Ghostly Wrecks (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 6)

by Hart, Lily Harper

  “That’s my girlfriend,” Jared acknowledged. “Harper. We were at the restaurant on the beach for a work party when we saw the boat. In fact, Harper is the one who saw the boat. I didn’t notice it until she pointed it out.”

  “I guess we owe her a bit of thanks then,” Chad suggested, struggling to a sitting position as Jessica fluffed the pillows behind his back. “You probably wouldn’t have found us if she wasn’t looking.”

  “I would like to think otherwise, but I’m not sure that’s true,” Jared admitted. “The restaurant is set on stilts and I was looking out at the water – at the storm – and Harper is the one that noticed you wrecked on the beach. She called for help and sprang into action.”

  “Then we definitely owe her some thanks, and not just for getting our daughter to the hospital,” Jessica said. “Hayley was very upset last night. I didn’t get a chance to talk to her much before they gave her a sedative, but she said that the woman who found her – she didn’t say a name, but Jessica thought she sort of looked like a mermaid – said we wouldn’t be angry for her going to the hospital with strangers.”

  Jared smirked, legitimately amused. “Harper mentioned that Hayley said she wasn’t supposed to talk to strangers and was worried she would get into trouble. We didn’t take her from the beach first to separate you, just so you know, but she seemed shocky and we wanted her out of the elements. As for the mermaid bit … well … I never really thought about it, but with her hair, Harper does kind of resemble a mermaid.”

  “Lucky you,” Chad teased, his eyes glinting.

  “I feel that way every single day,” Jared acknowledged, leaning back in the chair. “In fact, Harper came back to the hospital with me today. She’s in seeing Hayley right now. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “No, in fact, I’m relieved,” Jessica said. “Hayley wanted to see her again, to thank her. Apparently your girlfriend kept her calm throughout the entire ordeal.”

  “She’s good that way,” Jared confirmed. “Now that you’ve had a night to rest, though, I need to ask you a few questions about the incident.”

  “I suppose you would.” Chad rubbed the back of his neck and forced a smile. “I haven’t seen the boat since last night. Is it a total loss?”

  “I honestly don’t know.” Jared shifted on his chair. “I don’t know a lot about boats. It didn’t look good to me, but … it was dark and with the lightning flashing, I couldn’t get a good look. I’m not sure what the status of the boat is, but I plan to run back down there when I’m done here.”

  “We didn’t have a lot of personal items on the ship,” Jessica hedged. “If you see any floating or strewn across the beach, though, do you think you’ll be able to confiscate them and keep them away from thieves?”

  “You don’t know a lot about Whisper Cove, do you?” Jared grinned at the blank look on Jessica’s face. “You don’t have to worry about anyone stealing anything. In fact, I would be surprised if someone hasn’t already walked up and down the beach to collect everything they find floating and turn it in at the police station. I headed straight here rather than stopping in there – so I can’t be certain – but that’s generally how things go around these parts.”

  “Oh, well, that sounds nice.” Jessica said the words, but she didn’t look as if she believed them. “Still, there were some family photographs … .”

  “Which were probably destroyed in the storm,” Chad prodded gently. “It’s okay. I back up all of our family photographs online. I simply have to print them off again.”

  “I … okay.” Jessica didn’t bother hiding her misery as she rubbed her forehead. “I’m sure that must seem like a stupid thing to you but … it’s hard for me to focus after what happened last night.”

  “We all survived,” Chad reminded her. “That’s the important thing.”

  “I know.” Jessica mustered a watery smile. “That is definitely the most important thing.”

  “I need to know what happened for the official reports,” Jared explained. “Do you know how you ended up on the beach?”

  “I know I’m supposed to say that it was the storm or even blame it on human error, but I’m seriously not sure,” Chad admitted. “My memory of what led to the beaching is … kind of muddled. Nothing makes sense and I have huge chunks missing when I try to replay what happened.”

  “You got a concussion, right?”

