The House at Saltwater Point

by Colleen Coble

  She ran her finger down the list of ships and countries, then paused at one. “Wait a minute. The Elyssa Marie is listed as an American ship on the brochure the committee gave me. This says it’s Korean.”

  He frowned and studied the details. “I’ll find out for sure.”

  “How can you do that when you’re locked out? Your FBI friend?”

  “Yep.” He pulled out his phone and placed a call.

  She walked around while he spoke to Lance. Gray put his phone away. “He looked it up while I was on the phone with him. It’s Korean.”

  “Why is it wrong on the brochure?”

  “Could be a typo or something else.”

  “I can find out.” Kristy Gillings was the committee chairperson, so she called her. “Hey, Kristy, sorry to bother you in the evening like this.”

  “You’re never a bother. What’s up?”

  “I was looking at the list of ships and countries represented in the flotilla this weekend. Is it accurate? I was wondering where you got the ships’ countries of origin.”

  “Isaac got the list from Gun Moon, the guy in California who put this together for us. I typed it up myself. Is there a problem?”

  Ellie forced a lilt to her voice. “I was just wondering what we were going to see. There are several countries represented: America, England, China, even Korea.”

  “I don’t think we have any from Korea, though they have several they sometimes display. It should be a packed festival. Mac was brilliant to come up with this. There’s no word about her, is there? I’m sure I would have heard.”

  “No word. Thanks, Kristy. See you this weekend.”

  Ellie ended the call. “She contradicted me about Korea, so their information is wrong. It came from Gun Moon.”

  “Even though he looks clean, I’ll ask Lance to take a closer look at him.” Gray sent off a text to his friend.

  What did it all mean? “Mac mentioned the danger of bringing the ships here. Is there a way to stop it? Does the FBI know she tried to stop the ships from coming?”

  “I’ll make sure Lance knows.” He sent another text, and his phone dinged almost immediately. “Lance says I’ll have more info by morning. Maybe we’re getting somewhere.”

  He draped his arm around her, and she leaned into his strength. “Let’s go up top to cool off.”

  His warm breath whispered across her neck and cheek. How did he make her feel so accepted for who she was?

  Chapter 30

  Lack of confidence is a killer when it comes to design. The fear inside makes us wonder if we can really combine lavender and pale green.

  —HAMMER GIRL BLOG

  It was a beautiful evening for a seafood boil aboard ship, but Ellie was too on edge to enjoy it. The thought of an impending terrorist attack made her want to crawl out of her skin. She glanced at Gray, who sat on the deck chatting with Jason, and she forced her attention back on preparing the food. He drew her in ways she couldn’t even name.

  It was silly, though. He wasn’t going to look at her any special way. Not when he could have any woman on the planet.

  She got the outside gas burner going and went to fill the big pot from the water hose Mac had connected to the potable water source. When it was half full, she started to lug the pot back to the flame, but Gray leaped up.

  “That’s too heavy for you. Let me carry it.” He hefted it away from her and carried it back to the burner.

  With any other man she might have been offended at the insinuation that she couldn’t do something, but he made her feel cherished. Cherish was a word she hadn’t thought much about, but she liked the sound of it.

  “Is it seated on the burner okay?” he asked.

  She checked the level and nodded. “Neanderthals are good to have around on occasion.”

  “I like being here for you. For anything.”

  She couldn’t bring herself to look into his eyes. He surely didn’t mean it the way her heart took it. She swallowed and turned up the heat, then sprinkled in Chesapeake Bay seasoning, a few cloves of garlic, and some sliced lemon. “It shouldn’t take long for dinner to be ready. Maybe forty-five minutes. If you’re hungry, there’s a veggie platter and dip in the galley fridge.”

  “I wouldn’t say no to it. I’ll get it.” He ducked down the ladder.

  Out of his presence she was able to catch her breath. Being around him was like riding a roller coaster of emotions that left her exhausted. The water started boiling, and she dropped in fingerling potatoes, carrots, sausage, and corn. The seafood would go in once the vegetables were almost done. Individual butter warmers waited along with fresh bread on the folding tables they’d set up. He wouldn’t leave hungry.

