CHAPTER SEVEN
“What the…?”
Jamie’s head was buzzing and his jaw felt like it was padded with cotton. His fuzzy brain began clearing up fast as the sound of heavy footsteps and shouting grew closer.
He willed himself to lie still as he struggled to regain his bearings. Bits of gravel dug into his back as the sharp rocks pierced his shoulder blades. Already, a lump was forming on the back of his thickheaded skull.
This was where he’d landed. Damned if he hadn’t gone out cold. It’d been years since someone had managed to get so much over on him so fast. But then, it had been a long time since someone the size of a truck had hit him.
He kept his eyes shut and willed his body to stay relaxed as he adjusted to the noises around him. He wanted to make damn sure the coast was clear before anyone noticed that he was already conscious.
The shouting and footsteps stopped.
There was a rustle of clothing as someone bent over him. Jamie forced his breathing to remain calm.
“You alright?” Jamie opened his eyes when he recognized Case’s voice.
“If you don’t count the truck that just hit me.” With much effort he managed to raise himself into a sitting position, rubbing at the back of his head.
“From the look of the two I just saw leaving, I’d say that you make some mighty big and mean friends.” Case helped him struggle to his feet.
“Those tree trunks weren’t my friends. If they were then I’d hate to see my enemies. You didn’t happen to get a real good look at them did you?” Jamie wavered for a moment before he regained his balance. This was going to hurt in the morning. Hell, it hurt now. He put his fingers to the soreness and puffiness of his jaw.
“You don’t know them?”
Jamie just shook his head. “I haven’t been here long enough to make enemies like those two. They must have just hated the sight of me.”
He wasn’t about to tell Case that there was any number of people who could resent his being in Chandler. One of them might even be him.
“I’m glad you came along when you did.” Jamie said. “Who knows what kind of condition I’d be in if you hadn’t sent them running.”
“You just need to learn to pick on guys your own size, Rivard.” He crossed his arms over his massive chest.
“I’ll remember that for next time.” Jamie rubbed at the sore spot a bit longer.
Squaring his shoulders, he gave Jamie scrutinizing look. Jamie leveled a look of his own back at him, unflinching. “It wasn’t by accident that I came looking for you, Rivard. I need to ask a favor.”
Well this could be interesting. “Sure, shoot . . .” He struggled to find his balance as he got to feet.
“I need you to head back to the boarding house and keep an eye on Shelby for me.”
“Did they find Josh?”
Case shook his head as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.
“I just came in from the wharf. They found his boat, but they still haven’t found him.”
That couldn’t be good. “No sign at all?”
Case shook his head. “None. The damned fool has disappeared off the face of the earth. Thanks to you the Coast Guard is already on scene. As near as they can tell the boat is untouched, except most of his diving gear is missing.”
“What do you mean by ‘most’ of the gear missing?”
With a sigh, Case looked out at the darkness beyond the ring of light that illuminated them.
“The only diving gear they found was his best tank. It’s the one he usually uses and it’s the one that had twenty minutes of air left in it. The other tank had a faulty valve on it.” His words were gruff and Jamie could feel the tension behind his words.
“Well, if they found his good tank then he must not have been diving.”
Case shook his head. “The rest of gear, his flippers, his wetsuit, his mask, they were missing off the boat.”
“Maybe there is another explanation. Maybe he was snorkeling off one of the islands and got stranded. There are any number of islands he could be holed up, waiting out until help arrives.”
“That’s what the Coast Guard is hoping for. Unfortunately, we’ve got a pretty big storm coming up the coast that is pushing high seas. I’m afraid that if they don’t find something soon they’re going to have to cancel the search for a while.”
Neither of them needed to add the rest of that ominous news. The longer Josh went lost, the less likely of recovering him in one piece.
“So, you’ll check on her for me? I was at the house with her, but I’d like to help out with the search. Given what happened to her husband I think the wharf is the last place Shelby should be.”
Jamie hesitated. There were a million reasons he shouldn’t go back there. And yet, those reasons didn’t mean a damn when he knew that she needed him.
“I just have to make a stop by the store first.”
Taimon was worthless, Caruso decided. He had the size and the intimidation factor, but he was seriously short on brains.
Taimon held his revolver in hand as they stood in the shadow of the vacant Cannery. The black metal caught and glinted in the minimal light they had to work with.
“Put that thing away you idiot.” Caruso said. “You’ve caused enough problems for tonight. I told you to take care of Rivard and you couldn’t even finish the job. Now, we’ll need to lay low here in case that other guy got a good look at us. You better hope he can't finger us.”
“Rivard didn’t see a thing. He couldn’t have. He was too busy kissing the ground. I’d have finished him off, if the other guy hadn’t charged at us. He was making enough noise to wake the dead.”
Taimon stuffed the gun back into his waist harness and folded his arms across his chest in an impatient gesture.
“If you’d done your job, it wouldn’t have mattered if Rivard had seen you or not. Now, we not only have to worry about whether Rivard got a good look at us, but whether the other guy can ID us.” He was going to have to do some fast-talking with the old man, if he was going to turn this around.
