“Toni was hoping they’d figure things out the other night, but Jeremy never said a word about it.”
“I’m not above intervening soon if they don’t sort their shit out,” Aiden said.
“Like what? Force them to spend time together?” I waved my arm around. “Doesn’t seem to be working.”
“I don’t know about you, but I could use a distraction. And if it eases some of the stress around here, even better.”
I raised my eyebrow at him. “Playing matchmaker isn’t exactly my idea of a good time.”
“How much more of their attitude can you stand? Because I’ve been dealing with it for almost two years,” Aiden pointed out.
“Ah, in that case, consider me your sidekick,” I agreed.
Together we headed toward Reed to enlist his help in Aiden’s plan. When we got near him we could hear him muttering curses under his breath. We stopped and gave him a minute to calm down, at least marginally, and to find out what was bothering him.
“Those fucking people,” he growled.
“Who?” I asked.
He rolled his eyes. “Toni’s parents have filed a missing person report on her.”
“How?” I asked, shocked.
He shook his head. “They filed the report in Yakima. Daniels is trying to contact them to let them know he’s heard from her. Right now, they’ve got an all-points bulletin out to locate her. If we try to go into Canada, they’ll be alerted as soon as she tries to use her passport.”
“Shit,” I muttered.
“Pretty much.”
“What now?” Aiden asked.
Reed put his hands in his hair and tugged. “I don’t know. We need to find out what’s going on. There has to be a reason her parents went and filed a police report. This goes beyond their willingness to look the other direction. There is something going on, and until we know what, we’re always going to be playing catch up.”
“Where do we start?” I asked.
“I don’t know, let me think a bit,” Reed said. “For now, I think we should keep moving. It would be better if we could leave the country, but we can’t risk a customs check. We should go somewhere unexpected.”
“Where?” Aiden asked.
Jeremy had walked up while Reed was talking and now raised his hand. “I have a place we can go.”
His last suggestion was a yacht to tour Puget Sound, so we all held our breath to see what else he’d come up with.
“My uncle owns a private island in the San Juan chain.”
Of course he does. “Is your uncle okay with us docking there?” I asked.
Jeremy nodded. “There’s a small harbor with a dock that we can park the boat in. He also has a cabin we can stay in. My uncle is in Europe right now, so we’ll have the place to ourselves.”
“Sure, let’s take your grandparents’ yacht over to stay on your uncle’s private island, because all of this is normal,” I grumbled.
“Someone is feeling the loss of privacy. There will be plenty of alone time when we get there,” Jeremy said, chuckling.
He wasn’t wrong. Two days wasn’t that long to go without sex, but it felt like an eternity with Toni’s sweet ass cradled against my groin. Not that the close quarters stopped me from trying, but the walls were paper-thin, and we could hear everything. Add the voice of a small child and the cries of a newborn, and it was a total mood killer. At least it was for Toni. I was totally in for seeing how quiet we could be.
After Jeremy went to start the boat so we could leave the dock, Aiden went down to help Becca with the baby, leaving Reed and I standing alone on the deck.
“I know Toni wants to be back before the next quarter begins, but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said.
“What aren’t you telling us?” I asked.
Reed groaned and looked straight in my eyes with a grave expression. “Jeremy convinced Toni to tell me all about her nightmare, and I relayed it to Daniels and Zack.”
I had a sinking feeling in my gut. “Spit it out.”
He nodded. “There was a case in 1997. A young woman, Evangeline Perez, was found beaten to death by a neighbor.”
“Where?” I asked. My throat had gone dry.
“Yakima,” he said, confirming my worst fears.
“Shit,” I muttered.
“Yeah, we think Toni witnessed a murder. We won’t know for sure until we track down the neighbor and ask a few questions. If she did, though…”
“It makes you wonder why her parents are so desperate to get her back home,” I supplied.
“No way in hell are we bringing her back until we have more information,” he said vehemently.
“I won’t fight you on that. Let’s get out of here. I’m feeling paranoid sitting here,” I said and scanned the pier.
The motor roared to life, and the boat eased out of the harbor. “Do you really think we can run from this?” I asked as we moved farther away from the shore.
Reed sighed. “It hasn’t worked yet, but I’m an optimist. It beats sitting around waiting to be attacked.”
He had a point there, but I wasn’t sure being chased was much better. And I didn’t believe for a moment Miguel would just let her get away.
Chapter 30
Toni
The close quarters of the ship’s cabin felt like they were suffocating me. I wandered up to the deck and clutched my jacket closer to my neck. The air was thick with moisture and hung in a dense fog over the water. Within minutes, my clothes were wet and my hair clung to my face in stringy clumps. The breeze blowing off the water was cold, but I couldn’t face going back inside.
As I came around the side of the boat, I found Cameron standing by himself. He’d been doing that a lot lately. Before Becca and I met Aiden and Jeremy, my social circle consisted of Becca, Kate, and Cameron. Lately, though, Cameron seemed to hover on the outside of our group.
I stood next to him silently and began to shiver. Without a word, he took off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders.
“How are you doing, Cam?”
