“Don’t worry about it. But I did see that proud look on your face and wondered if you’d even bother showing up tonight.”
“To tell you the truth, I think I’ll enjoy staying here and bouncing ideas off another female.”
“Feel free.” Raine jumped up and started out. “Let me show you the rest of the place. The bathroom’s in the middle of the hallway so we’ll have to share. A heads up, though, it only has a shower, no tub.”
“That’s fine. But you have to let me pay. I can’t just move in here and…”
Raine waved her off. “When you can, you’ll contribute. You’re paying rent on an apartment back home. That has to strain the budget. Plus, I’m not desperate for rent money. This houseboat belonged to Danny. It’s paid for. He left it to me. I have a good job at the taco shack because my mom owns the place. One day, it’ll be mine outright. And last summer, the business had a really good run. Tourists love a cheap taco. And like I said earlier, I understand these are extraordinary circumstances beyond your control. You came to town looking for your brother. I know how I’d feel if the same thing happened to me and I was desperate to find someone I cared about, but strapped for cash. I’d give anything if Danny were still around so that I could go look for him if he ever went missing. Maybe that doesn’t make sense to you but…”
“No, it does. It makes perfect sense.”
Raine led the way into another small bedroom where she’d been just as generous with color but incorporated much softer shades. Pale greens complemented the pop of peach and the wave of dockside teal. The tones gave the room a definite feminine feel while still keeping with the coastal, nautical theme.
“If you want, you can unpack and settle in while I change my clothes. Around this time of day, I have to get out of these jeans and top and put on something that doesn’t smell like grease and fish, the downside of working around food all day. Then we’ll have a glass of wine and I’ll start dinner.”
“I’m happy to help with supper,” Tessa offered as she walked back to her own room. “I’m handy in the kitchen.”
“Good to know.”
Inside her space, Tessa opened a suitcase and began tossing her things into drawers. She took her toiletries and arranged them on top of the dresser so they wouldn’t take up space in Raine’s tiny bathroom.
It took her all of twenty minutes to pull everything out of her luggage and get her second wind. When she heard Raine rummaging in the kitchen getting out pots and pans, she headed that way.
Forty-five minutes later the two had abandoned the idea of cabernet and were laughing over margaritas that Raine had thrown together in the blender. They sat on the deck under the stars nibbling on nachos and popcorn.
Raine briefly put down her glass and sat back in wonder. “So you helped Jackson and Mitch with dinner prep? That had to be a sight to see.”
“I wouldn’t say I helped, more like tried to referee an ongoing sibling rivalry that turned into a food fight.”
A round of laughter escaped Raine’s lips. “The sad thing is I didn’t even know Mitch could boil water. Although, I guess there’s a lot about him I don’t know these days.”
Remembering what Raine had admitted at the taco shop, Tessa explored it more. “How long have you known Mitch?”
Looking up at the night sky, Raine gulped the tequila concoction, emptying the goblet. “Forever. Middle school crushes that turned into high school sweethearts. And dances. And making out in his car.”
Sensing a good story, Tessa angled forward. “Ah, a history together. What happened? Why didn’t you two take the big leap into marriage?”
Raine shifted in her seat and poured herself another full glass. “The short answer is Mitch wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere else other than Indigo Key. He copped to that so many times but I was in love. I didn’t take him seriously. My mistake. He was telling me the only way he could that he intended to leave as soon as the opportunity presented itself. I suppose he wanted someone else, too. I didn’t see that coming either. But the minute he turned eighteen he couldn’t wait to get out of here and see the world.”
She lifted her drink and sipped the slushy liquid. “Mitch dumped me so fast after graduation I barely had time to take off my cap and gown. Anyway, to get at the why, you’d have to ask Mitch Indigo.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Raine rolled her eyes. “I thought I just did. I haven’t been sitting around pining for the asshole if that’s what you’re getting at.”
