High Jinx

by Shannon Esposito

  Then it happened. My hand hit something solid. Grabbing on, I pulled with all my might, swimming up until my muscles burned and trembled. I broke the surface. ‘Help!’ I saw Captain Bronson, Miguel and Carl jump toward me before I was pulled back under.

  Suddenly there were hands clutching my arms. My head broke the surface again and I gasped for air.

  ‘We got him!’ Carl said. ‘You can let go.’

  I watched as Captain Bronson and Miguel hauled a limp Devon above the surface right beside me. Carl had his arm around my waist, holding me above water.

  Devon lifted his head and his eyes met mine above the Human Gills gadget. Then he let it drop from his mouth. I let out a cry of happiness and wrapped my arms around him. He was weak, barely conscious, but he was alive.

  ‘Put him in the boat. I’ll be fine.’

  My arms were almost useless. Captain Bronson ripped his life jacket over his head and slipped it on me as I hung on with one arm. ‘I’m not sure if that was the bravest or the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen anyone do,’ he chuckled.

  ‘Both.’ Beth Anne shook her head but grinned at me as she helped the men get Devon inside the dingy. I watched as she used the penknife to cut the zip ties on his hands. He was trying to say something but he was too weak.

  ‘Just rest,’ she told him. Removing his wet jacket, she wrapped her sweater around his shoulders.

  ‘Thanks, Beth Anne,’ I said. Now what? ‘Now we need to find a way to get him to the hospital.’ In the distance, the yacht was just a grouping of orange and yellow dots.

  ‘Think we can flag down that helicopter?’ Miguel asked with a touch of tired humor.

  We all turned our heads to the west. He was right. The thumping sound of the blades was beginning to reach us as the spotlight wove in and out of the clouds.

  There was some shuffling in the dingy and then Selene said, ‘We can. With these!’

  I peered over the edge of the dingy and saw her holding a flare. Hope bloomed. Everyone began to cheer.

  ‘Yes!’

  ‘Hang on, Devon,’ I whispered. ‘We’re almost home.’

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  The Coast Guard helicopter reached us first, fairly quickly after we’d shot off the first stress flare. Two crewmen were lowered down with a rescue basket.

  ‘He needs immediate medical attention!’ Yelling over the thumping and roaring, I pointed at Devon slumped against the seat. ‘Please!’

  While they worked on strapping Devon into the basket, the helicopter hovered above. There was so much noise and commotion, I didn’t even notice the Clearwater Police boat approaching.

  The lights washed over us and I turned to see Salma and Quinn waving from it. Lifting a tired arm, I waved back.

  We let the helicopter go so they could rush Devon to the hospital faster while we all climbed on board the police boat. It was cramped but doable.

  Quinn grabbed me by the life jacket when I climbed in and helped me sit down on the bench seat. ‘Jaysis, Elle, you all right?’

  I fell into his arms, shaking from the cold and adrenaline. The tears finally came as he squeezed me and whispered, ‘There, there, you’re safe now.’

  There was so much excitement on the small boat with people talking all at once. Finally I pulled myself together enough to sit up, though the physical exhaustion made me want to just collapse and sleep for a week.

  ‘Yeah. I’m fine, sorry.’ I finally offered him a small smile in exchange for his kindness. ‘Just worried about Devon now.’

  He rubbed his beard thoughtfully then assured me, ‘No need, he’s a tough one.’

  ‘But, he was shot … again. And half-drowned. Wait. How … How did you guys find us so quickly?’

  ‘You can thank Devon for that.’ Salma stepped over feet and legs to sit on the other side of me as the boat took off back toward shore. She pulled an iPad out of a leather case. ‘Devon called Quinn before you guys left on the yacht – told him to get me and Breezy and head to the Beckleys. Said we needed to watch and record what was happening on the yacht and we could do that from M.J.’s iPad. He was worried about Sven and hoped we could record it if he said anything incriminating. Imagine our surprise when it was M.J. Beckley we should’ve been watching. Anyway, Breezy talked Flavia into letting us in and knew where M.J. kept the iPad. Technology is amazing, isn’t it?’

  It was almost too good to be true. ‘So you saw everything? Recorded everything?’