He smirked at me, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” With his hands gripping the rail, he stared off into the ocean. His dark brown eyes looked so sad, I wanted to hug him, but I didn’t feel that close to him anymore.
“Why have you pulled away from me? You used to be one of my best friends, but when things went sour with you and Jeremy, you pulled away from all of us.”
“I know,” he said without looking at me. “It isn’t you or Becca. Hell, it isn’t even Jeremy. It’s me. I can’t seem to get out of my own way. It kills me how much I’ve hurt him, and I can’t figure out how to fix it.”
“Do you really want to fix it?” I asked.
“More than anything, but I’ve done too good a job pushing him away,” he said in a lifeless tone.
“I think he just needs to trust you.”
Cameron shook his head. “He’s met someone.”
“And yet he can’t stop watching you. Have some faith in him. Once he lets someone into his heart, it’s forever, but you need to be consistent.”
He bumped my shoulder with his. “Thanks, Demon.”
I smiled brightly at him. “You haven’t called me that for a while. Don’t pull away from me again, or I’ll kick your ass. No matter what happens between you and Jeremy, understand?”
“I promise.”
“There you are,” Trent said as he walked up behind us. He pulled me into his arms and held me tight. He burrowed his face into my hair and breathed in deeply. Instinctively, I knew something was wrong.
“We aren’t going to Canada, are we?” I’m not sure how I knew, but I could feel the tension radiating off him.
I could feel him shake his head. “Jeremy’s uncle has a small private island in the San Juans.”
“What changed?” I pressed.
He sighed. “Your parents filed a missing person report. Daniels is working to get rid of it, but until then, we don’t
want to risk going through customs.”
“How would they even know I left, unless Miguel told them? That’s assuming he actually did come after me,” I commented.
He squeezed me tighter, as if he were afraid I’d disappear. “That’s a very good question.”
Soon, we approached a small island. Like everything else on the coastline of the Pacific Northwest, it was lush and green. Unlike Ellensburg, there wasn’t a surface not covered in verdant life. The coastline was made up of smooth stones. Moss covered the rocks further up from the beach, trees, and ground. The fog crept up from the water and filtered into the thick ferns that grew between the tall evergreens.
Jeremy expertly docked the boat, and within minutes we were all disembarking for the cabin he pointed out nestled in the trees. None of us had unpacked much since we’d been on the boat, because independently we all hoped we wouldn’t have to spend too much time there.
Poor Kate was a sickly shade of green, and after puking nearly nonstop for two days, Reed had to carry her off the boat. Becca and I were both worried she was going to need medical attention, but we were optimistic that it was the rocking of the boat that aggravated her morning sickness.
“God, Katie girl, are you going to be okay?” Reed asked, worried. He set her down on the pier, and the rest of us followed close behind.
She smiled weakly. “I’ll be all right.”
Reed shoved his hand through his hair. “Are you sure? Are you sick?”
Jeremy put his fist up to his mouth. “Tell him,” he said, faking a cough.
Kate huffed. “Fine, but you guys are kinda ruining my moment.”
“Will someone tell me something?” Reed growled.
A smile spread across her face, and she walked over to where Cameron had set down her bag. She took her time digging through the contents and pulled out a small picture folder. When she returned to Reed, she handed it to him, and we all held our breath waiting for his reaction.
He stared down at the picture for a long moment, and when he looked up again, he wore the biggest smile I’d ever seen. “We’re having a baby?” he asked in a voice thick with emotion.
Kate bit her lip and nodded. He dropped to his knees in front of her and kissed her belly.
We all decided to give them a few moments of privacy. Aiden took the keys from Jeremy and led his family toward the cabin. Both kids were sleeping, Scott in Aiden’s arms and Hope in Becca’s. Cameron and Jeremy stood off by themselves talking. Cam gestured to the shoreline, and they headed off for a walk.
Trent took my hand. “Want to stretch your legs for a while?”
Oh boy, did I. It was weird walking around after being on the boat for over two days. We walked toward the house and discovered the beautiful back patio, which overlooked the other side of the island. There was a fire pit and lounge furniture. Unfortunately, all the wood nearby was too wet to use, and the seats all had beads of water covering the surface.
“Maybe we can get everyone out here later tonight if we can find dry wood and towel off the chairs,” Trent said.
I looked up into the gray sky. “And if this constant drizzle lets up.”
“This isn’t exactly what I pictured us doing for your spring break,” he said apologetically.
“You sound like you had plans for us.”
“I did. Nothing set in stone, but I’d hoped I could talk you into a little road trip,” he admitted.
“I would have liked that,” I whispered.
We moved under the awning and continued to watch the light rain fall on the island. After a few minutes, the clouds broke enough to display a beautiful rainbow over the treetops.
I leaned against his chest with his arms wrapped around me and felt peace for the first time in weeks. We stood in silence for several more seconds, but it wasn’t awkward.
“Let’s go pick out our room,” Trent suggested as the rain began to fall more steadily.
Inside the kitchen, we found Reed busy making a giant feast with Becca trying to help him.
“I really don’t think she’s going to want all of this food,” she argued as we entered.
“She needs to eat more,” he grumbled.
