“Patience!” Mom’s voice pierced the darkness.
Blue and red lights appeared front and center as we emerged from the trees. The sheriff stood near an ambulance talking with several bystanders. A little circle of park rangers and miscellaneous strangers stood in the road near the emergency vehicles.
My mother nearly knocked me from Sebastian’s arms. She checked me from head to toe, patting me like a blind person despite the full moon’s light. “You’re alive!” She crushed me to him, wrapping her arms around us both like a sandwich, successfully soaking the both of them with my wetness.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” The thought came up short when I noticed the kayak’s pieces bobbing at the edge of the beach. My breath shuddered.
“I need to talk with the sheriff.” I squeezed her hand in reassurance and kissed her cheek. “This will be over very soon.” Shoulders back, I walked awkwardly to the sheriff’s side and kicked off my last shoe for balance.
“Something you’d like to tell me, Miss Price?” His bushy gray brows rose.
“A boat dumped black barrels into the water about two miles out.” I pointed in the direction where I’d been. “Someone’s dumping where Brady McGee used to fish. Adrian didn’t kill him. Something bigger is happening here. They shot at me and I swam to shore.”
He didn’t look as surprised as I expected, considering the revelation.
The deputy appeared at my side. His wide, eager eyes startled me. “How long ago was this? Did you see which way the boat went?”
How long ago had it been? I’d treaded water until I thought my limbs would give out. That was after they arrived, noticed and shot at me. How long had I been in the woods? Time had lost meaning when all I could think of was survival and then finding home. I swallowed emotion and turned the conversation away from the fact I didn’t know how long the night had already been.
“I took a picture of it, but then they shot at me, and my phone sank. It was in a Ziploc bag.” I didn’t know why I wanted a pat on the back for thinking ahead about the baggie. Fat lot of good it did.
The deputy questioned me about the boat while my parents, the sheriff and Sebastian watched. I’d seen the boat, photographed it, but couldn’t remember anything specific. He radioed in my description anyway. “The Coast Guard is on the lookout. You did good.” He clapped me on the shoulder.
“How did you guys get here?” I turned back to the sheriff who’d crossed his arms over his chest.
“I called.” Sebastian walked slowly in my direction. He was roughly the same height as Deputy Doofus, but infinitely broader. The men around us wore uniforms to announce their importance. Sebastian wore his announcement across his face. His square shoulders, narrowed eyes and clenching jaw made no room for error. Sebastian wasn’t to be trifled with.
“You called the sheriff? Why?”
He held his empty hands out in my direction like an offering. “When your tracker failed, I knew something happened to your phone. Since I’ve never seen you without it, and with the week you’ve been having, I went ahead and called in the cavalry.”
A low-flying helicopter complete with spotlight buzzed over us, blowing my hair into my eyes. The spotlight swept across the waters and into the night. The Coast Guard responded faster than I imagined possible. I said a silent prayer for their success and turned to Sebastian.
“My what failed?”
He stepped back.
“You put a tracker on me?” Fury sizzled under my icy wet skin. “Were you expecting me to be abducted?”
He tipped his head left then right, ear to shoulder. “I should’ve told you.”
“You think?”
“You would’ve said no.” As if this was a solid argument.
“I don’t need to be tracked. I’m not a criminal.” My voice rose. Mom came to my side. “What kind of tracker? Were you listening to me, too? Watching?” I shivered at the humiliating things he could’ve seen me do. I’d popped a stress zit the size of Wisconsin before I left Adrian’s house. Did he see that?
The sheriff snuffled. I supposed he wished I was behind bars. I turned to him. “You think I’m a criminal? Someone who needs a tracker?” A week’s worth of emotion bubbled up. I didn’t care about the tracker as much as I didn’t want to be shot at ever again. Ever. Never. Ever. Never.
“I think you’ve been at the center of every call I’ve gotten since you came home.”
That wasn’t true. I had nothing to do with Mrs. McGee’s murder, and he beat me to her house. I bit my lip to keep from mentioning it.
