"And, Shelby, you said that Rumbar told you he’d sabotaged the dinghy?"
"Yes. I think he just wanted to slow Alex down so he’d have time to kill—so he’d have time to finish what he came for. I don’t think he wanted Alex to know for sure the boat was sabotaged. You know, so when Alex found me, it would just seem to be an accident. If he’d done something more obvious, Alex would know he’d been there."
Detective Fairholm nodded, rubbing his forehead. After a moment, he spoke.
"Okay. We’ll get these statements ready for you to sign. Where are you headed next?"
"We’re planning to go to Beaufort. We haven’t really talked about it in detail, but I imagine we’ll have to anchor out one night on the way. Do you…do you think it’s safe?"
"You’ll be here tonight, right?"
We all nodded.
"With any luck, we’ll have nailed these guys by the time you leave tomorrow. I’ll call you to let you know."
"Thanks," I said.
"Okay, sit tight for a few more minutes. We’re almost done."
He left the room, and Alex stood up and stretched. "I’m starving. Let’s go get something to eat after we leave."
"Sounds good to me."
We milled around until the detective returned, bearing a sheaf of papers that we signed.
"All right, we’re all done," he said. "You guys be safe. I think we’re close to getting this guy. But Shelby, don’t forget what I told you."
"I haven’t forgotten," I promised. He held my gaze for a moment more, then waved us out of the room.
✽✽✽
AS WE WERE walking out of the police station, my phone rang. "Hello?"
"Shelby? It’s Jane."
Surprised, I said, "Well, hi, Jane. What’s going on? I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon."
"I think I did something I shouldn’t have. Oh, God, Shelby, I feel terrible."
"What? What is it?"
"Well—I really can’t believe I’m this stupid."
Confused, I asked, "Are you all right? What happened?"
"Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Well, here’s what happened. I think I accidentally told that Grace woman where you are."
"What?"
"Well, I’m still in Elizabeth City, and I was sitting on the dock just now, and I glanced up and saw her talking to a couple of police officers that were in their squad car parked on the street. Then she came over to where I was sitting. She was all dressed up in a suit, you know, looked real businesslike. She asked me where you were, and honest to God, Shelby, I thought she was one of the police detectives or something. So I told her where you were headed."
Great.
"When did you realize it was Grace, and not a police officer?"
"Well, she introduced herself then. She said she’d heard something on the police scanner that was happening near Belhaven, and she wondered if it had to do with you. Then I realized what I’d done, so I told her to leave and came in to call you. And apologize. Oh my God! It just now occurred to me what she said. Are you okay? What happened to you? I hope you’re all right. Although I wouldn’t blame you if you decided not to tell me. You must think I’m the world’s biggest blabbermouth. I’m really sorry, Shelby. Are you okay?"
I sighed, thinking that Grace would probably be showing up in Belhaven sometime this afternoon to pester me. "Yes, I’m fine now. And don’t worry about it. Grace is very persistent. She would have found me sooner or later."
"Did something else happen?"
"Yes." Briefly, I filled her in on the encounter with Rumbar. She gasped. "Duke? I never imagined that…oh, Shelby, you should just go back to Florida while the police are sorting all this out."
"Well, I think that he’s on his way out of the country. That’s what Duke said anyway. So I don’t think he’ll be coming back for me. Besides, as far as he knows, my lifeless body is floating somewhere in the Alligator River right now." At least until Grace posts another "news" story, I thought sourly.
There was silence on the line. Then Jane said, "I hope you’ll forgive me, Shelby. It really was a mistake. I just didn’t realize who she was."
"Don’t worry about it, Jane. Like I said, she would have hunted me down on her own." Then, changing the subject, I asked, "When do you head out?"
"Tomorrow morning. Just got to do a few chores and errands today, then I’m going."
"Listen, Jane, I have to go. Alex is waiting for me to go get something to eat. He’s pretending to faint. I think he’s actually gone pale."
She laughed. "Tell him hi. You guys take care."
We said goodbye and hung up.