  Chad nodded.

  “That’s not uncommon.” Jared shifted his eyes to Jessica. “What about you, ma’am?”

  “I just remember being terrified when the storm started,” Jessica replied. “We thought it was still hours off. We knew we had to get close to a dock so we could find safety on land. We figured even if we had to get a hotel room and spend the night it would be okay because we could head back to St. Clair once the storm settled.”

  “That makes sense.” Jared rolled his neck. “When we were leaving the house to go to the party last night, the forecasters said the storm was at least two hours out. By the time we hit the restaurant it was already here, though. You wouldn’t have been expecting the storm that early.”

  “No, and we were already heading back to shore,” Jessica explained. “The lake isn’t very big, but the waves were rolling and the sky was so dark it felt like it was the middle of the night. I worried the ship would tip over and then … well … I’m not exactly sure how to explain it. It all happened so fast.”

  “Do your best,” Jared prodded.

  “I had no idea we were so close to the shore,” Jessica admitted. “I don’t think Chad did either. You couldn’t see the shore lights because of the rain. We hit the shallows without realizing we were in danger. It was over pretty quickly after that. We tilted, I went overboard, and the next thing I knew you were with me on the beach.”

  “Okay.” Jared rubbed his chin, his mind busy as his gaze bounced between faces. “Your daughter talked to Harper a bit during the ride from the beach to the hospital. She said she was sleeping below deck.”

  “Sleeping?” Jessica furrowed her brow. “She was supposed to be reading. That’s what she said. I guess it’s possible for her to have fallen asleep.”

  “She said she woke to voices,” Jared added. “She said they were angry voices, male, and that someone was arguing.”

  Jessica screwed up her face, confusion evident. “Hayley said there were other people on the boat? But … there weren’t. It was just the three of us.”

  “Maybe she got confused,” Chad suggested. “Maybe she had a dream and somehow her dream melded with what happened to us. That’s possible, right?”

  “That’s definitely possible.” Jared bobbed his head in agreement. “When Harper found her she was confused and it took a bit of time for her to open up. I’m sure that she was merely confused.”

  “That has to be it.” Jessica wearily rubbed the back of her neck. “I would remember if someone else was on the boat. I don’t have any gaps in my memory.”

  “And even though I’m confused,” Chad added, his eyes wide as they locked with Jared’s. “I think I would remember it, too.”

  “You’re probably right.” Jared mustered a smile. “I think that’s all for now. I’ll be back with an update as soon as I can.”

  “I’M GLAD YOU came back.” Hayley seemed shy in the bright light of day and she offered Harper a wan smile as she picked at lint balls on the blue hospital blanket. “I wasn’t sure if you would and I wanted to thank you for saving me.”

  “I didn’t save you,” Harper countered. “I merely rode in the ambulance with you.”

  “You saved me,” Hayley pressed. “I was afraid and you made me feel better. I didn’t want to leave because I thought my parents would be angry, but my mother said it was okay for me to do what you said, that it was the right thing. I … thank you.”

  Harper’s heart warmed as she gripped Hayley’s hand. “I did the right thing by helping you. That’s all I did. It wasn’t something magical or special.”

  “I’m stil
l thankful.” Hayley sucked in a cleansing breath to center herself. “I’m also thankful that you stopped by to see me. When you disappeared last night … I wasn’t sure if you would come back.”

  “I’m sorry about that,” Harper offered, guilt washing over her. “I was tired and there was a lot going on. I definitely wanted to come back and see you, though. I wanted to make sure you were all right.”

  “Because you’re worried the men from the boat are going to come back?”

  Harper stilled, surprised. She thought Hayley might take back that tidbit in hindsight, perhaps believe it was a dream once she’d had a few hours to digest the events of the previous day. “Are you sure there were men on the boat?”

  Hayley nodded without hesitation. “They had really loud voices and I heard my Mom and Dad yelling back. I know there were other people on the boat.”