  Her gaze strayed to the ladder as Gray emerged with the veggie tray in one hand and the kitten in the other. Good grief, he was handsome. Such a big guy but so gentle and kind. Most of the big men she’d met liked to throw their size around, but he seemed to understand how intimidating he could be and made allowances. She hadn’t even known him a full two weeks, and she was already smitten.

  Danger, danger.

  He set the tray on the table in front of Jason. “Eat up before my sister gets here with Zach and Alex or you may be out of luck.” The kitten snuggled against him. “Mia was meowing at the ladder, and I couldn’t bring myself to ignore her. I think she was afraid to try to climb it.”

  “You’re a pushover just like Ellie.” Jason snagged a couple of carrots.

  The lights on a small boat bobbed in the water offshore, and Ellie tensed until she recognized Shauna.

  Shauna waved. “You guys up there?”

  “We’re waiting on you,” Ellie called.

  Shauna, pink-cheeked and smiling, climbed the ship’s ladder with Zach behind her. “I asked my mother-in-law to keep Alex for a while. He’s not fond of seafood, and I wanted a chance for us to compose a letter to Brenna. I’ve got my part done.”

  Zach carried a plate of brownies, and he put them on the table by the veggies, then grabbed a couple of cucumbers as he lowered himself into a chair beside Jason and Grayson.

  Shauna joined them and set down the computer she carried. “See what you think about the first part of the email I composed.”

  Ellie went to join them for a few minutes while the vegetables cooked. “This has to be exciting, Shauna. I’m so happy for you!”

  “I’m thrilled. Let me read it to you since there are so many of us.” She cleared her throat. “‘My name is Shauna Bannister. My maiden name was Duval, and I have reason to believe you are my baby sister, Brenna, who disappeared twenty-five years ago after being born during an earthquake in Lavender Tides, Washington. I know this has to be a shock since you likely have never heard any of this. Your mother was the paramedic who assisted our mother in your birth, and she helped save your life. However, I believe she took you out of the collapsed grocery store and made you her own. There was never any record of you after the earthquake, and she has refused to talk to me. I think you can see from my attached picture that the two of us look very much alike.’”

  Shauna stopped and looked up. “Do you think she will even read this? I’m not sure I would after the baby-sister thing.” She sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Maybe this is the wrong thing to do.”

  Zach squeezed her hand. “I don’t know any other way to handle it, Fly Girl. There’s no easy way to do it.”

  “Let’s pray for her to be receptive,” Gray said. “Let’s wait a bit to send it, then if there’s no answer from her, I can fly there after things are over here. Maybe I can even talk to her mom and ask for her to tell the truth.”

  Ellie took his statement for what it was—a wake-up call for her to guard her heart. He wasn’t going to be here long.

  The ship swayed and clanged with the tide. Grayson’s belly was pleasantly full from the crab boil, but all his senses were on high alert as he watched out over the waves for any boats headed their way. He couldn’t remember when he’d last enjoyed himself so much. Shauna a
nd Zach were good people, the kind who immediately put you at ease and made you feel ten feet tall.

  And Ellie. His gaze cut to where she slept on a bunk mattress under the stars. She lay on her side, her right cheek turned sweetly up for the kiss of a moonbeam. A fanciful, almost poetic thought. He used to read poetry in high school but had given it up for dry subjects like math and social studies.

  Her lips pursed as though she were kissing someone in her sleep, and he wished he was the lucky one. Long lashes cast shadows on her cheeks, and even her ears were cute. He liked everything about her.

  She’d blush if she awoke and saw him staring. He rose from his seat against the mast and went to the railing. Though it was nearly two, he wasn’t tired enough to awaken Jason who was sleeping on the deck in the bow. The shapes of townspeople watching the ship moved along the beach, and he spotted a bonfire.

