“Interesting.” They got closer, and Cassidy examined the boat more thoroughly. Local kids had apparently sprayed graffiti on the backside of the vessel, making it more a piece of artwork than a piece of wreckage. The other side was still weathered and brown.
“These waters have been dangerous for centuries,” Ty said. “There’s a reason it’s considered part of the Graveyard of the Atlantic.
“So when I say there’s danger surrounding this island, I’m not exaggerating.”
Ty shook his head. “In more than one way.”
Cassidy shivered and stared out over the water. “How can something so beautiful hold such a threat?”
Ty shrugged, his gaze clouding for a minute, as if he were being transported back in time. “Isn’t that life? You know, most of the terrorists I fought started with good intentions. I know that sounds crazy. But they started with an ideal that got blown up into something irrational. They started by fighting for what they believed in—and that can be a beautiful thing. But that passion and those ideals can turn ugly. I guess that’s the way life works. The line between good and evil, beauty and ugliness, danger and safety—it’s thin.”
“You’re right.” Cassidy sat beside the August Moon and leaned against the boat’s hull. Ty sat beside her, but at an angle so he could keep an eye out for trouble.
Cassidy watched the waves a minute. The currents here clashed together, one from the north and the other from the south. She shuddered to think about someone who wasn’t a strong swimmer getting caught in the tumultuous waters.
Emotionally, she could relate. She felt like that swimmer with danger coming at her from multiple sides. She had to be careful, or the person who ventured out to rescue her would get caught in the currents as well.
After a few minutes of silence, Cassidy asked, “How’s your mom?”
Cassidy had gotten some texts from Del since the woman’s cancer came back and she’d began treatments. But they hadn’t actually talked lately even though Cassidy thought about her often.
Ty stared out over the water, the wind ruffling his already messy hair and the sun’s harsh angle emphasizing his pensive expression. “I guess this is a tough week of chemo. They’ve warned her that she’ll start to lose her hair and nausea will set in with this treatment.”
Compassion gripped her. Cancer was such a horrible disease, and fighting it could take so much out of a person. “I’m so sorry, Ty. I wish there was something I could do. I guess I’m learning that there are a lot of things out of my control.”
“Mom’s tough, and she’s keeping a positive attitude. That goes a long way.” He paused. “But I hate that she’s having to go through this.”
“Your mom is one of the strongest, most joyful women I’ve ever met.” Del had welcomed Cassidy with open arms and taught her so much in the brief three days Ty’s parents had been in town.
“She is.” Ty paused. “Tell me more about your life, Cassidy. Your real life. Back in Seattle. I feel like there’s so much I don’t know about you. You told me a little earlier. I want to hear more.”
She ran some sand through her fingers, her thoughts as tumultuous as the sea and as broken as the bits of shells shattered by the ocean. “What would you like to know?”
“Why’d you become a cop?” He picked up a broken whelk shell and tossed it absently in the water.
She let out a sigh as she remembered the events leading up to the decision. She didn’t talk about them often. In fact, she hadn’t talked about that part of her past in months. “My best friend, Lucy, was murdered when she was seventeen. The police never found her killer. By then, I was already on the path of rebellion. I’d been offered softball scholarships, and I was pretty sure I was going to take one of those over getting a business degree and taking over my dad’s company one day.”
“I’m sure that didn’t go over well.” Ty glanced at her quickly before scanning the landscape behind them—mostly barren. Anyone would have a hard time sneaking up on them without giving themselves away.
“Not at all. I just had no interest in following in his footsteps, you know? I may be blood, but there are other people way more qualified. But after Lucy died, something lit inside me. I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives—people whose worlds had been turned upside down by crime.”
“Sounds noble. We’ve only got one chance when it comes to life on this earth. You don’t want to look back one day with regrets.”
Cassidy found a broken whelk also and tossed it. “I had to fight to find my way as a cop, not only against my parents, but because of the nature of the job. I know people think men and women are generally equal in this day and age, but that’s not always reality. Police work is a male-dominated field.”
“I can see that.”
“Some people still think I became a detective only because of my dad.” Cassidy paused. “I found out later he made a large donation to the police’s nonprofit, which made me wonder if they were all correct. Maybe I did get the job because of him.”
“That’s got to be hard.” Ty didn’t sound like he felt sorry for her, only compassionate and understanding.
Cassidy was grateful for his listening ear, and it nudged her to open up more—something she rarely did. Something about the waves and the sand—and Ty—just put her spirit more at ease.
“The truth is that for my whole life I’ve never known if people liked me for me, or if they liked me because of what I could do for them.” Her voice came out raspier than she wanted, but her words carried emotional weight. “It was easier to pour myself into my work. So that’s what I did. I wanted to prove myself.”
“It’s easy to fall into that trap.”
“I took the undercover assignment with DH-7, knowing it was risky and that I’d be putting my entire life on hold. But I was supposed to go in, get the information I needed, and then be done. I never anticipated killing the group’s leader.”
