Skye drew in a shaky breath. “This guy said that would solve my financial issues. I told him I wasn’t interested, that I didn’t do stuff like that.”
Cassidy shifted, and everything wobbled. Over all, she felt better. She just needed a little more time. “What happened next?”
“Then he told me he was trying to do it the nice way. But if I forced him to play dirty, he would spread it all over town that I had a criminal record. He said no one would want to buy anything from me. He said he would embellish the police reports and add assault and battery. It’s not true, Cassidy.”
“I believe you. And you can tell me that story later.”
Skye nodded stiffly. “He said he was going to give me a day to think about it. I actually thought I was going to die down here. How did you even find me?”
Cassidy swallowed, her throat still unusually dry. How was she going to explain this? “I . . . uh, I got a lead. It’s not important how. But I heard this was your last location. Before I could formulate my next plan of action, I was injected with something just like you, and now . . .”
“Please tell me you told Ty where you were going?” Hope lit her eyes.
Cassidy shook her head as regret filled her. “I wish I had. But I was following a hunch. I never thought . . .”
Skye’s gaze latched onto hers. “What are we going to do, Cassidy?”
“We’ll figure out something,” Cassidy said, taking another sip of water. “Just give me a little time.”
Cassidy rubbed her neck as she turned everything over again and again in her mind. But there was no time to think too much. No, she needed to move. To observe. To formulate.
The boat was quiet, almost like no one else was here. She doubted that was true, though. Best she could tell, they weren’t moving and still sitting at the docks.
As she glanced around, she realized they were in some kind of small bedroom. There were no windows, which made her think they were in the hull of one of those giant yachts she’d seen. The place smelled of lemon polish and saltwater. Maybe even a hint of microwave popcorn.
The walls surrounding the space were a dark wood paneling. There was a bed with a light blue spread on it and a metal headboard. A night stand sat beside it with a small lamp. There was one dresser with a jewelry box on top, and a door to a bathroom in the corner.
Cassidy checked it for a mirror, but there wasn’t one. So much for breaking it and using the shards as weapons.
Instead, she went to the door, gripped the handle, and tugged. It didn’t give, nor had Cassidy expected it to.
She took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. The drug was still wearing off. Flakka. Why had they injected her? Why not just knock her out? After all, they had no idea how she’d react to the drug. What if she’d gone crazy?
She’d always had strange reactions to drugs, ever since she was a child. Any type of cold medicine knocked her out.
The fact remained that she had no idea how flakka made her act.
Cassidy glanced over at Skye. Her friend sat against the wall with her knees pulled to her chest. She was shaken. More than shaken. She was on the brink of devastation.
Cassidy had to think of a way out before things turned even uglier.
“How did I act when I first got here?” Cassidy asked.
“You were out.”
Cassidy swallowed slowly. “Do you remember when I got here?”
“About one. Why?”
Cassidy had been outside at the marina at around noon—maybe a little after. That meant . . . that flakka knocked her out from start to finish.
A strange relief flushed through her. Maybe the drug just made her black out. That would mean . . . that would mean that perhaps Cassidy hadn’t done something foolish while undercover with DH-7. Maybe she’d just passed out. It still didn’t explain the blood, but it did make her feel a little better.
The first hint of hope crept into her psyche.
But that didn’t dampen the reality of the current situation. She and Skye would both be goners if they didn’t get out of here. And, as of right now, this room was locked up like a seaward vault.
As soon as the thought entered her mind, the door opened. Cassidy braced herself for whatever was to come.
Chapter 25
Two big burly guys with lavish tattoos and arms bigger than Thanksgiving turkeys walked in. Both wore all black and had expressionless faces. Cassidy would guess they were underlings—the brawn and not the brains. She needed to keep that in mind.
“The boss told us to check on you,” the bald one muttered.
“Who’s the boss?” Cassidy stared at the men. She’d never seen them before. Were they friends of Buddy? Or was someone else behind this? She still didn’t know. And she hated not knowing.
“That’s not important,” Baldy mumbled. “He just told us to check on you. He said you’ve got an hour. He thought you might like the anticipation that statement brings. His words, not mine.”
Skye let out a gasp and cry.
“What does that mean?” Cassidy asked.
“Let your imagination run wild.”
And just as quickly as they appeared, they were gone.
Skye let out another cry and buried her face.
“It’s going to be okay,” Cassidy said, patting her friend’s back. “We’re going to think of a way out of this.”
“I don’t see how. It’s not like either of us are secret ninjas or something.”
Cassidy chomped down. She did have a few tricks up her sleeve. “We can’t lose hope. We just need to think.”
“I’ve been thinking for hours, and I’m still here.”
Cassidy stood and began pacing the room. There had to be something they could do here. Something she’d missed. The last thing she was going to do was stay here like a sitting duck.
“Why do you look like you’ve done this before?” Skye’s eyes followed her.
Cassidy shrugged, reminding herself to take it easy. “It’s just adrenaline probably.”
“Well, I’ve already searched the entire room. There’s nothing here.”
There had to be something. Think, Cassidy. Think.
