Tides of Deception (Samantha Rite Mystery Series Book 3)

by Hope Callaghan

  Sam watched his retreating back. Not so long ago, she would have burst into tears at this meeting. But not now.

  Sam sent up a silent, grateful prayer. Thank you God for helping me through that and finally giving me closure.

  Half an hour later she was sitting in her sister’s driveway. Today had been tough and Sam was more than a little relieved it was over.

  As she walked through the door, her sister Deb could tell by the look on Sam’s face that today hadn’t gone all that smoothly. “Tough stuff, huh?”

  Sam let out an exaggerated sigh as she hung up her jacket and dropped her car keys on the counter nearby. “Whew! You ain’t kidding!”

  She made her way to the small, tidy bedroom her sister was letting her stay in. As she changed out of her work clothes, she glanced over at the picture of her and Lee. A smile crossed her face as she remembered the moment the picture was taken.

  Yes, she definitely made the right decision. Sometimes life handed you hard choices. This was one of them. She still believed it was God’s plan. Things had fallen so easily into place, she just knew the rest would work itself out. No matter how painful the goodbye’s seemed right now.

  The next couple days flew by. Soon, it was Sunday morning. Sam almost dreaded this day. She loved her church, her friends, and the support group she’d started years ago. Hopefully it wouldn’t be another round of heart-wrenching farewells.

  The morning’s message was just what she needed to hear. Pastor Jamie was preaching on God moving you in different directions, taking you down new, uncharted paths. The key scripture in the morning’s message was:

  In his heart, a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9 NIV

  That was all the confirmation Sam needed. Even Brianna got it as she leaned over and whispered to her mom, “This message is for us!”

  After the service, Sam and Brianna shuffled out of the packed sanctuary. Just outside the door, her friend Christina stopped her. She was grinning from ear-to-ear. Someone seemed a little too happy to see them go!

  “What are you two doing for lunch?” Sam shrugged as she glanced over at Brianna.

  That was all the answer her friend needed. “Come with me.” Without waiting for a reply, Christina grabbed her hand and practically dragged Sam and Brianna down the hallway in the direction of the activity center. Sam shook her head. What on earth were they doing back here?

  It didn’t take long to find out as Christina swung the large, double door wide open.

  SURPRISE!

  Sam looked around the crowded room in amazement. It was wall-to-wall people! There must have been well over a hundred people in there. All her church friends stood looking at her and Brianna, huge, beaming smiles on their faces.

  The room was decorated with bright, colorful going-away balloons and streamers were draped from one end of the room to the other. An enormous, chocolate sheet cake was the centerpiece of the festive table full of food. The cake was surrounded by dish after dish of mouth-watering goodies. Sam sniffed appreciatively. Being the foodie that she was, she could tell the table was loaded down with some of the best potluck dishes for miles around.

  The aroma of freshly baked apple pie was taunting Sam. She caught a glimpse of that and a fresh peach cobbler out of the corner of her eye.

  Brianna leaned over and whispered to her mom, “I smell fried chicken. I’m starving to death and these smells are driving me crazy!”

  Sam smiled. A daughter after her own heart.

  Just then, Pastor Jamie walked up to where they were standing. “You didn’t think you were going to get away from us that easily, did you?”

  A warm smile lit up Sam’s face. What was supposed to be a sad goodbye ended up being a huge party with her extended church family. Sam and Brianna spent the afternoon laughing, talking and reminiscing about all they’d gone through and done together.

  Sam still had a smile on her face at the end of the day and after she’d had a chance to say a final farewell to every single person there. It made her appreciate all God had given her and how blessed she had been all these years to be part of this amazing group.

  It was almost dark by the time they hopped in the car and started back to her sister’s house. She glanced over at her daughter in the passenger seat. “Two down and one to go.” Brianna nodded. For once, she was quiet.

  Sam glanced in the rearview mirror. A car suddenly came out of nowhere as it flew up behind her. It began tailgating them, the bright headlights nearly blinding her.

  Brianna turned around in her seat. “That car is really close!”

  Sam swallowed nervously. “I see that.” They suddenly jolted forward as the idiot behind them bumped the back of their car.

  Brianna tugged on her seatbelt. “Did he just hit us?”

  Before Sam could answer, it happened again. This time a little harder. Hard enough for Brianna to reach out and grab the dash to steady herself.

  Sam glanced back again. The car was so close; she couldn’t see the headlights any longer.

  Panic filled Brianna’s voice. “They’re doing it on purpose!”

  Sam tried to remain calm for her daughter’s sake. Whoever was behind them was trying to force them to stop or worse. Crash. She gripped the steering wheel tightly, her mind racing. Maybe they just wanted to get around. She slowed the car and started to pull off onto the side. The car behind them did the same. She glanced in the rearview mirror. They were far enough away now where Sam could see the bright headlights again.

  Her eyes darted around the deserted road. Houses were few and far between in the country. The closest house was a good quarter of a mile up the road.

  She waited until the car was almost at a complete stop before yelling to her daughter, “Hang on!”