"That was Jane?" Alex asked, tucking my hand into his arm and propelling me toward a small diner.
"Yeah. Don’t be surprised if our friend Grace shows up later today."
"Well, that's just fabulous," he groaned, opening the door of the diner and waving me inside.
I smirked when the waitress on duty saw Alex. Her hands went to her hair for a quick unconscious pat, a purely feminine response, then she gave a tug to her neckline, inching it further down to better display her cleavage. Without taking her eyes from him, she ushered us to a booth in the corner and recited the day’s specials as if they were love poems. After she put the straws down, she pretended to lose her balance, just so she’d have the opportunity to put her hand on his shoulder to catch herself. There were a lot of "Hons" flying around, all of them directed at Alex. I grinned to myself, and Alex smiled at her, unaware as usual of the effect his good looks has on the population at large.
When she walked away, Alex said, "Don’t you just love small towns? Everyone’s always so friendly and polite."
Not wishing to disillusion him as to the cause of the friendliness, I just smiled at him and agreed.
"Well, Alex, thanks for being so nice about spending yet more time in a police station with me."
"Yeah, do I get hazard pay for all this? Just kidding, Shelby, I don’t think I’ve ever had this much of an adventure," Alex said, grinning. Then he sobered up. "I really do hate that all this is happening to you. Again. But from now on, I’m not leaving you alone for one second. I’ll keep you safe."
I reached over to squeeze his hand. He held onto my hand for moment, squeezing back. The waitress came back with our orders just then, and her eyes locked on our hands like a tractor beam. She thumped my salad down in front of me, then gently set Alex’s sandwich in front of him, staring at him the whole time with accusing, betrayed eyes before turning on her heel and marching away. I grinned to myself.
"Are you going to call Matt today?" Alex asked.
"Yes, I thought I’d call after we eat."
"What are you going to tell him? About last night, I mean." He leaned forward, waiting for my answer.
Pushing a stray tomato around with my fork, I said, "I’m not sure. I don’t want him to worry about me, with his granddad so sick. But I think he’d be more upset if I didn’t tell him until he got back. Any advice?"
Alex stared into his plate, as if seeking divine guidance from his sesame seed bun. "Well, what I might do…what I might do, Shelby, is tell him where we are now, so he’ll know right off that you’re safe. Then I might just sort of give him the highlights. That’s what I’m planning to do when I call Nathan."
"Yeah. Well, see, here’s the other thing. When I was talking to Trish the other day, I didn’t get around to telling her that Rumbar had escaped. Matt doesn’t even know that yet."
Alex leaned forward. "Yeah, that might be a little problem."
The waitress came back then, scowling when she saw that Alex had hardly touched his plate. He smiled at her, and the scowl slid off, to be replaced by a glow when he said, "It tastes great. I’ve just been talking to my friend instead of working on my dinner. Look, I’ll eat right now." He took a big bite out of his sandwich. Mollified, she walked away, oblivious to my request for more water.
"Or, you could do the rip-off-the-band-aid approach. You know, just get it over with. L
ike this: Matt, Rumbar escaped. He came after me. I got away. I’m fine. Rumbar’s trying to leave the country. See? It’ll be over before you know it."
"I’ll take it under advisement," I said. No matter what I said now, I knew Matt would probably be frustrated with me for not telling him that Rumbar had escaped. Plus, there was the small matter of the impeller. My fault for not taking care of the boat the way I was supposed to.
As if reading my thoughts, Alex said, "Just remember, Shelby, confession is good for the soul."
✽✽✽
BACK ABOARD, ALEX had gone below to call Nathan and take a nap, and I’d run out of excuses for not calling Matt. Taking a deep breath, I picked up my phone and dialed Trish’s number. The cowardly part of me hoped that Trish would answer and say that Matt was busy.
No such luck. Matt answered.
"Shelby? I’ve been hoping to hear from you."
"Hey, Matt. This is new, you answering a phone and all."
I could hear the grin in his voice. "I snatched Trish’s phone and have been outside milling around. Anything to get some relief from Andi. Her voice makes me feel like I’ve got a skewer through my temple."