“Got ‘em!” The deputy strolled over, looking victorious. “Coast Guard boarded a boat fitting the description you gave. They found a spotlight and an arsenal on deck. They’re taking them in for questioning and sending divers out within forty-eight hours to see what they left down there.”
I fist-pumped the air before shoving my hands behind my back. The sheriff scowled. I suppose I had to fill out another report.
“Are we done here?” Sebastian spoke, drawing attention his way.
“Take her home.” Dad wrapped a thermal blanket over my shoulders. “We’ll come by with lunch tomorrow. Sleep in. Relax a little.” He hugged me tight then took Mom by the hand and led her to the VW.
“You heard the man.” Sebastian scooped me up again and headed for his Ranger.
“Why are you carrying me?”
“You’re barefoot.”
I didn’t complain.
At my apartment, I took a shower and patted myself on the back. Case solved. Criminals caught. Moving on. Toweling the water out of my hair, I made my way to the kitchen for some tea.
“How does it feel to be a hero?” Sebastian stood at attention, evaluating me.
“You should know. I can’t believe you came for me. Your stupid tracker stunt was kind of smart.”
He nodded and moved to the living room. The couch looked more inviting with him seated on it. Sebastian patted the cushion beside him. “I’m glad you’re safe. When I saw the kayak...” He shook his head and didn’t finish the sentence.
“How’d you know I was in a kayak?”
“Your ex.” He laughed. “He showed up right after I’d settled in. I told him what we found out and he guaranteed me you’d get involved. He hid his boat from you but left the kayak. He assured me you’d never go anywhere willingly in a kayak.”
He’d hidden his boat? Adrian Davis was the single most annoying creature ever born.
“So, you made friends with the fugitive?” I asked.
“No.” He smiled. “He’s all right. Plus, we have something in common. We both think you need a babysitter.”
I whacked him with Claire’s pretty golden pillow. “No more putting trackers on me.”
He shrugged.
No promises then.
* * *
“You weren’t kidding about tourists.” Sebastian sipped his coffee beside me on the stoop. Freud sat purring in his lap.
“Nope. This little island is a big deal every July...if you’re in the market for a wild pony.” I shivered. Yuck.
Cars lined every road in town, honking occasionally. I cringed with every honk. Honking didn’t belong on Chincoteague. Rented bicycles dotted the corners and families streamed in and out of rental homes as far as the eye could see.
Arrooga! The bright blue and white VW bus pulled up in front of my place. The purple cart rolled up behind it. Dad waved from the driver’s seat of the polka-dotted eyesore. Mom rounded the hood of the bus and jogged lithely up the steps toward me.
“We want you to take the bus until we get the cart repainted, or until your Prius is replaced.” She extended her hand, dangling the keys from a finger. “Everyone needs transportation.” She smiled and the world grew brighter.
“Thanks.” I locked eyes with he
r, concentrating on her generous offering and not on the fact I’d be driving a fifty-year-old love bus.
“Are you ready for Pony Week?” she asked Sebastian.
“I have to head back to work. Looks like I’ll miss most of the fun. I would like to come by and check on Patience after work, if she’ll have me.” He looked uncertain.
“That would be lovely.” Mom clapped. “You should come by tomorrow night for dinner. Do you like to grill?”
“Anything made on a grill sounds delicious.” His smile widened.
I nodded. “Yes. Come back.” My cheeks burned. Stupid blush. I cleared my throat. “I need to run by Adrian’s and get my things. He should be home soon. I’m sure he’s heard the true culprit has been apprehended.”
My gaze traveled to the art studio below, wondering if he’d left yet for home. Sebastian followed my gaze and laughed before nodding in understanding. Adrian had literally hidden under his feet. I worried for a minute because I’d given away his hideout, but at least he wouldn’t need it anymore.
“I’ll walk over with you.” Sebastian offered me his elbow.
“You kids have fun. Take the love bus if you want.” Mom slid into the cart with Dad. He inched out into traffic, waving good-bye, then got stuck behind a string of minivans.