  Sam stomped the gas pedal to the floorboard and raced down the road as fast as the car would go. She must’ve caught the other driver by surprise because it took several long moments for the car to come right up on them again. Sam could see a stop sign just ahead. A quick right turn at the corner and they would be less than a mile from town. And the police department.

  Sam prayed no one was coming from the other direction as she blew through the sign and careened around the corner. She swallowed hard. “Are they still behind us?”

  Brianna quickly glanced back. “Yes.”

  Sam looked down at her speedometer. They were going 90 mph. She didn’t take her foot off the gas until they reached the edge of town.

  She knew she needed to slow down. The speed limit was only 35. She cast another nervous glance in the rearview mirror as she eased her foot off the gas. Just in time to feel another jarring bump. One more block and they would be in front of the police station.

  Sam focused all her attention on the road as Brianna kept a close eye on the car behind them. “It looks like there’s only one person in the car.”

  Sam made a quick left as she squealed into the police parking lot. She slammed on the brakes and came to a screeching halt directly in front of the double doors. She whirled around to face the street, just in time to see a black, four-door sedan speed by.

  Sam dropped her head on the steering wheel as relief flooded her body. She reached over and grabbed her daughter’s shaky hand. “Are you okay?”

  There was a light tap on the driver’s side window. Sam’s lifted her head and glanced out the window. A cop was crouched over, peering in at them.

  Sam slowly opened the door and slid out. Her knees buckled as she reached out to steady herself.

  Brianna quickly came around to where her mother now stood. The women briefly relayed the scary events that had just taken place. After they were done explaining what happened, the three of them walked around to inspect the back of the car. There were several long scratches marring the back bumper.

  The officer took them inside the building to fill out a report. “Can I get you a cup of coffee?”

  Sam nodded gratefully. She sipped the hot coffee and willed herself to
calm down and quit shaking. The girls finally stood to go.

  The kind officer that came to their rescue walked them back to their car. “A patrol car is going to follow you home. Just to make sure the person who harassed you doesn’t try to pull anything funny again.”

  After thanking the officer, she slid back into the driver’s seat. She made it all the way to her sister’s street when her cell phone rang. It was Lee.

  “How did it go at church today?” His voice was edged with concern. He was worried about all the sad endings Sam was dealing with. His greatest fear was that she would change her mind and decide to stay in Michigan after all.

  “That part was wonderful! The group surprised us with a going-away party. There was so much delicious food. I’m stuffed! Best of all, we got to see our friends one last time. It was perfect. And I wasn’t even sad,” she added.

  Lee let out a mental sigh of relief. He’d been apprehensive about these last couple of days. The last hurdle would be the family get-together and actually driving away, knowing you would never be that close to them again. If he could get her through that, the rest would be a piece of cake.

  He wasn’t prepared for what came next.

  Still rattled by the scare, Sam blurted out, “Someone just tried to run Brianna and me off the road.”

  Lee ran a hand through his hair. Hopefully she was joking. “I hope you’re kidding.”

  She went on to explain how the driver blinded them with his brights before bumping the rear of her car.

  He jumped up and began pacing. “Where are you now?”

  “Just pulling into my sister’s drive. When we got bumped, I decided the best place to go was the police station.”

  Sam wished she got a better look at the car. “The only thing I could see was a dark, four door sedan speed by when we pulled in the police parking lot.”

  “Maybe I should just fly up there.” He paused. “I could probably be there in the morning.”

  The more Sam thought about it, the calmer she became. There was no sense in him coming up tomorrow. After all, he’d be here in a few short days. “No. I don’t think you should do that.”

  Sam changed the subject. “Have you and Donovan gone out diving for the treasure again?”

  “Not yet.”

  Lee and his friend, Donovan, had just started searching for the Spanish treasure ship, the San Miguel that went down off the coast of St. Augustine back in the 1700’s. The ship was lost at sea during a fierce hurricane. None of the passengers survived except for the captain, who somehow managed to make it to shore and draw a crude map of the ship’s location before he died. No one had ever found the priceless coins or treasure.

  Lee helped recover the stolen map and now he and Donovan were looking for the treasure themselves. Sam was nervous since the map had caused her so much grief. Especially because a group in Belize had abducted her and others, which is how she met Lee in the first place.

  That’s also how she met Michel Dubois. He hid the map in her suitcase and then tracked her back to her home in Michigan to retrieve it. He nearly destroyed Sam’s house trying to find the map and when he couldn’t, he kidnapped her and tried to force her to hand it over. Lee and Donovan rescued her just in the nick of time.

  The map was eventually turned over to the government but not before Lee took a few pictures of it. Now not only were Lee and Donovan searching for the treasure, but there were others looking for it, as well. Some bad people.

  Sam was sure they were the same ones that killed Michel. “Have you heard anything new on Michel’s death?”

  “No,” Lee replied. “We’re still waiting for the autopsy. From preliminary reports, it looks like he was shot in the back of the head.”

  Sam’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Just like the bus driver in Belize!”

  “Yeah,” Lee admitted. “Looks like they got their revenge when he couldn’t hand over the map.”

  He went on. “So far, no witnesses have come forward. And no one’s come to claim the body, either.”

