Death Blow
Page 16
As she emerged and crawled around the port side of the deck, staying out of sight, Harvey saw her. His nostrils flared and his eyes widened.
“Skylar.”
“Keep ’em busy.”
While he was at the bow, she was at the stern. After making her way around she positioned the rifle on the lip of the boat and brought her eyes up to the scope. After chambering a round she focused in and scanned Tom’s boat, then raked it to the starboard side of the other boat. She had no clue, which one was Santiago but it didn’t matter. Right now all that concerned her was Tom’s safety. The U.S. Coast Guard was closing the distance and it wouldn’t take them long to take control of the situation.
She could hear Harvey telling the one Latino who had a gun up to Tom’s head to put the gun down. He was a bald fella with tattoos down his neck, and was dressed in a white muscle shirt and khaki pants. The other one was wearing a shirt, no tie, and pants. He was the one with the rifle. She brought the crosshair on the head of the guy closest to Tom and took a few deep breaths before placing the fleshy part of her finger against the trigger.
Staying calm, she squeezed the trigger.
A spray of red, and the guy’s head went back sending him down. The other one turned, and unleashed a flurry of rounds their way. Skylar ducked down for a second but knew that Tom’s life was still in jeopardy. She shifted position and popped up again, this time she didn’t hesitate to take the shot. The guy who she assumed was Santiago was trying to scramble his way to the bow of the boat to reach Tom. Before he did, a gun echoed, and the armed man toppled over the edge into the water. Nearby Tom stood with a handgun outstretched.
The third man attempted to escape by powering out of there. That one she left to the Coast Guard who were nearly upon them.
“Put the gun down, Tom,” Skylar yelled.
He didn’t waste a second doing so.
It didn’t take them long to board his boat. Harvey got on the radio to update the U.S. Coast Guard while Skylar approached Tom about the events surrounding the night of Matt’s death.
“We know you killed Matt, Tom.” His mouth opened ever so slightly. “And why you did it. Somewhat. The questions that remain unanswered are why you used your own daughter’s gun? And why didn’t you just take her to the hospital?”
He slumped down onto one of the seats and looked down despondently at the deck. For a second she thought he was going to deny it and hope that his lawyers managed to untangle the mess of lies.
“Do you have kids, detective?” he asked in a soft voice.
Skylar looked over at Harvey for a second as he spoke on the radio. “No.”
“Then you don’t understand what a father will do for his child.” He breathed in deeply. “I didn’t mean to kill him. My intent that night was just to know why.”’
“Why?” she asked.
“Why he drugged her, why he went behind my back when I told him specifically not to see her again.”
“He didn’t drug her, Tom. Gabriel did.”
He looked up at Skylar with a look of confusion. “But…”
“Whatever he told you, was a lie. That beating Matt got was from a hazing. Gabriel drugged your daughter and had every intention of taking advantage of her at your home on the night Matt died. The irony is, you actually prevented it from happening by messaging Gabriel. It’s all on video and we have a confession from Gabriel. So tell me, did you message Diego in the hope that he would deal with Matt? Huh? You know, by giving him the address knowing that he was trying to find him that night? And let me guess, when you learned he wasn’t there and had made arrangements to meet your daughter out at the Point and possibly even expose the fraternity for what they did to him, you went out there to stop him, right?”
He shook his head. “No. I went out there to make it clear once and for all that he wasn’t going to ruin my daughter’s life by dragging her into some drug selling life. What kind of father would I be to stand by and do nothing?”
“So the gun?”
“My daughter had left it in my car two days earlier. I just wanted to scare him. Get him to admit what he’d done. But he wouldn’t.” Tom stared at his feet. “Now I can see why he denied it. He just kept saying he loved her and wouldn’t harm her.”
“And the fraternity?” Skylar asked.
“He wasn’t going to say anything. You think I care more for that place than my own daughter?” He sighed and ran a hand over his head then looked out towards the horizon as if he was replaying that night over in his head. “Matt came at me. I tried to keep him back but…” he sighed again. “The gun went off and…” he swallowed hard and got all teary eyed. “I didn’t mean to kill that kid. I really didn’t.”
“So how did the gun wind up on the beach? I mean if it was my daughter’s I wouldn’t have left it there.”
His hands started trembling. “I got scared. Once I realized he was dead, I bolted and dropped it. I tried searching for it but it’s so dark out there and I heard people coming. I couldn’t risk getting caught so…”
“You fled.”
“And your daughter?”
“I figured if I took her to the hospital it would raise too many questions. I dropped her off nearby and thought she would sleep it off and walk away the next morning with a migraine. I didn’t know she would head over to where Matt was.” He put his head in both of his hands and leaned forward. “I really didn’t mean it.”
Skylar nodded, and turned towards Harvey who was standing nearby. He’d overheard the whole thing.
Chapter 21
Three days later, Skylar sat in Harry’s Bar on a Friday evening drinking alone. It had become a common practice at the end of her shift. She would change up the location each week so as to not look like such a sad sack, and after having wrapped up the case of Matt Carr’s death, she thought Harry’s Bar would make a nice break from the routine of traveling to one of the surrounding towns where she wasn’t so easily recognizable.