I turned a suspicious eye on Sebastian as we walked. “What? You aren’t insisting we drive everywhere now? Is it the traffic?”
“It’s the fact you’re in one piece, unlike that kayak. You saved the day, caught the dumpers and saved an undetermined amount of sea life. Now I can relax again. You, on the other hand, have a pile of messages on the counter near the old landline jack. Here.” He dug a BlackBerry from his pocket. “Carry this until you get the other replaced. Just in case.”
“Thanks. A pile, huh?”
He nodded. “Enough to keep you busy awhile.”
“And all is well just in time for you to go back to work.”
“I don’t know how I’m supposed to concentrate in Norfolk with you being shot at out here all day.”
I aimed my elbow into his ribs. “They didn’t shoot at me every day, and never for long. At least it’s over and you can stop worrying.”
Sebastian slowed his pace beside me. “That wasn’t the end of your problems, Patience.”
My feet pulled up short as we cut through a driveway onto Adrian’s street. Sheriff Murray’s car sat out front of Adrian’s home. His deputy leaned against the handrail to the stairs, writing in his notebook. His face brightened when he looked my way.
“That was good work you did last night. It was nice to have some good news this week. It’s been a tough road lately for the island. Two deaths in a row.” He shook his head. “We’re real glad you thought to sneak up on them at night like that.”
Sebastian elbowed me this time.
Deputy Fargas looked between us, fumbling for words. “I mean, it was dangerous and you should’ve let someone know what you were up to.” He didn’t suppress his smile. “But, hot damn, did one little kayak ruin their night.”
“If you give up these rights...” Sheriff Murray appeared, dragging Adrian around the wraparound porch and onto the stairs with us. He raised an eyebrow as he passed me by. Adrian wore shiny silver handcuffs.
“What are you doing?” My hands balled into fists at my sides. A pain shot through my temple and one eye twitched.
One hand on Adrian’s head, Sheriff Murray stuffed him into the backseat of the cruiser, finished his spiel and turned to me. “Do I understand correctly you were living here with a fugitive?”
“No. I was staying here as a house sitter.” I uncurled my fingers and locked palms against my hips, daring him to push me. I had no idea what I’d do or say, but seeing Adrian in handcuffs did something to me. My insides twisted until I wanted to spring at someone. If the sheriff wanted a piece of me, I was good and ready.
“What’d you arrest him for now? Someone else commit a crime you want a scapegoat for?” The minute the words were out, I regretted them. I hadn’t bucked authority like that, not in a decade. “The Coast Guard caught the dumpers. Why are you here?”
“The Coast Guard caught dumpers, not murderers, Miss Price. Do you have any evidence to connect a handful of ocean-contaminators with murder? Or do you think when one criminal goes to jail, another should be set free? No one has proven Mr. Davis innocent. He’s under arrest. He’ll need an attorney to get him off, not his girlfriend.”
Sebastian stiffened at my side.
The deputy waved a chipper good-bye and slid into the sheriff’s passenger seat. Adrian looked at us out the window like a kid being taken from his parents. It was the single most outrageous example of injustice ever. I wanted to stamp my foot and toss gravel at the cruiser. I had worked hard to clear Adrian’s name. I was shot at and car bombed. How did I not see this coming? I couldn’t tie the dumpers to the murders and neither could anyone else.
Strong arms pulled me to Sebastian’s chest. My arms hung loosely at my sides.
Just when I thought the nightmare was over, Adrian was still going to jail for murder.
Chapter Eighteen
I didn’t sleep. Sebastian kept me company late into the night, but my mind kept me up, running through scenarios where I might’ve done things differently. Even after I said good night and moved to my room, I sat in bed looking out the window Adrian had climbed through so many times. The moon lit a path over my sheets. I stretched my fingers out to catch it and then I hugged my knees to my chest. How could I have prevented Adrian’s arrest? No matter how many times I asked myself that question, I came up with nothing.