  “Did you hear anyone mention a name?”

  Hayley tilted her head to the side, considering. “It was confusing because of all the noise … and then the thunder started immediately and Mom screamed because the thunder was so loud. It took me a bit to wake up because I was dreaming before it happened but I think someone mentioned the name Jack.”

  Harper arched an eyebrow. The name meant nothing to her. It was common, after all. Still, it was a direction to look. “You didn’t mention that name last night.”

  “I didn’t remember that name last night,” Hayley admitted. “I remembered it just now when you asked.”

  “And you’re sure at least two people were on the boat, right?”

  Hayley nodded. “They were definitely men. I heard their voices. There’s no mistaking that for anything other than what it was.”

  Harper forced a smile as she patted Hayley’s forearm. “Okay, well, we’ll start asking around about the men. I promise we’ll figure it out. Until then, though, you need to rest and relax. You survived a boat capsizing. That’s a big deal.”

  It was a big deal, and Harper was determined to figure out exactly why it happened.

  6

  Six

  “Do you believe her?”

  Jared was understandably dubious, but he kept the recrimination from his voice as he picked his way toward the wrecked boat, a chatty Harper at his side. The couple decided to take advantage of the cooler morning temperatures to search the area before the sweltering heat rolled in again over the afternoon hours.

  “I believe she believes it.”

  “That’s not really an answer.”

  Harper paused her forward momentum and dragged a restless hand through her hair as she considered the question. “She doesn’t seem confused to me. She honestly believes someone was on the boat.”

  “And you believe her,” Jared finished, rolling his neck. “The mother swears up and down she remembers everything about what happened before the collision. I asked specifically about someone else being on the boat and she says it’s not possible.”

  “What about the father?”

  “He has gaps in his memory, which isn’t unusual because he took a blow to the head,” Jared replied. “He says he doesn’t remember everything that happened but thinks he would know if someone else was on the boat.”

  “Do you believe him?”

  That was an interesting question and Jared wasn’t sure how to answer. “I’m a police officer,” he said after a beat. “I’m supposed to look at the facts and evidence and go from there.”

  “That wasn’t really an answer,” Harper teased, her lips curving.

  “You make a good point.” Jared poked her side. “The thing is, this should be a relatively easy case. No one died. We got lucky there. Once we close the case it should come down to the weather and the biggest concern should be whether or not the Reiters had adequate insurance on the boat.”

  “But?”

  “But something didn’t feel quite right in that room,” Jared conceded. “There was an … air, if you will … of unease.”

  “What about?”

  Jared held his hands palms up. “I don’t know, Heart. They were both helpful and they answered every question I asked. They didn’t share any of those ‘oh, no, he’s on to us’ looks. They acted normal and thankful. They even mentioned that Hayley said you reminded her of a mermaid and they were unbelievably relieved that you managed to talk her into going to the hospital without them.”

  Harper snorted, legitimately amused. “A mermaid? Should I take that as an insult?”

  Jared answered without hesitation. “Absolutely not. In fact, I’m going to try and find a seashell bikini top for you so we can enhance the pirate game at some point.”

  “Don’t bet on that happening.” Harper flashed a mischievous smile. “Although, I’ve always wanted to try a seashell bikini. Scratch what I said. I might be willing to work with you on that. I need to give it some serious thought and find a bikini that doesn’t chafe.”

  The look on Jared’s face was so hot Harper had to fan herself to regain her senses.

  “What were we talking about again?”

  Jared snickered. “I can’t remember. My mind has gone to a very pretty place.”

  “You’re a pervert.” Harper playfully slapped his hand as they hit the beach. “Remind me to look under the balcony stairs on our way back. Maybe I’ll get lucky and my shoes will still be there.”

  “Do you really want them back after they were out in the storm?”

  “They were expensive.”

  “I’ll buy you new ones.”

  “They were five hundred bucks.”