“Get you another one?” a girl by the name of Mindy asked. She was a dark-haired girl wearing a tight red T-shirt that showed off her assets. Every bar owner wanted a few of those girls. It gave the single guys someone to ogle at, a reason to return and a way to forget they were spending so much.
“That would be lovely,” she said as she browsed through her phone trying to not look awkward. The fact was, getting out wasn’t as much about meeting someone as it was about not staying on the boat alone. She enjoyed the peace and quiet in the day but at night it was tough.
When Mindy returned she set a fresh bottle in front of her, and Skylar threw down a few dollars. She pushed it back. “Keep it. It’s already paid for.”
“Oh, that’s generous of you.”
“It wasn’t me. It was compliments of those two over there,” she said making a gesture with a nod of her head before walking away. Skylar glanced over her shoulder to find Ben and Harvey sitting in a booth. They raised their beer glasses, and Ben beckoned her over.
She smirked and slipped off the stool and made her way over.
“So what is this, a lovers’ night out?” Skylar asked taking a seat beside Ben. “Finally it all makes sense why you’re single, Ben. You two are having an affair.”
“Hilarious,” Harvey said. Ben chuckled.
“So was this your idea, Ben?” Skylar asked.
“Actually it was Harvey’s. Well he’d heard the rumors of you seducing the locals so I came along as a wingman to make sure that you didn’t take advantage of him.”
“But he’s a married man,” Skylar said.
“Yeah, so was that guy you took back to your place last week.”
“What?” Skylar said spitting out her beer.
Both of them cracked up laughing. “I’m joking, Skylar. It was a joke.”
She smiled and narrowed her eyes at both of them.
“So I hear everything got cleared away with Tom Bowman?” Ben asked.
“Yeah. A very rare case. It’s not often you’ll get people adm
it to it.”
Harvey piped up. “Well, let’s be fair, Skylar. He hadn’t admitted anything until we brought the hammer down on him.”
“True,” she replied. “Though I genuinely think he would have confessed in the end.”
“Maybe you haven’t lost your faith in humanity, Reid.”
Harvey chuckled.
“Who said I had?”
“People gossip,” he replied. Right then his phone started jangling. He leaned back and fished into his pocket and gazed at the screen. “Oh no, what is it now?” He hit accept. Skylar and Ben watched his expression change. “Yeah. What now? But I’m out having a drink.” There was a pause. “Okay, darling, I’m coming.”
He hung up. Harvey grimaced.
“Sorry. I gotta go.”
Ben shifted in his seat. “But I’m your wingman?”
Harvey shuffled out of the booth. “Sorry. I have an emergency at home.”
“Nothing serious, I hope?” Skylar asked.
“No, just family stuff. Have a good night, guys.”
“Harvey,” Ben said.
Harvey waved him off. “Ah, you’ll be fine. She’s not a man-eater.” He paused for a second. “At least I don’t think she is.”
He winked at Skylar and melted into the growing crowd of people filling up the bar.
Ben gulped his drink and cleared his throat. “Well I guess it’s just you and me then.”
“Seems so,” she said in an upbeat manner.
There was awkward silence for several seconds then he blurted out, “Look, it’s best we make a few things clear. I’m not going back to your yacht after this.”
Skylar smirked. “Of course not.”
Ben gestured with his hand quickly. “Not to say that I don’t think you’re…”
She waved him off. “I get it.”
He nodded and drained his drink. “And… uh… this isn’t a second date.”
“Second? Of course not, that would break my third rule,” Skylar replied with a glint in her eyes before taking a sip of her drink.
Ben smiled and exhaled. “I’m glad we cleared the air on that.” The tension in his face left as they settled back into conversation and the sound of a live blues band from a small stage took over.
That evening he didn’t go back to the yacht with her and for the first weekend in a while it actually felt good to sleep alone. As Skylar drifted off with gentle waves lapping against her boat, her phone buzzed on the bedside table. She shifted up onto her elbows to take a look at the text. It was from Harvey. The message was simple, and straightforward.
“You owe me one.”
She smiled, rolled over and drifted off listening to the sound of the bay.
THANK YOU FOR READING
Death Blow Book 3
Book 4 is coming soon.
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A Plea
Thank you for reading Death Blow: A Coastal Suspense Series Book 3. If you enjoyed the book, I would really appreciate it if you would consider leaving a review. I can’t stress how helpful this is in helping other readers decide if they should give it a shot. Reviews from readers like you are the best recommendation a book can have. Without reviews, an author’s books are virtually invisible on the retail sites. It also lets me know what you liked. You can leave a review by visiting the book’s page. I would greatly appreciate it. It only takes a couple of seconds.
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About the Author
Emma Rose Watts is the not so cozy pen name of the bestselling cozy mystery author Emma Watts. Under the name Emma Rose Watts, she writes gritty suspense and mysteries based in Florida. She is from Maine. She is married, and has kids and a dog.
www.emmarosewatts.com
contact@emmarosewatts.com
Also by Emma Rose Watts
Dead Calm: A Coastal Suspense Series Book 1
Death Match: A Coastal Suspense Series Book 2
Death Blow: A Coastal Suspense Series Book 3
Coming soon: A Coastal Suspense Series Book 4