompanied by scratching. She turned that direction and took several faltering steps. But no matter what she did, it remained out of reach.
Allison’s eyes shot open, and she bolted upright with a strangled gulp. She was in her room. Moonlight trickled in through the sheers, casting patterns over everything familiar.
And there was no baby. The whining was Brinks. Instead of lying in bed with her, he was standing on his hind legs in front of the side window, scratching at the sill. His head swiveled toward her, and he gave a sharp bark, then resumed his whimpering.
She cast an uneasy glance at the bedroom door. It was still shut. Locked. If anyone was inside, that was where Brinks would be, at the door, teeth bared and hair raised. Instead, he was at the window. What did he see? Was someone trying to break in?
Brinks dropped to all fours and began to pace. The whimpering turned to a series of sharp barks that set her teeth on edge. She thrust the covers back and hurried to the window. Looking left toward the Gulf, all was well. When her gaze shifted to the right, an eerie orange glow radiated from somewhere outside her line of sight. The fear that had plagued her in her dream slammed into her full force.
Something was on fire.
She s
hrugged into her robe, grabbed her cell phone and ran from the room. As soon as she reached the top of the steps, she knew. An ominous orange light rose and fell, undulating behind the front door’s stained-glass panel, a tortured beast doing its macabre dance.
She flew down the stairs, screaming for Brinks to follow. It wasn’t necessary. He was right at her heels. As she rounded the bottom of the steps, she punched the three numbers into her cell phone. The dispatcher came on the line before she had even reached the back door.
Once finished, she disconnected the call and pulled up her contacts. There was nothing Blake could do, but he would be really upset if she waited until the next day to tell him.
While she listened through two rings, she watched the flames lick at the front of her house and prayed for help to arrive quickly. So far, the fire seemed to be confined to the front porch. Thanks to Brinks, they would be able to save her house.
She dropped to her knees and wrapped both arms around the dog’s neck, gratitude washing over her. If he hadn’t been with her, by the time she woke up she could have been trapped in a burning house, with no time to escape. She pressed her face against his strong neck. “You’re such a good dog.”
“Allison?” Panic infused the single word. Blake was on the line, all grogginess apparently jarred from his brain.
“My house is on fire. I’ve already called for help, but I thought you’d want to know.”
“I’ll be there in five minutes.”
As she ended the call, a siren screamed in the distance. It drew closer, not silencing until a fire truck had stopped in her front yard. Wade Tanner and Joe Stearn jumped from the cab and began unrolling the hose. Within minutes, all that remained of the fire was smoke and smoldering ashes...and large areas of siding and trim burned away and blackened with soot.
Her heart twisted, and her chest tightened. She had done all the painting herself, painstakingly applying each of the four contrasting colors to the intricate trim. Until an hour ago, it had been beautiful.
Shattered Haven Page 13