“I don’t see what you’re worried about. We’ll just finish him off next time. For now, we’ll just stay here until we can slip back to the boat.” Taimon pulled a knife from his belt and began running the sharp tip beneath his fingernails.
Caruso stepped forward until his face was just a few inches from Taimon’s. Taimon tended to be a bit of a loose cannon when left on his own. So, it was up to him to make it clear who was in charge and what their objective was.
“You idiot, we’re sitting on a huge amount of trouble that has yet begun to pay off. If we’re going to pull this off, then we can’t take a chance of getting the old man mad. Right now, he controls the flow of inventory in and out. Without him, we’re out of business.”
Taimon met him eye to eye, but there was a faint flicker in his look. Taimon knew that what he was saying was true. Without the old man they were out of business and sitting on a potential time bomb.
“We just have to be patient and find a way to get rid of Rivard without making everyone else suspicious,” Caruso said, thinking aloud. “After the flub up at the bar someone is bound to be on the lookout for us.”
“We’ll get him.” Taimon said, not really concerned. “How hard can it be to find him in a town as small as Chandler?”
Caruso just shook his head. Taimon didn’t understand. He was used to the city, used to anonymity that places like Miami offered.
He started running through his options in his head. Before they could go after Rivard again, they had something else they needed to do.
“There’s no chance of us doing the pickup tonight. Fouling up this job has screwed up our chances of collecting the drop. Besides, we still haven’t gotten word on what to do with the guns when we get them. I heard on the radio that the Coast Guard is already in the area looking for a lost fisherman. We’ll just have to lay low for a day or two until they're done.” He let out a tired sigh. “Next time, just make sure that you finish Rivard
off for good.”
It past midnight by the time Jamie made his way up the back steps of the boarding house. He stopped at the door, listening to the quiet.
His roundabout trip back had taken him to the store where he’d used Shelby’s radio to monitor the Coast Guard frequency. High winds and rough seas were hampering the search and after a distress call off Georgetown, the search for Josh had been called for the night.
It was a tough call. One that he knew from experience was heartbreaking to make. There was nothing worse then knowing someone out there needed your help, and there wasn’t a damn thing you could do about it.
They’d resume the search in the morning. Still, the chances of finding him were fading more with each hour. The National Weather Service had long since changed their forecast from a hurricane watch to a warning, telling those along the New England coast to prepare for the storm bearing down on them. With the increased tides, wind, rain and waves there was no way they could continue the search.
And that was the precise reason he’d gone into Special Ops instead of search and rescue. He’d done some time pulling people from the water, but his own past had made the failures too hard to deal with. It was easy to get burned out emotionally dealing with the consequences of situations like these. He hated the responsibility of having to explain why they couldn’t save someone. The worst part of the job was telling the family when an operation had failed.
After awhile, the pressure had taken a toll on him. He could deal with the trafficking. There wasn’t a better feeling than when they busted someone for drugs or running guns. It was a natural high just knowing he was helping to take drugs off the streets. But it was the other side he hated. It was the hopelessness of what he couldn’t control. He’d joined the Coast Guard to help people, not give up on them.
He preferred to go after the bad guys face to face. He dealt with the known, instead of the unknown and he found satisfaction in doing his job. It was a small reward to know he may have helped someone.
Jamie carefully swung open the screen door and let himself into the kitchen. The only light came from the clock on the oven, but it was enough to guide him.
Shelby must have decided to turn in; which could only mean that she’d heard that the search had been abandoned for the night.
It was then that he heard the noise. It was soft and low, an indefinable murmur that cascaded across him. The familiar prickling of the skin at the back of his neck alerted his senses as he ran a hand under the edge of his jacket to his gun holster, running his fingers across the grip.
He moved through the shadows of the living room, staying close to the wall as he searched the darkness.
And then, he heard the noise again. Jamie turned toward the direction of the sound and his gaze fell on a figure huddled against the cushions of the window seat.
Strained moonlight, muted by the soft fall of the curtains at the window, fell over Shelby’s huddled figure. Her hair had swung forward covering her face and her knees were pulled up tight in front of her as she rested her head on her arms. Jamie eased his hand from the grip of his gun and let out a sigh of relief, willing his body to relax as he leaned against the wall and tried to slow his breathing to normal.
He’d been worried about her. The afterthought struck him hard. Creeping through the darkened house looking for burglars was one thing, but he’d be a fool if he didn’t acknowledge that his mind had been on Shelby and her safety.
If he were a smart man he’d go back to his room and forget he’d seen her. Heck, if he were smart he’d never have agreed to come back and keep watch over her.
He should leave. He’d promised Case to look out for her, but comforting Shelby could be more of a complication. She was a self-reliant and determined woman and he respected her for it. But there was vulnerability underneath her resilient exterior that struck something within him. Shelby could take care of herself. So why was it that he found himself feeling responsible for making sure she was okay?