"So she’s still there?"
"Oh, yes, she’s still here. The good news is that Franklin is here too. Since she hardly ever gets to berate him in person, she’s been glued to his side offering him unwanted sisterly advice. I’m going to have to take him out for a beer tonight."
"How is Franklin? I haven’t seen him in ages."
"He’s good. He says to tell you hello."
"Say hi to him for me. How’s Henry? And how are your parents holding up?"
"Granddad is doing a lot better. They’re planning to release him tomorrow or the next day. My dad was looking pretty worried for a while, but he’s been talking to the doctor this afternoon, and I think he’s feeling better. He and my mom are working on ways and means to make sure Granddad stays on his treatment plan. That will be a battle." He paused. "So, how are you doing? Where are you now?" he asked.
"We’re in Belhaven. We’re planning to leave tomorrow morning to head to Beaufort. We’ll probably anchor somewhere along the way, and be in Beaufort day after tomorrow."
"Day after tomorrow. That sounds good. I’m going to try to get a flight back then, and I’ll meet you guys there."
My heart lifted. Matt would be back soon. Then, remembering that I had some news for him, I said, "Matt."
"Yeah?"
"I have some things to tell you."
His voice dropped, sounding a little huskier. "What is it?" Embarrassed, I realized he probably thought I was going to carry on our discussion from the other night.
"Well," I said, thinking of Alex’s advice. "The first thing is that I’m okay, and so is Alex."
"Okay." The sexy huskiness was gone, replaced with confusion and wariness.
"But we’ve had some problems."
"What kind of problems?"
I paused.
"Well?"
"I guess I should start at the beginning. But you should know, Matt, that I didn’t tell Trish this the other day because I didn’t want you to worry about me with Henry so sick."
"You’re starting to scare me. Can you just come to the point?"
I took a deep breath. "Detective Fairholm came by the other day to tell me that Rumbar had escaped."
"Escaped? How?"
Briefly, I filled him in on what the detective had said.
There was a silence as Matt pondered on that.
"All right. Is that everything?"
"Um. No. There’s more." I told him the whole story. He listened without interrupting, until I finished up with, "But I’m fine now, and there’s a whole battalion of law enforcement officers looking for Rumbar and Ivan. They’re bound to catch them again soon. They know where they’re headed, the name of the trawler and the container ship, all that. They’ll get them, Matt."
He didn’t say anything for a long time.
"Matt? Are you still there?"
"Yeah. I’m here."
"Are you upset with me for not telling you sooner?"
"No. I just feel like I should be there with you, keeping you safe."
"Henry needs you. Alex has vowed not to leave my side again. Don’t worry about me."
"It’s not really a choice, Shelby. If something happened to you…" He didn’t finish the sentence. The silence lengthened.
Finally, I cleared my throat. "You really think you’ll be able to get to Beaufort day after tomorrow?"
"Without a doubt. I’d be there tonight if I could."
"Stay there, Matt. Visit with your family. It’s going to be a lot easier on you to just meet us in Beaufort than to try to get here or meet us somewhere along the way."
He sighed, conceding the point.
"Matt?"
"Yeah?"
"I miss you."
"I miss you, too. More than you know." There was a catch in his voice.
"Well, I’ll call you tomorrow morning before we leave."
"Okay. And Shelby..."
"Yeah?"
"Be safe, okay?" Before I could reply, he said, "Aw, damn it. Here comes Andi. She looks pissed. I guess I better go. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Bye." Click.
Poor Matt. Poor Trish. Poor all of them, on the run from Andi. I grinned to myself, then the grin slid away as I saw a small powerboat heading toward us. A young guy was driving, and Grace was standing in the bow, clutching the rail as she struggled to keep her balance. I wondered why she didn’t just sit down, but as they got closer, I saw that she was wearing a light-colored linen suit. The seats of the boat were liberally coated with what looked like fish scales and some leftover fish guts.