Aiden shook his head. “Was I that crazy?” he asked us.
“Worse,” I told him.
“Probably, but it’ll be your turn soon enough,” he replied.
Trent stiffened next to me. We hadn’t been together that long. I hoped he didn’t think I put Aiden up to pressuring him. Someday I planned to get married, hopefully to Trent, but not yet.
“Let us know when Reed has finished cooking all the food we brought,” I told Aiden, and tugged Trent away from my meddling friends.
On the second floor at the end of the hall, there was one bedroom door open, and I recognized my bag sitting on the bed. I hadn’t even thought about my stuff, but one of the guys must have brought it in. Once we were inside the room, I closed the door.
“Hey.” I squeezed Trent’s hand to get his attention. “Aiden is just giving us a hard time. I haven’t told them I want to get married or anything.”
Trent narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms across his chest. “Are you saying you don’t want to marry me?”
First he seemed upset that Aiden said something about us getting married, and then he seemed irritated that I might not want to get married. I didn’t think I would ever understand men.
“I’m confused. I just wanted to let you know I’m not trying to pressure you. Just because my friends got married so fast doesn’t mean I expect that for us.”
Trent sat down on the bed and interlocked his hands in front of him. “I don’t have any good role models of happily married couples. It isn’t that I don’t want to be with you forever, but in my experience, marriage leads to divorce. Shit, this isn’t coming out right,” he grumbled.
I moved to stand in front of him and rubbed my hands across his head like I’d seen him do many times. His hair was so soft. “My parents have been pushing marriage on me for years. It’s something I’ve dreaded, and even though I love you, I’m just not ready yet.”
“Here’s the thing,” he began and nervously bit his lip ring. “On one hand, I’m not ready to get married either, but on the other hand, there’s a part of me that wants the world to know you’re mine.”
“I am yours,” I said. “We don’t need a certificate for that. I’ve had a lifetime of living by my parents’ rules. I want to see the world, take chances, and find out who I am. Until I’ve done that, I don’t think I can be a good wife.”
His stormy eyes met mine. “Is there a place for me while you’re doing that?”
“I’m hoping you’ll be right next to me.”
“I don’t want to rule out getting married, but I want to do it on our terms and on our time. I just want us to promise we’ll be together.”
“I’m confused again. What are you asking me?”
“I have a confession to make.” He pulled a small, velvet-covered box out of his pocket. “Aiden gave me the name of the jeweler he used to make Becca’s ring.”
“That explains his weird comment.” My heart thumped hard in my chest. Was he going to ask me to marry him after I said I didn’t want to get married right now? Did I want to be with him forever? That was easy: yes. It was the only thing I knew for certain.
He opened the box, showing me a key-shaped pendant, and I exhaled in relief. “We don’t have to be them. But I don’t want you to think just because this isn’t an engagement ring, that I don’t plan on being with you forever. I know this is just symbolic, but it’s the key to my heart, which is yours with or without taking my name.”
Trent took the necklace out of the box and placed it around my neck. I traced my fingers over the delicate-looking silver key with pink sapphires around the Celtic knot at the top. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
I stopped stroking the key and switched my attention to his face. “I do want to marry you someday, but I have this fantasy of doing it somewhere a
long our travels. Just you and me, maybe on a beach somewhere exotic. I don’t need a fancy ring, flowers, or a big poufy dress, just you. Maybe we can get tattoos instead of rings.”
He took my hand and kissed my empty ring finger. “I like that idea.”
***
The next few days finally felt like a vacation. Reed continued to cook way too much food, which Kate was able to enjoy since she’d stopped throwing up all day long. We found a supply of dry logs in a shed around the side of the cabin and built bonfires each night in the pit on the back patio. They guys spent time fishing in the mornings, and during the breaks in the rain some of us explored the island.
Cell phone signal on the island was spotty at best, but there was Wi-Fi inside the cabin, which we were able to use to boost the signal on Trent’s phone. On Tuesday morning, Agent Perez called and asked to speak to me.
My hands shook as I took the phone. “Hello, Agent Perez.”
“Please call me Javier. I wanted to let you know I was able to end the missing person search for you. But there is one thing still bothering me, Toni. I went to speak to your parents personally to let them know I knew you were safe, and your father still tried to insist you return home. If you know something, I need you to tell me, because I have to say I’m suspicious of the reasons they have for trying to control you the way they do.”
“You and me both, but I can’t think of a logical reason for it,” I said.
“I’ve spoken with Reed and Daniels about your reoccurring nightmare. I think you may have witnessed a murder. There is an unsolved case from 1997 that matches the details in your dream. That could explain why your parents panicked when they couldn’t get in touch with you,” he explained.
I swallowed hard, trying to fight sudden nausea. “A murder?” I squeaked. “You think my parents’ controlling tendencies are their way to protect me?”
“If I’m right, you may be the sole witness to a murder. An unsolved and very brutal murder. You would only have been around four at the time of the crime, but if you could help point the way to other evidence, it would frighten the perpetrator. It could be enough to put you in danger and explain why your parents seem to be afraid of not knowing where you are.”
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