Storm Surge

by Celia Ashley

  MISS ME YET?

  Paige laughed, her heart suddenly ten times lighter.

  * * * *

  Around midday, Paige sent Liam a text asking if he was all right and received a quick reply of yes, talk to you soon. Okay. She’d accept that. She turned to Shadow, who’d appeared at the door at nine-fifteen in the morning and had since shown no inclination to leave. “Your father says hi.” The elderly cat looked at her with full recognition of the lie and returned to licking his tail in the middle of her bed.

  “I had a cat once. I don’t remember much about him. Or her? See? I don’t really remember anything. Except I don’t think I let it sleep on my bed.”

  Shadow ignored her, managing to turn himself three times in a circle without fully rising before dropping his head to her pillow. His yellow eyes closed. Paige continued to straighten up the tiny cottage around the cat, all the while moving the box Liam had found in her old attic from place to place in the room. Eventually, she set the hinged wooden container on the mattress. Shadow lifted one lid at the disturbance but then returned to slumbering.

  Sitting on the far edge, Paige folded her hands in her lap. She gazed at the box for several long minutes. She’d come back to Alcina Cove looking for answers. Instead everything she’d discovered had only unearthed more mystery. If her father had been keeping tabs on her for some reason, these were not the types of photos he would have collected. The few she’d seen had been intimate family keepsakes from events in which he’d never been involved. They certainly hadn’t been taken by any private detective. She couldn’t imagine her parent doing such a thing.

  Sliding the box closer, Paige flipped back the lid.

  Be brave, Paige. Yes, her mom had said that to her so many times in those final days, exhorting Paige to bravery when she herself faced the great unknown. If that hadn’t already been Paige’s mantra, she would have been shamed into accepting it by the very dichotomy of life events, hers and her mother’s, and how courageously her mother had accepted it all.

  Digging into the photographs, she pulled out handful after handful, spreading them beside her on the white blanket. Here, Paige’s high school graduation, Paige standing among a dozen other students. And here, Paige in her cap and gown. She flipped the images over, looking for handwriting on the back and finding none. She performed the same on a dozen more, locating no date, no note, nor markings of any sort. Digging deeper into the box, she uncovered older snapshots—photos likely abandoned, given the haste with which her mother had left everything behind—early days of school, a series of her hunting for shells and sea glass along the beach, a shot of Paige holding a dark-colored kitten on the living room floor next door. She took a closer look at the last one, eyeing the single white paw on the kitten, the other three feet of the kitten tucked close and not visible in the image. She glanced at Shadow’s two white paws stretched across her pillow. Could it be?

  Turning the photo over, she found a caption in her mother’s writing. Paige with Spooky at ten weeks.

  She’d been forced to leave Spooky behind only a few months later. She hadn’t totally forgotten him, despite what she’d said to Shadow. She’d been heartbroken. Holding the photo up, she compared it to Shadow’s sleeping form. A seventeen-year-old cat wasn’t unheard of, but would her father have kept Spooky around after she and her mother were gone? What had Liam said about Shadow? That he’d found the cat when he moved into her father’s house.

  “Shadow?” The cat meowed and peered in her direction, twisting his head in a flirtatious move. “Spooky?” He meowed again, which, she knew, meant nothing but a response to her tone. Besides, if he was her old kitten, after sixteen years he wouldn’t recall the name he’d gone by for a few short months.

  But that wasn’t exactly accurate. If her father had kept Spooky, he would likely have maintained the name as well. Scooping up all the photos, Paige flung them back into the box and secured the lid. With the advent of recall, she knew her kitten had possessed another telltale marking, one she’d vowed was unlike any other. It was the reason she’d picked him out of the litter.

  Careful not to startle the cat, Paige slid across the bed and began to pet his belly. Once he got to purring full bore, she slowly turned him over, catching a glimpse of white fur. A surge of excitement swept through her and she rolled him all the way onto his back to get a better look.