Now that she said the words aloud, new questions rammed into her mind. Why had she been picked for that assignment? She was a rich girl who worked the white-collar crime division. Yet she’d been singled out to go undercover with a street gang.
At the time, she’d thought she’d earned it on merit. But what if that wasn’t the case at all? What if she’d been handpicked for a different reason?
The thought startled her. She’d have to examine that line of questioning a little later.
“Then you came here to Lantern Beach?” Ty said.
“That’s right. I’d never even heard of this place before, and I was terrified. But, back in Seattle, some men broke into the first safe house location and killed the guards. I knew it was a matter of time before they found me again if I stayed in Seattle. I was supposed to come here, bide my time, and then return for trial. But the date was pushed back . . . and I found myself liking it here . . . and I met you.”
Ty squeezed her hand. “I’m grateful for that.”
She glanced up at him, soaking in the contours of his face. The stubble that formed a shadow on his jaw and upper lip. His eyes that showed unyielding strength yet kindness too. “My old life seems far away, Ty, like something I don’t want to go back to.”
“But you have to.” His words sounded dull.
“I have to go back for the trial. I just assumed I’d go back to being a detective. But . . . nothing seems certain right now.”
“You’ve got me. That’s certain.”
His words filled her chest with warm goo. She reached up and kissed him quickly. “I’m so glad I’ve got you.”
“Always.”
Her cell phone buzzed, breaking the moment. It was Lisa.
“You’ll never believe this, Cassidy,” Lisa rushed. “Your ex came in an hour after you left. You’ve got to hear what he had to say.”
Chapter Nine
Cassidy put the phone on speaker, her heart racing. She angled the phone against the breeze so Ty could hear also.
“Ty and I are both here,” Cassidy said. �
��What did Orion say?”
“I don’t know.” Lisa’s voice cracked with . . . something Cassidy couldn’t identify. “It was weird, Cassidy. He . . . didn’t give any indication that he was looking for you.”
Cassidy’s throat burned with emotions, with exclamations she wanted to shout out loud. She wanted to rebuke Lisa’s words and insist she was mistaken.
She didn’t, however. Instead, she asked, “What did he say?”
“He said his name was Rich and that he was from Missouri. He said he and his wife were married here, but she died in a car accident six months ago. This week would have been their three-year anniversary.”
Cassidy’s stomach lurched. That didn’t make sense. He was obviously lying and trying to gain people’s sympathy. Had Lisa really fallen for it? This was no time to say anything that might sound accusatory. Lisa was just a messenger.
“He sounds quite talkative,” Cassidy said instead.
“He was. He . . . don’t take this wrong, but he seemed pretty nice.”
“Is that right?” Cassidy’s gut twisted even tighter. She didn’t like where this was going. Not one bit.
“Sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.” Apology stretched through Lisa’s voice.
“No, I want the truth,” Cassidy said. “Even if it’s not what I want to hear.”
When Cassidy shoved her emotions aside, she knew her words were honest. Gut reactions couldn’t be trusted, and Cassidy was in so deep that she couldn’t tell which end was up.
“Okay, good,” Lisa said. “Because I feel a little bad saying it.”
Cassidy swallowed hard, trying to keep herself in check.
“Is there anything else we should know?” Ty asked, seeming to sense how Cassidy wrestled with her thoughts.
“Well, I kept talking to him,” Lisa said, the chatter from the restaurant creating a buzz through the phone line. “I tried to figure about where he was staying, but he didn’t take the bait. I’m sorry. I wish I could have done more.”
“No, you did a good job, Lisa,” Cassidy said. “Thanks for letting me know.”
“Anytime, Cassidy. I hope you get things figured out.”
She hung up and turned toward Ty, waiting for his reaction, still uncertain how she felt. When Ty frowned, she prepared herself to hear something she wasn’t going to like.
“Maybe we should face the possibility that he’s not Orion,” Ty said. “I know it’s not what you want to hear. But we should be open-minded.”
“I don’t know.” Cassidy’s conflicting emotions were playing with her instincts, and she didn’t like it. It was part of the reason she needed people around her who weren’t blinded by fear or assumptions. “Either way, we expect the best, prepare for the worst.”
Ty placed his hand on her back, the small act filling her with tremendous comfort. “I agree. We can’t let down our guard. This is far from over, Cassidy. Something is going on. We’ll figure out the truth eventually.”
She shook her head, still working things through. Something wasn’t fitting here. Either Cassidy was totally wrong, or she’d underestimated Orion. “Here’s what’s bugging me. The Orion I remember—he didn’t seem like he’d be that good of an actor.”
“People can surprise you. A devious mind is capable of more than we’re comfortable admitting.”
“You’re right.” Why did she feel so defeated as she said the words? What had she thought? That she’d prance into town and, when the time came, go back to Seattle and seal the fate of the DH-7 members, only to live happily ever after when all was said and done?
She knew better than that.
Ty stood, wiped the sand from him, and offered his hand. “Let’s go back inside. Austin should be here soon. I’ll feel better when my truck is fixed, and we’re not stranded here. Although being stranded with you has its appeal.”