Blaming Adrian was easier. Why did he go home? Then guilt set in. Was he looking for me? Had he heard about my ordeal the night before? Did he come back to make me breakfast again? Was he worried about me? About his kayak?
I knew he didn’t care about his kayak. My nose burned and my eyes ached to cry.
Adrian never cared about things. He loved people. The island. Me. Once upon a time anyway.
The moonlight softened as clouds passed overhead, still threatening the town with the storm that never came. Before I was ready, dim moonlight gave way to ashy hues and soon flickers of a new day replaced the night. I dozed off sometime after watching the sun rise. Basking in shards of amber and rose sunlight relaxed my shaky body into dreamland. How many times had Adrian and I stolen wine from my parents’ cabinet and sat on the roof making plans?
In the space of a heartbeat, I stood at the back of a church, dressed in white and facing a long canopy of lilies, baby’s breath and tulle. The wheezy old organ from the church on First Street blared out a tune, and I turned to find Dad at my side. It was hard to see through the gauzy material. I ran my fingertips over the veil. Daddy pulled me along, trampling rose petals and smiling proudly all the way, while I stumbled along, staring into curious faces.
Confusion seized my thoughts as we arrived at my final destination. The groom’s back faced me, his head tilted away, speaking quietly to the preacher. Who wanted to marry me? I stumbled back over my long satin train. I was downsized. Unemployed. Small chested. I liked the last part, but men didn’t share my enthusiasm. Probably because they never had to shop for a two-piece bathing suit.
“Dearly beloved,” the preacher began. I gasped when my dad tried to hand me off to the groom. His face was concealed in shadows only a dream could produce. When I started to protest the assumption I wanted to be tethered to one man for the rest of my life, Sheriff Murray appeared in place of the preacher and looked down his pointy nose at me. The sight didn’t derail my argument. I wanted assurance I didn’t have to change my name or cook or clean. My groom didn’t bother to look at me. What was his problem?
“Hey.” I shook my bouquet in my groom’s direction. “Look at me. We’re getting married here.”
Dad pla
ced my hand in the groom’s, and the man turned to me. Stained-glass windows surrounded us and their reflected color flickered over his stunning white tuxedo. I was about to become Mrs....
“Good morning, sunshine.”
Sebastian knocked on my open door. My cheeks burned at the idea he might’ve heard my dream. He sauntered in, pausing at my bedside to make room for a tray. Sebastian wasn’t the kind of man I imagined fixing breakfast.
“I wasn’t sure what to make, so I prepared everything.”
He wasn’t joking. Mini-muffins, coffee, an apple, a banana, a bowl of dry cereal with a small cup of milk beside it. A bagel, butter, cream cheese and jelly.
“Good grief.” I groaned, inhaling the wonderful aroma. “I can’t eat all this.” I pulled my pillow over my eyes in protest.
“Just eat what you want.”
“I want to eat it all.” I peeled back a corner of the pillow and peeked at the tray of my favorite breakfast foods. “I’m a stress eater who has stress.”
Sebastian sighed. The mattress shifted under his weight, and I rolled toward him without meaning to. He set the tray on the bed beside my feet and leaned into me. One long finger trailed over my forehead, tucking a mess of wild bangs behind my ear and away from my face. He smiled, but the sentiment didn’t reach his eyes. For a moment, he looked almost vulnerable. Something bothered him, too.
“I have to head back to Norfolk today. I’ll be back tonight, but it might be late.”
Of course. I couldn’t keep him forever. “Is this about getting out of dinner with my parents?” When I smiled, his lips turned up with more sincerity. “Boy, you’ll do anything to avoid those two.”
“You’re not kidding. It’s awful being around such uptight, unaccepting posers.”
We laughed together and my heart thumped. While I’d been toiling with the mystery at hand, he’d been getting to know me. I didn’t let people do that, especially not men. My parents knew everyone on the island. Aside from Adrian, I’d never dated anyone from Chincoteague. After I left home, I never brought anyone back—not that there’d been anyone to bring home. Sebastian was the first outsider.
Murder by the Seaside Page 20