  ‘Yes.’ She nodded. ‘As soon as M.J. pulled the gun on you all we jumped in the boat. We had the yacht coordinates on here so that wasn’t the hard part. It was just you were so far out. Time was against us.’

  I suddenly remember the man we left behind. I wasn’t his biggest fan but surely someone would need closure. Maybe even Selene. ‘What about Sven? Will his body be recovered?’

  She blew out a deep breath. ‘We’ll send a dive team out here to try but …’ She shook her head sadly.

  The wind was whipping wet pieces of hair against my cheek and eye. I pushed them aside and stared at the strip of city lights coming into view. ‘He’s still got Lulu.’

  Salma put her hand on my knee. ‘The Coast Guard is looking for him. They’ll find him, don’t worry.’

  What I was worried about was what he’d do to Lulu if they found him. Would he go through with his threat that they’d be together no matter what? In life or death. Rubbing the evil eye pendant through my shirt, I closed my eyes and sent up a prayer to the universe, the stars, the saints and whatever gods were listening to keep Lulu and the baby safe.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Cali was finally semi-conscious beneath a blanket. Selene pulled her closer and Chloe licked her ear from her perch on Selene’s lap. ‘Go back to sleep, Cali. It’s all over now. We’re safe.’ Selene had stopped crying but she was white as a ghost and her flat tone suggested shock. I imagined it would take her a while to recover from M.J.’s actions. Could she forgive him like she forgave Cali? I highly doubted it. Murder was a lot different than betraying your family with tabloid gossip. I felt sorry for her, and I wouldn’t take all the money in the world to be in her shoes right now.

  Salma took statements from everyone as we made the hour-and-a-half trek back to shore. About twenty minutes in she’d received a radio call from the Coast Guard. Devon was on the ground and en route to the hospital.

  ‘He’s going to be fine,’ she said, offering me a rare smile. ‘You did good.’ I saw it clearly then: the love she had for Devon. In that moment of raw relief, it was unmasked. Then she turned away quickly to finish taking Captain Bronson’s statement.

  Selene insisted on going right back home instead of getting checked out at the hospital. That was fine with me. I could get Devon’s Jeep and go check on the dogs before I headed to the hospital to be with Devon.

  The first one to greet us as we all piled off the police boat at the dock was Athena. Her yipping echoed through the night air, and I smiled despite my fatigue. Flavia’s cries of relief could be heard right behind her as Breezy wheeled her toward us.

  ‘Thank you, thank you for bringing my daughter home safe!’ she cried, clutching Selene’s hands and then her face. Athena and Chloe had their own reunion party as Selene collapsed on her knees, resting her head in her mother’s lap and letting fresh tears fall.

  ‘I can’t believe it, Mom,’ she kept whispering. ‘My little boy.’

  The men helped to get Cali into the house as Beth Anne and I locked arms, leaning on each other, and followed behind them.

  ‘Elle,’ Flavia called to me as she stroked Selene’s head in her lap. Moonlight reflected in her eyes, which were swimming in tears. ‘You are OK?’

  With effort, I smiled and pulled the evil eye pendant from my still-damp shirt. Everyone needs to believe in something. I could give her this. ‘I am. Thank you.’

  She nodded sagely and gave her attention back to her broken daughter.

  TWENTY-NINE

  ‘Where do you think you’re going?’ A hand r
eached out and grabbed mine. Devon’s voice was groggy, his eyes still closed.

  I slid back into the chair I’d held vigil in beside his hospital bed all morning and grinned at him, gripping his hand. Emotion overwhelmed me as his eyes fluttered open for the first time since he’d come out of surgery to repair the damage to blood vessels and muscle inflicted on his shoulder by the bullet.

  He turned his head slowly and our eyes met. His voice was a raspy whisper. ‘Jaysis, it’s bloody good to see you, Elle.’

  I felt like I would lift off the chair like a balloon as relief flooded my body. ‘You, too. How are you feeling?’

  His lips were pale but his eyes were bright. ‘Like I’m on some really good painkillers.’

  ‘Ah. That would be morphine.’ I lifted myself out of the chair, carefully making sure I didn’t touch his bandaged shoulder, and gently kissed his lips. ‘Welcome back.’ We held hands, intertwining them tighter as I lowered myself back into the chair, ignoring my stiff back and legs. ‘You know, you really have to stop getting yourself shot.’