Tessa realized she’d almost walked through a minefield. Wisely, she pulled back, breathed in the balmy Florida air. A bit bleary-eyed, Tessa suddenly turned more serious. “Before I even got here I spent days calling all the hospitals in case Ryan had been brought in after a car accident. I went with the hope that he might’ve suffered amnesia or something. I guess that only happens in the movies though because he hadn’t been admitted to any of the local facilities.”
“Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. He might’ve had an accident on his way back to North Carolina. It could be a simple case of…”
Tessa didn’t let her finish. “I called every hospital from here to Nags Head. They didn’t have an accident victim fitting Ryan’s description. It’s as if he and his Honda just vanished into thin air.” Tessa tapped the table. “Right here, within a mile or two of where we’re sitting right now. The whole thing’s been surreal.”
Raine gripped her new friend’s hand. “He’s out there. We’ll find him.”
“That’s what I keep telling myself.” She sipped more tropical tequila. “I get the impression from the Indigos and from what you mentioned earlier at the restaurant that Walker isn’t very well liked, not even in his own circles. What kind of guy are we really talking about?”
“Honestly, Walker is an ass. There’s no other way to describe him. And yeah, everyone pretty much got fed up early on with that arrogant attitude he tossed around. The local rich boy could be the biggest jerk of anyone. Even back in grade school he bullied people. I never understood what Livvy saw in him. To this day, I still don’t. I’ll give you an example. The two of them went on a cruise for their honeymoon, one of those that sail the Mediterranean around the Greek islands. Anyway, the jackass spent most of his days and nights in the casino onboard the ship instead of with her. Livvy said that during the trip he lost at least twenty grand.”
Tessa’s hand flew to her mouth. “Holy crap, Taco Girl, that’s a lot of gambling.”
“It’s a lot of losing,” Raine corrected.
“Hmm, that makes me wonder if all the rumors about money woes were all about his gambling debts.”
“Knowing Walker, that sounds reasonable enough. I think his daddy bailed him out quite a bit, especially when he got in deep with bookies.”
“Walker bet on sports?”
“All the time.”
Tessa raised a brow. “Chronic gamblers have bookies. You don’t suppose while he was here in town Ryan somehow got dragged into Walker’s need for cash? Bookies are known to get impatient for their money. My brother had five grand on him the morning he went off the radar.”
“We could always go with that angle and run with it, ask around town. Are we still on for Miami tomorrow?”
“Sure. But I promised Jackson I’d show up at the marina first for the search. And I kinda, sorta promised you’d be there, too.”
Raine stabbed a finger in the air for emphasis. “I don’t have a problem doing that for Livvy and the kids. Hell, I don’t even have a problem being around Mitch. That ship sailed a long time ago. So we’ll spend the morning trekking the neighborhoods looking for…what exactly are we looking for anyway?”
“I get the sense from the Indigos they’re looking for remains. They just don’t verbalize it.”
Raine made a face. “Well, that’s a sobering thought. Not much to look forward to tomorrow. First, we hunt for any sign of Livvy. Then we turn our attention to Walker’s stripper, ask around for his bookie.”
“Hey, it isn’t my fault that the upstanding citizen Walker led a bit of a sleazy life.”
“I’m beginning to think that’s true. But what if the bookie’s right here in town,” Tessa surmised. “In fact, what if Walker’s girlfriend is living in Indigo Key?”
Raine shook her head. “In such a small town? No way. Walker would get caught in a heartbeat. No, if you’re a man bent on cheating, it’s a lot smarter to do it someplace other than in your own backyard.”
“But is Walker really all that smart?”
It was Raine’s turn to hoot with laughter. “You got me there. Walker the genius. Not.”
Tessa clinked her glass with Raine’s. “I think I’m going to enjoy bunking here.”
Chapter Twelve - Fire
The Indigo Key marina was a full service boatyard. It could accommodate most average-sized recreational boats except for the mega cruise ships. The port offered first-rate amenities like fueling stations and waste dumps along with plenty of slips and rack storage. Boaters from all over the world often stopped for midway refueling on their way to destinations in the Caribbean or west toward the Gulf States. Mariners could take advantage of the area restaurants and bars or restock supplies from the two convenient grocery stores within walking distance.