Fight through the worst to get to the best. Another proverb from Lucy’s Day-at-a-Glance. Why had that phrase struck her now? As a reminder not to give up, she realized.
Did Del keep that wisdom in mind while fighting cancer and trying to maintain her joy?
Cassidy would fight through this nightmare also, holding onto the belief that there was something better waiting for her in the future as well.
“Are those the same two men you saw before?” Cassidy asked, checking the bathroom cabinets.
“Yes. I have no idea who they are.” Skye pulled her legs closer, her flowy flowered skirt stretched over her knees.
“You said the other man—the boss—that his voice didn’t sound familiar?” Cassidy opened the door to the nightstand. It was empty. Of course, she already knew that because she’d looked there earlier.
“No, it didn’t sound familiar.”
“So we know that drugs are being smuggled and sold in the fruit at Buddy’s produce stand,” Cassidy said, thinking out loud. “It would make sense that Buddy is behind this. But you’d probably recognize his voice.”
“Probably.”
“Did it sound like Jimmy James?”
Skye swung her head up toward Cassidy. “No. Why?”
“He was helping to bring in produce for Buddy, off the books.”
“Really? And I thought he was my friend. We actually went on a date once.”
Cassidy paused. Jimmy James might be nice enough, but he didn’t exactly seem like long-term relationship material. Nor did he seem like the creative free spirit Skye claimed she was looking for. “You know, Austin has been very concerned about you.”
Skye frowned. “Austin is a great friend.”
“That’s all?” Cassidy checked the ledge above the door again. Nothing.
“What do you me
an?”
Cassidy shrugged and ran her foot along the edge of the carpet. “Nothing. It’s not important.”
This wasn’t the time to discuss love and romance. Cassidy just couldn’t believe that Skye didn’t know how much Austin liked her yet.
Nothing had been left at the edge of the carpet, so Cassidy went back to the dresser. She opened a wooden box on top. Her eyes lit when she saw a phone inside.
A phone!
She held it up and showed it to Skye. But she didn’t see the excitement she thought she would. Instead, Skye shrugged.
“It’s mine, but it’s dead. They just left it there to taunt me.”
Cassidy nibbled on her bottom lip. Those men’s wrong assumptions could be her salvation right now. “That might just be their biggest mistake.”
“What do you mean?”
Cassidy glanced around the room. “I mean, I may be able to give this just enough charge to make a phone call.”
Ty was trying not to be overprotective or overbearing. But Cassidy still wasn’t answering her phone, and his gut told him that something was wrong.
Had she stumbled into something and not told him? Would she be foolish enough to go investigating by herself?
Ty knew Cassidy wouldn’t approve of this, but he had a spare key to her place. He looked into things for the house’s owner sometimes when Mr. Piedmont couldn’t make it into town.
In order to make sure Cassidy was okay, Ty unlocked her front door. As he reached for the handle, he hesitated. He hoped Cassidy would forgive him for the intrusion, especially since it was borne out of concern and not curiosity.
Pushing aside his reservations, he opened the door and stepped inside. “Hello?”
No answer.
He glanced around before proceeding. Everything appeared in place, and no signs of a struggle were evident. That was the good news.
Carefully, he walked the perimeter of the great room. Nothing stood out as alarming, nor did anything give a clue as to where Cassidy had gone.
He hit each of the rooms. Again, nothing.
Maybe Ty was overreacting. Or maybe he was being too protective or even paranoid.
But he couldn’t get past his gut feeling. That gut feeling had kept him and his guys alive.
Before he abandoned his mission, he went into the kitchen, near the phone. He’d had luck at Buddy’s place finding that address on the pad of paper. Could something in this area indicate where Cassidy had gone?
He picked up a pad of paper and did the pencil trick again, running the lead over the blank page. Nothing appeared except for the number of a local pizza joint.
He opened the top drawer, and a phone book stared back at him.
He paused before sliding it closed.
Why did the bottom of this drawer look new and freshly painted? Mr. Piedmont hadn’t been by lately to do any repairs.
It was probably nothing or a quick repair a renter had done.
Out of curiosity, he tapped it.
The drawer sounded hollow. Strangely hollow.
He opened the drawer below it, shoved aside some dish towels, and tapped the bottom of that one also.
They definitely sounded different.
Out of curiosity, he took out the phone book and examined that top drawer again. Using a knife from the rack beside the sink, he pried the bottom out.
It was a false bottom. And beneath it were four handguns.
Guns?
Did these belong to Cassidy?
The mystery surrounding the woman grew deeper.
As did Ty’s concern.
Cassidy took out the battery from the smoke detector above the bed. It was a 9-volt. Perfect.
“What are you doing?” Skye uncoiled herself slightly from her earlier ball.
Cassidy had lost hope that her friend was going to be any help, though. The situation was making Skye shut down, and, at this rate, her friend would be catatonic before too long.
“I’m just trying something.” Cassidy searched the rest of the room, looking for some type of wire or conductor. The lamp in the room had a cord, but she had nothing to cut it with.
