Breaker's Reef

by Terri Blackstock

  Everybody needed a friend like that.

  Jamie was quiet as they reached the Flagstaff, the only place with vacancies that they’d been able to afford. The look on Jamie’s face revealed her dread at returning to this place. She looked around at the activity in the parking lot. Cars came and went; drivers slowed down and talked through the windows to the sleazy-looking men who hung around on the street. Women of all ages, very young teens on up to middle-aged, walked up and down the walkways in front of the open doors and, occasionally, went into one of the rooms with a visitor and closed the door.

  “This place totally stinks,” Jamie said. “I’d almost rather sleep in the car.”

  “We’ll be okay in our room. We’ll just lock the door.”

  “If we make it to our room without being attacked.”

  “Well, do you want to stay somewhere else?”

  “With what? He made us pay up front. What were we thinking?”

  Amelia sighed. “It didn’t look this bad this morning.”

  “Guess they were all sleeping it off. But it sure looks bad now.”

  Amelia looked up at their room on the second floor. They could get to the stairs without walking through men, and then if they walked fast past the open doors, they could probably get to their room without talking to anyone. “We’ll be okay. Let’s just stay close together and walk fast.”

  They got out of the car, and Jamie locked the doors. As they started up the stairs to the second floor, Jamie whispered, “You kill me. You’re afraid to knock on your mother’s door, but this doesn’t scare you.”

  “Ironic, huh?”

  They heard someone knocking on the rail at the bottom of the stairs, and a man called out. “Hey, baby, you two looking for me?”

  “Keep walking,” Amelia whispered. “Don’t look back at him.”

  Up ahead, a girl in a pair of shorts and a tube top leaned in a doorway, looking toward them. Black makeup was smeared under her eyes, and her hair looked as if it hadn’t been washed in a week. She reminded Amelia of a child who’d gotten into her mother’s makeup and substituted the eyeliner for the retouch.

  Amelia’s heart jolted. She wanted to stop and talk to the girl, find out where she was from, how she’d wound up here. Was she one of those outcasts in school who didn’t fit into any group, so she’d latched onto the first group that came along and accepted her?

  Amelia swallowed hard. Where was the girl’s mother? How had someone so young ended up here, blending in with the rest of these wayward souls? Had she come to this town like Amelia, looking for something or someone, only to be stopped by drugs or men or some trouble she was in—to the point that she’d checked into this dirtbag motel and never managed to check back out?

  Their steps slowed as they approached the girl, and Amelia felt Jamie pulling at her sleeve, warning her to keep walking. Jamie knew her too well.

  Amelia decided she was right—the girl probably wouldn’t welcome her intrusion. But then the girl’s vacant eyes met hers, and she stepped toward Amelia … staggered a little … then collapsed onto the concrete.

  Amelia gasped and rushed to her, falling to her knees. “Go get her some water!” she told Jamie. “Hurry!”

  Jamie looked around, then darted into the girl’s room and came back with a paper cup.

  The girl opened her eyes, clearly disoriented, and tried to focus on Amelia.

  “Are you okay?” Amelia asked.

  “Who’re you?” she asked in a raspy slur.

  “Amelia.” The minute she said her name, Jamie nudged her with her foot, as if warning her not to give too much information. Amelia took the cup and offered it to the girl. “You fainted. Here’s some water.”

  The girl took the cup.

  Jamie finally stooped down next to the girl. “Do you need us to call an ambulance?”

  She blinked, then started to sit up. “No.” She took another drink, then looked around to see who was watching. Amelia realized they’d become the subject of attention of everyone around them.

  “We could give you a ride somewhere,” Amelia whispered. “Get you out of here.”

  “No, I’m fine.” She wobbled back to her feet. “I don’t have anyplace else to go anyway.”

  Those words slammed into Amelia’s gut. How would it feel to have no place to go? She was here in this godforsaken place for one night, and that was all. What if she had to stay indefinitely because there was no other choice? Tears stung her eyes.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Tina.” The girl stumbled into her room, fell onto the bed. Amelia got up and started to follow her in, but Jamie caught her arm and mouthed, Let’s go!

  But Amelia couldn’t leave the girl, not until she was sure she was all right. She followed her into the room and looked around. It smelled like vomit. A pair of shoes lay on the floor, next to a Kroger sack with some clothes spilling out. A dozen empty fast-food bags were wadded around the room. Garbage spilled out of the trash can. “Do you … do you live here?”

  “What’s it to you?”

  Amelia looked at Jamie, then back at the girl. “It just doesn’t look like a very nice place for a person your age. Especially someone who’s sick.”

  “I’m not sick.” Tina rolled onto her back and looked at the ceiling. A fine film of perspiration glistened on her forehead. “If it’s so bad, why are you here?”

  “We’re just staying the night. Don’t you have a home? Is there someone we could call for you?”

  The girl started to laugh, silently at first, but then her shoulders began to convulse with her laughter. She rolled back over and buried her face in her pillow.

  Amelia turned back to Jamie, who looked just as clueless as she. “I guess that would be a no,” Jamie whispered. She tugged on Amelia’s sleeve, and Amelia nodded. They should go. The girl wasn’t going to let them help her.

