by Lori King
Sam sighed and settled into the driver’s seat. “We’ll talk about this more tomorrow. For now, let me just say that I’m very glad to see you again. I’ve missed you.”
Lexa didn’t know what to say to that, and so she just tugged her sunglasses down over her face and leaned back into the soft leather of her seat.
“We’ll take the scenic route, maybe it’ll bring back some childhood memories.” Sam turned over the engine and soon they were purring along a road that hugged the coast, the warm wind blowing across her face and drying tears that silently fell as she drank in the sight of the places she’d only seen in her dreams for the past twenty-three years. She may not be planning on staying, but she couldn’t deny this was as close to a home as she’d ever had. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to stick around for a little while, at least until she could find a buyer.
“Where the hell is it coming from?” Beau stared at the handful of drug-laced candies, all individually wrapped, that littered the surface of his well-worn desk and then swept them into an evidence bag with one gloved hand. He sealed it, signed it, and then dropped it into a second bag and tagged it for drop-off to the evidence locker.
“If we knew that, we’d be a lot closer to catching the sons of bitches who are bringing this poison onto our island.” Beau’s partner, Diego, ran a hand through his dark hair, leaving it standing up in spikes that seemed to fit his frustrated mood perfectly. “What kind of sick bastard spikes jelly candies with designer drugs anyway?”
“You nailed it. A sick bastard. One who is marketing this crap to kids and doesn’t give a damn if it kills them. At least everyone else that sampled this latest batch is going to make it,” Beau said. “I got an update from the hospital earlier.”
“Thank God. I can’t imagine how that kid’s parents are coping right now. Losing a child that way is just brutal,” Diego said and then changed the topic to something less depressing. “Speaking of parents, Terry’s were here earlier to see if they could post bail for him. I told them they’d have to wait for his bail hearing tomorrow. They didn’t take it very well.”
“At least their son is still alive, which is more than can be said for his friend.” Beau sighed as he stood and stretched until his spine cracked. “Now we need to go find the little bastard who sold him the drugs. What was his name?” He checked another piece of paper. “Right. George Timmins.”
“Damn man, you’re forgetting names and creaking and popping like an old man.” Diego shook his head. “You need to stop letting the waves win when we go surfing or you’re going to be in a nursing home by the time we’re forty.”
“Naw, I just need to find a woman to take care of me and I’ll be fine.” He shot Diego a meaningful look. “We’d be a lot further along in our search if you’d stop holding every woman we meet up to impossible standards. I swear, your laundry list of “must-haves” is getting longer every year. At this rate we’re going to be single together forever, and frankly you’re just not what I’m looking for in a wife.”
Diego snorted with laughter. “If I were a woman, I’d sure as hell be looking to do better than you, buddy. And I’d like to point out that I’m not the one who broke up with Tamara last year. That was all you. C’mon, let’s go round up the Timmins kid and see if he’s willing to cough up the name of his supplier.”
“Tamara was a vegan. There was no way in hell I was going to consider a long-term relationship with a woman who got queasy every time I fired up the barbeque. Admit it, you were only eating her couscous because she had a great pair of—afternoon, sir.” Beau stood a little straighter as Lieutenant Jackson Stone appeared at their office door.
“Rivers, Mendez.” His gaze moved from Beau to Diego. “I heard you two might have some new information about our designer drug problem.” His gaze dropped to the evidence envelope and back up to Beau, who felt the intensity of his lieutenant’s stare drilling right through him. They were all working their asses off to try and find the source of the new drugs that had started to appear on the island less than a year ago and had rapidly gone from a trickle to a flood.
These days there wasn’t a club or beach party where the drug, commonly called Giggles, didn’t make an appearance, and on more than one occasion the user had wound up in the hospital or as of last night, in the morgue. Addictive and dangerous, they’d made almost no progress in tracking down how the drugs were getting onto the island or who was supplying them.
“Yes, sir,” Diego stepped in. “We were just on our way to pick up George Timmins. He was the one who supplied Terry Clark with the stuff for last night’s party. We’re hoping that he can give us the name of his supplier and we’ll finally be able to work our way up the food chain.”
“George Timmins Junior? Well that’ll be fun. His father’s going to be down here with a team of lawyers before you’ve had time to get more than the kid’s name.”
“We were hoping to have a chat with him before we got back here…” Beau started to explain and then stopped as the lieutenant held up a hand.
“I don’t want to know. I don’t want to hear it. I was never here. Just find out who’s bringing this crap onto my island so we can put a stop to it.”
“We’re on it,” Beau said and grinned at Diego. “Come on, I’ll bet you lunch that little shit is down by the pier with the rest of the brat pack right about now.”
“No bet. That’s been the hangout for every dumb, wannabe troublemaker on the island since before we were born. I’ll bet you lunch that he bolts on us.”
“You’re on. It’s too damned hot for anyone to be running today.”
“Who said he was going to run anywhere? I said bolt. I figure he’s going to go right over the side of the pier the minute he lays eyes on us, and by my count it’s your turn to go in after him.”
“No way!” Beau argued as they headed out into the midday sun. “I went in last time to fish out Patterson after he stole that plate of cupcakes from Liz’s shop, remember?”
“I do. And the week after that I had to haul out Jasper after he got drunk and was skinny-dipping down by the ferry terminal.”
“Shit, I’d forgotten about that.” Beau sighed. “I really, really don’t want to go swimming today. Let’s hope George Junior feels the same way.”
“I just hope he’s feeling chatty. We really need to get a break on this case before the lieutenant gets any crankier.”
They were driving toward the pier when they spotted Sam’s vintage Jaguar purring along the coast road. As they passed, Beau caught a flash of dark hair and a lovely face mostly hidden behind a pair of dark glasses. Before he could say anything Diego turned to look at him, a wistful expression on his face. “Do you think there’s any chance that was her?”
Beau shook his head and swallowed back a sense of regret. “Every time you see a woman with black hair, you ask me the same question. She’s not coming back, man. It’s been more than twenty years. Wherever she is, she’s a grown woman, probably with a husband and babies and a house with a white picket fence by now. You need to forget about Lexa Fox.”
Diego snorted. “That’s never going to happen, and you know it. Or do I need to point out that you’re the one who turns into a horndog the moment a petite, dark haired woman appears anywhere near you. She was the one, Beau. She was the only woman who ever felt right.”
“I hate to point out the obvious, but we were all kids back then. We were best friends, but what the hell did we know about anything? We were riding bikes and eating popsicles, not dating. We were as thick as thieves, but who knows what would have happened when we grew up. Not even her dad dying brought her back, and it’s been what, almost a year now? She’s long gone.” Beau didn’t want to admit it, but he had never gotten over Lexa any more than Diego had.
He’d not even really noticed it until a few years ago when his mother had taken him aside and told him it was time they let go.
He’d tried, but it was hard to move on. Something kept holding him back from really trying to
connect with anyone else. And if Beau found it hard, Diego found it nearly impossible. They may have only been kids, but when he and his best friend had finally talked about it, Diego had sworn that Lexa was the love of his life. So here they were, past thirty and still doing a double take every time they spotted any woman who looked the slightest bit like their long lost friend.
“I’m not ready to give up on her yet.” Diego gave his partner a wry grin. “She’s out there, somewhere, and someday she’s going to come home.”
“If she ever does come back, do you think she’ll even remember us?”
“Fuck, I hope so. If I’ve spent twenty-three years dreaming about a woman who has forgotten I exist, I’m going to be very unhappy with the state of the universe.”
“I hear that,” Beau muttered and added a silent prayer.
If she’s ever coming back, please let it be soon.
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