  Bitter disappointment burned through Paige’s veins when she didn’t find the half moon bib of white fur. She blinked tears from her lashes. Had she really expected to find Shadow and Spooky were the same cat? After all these years? How could she be so foolish?

  Shadow, confused by her sobbing, leapt from the pillow to the floor. Unable to set her distress aside, Paige put her head where his had been, stifling the noise of her perplexing sorrow into the mound of foam and cloth. Why should it matter? Why should it freaking matter? Spooky had vanished with her childhood, and Shadow belonged to a man who confused her. To have thought for one moment she’d found her long-ago pet had been irrational and infantile. And yet, if they had been the same cat, she would have found a connection between past and present that brought joy and not pain.

  The type of rollercoaster emotions she’d been experiencing, not just since her arrival in Alcina Cove but for many months before, were doing her no good. What she needed was the type of distraction that didn’t involve a man in her bed or the solving of mysteries. She loved fireworks. They thrilled her in a way few entertainments managed. Tomorrow night, with all due precaution, after treating herself to a meal in town, she was going to stand beneath the sky and be diverted.

  “So there,” she announced to the room in general. Alerted by her change in tone, Shadow crept cautiously back. She cuddled him close to her chest and, since he appeared he would tolerate the attention, decided the next course of action was a nap with an innocuous warm body.

  * * * *

  Liam lengthened his stride as he traversed the street between passing cars. He smoothed down the hair along his neck, stemming the sensation of eyes observing him. Nothing he could do about being trailed or watched. Nothing he could do about any of this except follow through. He headed with determination toward the drugstore.

  Anxiety and an outlandish excitement coursed together through his bloodstream, heightening his senses. Anger, too, which served to temper the rest in a way that made him think clearly, almost concisely, of the events rushing to a head. He darted through each action and possible reaction in search of any flaw, but so far he’d found none.

  That didn’t mean defects wouldn’t pop up. Dangerous errors. He was only one cog, not the entire mechanism. A great deal existed beyond his control. All he could do was his best to protect those he cared about.

  Even if she ended up hating him.

  Chapter 18

  Driving along Main Street, Paige passed the various shops and people thronging the sidewalks. Dan Stauffer hadn’t been wrong about the crowds. Apparently they began to congregate early for the Fourth of July display. She had to break continually for pedestrians in the crosswalks. Many of the shops displayed flags and banners as wells as signs in red, white, and blue proclaiming holiday sales. While waiting for two families to traverse the crosswalk by the drugstore, Paige perused the items listed for sale on the sign in a huge plate glass window. In her side mirror, she caught sight of a man in a distinctive purple shirt crossing between traffic close enough to the back of her car that her brake lights emblazoned the khaki covering his legs. He continued past with an aggressive swagger onto the sidewalk to her left. Paige gasped and lowered her window, leaning her head out.

  “Hey!”

  He didn’t turn in response, but she knew it was him. The Bookmark Man. She kept her gaze on him as he continued across the street until the driver behind her tapped his horn. The crosswalk had cleared so she shot forward, trying not to lose sight of the man in the oblong of the side mirror, and made a quick left into the angle of an open parking space halfway down
the block. Throwing the car into park, she got out and hurried as fast as she could manage along the crowded sidewalk, making her way back toward the drugstore. She was certain he’d gone in there.

  As she wove a path between people with everything from packages, chairs, and coolers in hand to children in tow, Paige pulled her cell phone from her purse in anticipation of calling Dan or snapping a photo at a safe distance. Reaching the drugstore, she pushed her way inside. It appeared they were giving everything away, if the jammed aisles were any indication. “Excuse me. Sorry. Would you let me through, please?” She rose repeatedly up onto her toes, hoping to see farther into the store over the display shelves.

  At the building’s back end, she spotted a flash of purple on a patron making a beeline toward the pharmacy counter. As Paige reached the end of the aisle, one of the store employees stepped out in front of her wheeling a laden cart for restocking the nearest shelf. Paige put out both hands to keep from being run over.