  They started to walk out, but suddenly the girl rose up. “That’s right, you better run, or you might wind up like me. It’s contagious, you know.” Her words were thick with contempt.

  Amelia stopped at the door and looked back. The words were an accusation, but she couldn’t fault Tina for them. “If you need a ride somewhere, we’ll just be down the hall. The next to the last door. We could buy you some food.”

  “Are you crazy?” Jamie hissed the question in her ear. “We don’t have enough money!”

  But it didn’t matter, because Tina wasn’t interested. She just looked at Amelia for a long moment, then finally said, “You don’t belong here.” There was no malice in her tone now, just a deep, urgent sincerity. “You should get back in your car and pretend you were never here. It’s not a safe place for someone like you.”

  Jamie tugged on Amelia’s sleeve, urging her to come. Finally, Amelia left the doorway and followed her friend toward their room. Jamie’s hand was shaking as she put her key into the lock. When the door opened, Amelia looked back toward the girl’s room.

  Tina was in the doorway, watching them, looking for all the world like an abandoned child.

  Shaken, Amelia stepped into the stale room and watched Jamie lock the door behind them.

  CHAPTER 20

  Cade couldn’t have picked a better day to bring Blair to Breaker’s Reef. She was glad she’d agreed to come in spite of all the work they both needed to do. She’d been so conflicted about taking the day off, but there wasn’t anything she’d rather do. The scoop of the century would not have deterred her from exploring the grotto with Cade. The cavern was a special place from her childhood, one of her favorite places on the earth, the secret place she shared with the most important man in her life—her father. And now the other most important man in her life wanted to share it with her too.

  They had taken her family’s boat out, anchored it, and then gone into the water with their snorkeling gear, intent on getting into the cavern.

  “Are you ready?”

  Blair looked toward the big rock structure jutting up from the reef. She always got sli
ghtly panicked when she went down under that wall, fearing that she wouldn’t make it up on the other side in time to fill her lungs with air. “I think so.”

  “Just move fast. You want to lead?”

  She thought that might make it easier. Knowing Cade was behind her might keep the panic at bay. If she struggled to make it under, he could help her and get her to air. “Okay, you follow.”

  She pulled her mask down and dove under. He came beside her, moving his arms in long, graceful strokes, pulling himself down toward the saltwater depths until he came to the wall. His dark hair waved around his head as he waited for her. She followed as he went lower still, found the underside of the wall, then signaled her to pass him.

  Her heart raced as that jolt of panic hit her, but she swam on, taking the lead, pulling with long strokes until she found the opening and squeezed up through it.

  It was too far this time! Her lungs wouldn’t hold the air. She’d have to release it, and then she wouldn’t be able to inhale again in time. She needed to turn back, yet she was closer to the surface of the cavern than if she went back under the wall. Besides, she could feel Cade behind her, urging her on, waiting for her to clear the opening so that he could make his way to air.

  She pulled out of the tunnel, and Cade swept up beside her. She raced him to the surface, pulling with all her might toward the light …

  She burst up, sucking in air.

  Something floated against her arm, and she jerked and moved back as Cade came up. A turtle? A fish? It was soft, limp …

  She turned around in the water …

  And screamed.

  The body of a girl floated there.

  Cade pulled Blair back and saw what had frightened her. Gasping for breath, Blair tried desperately to tread water as she stared, horrified, at the body. It was secured by a tether tied to her arm and hooked around a stalagmite jutting out of a ledge.

  “It’s okay.” Breathless, Cade whispered in her ear. “Calm down.”

  “Is she dead?” Her words wavered across the cave. She was trembling, but so was he.

  “I don’t know.” He pulled Blair toward a flat, smooth shelf and helped her out of the water. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. Hurry.”

  He swam back to the body, dread tightening his face.

  “She’s cold, and there’s not a pulse. She’s dead, all right.”

  He looked around as if trying to judge whether someone else was there with them. There was clearly no place for anyone to hide.

  Blair was shivering. “Did she float in here on her own?”

  “No, she’s tied. Someone put her here.”

  Blair finally forced herself to look toward the body. She thought she might faint, but she had to stay clear-headed if she hoped to get out of there safely. It looked like a teenager, dressed in jeans and a red pullover shirt. Feather earrings floated on the surface, and one pink sandal with a yellow daisy was buckled onto her foot. Blair’s eyes followed the rope that held the girl, drifting to the wall above her. She saw some words written in chalk, just above where the girl was tied.

  Will you marry me?

  She caught her breath. “Cade, look! The killer left a message.”

  She saw the chalk lying there next to a bouquet of yellow roses, as if the killer had placed them there. Cade’s face was ashen as he turned back. When he spoke, his voice was raw.

  “I think our killer is playing with me. This can’t be a coincidence.”

  Blair tried to stop shivering. “W-what do you m-mean?”

  He shook his head. “Someone knew we’d be here.”

  Blair was shaking harder now. “Did you t-tell anyone you were coming here?”