Shelby Teague was a complication he didn’t need right now. He was here to solve a problem and damned if he wasn’t going to do just that. He owed it to himself and to David to get through this and find out what had happened to him. He couldn’t give up now. Finding out what was going on in Chandler was his ticket to finding out the truth.
He didn’t have any other choice.
Jamie turned to make his way down the hall to his room when he heard her hiccup. That one, tiny, vulnerable sound was enough to convince his heart to change his mind. There was no way he could walk away and leave her crying. He just didn’t have it in him.
He retraced his steps back to the living room and walked over to stand beside her. Sensing his presence, she raised her head and in the meager light coming through the windows he could see the tracings of tears that streaked her cheeks. She sat up, brushing at the tears with the back of her hand as she tucked her feet up under her.
“Sorry, I didn’t know you were there. I was just . . .” Her words trailed off as she tried to stifle yet another tear-filled hiccup and failed.
“It’s okay.” He was an idiot. He didn’t know the right words to say to her. He’d spent his life avoiding situations like this. He just didn’t have it in him.
“There's no word on Josh yet.” Her words were quiet.
“I know. Your Uncle tracked me down at Callaway’s and told me.” He left out the part about Case finding him lying on the ground.
“You were at Callaway’s?”
No doubt she thought he’d been out drinking while she was struggling with her brother’s disappearance.
“Oh, well, good then. You’re finding your way around okay.”
He was glad for the anonymity of the darkness as she lifted her chin to search his face. But the darkness couldn't disguise the fact that her lips were parted ever so much. Her breath was coming out in labored wisps as she fought the emotions warring within her. And yet, despite her worry, there was an almost defiant tilt to her shoulders. She’d be okay.
He liked her lips. They were simple, classic, untouched by anything but the wind. He found himself imagining their softness, how they’d feel against his finger, against his lips. He clenched his fists to his side.
Tonight only reinforced what he knew to be true. He wasn’t here for a quick relationship. Shelby deserved better than he could offer her. He needed to keep his head about him. He was here to do a job and if he was going to find out who was behind it, then he needed to keep his head on straight.
But more than anything, he needed to remember that he wasn’t here to get sidelined by some determined, hard-nosed, beautiful woman with a soft mouth.
“Was the Coast Guard able to come up with anything?” He knew the answer, but he knew that he had to ask if only to keep up appearances.
“Not much. They found his boat circling, but he wasn’t on board.” She looked out again at the water. Her voice was steady. Her words were calm.
He was right when he’d called Shelby a survivor. She’d been here before and survived. She’d survive this as well, long after he was gone.
“They’ll find something.” It was the best he could offer without giving her false hope.
Shelby got up to pace the length of the living room. Her bare feet made no sound on the worn carpet. “The hardest part is just knowing that Josh is in danger and there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it.”
He’d seen this a hundred times before. The endless searching for answers and the hopelessness of being stuck on the shore while the search went on at sea. He hated the feeling of helplessness and the inevitable fear.
“They’re doing everything they can.” His words trailed off as he realized how futile they sounded. He’d said them so many times and yet they sounded lame even to his own ears.
She stopped her pacing and looked up at him. “Yes, I’m sure they are.”
She tried to manage a smile, but it faded as fast as it had appeared.
“It isn’t as if I haven’t been here
before. I know the drill. I’ve paced this floor before. But I can’t help wondering if . . .” Her words fell off, floating around them in the quiet. He knew the words that she couldn’t bring herself to say. They were the words that could damn her brother’s life and keep him from coming home.
He wanted to say something to reassure her, but he’d seen enough to know that he couldn’t give her false hopes. She’d already lost her parents and her husband. Now, she could lose her brother.
She paced to the window again. The windows were open and he could hear the rhythmic lapping of the water, washing ashore and the rustle of leaves in the swirling uplift of the breeze. Streaks of silver moonlight played off against the small rippling waves.
A cell phone rang and she pulled the phone from her pocket.
“Hello?” There was silence as she listened to the caller. “Yes, I understand. First light. Okay.” She hung up the phone.
The official call.
“That was the Coast Guard. They’ve called off the search due to the weather. They hope to start searching again at first light, provided that the weather will allow.” The words caught like a cry in her throat.
“They’ve searched all of the islands in the immediate area and come up with nothing. They’re planning on sending divers down in the area again in the morning if the seas aren't too rough. With the hurricane on the way, they aren’t sure how much time we still have before it gets too rough. They told me to stay put near the phone for now in case he should happen to call.”
“We should know more sometime tomorrow.” She let out a frustrated strangled sigh. “I wanted to go out on the boat with my uncle, but they said I should stay here until word comes.”
No matter what the word is. He added in his head. The chances of finding Josh alive and in good condition would diminish as the hours went by. Even with the unseasonably warm weather, the sea was still cold. His best chance would be if he could find a place out of the elements. It was a small chance, but right now it was the only one they had.
Jamie needed to get more information about the search without blowing his own cover. He’d already risked too much by calling the Coast Guard in. He needed to maintain his low profile. If someone were leaking information about seizure operations, then his cover would be at risk. There had to be another way to find out more, without being obvious.
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