  A shiver of fear ran down Sam’s spine. Maybe whoever tried to run us off the road tonight is the same one that killed Michel. Sam gripped the steering wheel tightly and looked in the rearview mirror. The cop was still behind her.

  Lee could sense she was frightened. He knew what she was thinking.

  She let out a frustrated sigh. She missed Lee. This moving away thing was taking its toll. Not only that, she was ready to get on with her life. And now she had to worry about this!

  It was almost like having one foot in Michigan and one foot in Florida. She was in limbo and was beginning to feel like she really didn’t belong anywhere.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to come sooner?” It was quite possible he wanted to come sooner just to make himself feel better.

  “No. We’ll be just fine,” she reassured him.

  “Speaking of that, I got distracted but when do you and Donovan plan on searching for the treasure?” She wasn’t going to let this go.

  “I think we’re going to give it a try tomorrow.”

  Sam could hear the excitement in his voice. “I think we’re getting close! I just have a gut feeling!”

  Sam wanted to be excited for him, knowing how much he wanted to get his hands on the treasure but she couldn’t help herself. She was still very worried. “Have you noticed anyone following you or any other boats in the area when you were diving the first time?”

  “Nope. We’ve been super-cautious. That doesn’t mean that they haven’t but I promise, Sam, we’re being as careful as we possibly can.”

  She sighed. There was no way she could talk Lee out of searching. Still, she had that all-too-familiar sense of foreboding that told her something really bad was about to happen. Whenever Lee talked about recovering the treasure, the feeling hit her full force.

  Lee knew this was a touchy subject so he tried to take her mind off it. “I can’t wait to see you! Only a couple more days!”

  Sam smiled. “I can’t wait, either.” She missed him deeply.

  By now, she was sitting in the driveway. “I’m back at my sister’s so let me let you go.”

  She grabbed her purse as she pushed the car door open. “Call me as soon as the dive is over. I’m getting a bad feeling about this!”

  Lee knew all about Sam’s uneasiness, when she sensed something was about to happen. He had to admit, she was pretty accurate so he took her uncanny sense of foreboding as seriously as she did. And he was telling her the truth. He and Donovan had been very cautious. As far as they could tell, no one was following them.

  It was a good thing Sam had a chance to talk to Lee before the big family going-away dinner later that evening. As she looked around the table at her mom, her sister, her brother, her nieces and nephews and all her other family, a huge lump lodged in her throat. She knew it was going to be tough to say goodbye but this one was definitely the worst. She blinked back the tears that were burning her eyes. The more she thought about it, the more painful it was becoming.

  Brianna was sitting beside her mom and could see she was getting all choked up. Her sister could too. It was time to lighten the mood.

  Deb pushed back her chair and stood. She tapped the side of her water glass with a spoon. “Attention everyone! I have an announcement to make.”

  The room grew quiet as everyone looked up at Debbie expectantly. “Good, I can see you’re all finally paying attention.”

  What on earth was her sister doing?

  Deb looked down at her husband, Seth, who was sitting next to her. “This may come as a shock to some of you, but we have some exciting news! We’re expecting!”

  Every single mouth at the table dropped open, including Seth’s. His expression said it all. Sam thought he was going to have a heart attack right there.

  Her sister was 45-years old and both her daughters grown. In fact, one was married with a first grandchild on the way. Surely her sister was kidding?

  Brianna clamped her hand over he
r mouth as she attempted to stifle a giggle. The announcement was outrageous!

  Sam’s mom, Lois, spoke first. “You’re kidding, right?” She looked over at her son-in-law. “Seth looks like he’s going to pass out!”

  Sure enough, Seth was pasty-white as he shook his head in disbelief. He wiped his brow nervously. “She better be kidding. This is the first I’ve heard of it!”

  A sinister grin spread across her sister’s face as she shook her head. “Of course I’m kidding! This party was getting way too sad and serious. I had to come up with something to lighten the mood!”

  With that, everyone let out the breath they were holding. Sam reached over and hugged her sister tightly as she whispered, “Thank you for doing that. I love you.”

  Deb squeezed her back, just as tightly. “I’m gonna miss you.” She paused. “But that doesn’t mean you’re going to get rid of me! I now have a new vacation spot to come to whenever I want to escape the miserable winters!”

  Sam looked around the table at her family. “You ALL have a new vacation spot. I expect each and every one of you to come and visit as often as you like!”

  With that, her brother Andy raised his glass as he proposed a toast. “Here’s to our new vacation spot!”

  When Sam got back to her sister’s place and settled into bed for the night, she texted Lee. “Said my goodbyes to my family but it was all good. Now all I have to do is wait for you to get here!”

  She sent a second text. “And I can’t wait. I love you! Please be careful tomorrow.” She added.

  Lee quickly replied. “I love you, too and can’t wait to see you Tuesday! It seems like forever since we last saw each other.”

  He sent another text. “The dive is on for tomorrow. We’re leaving early afternoon. I’ll call you as soon as we get back to shore.”

  With that, he was gone. Sam plugged her phone into the charger, snapped off the bedside lamp and closed her eyes. Tuesday couldn’t come soon enough!

  Chapter 4