  A whisper of sound lifted on the salt-laden breeze, and he cocked his head. Just the wind or the creak of the ship? A sixth sense told him it was more than that. The noise seemed stealthy yet purposeful. He stood as quietly as he could and tried to get a fix on where it was originating from. He caught a whiff of gasoline. From the generator or something more sinister?

  He went on full alert and hurried on bare feet to rouse Jason, who awakened in two seconds. Grayson held his finger to his lips and motioned for the other man to follow him. He gestured for Jason to move to the starboard side while he went to the port side. Access by ropes was available on both sides, and he didn’t want to be surprised. He shot off a quick text to the sheriff asking for backup, then sank to his knees at the railing.

  He wanted to get Ellie belowdeck, but he needed to surprise their unexpected visitor. Or visitors. Gun in hand, he crouched at the rail by the ladder and listened. Someone was climbing up. They had to have put in from one of the offshore islands or their sentries on shore would have seen them and alerted him.

  He’d rigged floodlights to illuminate the ship’s hull, so he reached over and plugged them in. Someone cursed, and Grayson popped up his head and looked over the side. Two men, one holding a can of what had to be gasoline, swung on the rope ladder like ugly spiders.

  He pointed his gun at them. “Hands up!”

  In that instant gunfire broke out on the starboard side, and he turned to see Jason grappling with a figure dressed in black. An ambush. Jason thumped the guy over the head with the butt of his rifle, and the man tumbled back into the water.

  A bullet zinged by Grayson’s head from one of the men on the port side, and he returned fire. He heard Ellie moving on her mattress.

  “Stay down!” He shot off a volley of bullets at the figures, and one shouted and fell into the water. The one with the gas can still clung to the rope.

  The guy looked up at him, his face covered in a black ski mask. He dropped the gas can into the water and pulled a gun from his belt. Grayson shot his wrist, and the gun went flying into the bay. He wanted to catch one of these guys alive. They might be persuaded to talk.

  He gestured with the gun. “Climb up here. Slowly.”

  The guy looked at the gun, then let go of the rope and fell into the water. Grayson slung his leg over the railing and began to clamber down the rope. He needed to haul one of the assailants in, but by the time he reached their inflatable, there was no sign of them.

  He returned to the deck to make sure everyone was okay. Ellie rushed to him as soon as he stepped aboard, and he embraced her. “I’m not hurt.” He looked over her head at Jason, who was clambering over the rail too. “I couldn’t catch one either. You okay?”

  “Yeah, just disgusted,” Jason said.

  Sirens blared from the shore, and two sheriff’s cars careened to a halt at the pier. “There’s an inflatable at the bottom of the rope. You mind going after the sheriff?” he asked Jason.

  “Nope.” Jason’s mouth was grim as he went past them and climbed over the railing.

  Grayson didn’t want to tell Ellie they’d come to burn up the boat—and them.

  Chapter 31

  Always be prepared for the client not to like something. They might tell you one thing but really want another. Some people are hard to please.

  —HAMMER GIRL BLOG

  Ellie sat on a camp chair and stared blankly around the living room. The House at Saltwater Point was taking shape. The open floor plan now let light in from front to back, and the grand spaces allowed the full beauty of the tall ceilings to shine.

  In the bathroom she marked one more wall for removal. She’d come up with a floor plan that used a small linen closet in the hallway to enlarge the master enough to squeeze in a double sink vanity, which would help make the room more functional.

  Footsteps echoed in the hall outside the master bedroom, and she turned, expecting to see one of the crew, but the sheriff stood outside the door.

  “I tried knocking, then came on in when no one answered. I saw your car here so I figured you were working and didn’t hear me at the door.” His eyebrows gathered in a pained expression.

  She backed away at the pity in his eyes. “You found Mac?”

  “Well, we don’t know for sure yet, Ellie. A woman’s body was recovered from the bay this morning. Th-The fish have done a number on it, so we haven’t been able to identify it yet. Identification will have to wait for DNA results.”

  “Clothing maybe?”