  He hesitated again. “Yes, I told a couple of people.”

  “Cade, I’m s-scared. Let’s g-get out of here.”

  Cade nodded. “Yeah, I’m going to have to radio this in.” He came back to her, pulled himself out of the water, and rubbed her arms to warm her up. She tried to relax.

  “You okay?”

  She nodded. “I think so.”

  “Can you make it out?”

  Again, she nodded.

  “Put your mask on,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  “But the girl.”

  “We have to leave her here. I can’t disturb the evidence.”

  Blair looked at the body again. Who was she? “Do you recognize her?”

  “No. I’ve never seen her before.” Cade pulled his mask on, hiding the emotions passing across his face. Blair tried not to think of more parents grieving over their child. She tried, instead, to concentrate on getting enough air to get out of the cavern.

  She followed Cade down, down, down under the wall, and back up again. She burst into daylight, never so glad in her life to see the sky. Cade helped her into the boat and looked through his binoculars for any sign that the killer was still around. Then he radioed the state police.

  Blair pulled a blanket around her body and tried to stop shivering.

  CHAPTER 21

  Cade was thankful Blair had managed to shake off her fear and slip into journalism mode as the various law enforcement agencies involved came out to work the crime scene. “Blair, you’ve obviously got a scoop on this, but I have to ask you not to report any of the details of the crime scene. There are certain things only the killer knows. We want to keep those things away from the public.”

  “What about the writing on the wall? Can I report that?”

  Cade wanted to scream out that the killer hadn’t written that on the wall—that he had—but he didn’t want his proposal to come that way. He’d wanted her to see the writing, then find the flowers, the oyster, and see the ring. He’d wanted it to be romantic and memorable, something they would tell their grandchildren.

  It would be memorable, all right.

  “No, especially not that,” he said. “And please don’t let it get out to the rest of the press.”

  Blair sighed. “Are you sure? It would make great headlines.”

  “I’m sure.”

  She looked toward the cave. “I guess it’s the biggest clue you’ve got, huh? If you can trace the handwriting, get prints off the chalk, maybe you’ll figure out who it is.”

  Cade didn’t answer.

  “Gibson’s under surveillance, right? He couldn’t have done this without being seen.”

  “Unless he hired someone to move the body. Maybe it was his way of throwing us off. Making us think he couldn’t be the one. Look, I have to go back in.” He brushed her wet hair out of her eyes. “You gonna be okay?”

  “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

  Cade put his mask on and swam back under the wall. He came up on the other side. Already Yeager and Smith from the GBI were working the scene, documenting the evidence and photographing the girl.

  “I have to tell you something.” Cade’s voice echoed off the cavern walls.

  The detective in charge of the investigation looked back at him. “What?”

  “The writing on the wall. It’s mine.”

  Everyone turned to stare at him. “What do you mean, yours?”

  “I wrote it. I was here earlier today. I wrote it on the wall, and I was bringing Blair here to propose. The killer must have known. The body wasn’t here earlier—I’m sure of it—and he tied her to the ledge right under where I wrote my proposal, obviously knowing I would bring Blair right to that spot.”

  Yeager’s eyes narrowed. “When were you here, exactly?”

  “About ten this morning—” Even as he spoke, he knew he had become a suspect. He pulled the oyster out of his nylon pocket. “Here, look. I was going to have Blair come up and see the sign, and then I was going to set this on the ledge and direct her to find it. It has a ring inside it.” He opened the oyster and showed the detectives.

  Yeager looked as if he didn’t know whether to congratulate or cuff him.

  “Look, if you can keep this from Blair, I’d appreciate it,” Cade said. “I obviously didn’t get
to propose. I don’t want her to know the writing was mine.”

  “So you’re telling me that the chalk will have your prints on it?”

  Cade fought back his frustration. “Of course it will. I didn’t try to hide my prints. I didn’t know I would have to answer for any of this later. But someone knew.”

  “Who did you tell?”

  “I told the jeweler, Zaheer, and the Colonel, who owns Crickets. And Jonathan Cleary, the mayor. And I mentioned it to the florist when I picked the flowers up. Some of my men knew. Any one of them could have told a dozen people, even though I swore them to secrecy.” If only he knew which one had wagged his tongue. He would personally like to throttle them.

  And now what would he do? If he didn’t ask Blair to marry him today, word was bound to get back to her. But this wasn’t how he wanted to propose. Blair deserved better. He watched the detectives work, noting the tension in their movements, their hushed conversations. And he knew the evidence was pointing to him, because the killer wanted it that way.

  With all his heart, he vowed not to let him win.

  CHAPTER 22

  Hours later, Cade met with Yeager and Smith in the GBI’s branch office.

  “You won’t believe what we’ve found on Gibson’s computer,” Yeager said. “A scene describing this second murder was in the book he was working on. He had it down to a tee.”

  Cade hadn’t quite expected that. It was too obvious. Did the man honestly think he would get away with it?

  Cade clenched his jaw. “I still don’t understand why he’d goad me like this. Taking the dead girl to the very place I was going to be. Tying her right under my sign. Why?”