  “Sorry, miss!”

  “No problem,” Paige said, trying to ease by without success. “Could you move this, please?”

  “I’m trying.”

  “I’m in a hurry.”

  “So’s everyone.”

  Paige half climbed over the cart to get around it, ignoring the young girl’s comments about rudeness. By the time she reached the pharmacy window, there was no sight of the man. A bright red Exit sign indicated a door at the back, but she didn’t think he’d gone out that way since it wasn’t standard egress from the store and would probably have set off an alarm. Determined, she paced the ends of each aisle, taking a moment to study the customers down each one.

  A hand closed around her wrist. Paige jerked free, her head snapping up as a familiar, rumbling voice spoke her name.

  “Liam,” she cried, “when did you get back?”

  “A little while ago. I haven’t even gone home yet. I had an errand here at the pharmacy. What’s wrong?”

  “He’s here. The bookmark guy is here.”

  Liam’s face blanched white beneath his dark hair, the scar standing out like silver twine. Half-circles like pale bruises marked his eyes from sleepless nights. “Stay where you are. Point me in the direction you saw him.”

  Lifting her arm, she complied. “He’s wearing khakis and a purplish shirt. His hair is a mixture of blond and gray, I think.”

  “Stay put,” he reiterated, and rushed off. Paige took two steps after him and stopped. She clambered up onto a step stool for sale in order to obtain a better vantage point. Liam, easily visible because of his height, headed straight for the far wall where she’d pointed. Although she could no longer see the other man, she hoped Liam would be able to spot him soon enough. When Liam strode quickly toward the front, Paige jumped off the stool and headed in that direction, hoping to reach the entrance before either man did.

  What she found was Liam coming back in the automatic door with a look of frustration. Spotting her, he shook his head.

  “Did you at least see him?”

  “I saw someone dressed as you described. He went out the front door, but I couldn’t find him outside. You’re sure it was the same guy?”

  “Yes.” She rushed past him toward the exit. Outside, she visually searched the sidewalk in both directions, and went so far as to step out into the street in case he’d already crossed. Liam followed, taking a few steps north, peering into cars. He returned.

  “I’m calling Dan,” she said when he neared. “Maybe they have cameras in the store.”

  “Good idea.” Liam waited beside her as she made the call. She hung up after Dan promised a car would be out to check the area.

  “Liam,” she said, “what are you doing here?”

  “I shop here.”

  “I mean, you left a note saying you would be gone for a couple of days. Although you did send me that text saying you would see me soon, I had no idea when you were coming back. Is everything all right?”

  “It will be,” he said.

  Paige studied him with a frown. “Even though I haven’t said anything, I do still have a couple of questions from the other night. Whenever you’re ready,” she added.

  “Okay.” He didn’t appear too sure but was putting a brave front on it.

  Paige nodded as an idea came to her. “And right now, you weren’t following me? Not keeping an eye on me?”

  His lips curled. “I’m pretty sure you ran into me inside the store, not the other way around.”

  “No. You grabbed my arm. I hadn’t seen you yet.”

  “I’m not following you. I swear.” He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She stepped right up against him, breathing in his scent, amazed at how familiar she found it, how much she’d longed for it. Liam’s mouth pressed down on her hair. “I’ve missed you.”

  She smiled. “I got the note. I’ve missed you right back.” The rush of closeness, of pleasure, made her feel exposed and defenseless, but she couldn’t quell the genuine happiness.

  Liam lowered his arms to his sides. “I had a few things to take care of. They came up rather suddenly.”

  “I understand.”

  “Paige.”

  She smiled. “Liam.”

  He bent slightly from the waist so that his face hovered near hers. “I would kiss you now, but you’d probably melt like an ice cream cone all over the sidewalk.”