  Jared swallowed hard, running his tongue over his lips. “Are you serious? Why would you spend that much on shoes?”

  “Because Zander convinced me that I needed them if I wanted to look good for you and I desperately wanted to look good for you.” Harper’s cheeks colored under his weighted gaze. “It’s a girl thing … and it’s fairly well protected under there so I’m hoping the shoes survived.”

  “Uh-huh.” Jared rolled his neck. “You don’t need to buy expensive shoes to look good for me. You look good no matter what you wear. You know that, right?”

  “I … um … we should check out the boat.” Harper wasn’t great when it came to avoiding conflict, but she was eager to change the conversational topic. “We can catch lunch when we’re done.”

  “Oh, we’re going to catch lunch,” Jared muttered, following her toward the boat. “We’re not done talking about this, Heart.”

  “I forgot what we were even talking about,” Harper lied.

  “Expensive shoes and the fact that you look beautiful no matter what you wear,” Jared shot back, not missing a beat.

  Harper sighed at his serious expression. “You’re really good for my ego sometimes.”

  “And you’re really good for my everything.” Jared pressed a soft kiss to her mouth. “No more expensive shoes for my benefit. You don’t need anything fancy because you’re fancy all on your own. Okay?”

  Harper blinked rapidly to stave off the tears. “Okay.”

  “If you want a seashell bikini top, though, that’s totally worth the money … whatever the cost.”

  Harper’s frown turned into a smile. “Duly noted.”

  “SO THIS IS a total loss, right?” Jared stepped beyond the police tape cordoning off the beached boat and surveyed the wreckage with an untrained eye. “This can’t be fixed, can it?”

  Harper shrugged, noncommittal. “I don’t know a lot about boats, but my guess is yes.”

  Jared stilled, dumbfounded. “They can fix this? There’s wood spread from one end of the beach to the other.”

  “I get that, but most of it splintered from the same spot in the hull,” Harper explained, pointing at the gaping hole that resulted when the boat slammed into the large rock at the edge of the beach. “If you replace that entire area, the deck itself doesn’t look too bad.”

  “Yeah, that makes no sense to me, but I’ll take your word for it,” Jared said dryly. “If you see any personal items go ahead and gathe
r them. Jessica Reiter seemed eager to make sure no one stole their stuff.”

  Harper arched an eyebrow. “What kind of stuff do they have that anyone would want to steal?”

  “That’s a good question, and I don’t have an answer.”

  The duo lapsed into comfortable silence as they split up and searched the boat. Neither one of them was keen to go below deck, especially since the boat was tilted on its side and that would make navigation tricky. They were almost twenty minutes into their task when a familiar figure slipped under the police tape and joined them.

  “Do you have anything good?” Jared asked his partner as he sifted through bits of wood, boredom becoming evident. “I talked to the husband and wife, but they basically said the shore appeared faster than they were expecting it.”

  “That would be my guess, too,” Mel agreed, bobbing his head. “The only boats I ever take out on the lake are the small ones with outboard motors that you take to nearby locations so you can use them to fish. This thing is a little bit out of my wheelhouse.”

  “Maybe we need a boat expert,” Jared suggested.

  “That’s not a bad idea and I’m not ruling it out,” Mel said. “As for the rest, though, I’m not sure there’s a crime here. It was a bad storm. Half the town lost power. They didn’t see the shore until it was too late. No one was hurt but the family and they’re all going to be fine so … .”

  “So you’re saying I’m wasting my time going over this,” Jared finished, clapping his hands together as he brushed off the grime. “You could’ve told me that before I got dirty.”

  “What fun would that be?” Mel winked as he shifted his eyes to a serious-looking Harper on the boat’s deck. “Is it Take Your Girlfriend to Work Day and no one told me?”

  “Ha, ha.” Jared scorched his partner with a dark look. “We went to the hospital together because Harper wanted to see Hayley and I had to question the parents. We’re having lunch at the restaurant after this. She’s not hurting anything.”