  “As I said, the fish.” His mouth twisted. “There was no clothing recovered.”

  She grasped for any way of identification. “Hair?”

  “Brown. Long enough that it appears to be a woman, though the coroner hasn’t taken a look yet. We just don’t know, but I wanted you to have a heads-up.”

  Ellie fisted her hands. “You think it’s her, don’t you?”

  “Well, we don’t have anyone else missing at the moment, though with the ocean currents, the victim could be from anywhere, even Canada. But yes, I do think it’s possible.”

  Ellie clutched at her stomach and swallowed. “Could I see the body?”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea. If it’s Mackenzie, you don’t want your last memory of her to be that painful. We’ll have DNA back in a few days.”

  “I might . . . recognize something.”

  “Believe me, if there was anything recognizable, I would ask you to take a look. Some of the limbs are missing, Ellie. Much of the flesh. I hate to be so graphic, but putting yourself through that wouldn’t be of any use.”

  She gulped and nodded. “Okay. Any other news?”

  “We got an ID on the vic from your basement. It’s a man by the name of Gun Moon.”

  Ellie took a step back and put her hand to her throat where her pulse throbbed. “Gun Moon? He was the man Mac contacted to arrange for the tall ship flotilla.”

  “Well, someone didn’t like him much. He was garroted.”

  Was he one of the terrorists, or just someone who got in their way? Gray needed to know about this. “What about last night? Anyone see the attackers come ashore?”

  The sheriff shook his head. “At least Grayson and Jason were prepared to protect you. I’m tempted to take you into protective custody. Your luck is going to run out any day.”

  “You can’t do that! We have to figure this out before Sunday.”

  “And that’s the only reason I haven’t done it.” He fingered a long black sideburn. “Just be careful.”

  She nodded. “You haven’t heard from my dad, have you? I’ve tried calling him, but he’s on safari.”

  “He hasn’t been in contact with you?”

  She shook her head. “He’s not what you’d call an involved parent. He has his own life.”

  “You might try him again.” Everett’s mouth twisted, and he frowned. “Well, I’d better get out of here. A deputy is stationed outside as usual. Let me know if you need anything.”

  She sat on the floor staring out the big rear windows at Rainshadow Bay. Maybe the sheriff was right. Though she’d left a message for her dad, he might be wa
iting for her to call with more information.

  He answered on the third ring. “Have they found your sister?”

  He sounded entirely too calm, and she clenched her left hand into a fist in her lap. “Not yet. How are you holding up?”

  “I’m still in Africa. We hit a hotel with phone service and internet today, and I just got your message.”

  Likely story. He probably got her message days ago. She hadn’t even known he was going until a couple of days before he left. His abandonment of her and Mac had happened long ago, but the reminder of how it continued closed her throat and brought tears to her eyes.

  “You should be here, Dad. Mac is in trouble and maybe dead. How can that compare with a trip?”

  “You’re being your usual melodramatic self, Ellie. I don’t think this conversation is going anywhere. Let me know if you hear anything about Mackenzie.”

  The phone went dead, and Ellie stared at it disbelievingly. He’d just hung up, which told her what she’d already known. He didn’t love her or Mac. Not one bit.

  The day boasted only a few clouds in the deep azure of the sky. “I was told this neighborhood in Port Angeles might yield some clues to the missing cocaine, but I’ve got my doubts.”

  Ellie didn’t reply. Ever since Gray had picked her up at the house before lunch, she’d been quiet. She’d told him about her call with her dad, but there was nothing he could do to fix it, though he wished he could. She’d begged to come with him today, but the outing didn’t seem to have lifted her spirits.

  “Wait here.” He parked along the street and got out to the stench of garbage burning and the smell of cabbage. Looking around he spotted an old school. He approached a group of teenagers laughing and smoking cigarettes near a basketball court and waited for one of them to notice him. They all looked to be juniors and seniors in high school. Or maybe dropouts, for all he knew. Two of them had pants so big they barely hugged their hips, and he caught the skunky scent of marijuana on them.