Jackson stared out at the hustle of the harbor realizing he’d missed the beauty of this place. He watched as a tugboat pushed a barge loaded down with supplies and maneuvered it safely out to sea.
The small town atmosphere hadn’t changed much in all the years he’d been gone. You could still count on the laidback atmosphere, the whiff of fish coming off the bay, the smell of bacon sizzling in a skillet somewhere nearby, and the sound of the surf lapping up against the feathery sand.
There were fond memories here. As a kid, his summer days consisted of any activity in or near the water. Things like snorkeling, fishing, or fighting with his siblings over precious turf on where best to build a sand fort. It made for plenty of hot and sweaty days. Those days of innocence had been filled to the brim with endless carefree pursuits that only children truly appreciated. He’d taken those days for granted and realized now they had been the best times of his life.
No wonder Livvy had decided to stay put and raise a family here. A flood of envy shot through him.
Tessa walked up with Raine in tow and waved a hand in front of Jackson’s face. “Where were you just now?”
“Daydreaming,” Jackson muttered as he turned to greet the women. “Hey, Raine good to see you. Thanks for coming.” To Tessa he couldn’t resist leaning in and placing a light kiss on her cheek.
Raine had already scouted out Mitch’s position and knew if she hung around Tessa she might be able to avoid him altogether. “Are you in charge?”
Jackson smiled widely. “Not me. That would be your good buddy.” He heard a loud sigh. “Just remember, Raine, you’re doing this for Livvy and the kids. Try to put up with him. Like the rest of us the pressure is getting to him.”
“I know. I know. I promise to be a sweetheart and not give him a hard time.” She took off, walking toward Mitch, determined to make nice.
Tessa turned her sharp blue eyes on Jackson. “What were you daydreaming about?”
Why did those eyes of hers always seem to throw him off-balance with their penetrating stare? Why did he feel a sense of relief that she’d shown up? He took in the outfit she had on, khaki shorts and a white knit tank with swingy lace and imagined slowly peeling her out of her clothes. “What was the question?”
She let out a half-laugh. “You said you were daydreaming. Looks like you’re still in a fog.”
“Ah, a simpler time, I suppose, when Livvy and I were kids. Did I mention how good you look today?”
“You didn’t. Maybe that deep fog has rattled your brain. Or maybe the stress is getting to you, too.” She slung a friendly arm around his waist. “A girl never gets tired of hearing she knocked it out of the park even if it’s just when she threw on a pair of shorts. Is it always this hot here?”
His eyes filled with genuine amusement. “It’s the humidity. It’s worse in August. Look around, there’s no shade to speak of. We’ll likely bake. Did you remember sunscreen?”
She smiled, decided to let him keep talking. Mitch wasn’t the only one who seemed to be cracking under the pressure. She listened as he rattled on about stats and data about the area and weather. It culminated in what was really bothering him.
“The heat makes me wonder what kind of turnout we’ll get today.”
Tessa took him by the arm. “The kind that’s dedicated, the ones who’ll brave the heat and mosquitos because they care about your sister and the kids. For those who don’t want to participate, there are plenty of others who’ll take up the slack.”
“I hope you’re right.” It was time to clear the air for good. “There’s something I need to say. I’m sorry if I gave you the impression Walker wasn’t responsible for Ryan’s disappearance. Because I think that’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“It’s commendable you wanted to keep an open mind. I’m sorry I didn’t understand that before. But I’ll take your change of heart. Now if I could just convince Anniston, I’d consider it a triumph.”
The measly turnout was a disappointment. Instead of the massive crowd that had gathered on Sunday, Tessa counted ten hearty souls. It might have been the temperature that kept them away, but she wasn’t convinced it was the ninety-degree heat.
But luckily, one remaining search and rescue team had stayed behind with their dogs and pledged to stay in town until the end of the week. Another group had volunteered to send ground penetrating radar equipment whenever the family gave the word.