  He shifted in the bed and then winced. ‘Agreed. What happened? Is everyone all right?’

  ‘What do you remember?’

  His gaze drifted behind me as he tried to recall. ‘I …’ He blinked and then squinted. ‘What is all that? Did somebody die then?’

  I glanced behind me at the mounds of balloons and flowers and food. ‘That is mostly from Breezy’s family, their way of saying thank you for clearing Breezy of the murder charges. I think they’ll be bringing us homemade food for the next year.’

  Devon cracked a smile and his chest rose as he chuckled. Then he sighed. ‘I remember bits and pieces. Getting shot. Hitting the water. Coming to a few times beneath the water. Being terrified of what was happening to you …’ He squeezed his eyes shut and squeezed my hand at the same time. When he spoke again, emotion had thickened his voice. ‘I remember hearing you shouting for me. I can’t believe I didn’t see that comin’ with M.J. I’d been so distracted with my parents’ case. How were we rescued? Did they catch him? Is Lulu safe?’

  I shook my head. I’d been trying to stay positive about Lulu. I kept telling myself that M.J. loved her, that he’d never hurt her. But then I remembered the look on his face and how it wasn’t love but obsession. He would have her at any cost and he’d already killed to prove that. Don’t cry. ‘I haven’t heard anything yet. Of course, my phone is at the bottom of the Gulf.’

  His eyes closed as he blew out a deep breath. He forced them back open. ‘But you’re safe.’

  ‘And you’re safe,’ I whispered back. Stroking his hair, which was stiff from the dried salt water, gratitude washed over me. This time I couldn’t stop the flood of tears. Sniffing, I wiped my eyes with my sweater sleeve.

  His eyes cracked open and met mine. Such an intense blue. Sparkling. Alive. Full of love. ‘Maybe that wee bag from Madame Dutrey did help protect me. Either that or I’ve got a guardian angel.’ He squeezed my hand once more and then drifted off.

  I smiled, thinking about my dog, Angel, and how she was the reason he’d had the Human Gills to keep him alive. ‘You have no idea,’ I said quietly.

  It took the Coast Guard four days to find the yacht. Devon got the call on his new iPhone from Salma as we were having our last dinner with Quinn, which consisted of various plates of food Novia had been bringing me at the Pampered Pup the last two days. The dogs were at our feet under the table. They hadn’t left our side since Devon came home from the hospital on Monday, even insisting on sleeping in the bed with their favorite toys. We were such pushovers.

  I watched his face as he nodded and then chuckled. ‘She’s a feisty one, for sure. Thanks for lettin’ us know.’ He seemed to be enjoying a private joke as he put the phone on the table and adjusted the sling on his injured arm.

  ‘Well?’ Quinn said. ‘Are you gonna keep us in the dark then?’

  Devon shook his head slowly and then blew out a deep breath. ‘Seems like Lulu had managed to drug M.J. with the tranquilizers Selene had left in the bedroom and tie him up by their second day at sea. But he’d disabled the GPS and radios so she had no choice but to wait to be rescued. She’s fine … well, as fine as a lass can be goin’ through somethin’ like this. The babe’s fine, too. M.J.’s in custody and being shipped back to Florida to face murder, kidnapping and various other charges.’

  I sat back in the chair and took in a shuddering breath; my first full breath in days. A rush of warmth filled my body. It was over. Lulu was safe. M.J. was in custody and wouldn’t hurt anyone again. Devon reached over and squeezed my hand at the same time as Buddha popped his big head onto my lap with his squeaky shark planted firmly in his jaws.

  I smiled at Devon and stroked the soft indent between Buddha’s eyes. ‘I’m all right, you two.’ And I was. ‘Though I guess I’ll be trusting Buddha’s judgment from now on. You know he growled at M.J. when he went to help me after I fell at the spa.’ He deserved an ear scratch for that. ‘Sorry for not listening to you, boy.’

  Devon held something under the table and Buddha left my leg and dropped his shark to gulp it down. ‘That’s a good dog.’

  ‘You will be the one cleaning that up off the floor later,’ I teased him.