The young guy turned broadside to us and cut the engine. They drifted toward us, accompanied by a powerful fishy odor. He dropped a fender between the boats before grabbing our toe rail, keeping the boats parallel to each other.
Grace gave me a timid wave. I looked at her without smiling. Although her hair was tightly pulled back as usual, one tiny lock had escaped and dangled near her ear. Even in her light-colored suit, she was perspiring in the heat.
"Hi, there, Shelby. Ms. Hope. I’m Grace Martin, you may remember."
"Yes, Grace. I know who you are. We’ve been through that already." An expression of uncertainty crossed her face at my tone.
"I just wanted to re-introduce myself," she said, fidgeting with her necklace. "I know you’ve met a bunch of people lately, and I wasn’t sure you’d remember my name."
"Well, since you’re the one who made it possible for a murderer to learn my name, it’s really unlikely that I’d forget yours."
She blushed, her cheeks staining crimson. I felt a small stab of guilt at my rudeness, which dissipated as I thought of last night’s events.
"Why are you here?"
"Well, uh, I, uh heard about what happened. And I hoped that you might change your mind and give me an interview. People are just so curious about what’s been going on. They’ll be so glad to hear that you’re okay."
"Grace. Listen to me. Please do not write in your blog that I’m alive."
Alex poked his head out of the companionway. "Hey, Shelby. What’s going on? I heard voices." He climbed into the cockpit and saw Grace. "Oh."
"I was just asking Grace politely not to write anymore about me in her blog."
"Well," Grace said huffily. "You really weren’t all that polite about it, to be honest."
Alex looked at her. "She doesn’t have to be. You’re violating her privacy."
"The public has a right…"
"Are you not listening? Those guys left her for dead. That Rumbar guy tried to kill her. Right now, they think she’s dead. If you publish something that says she’s not, what do you think is going to happen to Shelby?"
"I’m just reporting facts."
"You, my dear, are not a reporter. A good reporter would not put an innocent person’s life in danger just to add a post to her blog. Is that how yo
u’d want to be remembered? The blogger who’s in jail for manslaughter? They’ll make you an accessory, you know." I had no idea if Alex was even marginally right, but it sounded impressive. "And," he added, gesturing toward her suit and heels, "You won’t be able to wear your pretty clothes in jail. It’ll be all orange jumpsuits."
"I wouldn’t go to jail. No, you’re wrong," she said, but her voice lacked conviction.
Alex shook his head in sorrow. "I’m not wrong. You won’t enjoy jail, I can assure you."
I glanced at the young guy. "Who’s your friend, Grace?"
"What? Oh. That’s Pete. He’s a friend of my brother’s." Pete, looking bored with the conversation, gazed out over the water.
"Well, why don’t you ask Pete to take you back to shore, then you can get into your car and drive back to Elizabeth City."
"You can’t keep me from writing about this, Shelby. I don’t care what your friend says. What I heard was that those guys were heading out of the country. If they’re not arrested, they’ll be long gone by tomorrow. Then, I can write anything I want, and it won’t hurt you. See? It’s a win win."
Some people talk about seeing red when they get mad. At that moment, I couldn’t see at all, I was so angry. While she talked, my vision dimmed to a tiny tunnel with Grace at the center of it. By the time she’d finished, she was just a little dot.
"Calm down, Shelby," Alex said. "You’re hyperventilating. And you," he said, turning to Grace, "Just go. Now. Don’t write anything about her. You won’t enjoy the outcome, trust me."
Grace sniffed, regaining some of her aplomb. "Don’t threaten me. I’m making a compromise here. I won’t write anything until tomorrow. That’s fair."
I tried to say something, but all that came out was a gurgled noise.
Alex looked at Pete. "I think you’d better go now, friend." Pete saluted, cranked up his engine, and motored Grace away, while she looked over her shoulder and grinned at me smugly.
"Put your head between your knees," Alex advised, pushing my neck. "Take a couple deep breaths. Come on, just relax."
"I—she—can’t—awful."
Telltale (Shelby Hope Book Two) (Shelby Hope Novels 2) Page 13