“Cassidy?”
Cassidy paused for long enough to try and explain. “I . . . uh, I took a class once about how to charge a cell phone without a charger. Just in case.”
“Sounds like a useful class.”
Cassidy nodded. “It was.”
It had been with the police force. She didn’t share that.
“I have a battery, but I need something to get power from the battery to the phone.”
“Like a wire?” Skye asked.
“Or even just a metal tip of some kind.” She paced the room again, looking for something—anything—that she could use.
“How about this?” Skye reached for her ear and pulled something off.
Cassidy took the turquoise tassel earring from her. The piece had a long metal post. “You know? This might just work.”
Skye suddenly came to life, no longer the limp rag doll sitting on the floor.
Cassidy’s hands trembled as she worked the earring apart. She’d never actually done this—she’d only seen it done. But, in theory, it all made sense and was worth a try.
She had no other options right now.
Working carefully, she connected one end of the metal earring to the battery. She then let the metal touch the phone’s port for a battery charger. She held her breath, waiting to see if it would work.
“We need to give it a few minutes,” Cassidy said, resisting the urge to hold her breath.
“Those guys are going to be back any minute.” Skye curled into her ball again.
Cassidy nodded, trying to keep her cool under pressure. “I know. I’m doing what I can. I promise.”
“I know you are.”
“Skye, if Buddy’s not behind this, then who is?”
She shrugged. “Maybe it is Buddy. Maybe he disguised his voice.”
“Why would he meet with you about doing a business deal? He would have just killed off the competition, don’t you think?”
“Maybe when I walked into his house and saw the blood, I turned his plans upside down.”
“If Buddy killed—or hurt—someone in his house, he would have disposed of the body and then returned to life as normal doing his undercover drug operation. Something must have spooked him.”
“Maybe a competitor?” Skye asked.
Cassidy thought about it a moment before nodding. “Yes, that’s a good possibility. Or someone he made mad. Maybe someone wanted to get even with him by using you instead.”
Skye shivered. “The man who’s keeping us here certainly seemed to know who I was. He even mentioned my friends who were investigating.”
Cassidy shook off the thought. It didn’t matter who was behind this right now. What really mattered was the two of them getting out of this alive.
“This is the moment, Skye.” Cassidy stared at the phone with trepidation. If this didn’t work . . . she didn’t know what they would do.
She reached for the power button.
Chapter 26
Cassidy held her breath as she waited to see if the screen would light up.
Please, please, please.
A moment later, the screen flickered. Then came on.
“It worked,” she muttered, a rush of gratitude sweeping through her.
“What? Really?” Skye uncoiled and sprang toward her.
The battery only showed five percent. But Cassidy would take whatever she could get.
“If we’re going to call someone, it needs to be now before this phone dies again.” Cassidy began dialing.
“You’re calling the police, right?” Skye said.
Cassidy shook her head. “No, I’m calling Ty.”
“But . . .”
“Think about it, Skye. Do you want bumbling Chief Bozo or an ex-Navy SEAL?” Although they were out of Bozeman’s jurisdiction, the man had left a bad taste in Cassidy’s mouth for any law enforcement i
n this area.
“You’re right. Call Ty.” If the situation wasn’t so serious, Skye’s expression and quick agreement would have been almost comical.
Ty answered on the first ring. “Skye? Where are you?”
The concern was obvious in the tension of his voice. Just hearing Ty brought Cassidy an immense comfort.
“Ty, it’s me. Cassidy. I’m with Skye, but we don’t have much time. Someone grabbed us, and we’re in a boat off the marina in Ocracoke. I’m pretty sure we’re in a yacht at the end of the row here in the harbor—the most secluded spot—but I can’t be sure.”
“Are you two all right?” he rushed.
“Yeah, we’re fine.” Cassidy remembered the men’s threat. “For now. But you’ve got to come help us. This phone is going to die in a minute.”
“Anything else you can remember that will help me find you?”
“No, not really. These guys are armed, and they know what they’re doing. They’ve been watching us, Ty, so they’ll recognize you.”
“You’re on the boat right now?”
Cassidy glanced around, wishing she knew more. “That’s right. I’m guessing we’re in a room below deck. There are no windows. I don’t think we’re moving, but I can’t be sure.”
“I’m going to find you guys, Cassidy. Hold on until I get there.”
“I’m trying, Ty.” Just then, she heard footsteps coming down the hallway. “Come quickly. I’ve got to go.”
She hung up and slid the phone between the mattresses, just in case they needed to use it again. As she did, the door opened, and two men stood there like executioners waiting to carry out their latest assignment.
“Someone could be watching us right now,” Ty said, ducking behind an outbuilding at the harbor in Ocracoke.
He and Mac had gotten here surprisingly fast—in forty minutes, thanks to Mac borrowing a friend’s speedboat.
Mac stood behind him, out of sight from anyone passing by. “I’ll keep a lookout. We know no one followed us over in the boat.”
“Another benefit to traveling by boat. The ferry would have taken too long.”
Lantern Beach Mysteries Box Set Page 34