Mitch began organizing the few who’d shown up, handing out alert whistles, banners for tagging, and sticks to use in weeded lots. Everyone spread out and headed to their specific grid points.
Tessa drew a grassy section of wetland near the beach. Taking her stick in hand, she poked drainage ditches, inspected the greenbelt along the bike path, and explored a section of flat glade with plenty of golden creeper and rose mallow.
She fought mosquitos, encountered a scary-looking iguana with eyes that seemed bigger than its head, and happened upon a family of turtles, nesting under a locust berry bush. But those were nothing compared to the cottonmouth she watched slither into the low-lying marsh.
It wasn’t until she’d covered her area of sand twice, some fifty yards or so and back again, that she spotted Jackson at the other end of the pathway, head down, looking dejected and sad. She jogged toward him, only to stumble and trip on her own two feet.
Jackson darted over, pulled her upright.
As she stood up, brushing off sand and grime from her clothes, she had to laugh at her own clumsiness. “And I was worried about snakes. At least I didn’t fall into the water. What are you doing out here? This is my turf.”
“I came to get you. Mitch pulled us all back in.”
“Why?”
“At some point, we have to face reality. If we’re going to bring them back home, we need help from the outside. And Mitch’s crew chief just radioed that he’s about five miles out.”
“So we give up the land search in exchange for one underwater? That’s…disturbing. Talk about reality.”
“Yeah.” He rubbed her arm. “I’m wondering what we’ll do, how we’ll feel, when we find some piece of the puzzle we don’t want to face.”
“I’ve wondered that same thing. But so far, we haven’t found a single piece of fabric, not a torn shirt, not a shoe, not a trace of anything, anywhere. We’ve come up totally empty. It breaks my heart.”
He looked out over the shimmering water in the marina. “I read somewhere that the first sign of a psychopath is that they have zero empathy for any
one else. If we’re dealing with that type of personality we could be looking for a monster walking among us.”
“Any person who drags kids away is already a monster in my book. I could understand somewhat targeting Livvy, Walker, even Ryan. They’re adults, maybe they pissed someone off. But dragging kids along in a plot of this magnitude is inexcusable. I keep wondering when I’m out here looking, what could Blake and Ally have ever done to warrant this?”
He took her hand in his. “I’m not sure I could get through this without you here.”
She smiled. “Funny. I feel the same way about you.”
Hand in hand, Jackson and Tessa joined his brothers on the dock to watch Mitch’s pride and joy, a salvage boat named The Black Rum, make her way into port.
From the wharf, Mitch waved to his crew chief, Walsh Kingston, standing at the helm. Walsh returned the gesture by raising his arm in the air and giving a salute.
Walsh had a crop of light brown hair with the tips bleached from the sun. His olive skin glistened in the sunlight like a polished bronze statue. His pale blue eyes beamed with mischief that promised either a intense adventure or a serious bout of trouble.
From the time Mitch had set sail on his first salvage boat, he’d felt a special kinship toward the older Walsh. On the surface the two men had little in common. Walsh had been married before, but didn’t like to talk about it. He had a history that included a military background in Special Forces, and later, a stint in prison. Mitch was convinced it was Walsh’s colorful past that kept him tight-lipped. The man could go hours without saying a single word to anyone. But on a crew hundreds of miles from land, the sea had a way of eventually making a man open up.
It had taken Mitch exactly fourteen voyages out of port on somebody else’s salvage boat before he finally got Walsh to talk. He’d discovered firsthand, the air of mystery surrounding the ex-military guy had been well earned.
Truth was Mitch didn’t care much about Walsh’s former life. In him, Mitch had found a kindred spirit, someone who loved taking a boat out and spending weeks in the middle of the ocean surrounded by nothing but water, someone who experienced the same kind of adrenaline rush in that quest for finding the ultimate treasure.
The Indigo Brothers Trilogy Boxed Set Page 17