With ease that displayed his strength, Ty pulled Cassidy to her feet and practically into his arms. There were very few places she felt safe—but in Ty’s embrace was one of those.
Lucy had been the only other person to accept Cassidy for who she was and not what she could give—and God had taken Lucy away.
Fear momentarily gripped Cassidy. What if God took away Ty as well?
She could hardly stomach the thought.
Just as they walked up to the lighthouse, Wes pulled up. Wes was another friend from Bible study, a part-time plumber and an anytime kayak guide. Summer was his busy season, which meant that Ty didn’t see him as often.
Wes hopped out of his truck and walked toward them. His hair was cut short, matching the shadow of a beard across his jaw and upper lip. He was quiet, with a dry sense of humor and an adventurous spirit.
“Austin had something come up.” Wes flipped his keys around his fingers. “So I came to give you a tow. The water is rough today, so I cancelled the kayak tour I had scheduled.”
Ty extended his hand in brotherly comradery. “Good to see you, man. You’ve been a little too busy this summer.”
Wes shrugged, that laidback island attitude ever present. “What can I say? Gotta make enough to pay my bills for the rest of the year. And I have to surf on occasion.”
Surfers around here were known to set their own business hours, based solely on the forecast. Good surfing waves? Then work could wait until tomorrow. It was a different mind-set—one that made life more interesting.
“I hear you.”
“Good to see you, Cassidy.” Wes nodded her way. “So, what’s going on?”
“Listen, while you two talk, I’m going inside for a minute and clear my head,” Cassidy said.
“Do you want me to check it out first?” Ty asked, worry filling him.
“No, I’ll be fine.” Her gaze caught his and clearly communicated that she could check things out for herself.
He didn’t argue. The woman was capable. No one could argue with that.
With one last glance back, Wes and Ty started walking toward his truck.
“So, what happened to the Big Kahuna?” Wes asked. He’d given Ty’s truck her own name.
“I’m not sure,” Ty said, remembering the earlier incident all too vividly. “One minute, everything was fine, and the next my brakes quit working.”
“Did someone mess with them?” Wes narrowed his eyes.
“I don’t think so, but I won’t know for sure until I get it out of the sand and get a better look underneath.”
“Let’s get it done then.”
It only took twenty minutes to tow the truck out from the deep, soft sand and to an old driveway outside the lighthouse. Once there, Ty scooted beneath the truck and used the flashlight Wes handed him to reexamine the brake line.
“So how does it look?” Wes asked, peering under the truck.
“Well, all the brake fluid is gone,” he said. “There’s a small cut in the line. Someone knew what they were doing.”
“What do you mean?”
“They must have made an incision that was just small enough to get things rolling. As I was driving, the cut must have broken through and released the fluid.”
“Makes sense. Otherwise, you would have seen a pool when you climbed in the truck.”
“Exactly. The truck was going just fast enough it could have done some damage.”
“These old beauties were built like tanks.” Wes paused. “Why would someone tamper with your brakes? Does this have anything to do with Cassidy’s ex-boyfriend?”
Ty pulled himself out from under the truck so he could see Wes’s face. “You heard?”
“The gang told me. I ran into them when I stopped by the Chefette for a sandwich.” He picked up a bag from his truck. “I brought you the supplies you asked for. I guess you anticipated this?”
“I suspected it.” Ty took the bag. “And, yes, my first thought was that it could be this guy behind it. He’s trouble.”
“Sounds dangerous.”
“He is.” Ty frowned as he thought about it. He began pulling out the items he ne
eded to fix his truck. “But we’re trying not to jump to too many conclusions. She didn’t get a good look at the man.”
“I guess this explains why she seems so jumpy.” Wes leaned against Big Kahuna.
Ty nodded. “Yeah, it answers a lot of questions.”
They jacked the truck up and took the wheel off to begin repairs.
“I know we haven’t caught up in a while, but the two of you seem like you’ve gotten close,” Wes said.
Ty removed the old hose. “Yeah, we have.”
“I’m happy for you, man. That’s great. She seems like a really great gal.”
She’s going to leave you. Just like Renee. Just like your brother.
The voice had started whispering at the back of his mind earlier. He tried to silence it. But Ty would be a fool not to acknowledge the challenges he and Cassidy would face in the future. It wasn’t just the distance either. It was career. Upbringing. Life goals.
Ty cleared his throat, pushing away those thoughts, and focused on repairing the truck. They worked for the next hour until the truck was as good as new. “Thanks for your help, man.”
“It’s no problem.” Wes straightened and glanced at his watch. “Speaking of which, I should get back to work. Vacationers are very particular about their hot tubs not working.”
“I can only imagine.” If only that was Ty’s biggest worry right now.
“If you need a hand with anything else, let me know.”
“I’ll do that. Thanks, Wes.”
Ty waved goodbye to his friend and went to check on Cassidy, already uncomfortable with the amount of time he’d left her alone. She might be fully capable of taking care of herself, but that didn’t mean he wanted her to do that. No, two people working together were always better than one person standing alone.
Dangerous Waters (Lantern Beach Book 4) Page 7