  With a snort, Paige took a step away, fitting her fingers into his. “You hold yourself in pretty high esteem, do you?”

  His laughter turned her insides to pudding. She wanted to throw him in her car and take him home, do things to him for which pudding was a very good consistency. Instead, she released his hand and hiked her purse back up on her shoulder.

  “Do you have any interest in fireworks, Neighbor Gray?” she asked.

  He twirled a skein of her hair around his finger and let it go. “Besides the kind you make?”

  “Yes,” she said, suppressing an urge to kick him in the shins for the reference. “The kind that are generated for public display. Tonight. Here. Well, somewhere in this town.”

  “So, this is like a date?”

  “Exactly like a date.”

  “Perfect. We’ll have dinner first?”

  “Those were my plans, all by my lonesome. It will be so much nicer with you.”

  Liam turned solemn. “Everything will be better, I promise you.”

  She squeezed his fingers. “Don’t make promises like that. Blanket assurances in life don’t usually work out.”

  “Okay. We’ll be better. How’s that?”

  She heard the hitch in his voice and knew he had reservations. Fine. So did she. But this time, unlike any other, she was willing to take the chance.

  A police unit pulled up in the street, followed by a second one. Paige dropped Liam’s hand and went to the nearest car to speak with Dan, Liam at her heels.

  Dan leaned from the window, peering over his sunglasses. “Did you get a better look at him this time?”

  Paige shook her head. “I only saw him from behind. But I recognized him. The way he moved. His body shape. The cut of his hair. You have to remember, I watched him walking away from me for quite a distance before I picked up the bookmark. Liam might have gotten a better look than I did today. He was in the drugstore when I went in. He saw the guy leave.”

  Dan gave Liam the once over. The two men then nodded at each other like wary dogs.

  “Stauffer,” said Liam by way of greeting. No handshake. None of the other civilities people normally engaged in. Their strained interaction was excessive. Teaching eighth grade kids should have educated her to the way of male tactics, but perhaps the kids needed to grow up a bit more to start behaving so immaturely.

  “Gray. Did you see which way he went?”

  “If I did,” Liam said, “I’d be on him already.”

  The look Dan shot him was frankly disapproving. “Not your job.”

  �
�Maybe not. But if the opportunity arises, I’m not letting him walk away.”

  A muscle in Dan’s jaw twitched. “Did you get a look at him?”

  “Just what he was wearing. Khaki pants, hole in the right rear pocket. A dark violet T-shirt with a logo across the shoulder blades. Said ‘Victory’ or something like that. I never saw his face.”

  Paige’s eyes widened. She hadn’t even noticed the logo. “You’re observant,” she said.

  “I’ve learned to pay attention.”

  Dan surveyed the exchange. His eyes, barely visible to Paige behind his sunglasses, flicked back and forth between them to finally rest on Liam. “You saw all that, but you didn’t see which way he went once he got outside.”

  Paige heard the swift intake of Liam’s breath at her shoulder. He didn’t bother to answer.

  Dan picked up his radio, giving the description to the officer in the other vehicle, who began to cruise slowly down the street. “Did he look familiar to you?”

  “No,” said Paige. “I told you that. I’ve never—”

  “I was talking to your boyfriend, Paige.”

  Paige shut up, too shocked to be offended. She turned to Liam. She could see Dan’s antagonistic behavior had affected him. Liam met Dan’s gaze in a steady, smoldering contest.

  “Not at all,” he said.

  Dan drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, shifting his focus to the crowd on the sidewalk. “I’d like you to come into the station, Gray, and talk to someone there. You might be able to add to Paige’s description so we could get a better overall sketch.”

  To Paige’s surprise, Liam simply asked, “When?”

  “The sooner the better.”

  “I could be there in an hour or so.”

  With a nod at both of them, Dan pulled away into the Fourth of July congestion. Liam took her hand and gave it a brief squeeze. “We’ll eat first? It’s a while until the fireworks start.”