  Despite the danger we’d all been in, something precious had come from it. Bonds of friendship had formed between us from the high pressure situation that wouldn’t have been possible in day to day life. Lulu felt like my sister now, and I couldn’t wait to give her a hug and see for myself that she and the baby were OK. Beth Anne was no longer an intimidating rich client but a dear friend that I knew, despite our socio-economical differences, was the same as me on the inside, where it mattered. Devon and I now had a bond that allowed me to stop worrying about his past relationship with Salma – even though I knew without a doubt now how she felt about him – and just be grateful for every second I had with him. I guess almost losing someone you love makes you realize how fragile life is. How much it has to be appreciated. Even Quinn felt more like a brother than someone I’d just met a few weeks ago.

  When I looked at Quinn, a tiny secret smile was nestled in his beard as he watched us.

  ‘OK, spill it,’ I said.

  He glanced from me to Devon and then reached for his beer. ‘Well, I was a bit bored while waiting for this bloke to get his sorry arse out of a hospital bed. So, first … Elle, I fixed your car. She’ll run as good as a car with 230,000 miles can run.’

  My cheeks burned. ‘Oh, Quinn, thank you! I don’t know what to say.’

  He held up a hand. ‘No need to say anything but that. I’ve seen the way people drive those golf carts here – can’t have you ridin’ a bike.’ After a generous swig from his Guinness bottle, he eyed Devon with a bit more reserve. ‘Also, I finished goin’ through all the bleedin’ paperwork. I think I found the second boat.’

  I watched Devon lean slowly forward, his eyes growing wide with surprise and then hope. Finally he nodded and grinned at us both. ‘Right then. Let’s finish our meal and you can show me.’

  ‘Since my time is up, you two will have to come to Dublin to celebrate when the dirtballs are locked up for good,’ Quinn said, stabbing a chunk of spicy pork.

  Devon glanced at me and put down his fork. He must have seen the fear that gripped me, closing my throat, because he reached over and gently squeezed my hand. ‘That’d be grand.’ Then he winked and gave me that killer smile of his, the one that melted me and made me feel like I could do anything as long as he kept looking at me like that. ‘We’ll work on it … together.’

  Later that evening, we were snuggled beneath the sheets with the dogs pinning us down on both sides. Petey was dreaming already, his legs twitching like he was chasing something in his sleep. Devon had his good arm wrapped around me as he flipped through some photos he’d downloaded from his camera to the laptop, and I was enjoying the feel of his bare chest beneath my cheek as I watched him.

  ‘Well, that’s a bit strange,’ he muttered t
o himself.

  ‘What is?’ I asked, snuggling closer.

  He clicked on the keyboard, enlarging the photo he was looking at and tapped on the screen. ‘Sort of looks like a little brown dog sittin’ in front of you, but I don’t remember a dog there not in costume.’

  I lifted my head up and stared at the photo. The subject of the picture was obviously Ghost in his William Wegman costume, but you could also see me sitting on the side and Devon was right … a little brown dog-shaped form sat in front of me. ‘Can you blow it up more?’

  He did and we watched as the form grew larger but less clear. Plus, you could see my shoe on the other side of it.

  ‘Well, that’s obviously one of Pricilla Moon’s Yorkies.’ I grinned up at him. Yes, I was teasing him, but I also wanted to see his reaction when I brought up the spirit dogs. I’d like to be able to tell him about Angel one day without him thinking I was off my rocker.

  ‘Pricilla Moon, the billionaire heiress who bought this island because her dogs weren’t welcomed in the restaurant?’

  ‘Yes,’ I said, still watching him closely.

  He glanced back at the photo and then down at me. ‘Aren’t her dogs … long gone?’

  I was enjoying his confusion. I smiled. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Huh.’ He zoomed the photo back out and stared at it thoughtfully. ‘Ma believed in spirits, you know. Said she saw one in a castle one day when she was a wee girl.’

  I pulled the bulk of his arm tighter around my shoulder. ‘I would’ve really liked your mom.’

  ‘She would’ve liked you, too.’ He kissed the top of my head. ‘Elle, have you given any thought to finding your da?’

  The question was startling and stirred up all sorts of emotions, the dominant one being anger. Had I? ‘No, actually. Why would I want to? He abandoned Mom and me. Obviously he doesn’t want anything to do with us.’