by Tracy Sharp
Standing in one of Jackson’s extra large t-shirts, I felt like a little girl wearing her father’s shirt. When Chris walked up, taking his sunglasses off, my heart did a flip-floppy thing that made my breathing quicken. My head buzzed, like I’d had a few beers.
“You look gorgeous,” he said, standing a couple of steps lower than me, which put him at eye level with me.
I felt myself blush and shyness made me look down and grin. I looked up at him through my long, shaggy bangs. “Thanks.”
He cupped my face in both his hands and kissed me so softly that it stole my breath. The kiss went on until the sound of Jackson opening the glass door made us pull back from each other. I placed my hand on the railing to steady myself, suddenly dizzy.
“Fresh coffee, McCool.” He placed the pot on the table and poured some into a mismatched pottery mug.
“Thanks, Jax.” McCool trailed a hand over my back as he passed me, taking a seat at the table. “So, you’re leaving today, Leah?”
I looked down at the wooden floor of the deck. “Yeah. I’ve had all the vacation I can take.”
“Okay. But that’s too bad. I kind of need a date to a wedding. It’s this Friday.”
“Who gets married on a Friday?” I asked.
“It’s all the rage now. It’s cheaper.” Jackson sat back, grinning. “I’m taking Molly.”
“I heard.” McCool looked at me. “You’re really going to make me go alone? I was hoping I could bring the coolest chick on the east coast.”
“Oh, yeah? She say ‘no’?” I sat back, resting my feet on an empty chair.
“Not yet. So what do you say?” Chris gazed at me, his eyes clear blue under the sky, with the backdrop of the ocean behind him.
Jackson tipped his head to the side, studied me with slight squint.
I paused. Considered. “What the hell. I’ve got nothing else to do.”
“Yes!” Chris pumped his arm like a high school kid when the girl agrees to be his date to the prom.
Jackson smiled. “Awesome! It’ll be fun.”
“I could use some of that,” I said. Then, “Did you find them, yet?”
Chris shook his head. “No sign of Logan’s remains. No sign of Jayden’s.”
“I guess the sharks took out the trash,” Jackson said.
“It would appear,” Chris said. “A kid found Shannon’s cell phone in the sand. She and Logan were in a sexual relationship. She was trying to end it. She was only seventeen, so there’s no way he’d admit to it. That’s why her earring was on his boat. He was trying to talk her into meeting with him one last time, to talk it out.”
“Did she agree to it?” I asked.
“She was considering it. It’s not clear if Jayden killed her or if she secreted away with Logan. If he’d come by on his boat while she and her friends were surfing, she could easily have swum up to the boat without her friends seeing her. They were all riding the waves. Takes a lot of concentration.”
“She might’ve died while he had her in a shark cage. I almost did. He got pretty carried away.” The thought that Logan might’ve murdered Shannon in the same way he’d almost killed me sent a shudder through me.
“We may never know,” Chris said.
“What’s Jayden’s story?” Jackson asked.
“He’d taken hundreds of pictures of each girl he murdered. There were at least two hundred of you, Leah, from your first morning here. You were jogging on the beach.”
“Oh, wow. I remember that. I ran right past him. He snapped a pic of me.”
Chris gave a nod. “He snapped a lot of pics of you. His thing was that he’d see a girl who was strong and beautiful, and he had to break her.”
“Women who reminded him of his sister,” I said. “It’s astounding that a kid of seventeen could do this much damage.”
“Murderers are created in childhood. They really reach their stride in their twenties and thirties. Jayden was just an early bloomer,” Chris said. “His intent was all over his cell phone and his laptop. Pictures and videos of the murdered girls, and of you. He hadn’t picked anyone else yet, but it wouldn’t have been long.”
“None of Shelly?” I asked.
Chris shook his head. “Not a one. She was just a consolation prize. To ease the sting of not getting Trina. He had her all over his laptop.” Chris paused. Then said, “But he sure had a hell of an eye. The photos he took could’ve been in a magazine.”
“Like the pictures and videos he took of Shannon,” Jackson said.
“The one hanging in her parents’ living room,” I said. I wondered if they would keep the photo up, or take it down, knowing that it was taken by a murderer who was revving himself up to torture and kill her.
“His intent had been to kill Shannon. But Logan may have gotten to her first,” Chris said.
“You know, he was right about the sharks. Molly agrees with everything he said about how important they are to the ocean. His craziness will discredit him.” Jackson said. “That’s for sure.”
“People’s actions are having serious repercussions. I mean, you don’t know when a shark will come up and bite you on the ass.” I looked out into the distance at the endless sea.
Chris said, “I don’t know when we’ll open the beaches again. I don’t know what we’ll do about the sharks coming so close to the shore now. It’s dangerous. But the department is working on enforcing a fine on people who feed sharks, and seals.”
“That should work. People don’t like being hit in the wallet,” I said.
“We need to change the way we do things. Make it right.” Chris stood. “Thanks for the coffee, Jax.” He leaned down, kissed me lightly on the lips. “I’ll be seeing you soon.”
And just like that, I was finishing out my vacation instead of going home.
We watched Chris’s police car cruise up the road, until it was out of sight, both of us deep in our own thoughts.
Finally, I stood.
“What’s the plan, Kicks?” Jackson picked up the coffee pot and a couple of mugs.
I picked up my mug and opened the door for him. “I’m going for a run, Jax. After that, I have no plan.”
“Good plan.” Jackson smiled.
We went in and I got ready for my run on the beach. Then I had some shopping to do. I had an outfit to buy, for a wedding.
A certain hot cop said I’m cool.
As I ran up the beach, I saw Shelly sitting on her dock, her father standing behind her. She lifted her hand in greeting, and I lifted mine—in that instant her rod bent, and she squealed and laughed, pulling a large, wiggling fish out of the water.
The End
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks goes out to my mother, Jeannine and my sister, Joan for always cheering me on.
Thanks to Keri at Alchemy Book Covers for the outstanding cover for Red Surf.
Thanks to Janet Bessey at Dragonfly Editing for her fantastic work on this book.
Thanks to Ben for bringing sunshine to all my days.
Finally, thanks to my love and best friend, Jeff.
About the Author
Tracy Sharp grew up in a small mining town in Northern Ontario, Canada, where there wasn't much to do except dress warmly and write stories to entertain herself. She is fond of horror movies, thrilling novels, bellowing out her favorite songs in the car, iced coffee, flamethrowers and Slinkies. She lives in Upstate NY with her family.
Tracy is the author of three Leah Ryan novels, Repo Chick Blues, Finding Chloe and Dirty Business, as well as the short novel Jacked Up, written with J.A Konrath, the horror novel Soul Trade and a young adult paranormal mystery, Spooked, and the paranormal romantic thriller Flash Fire.
You can visit Tracy at http://www.tracysharp.net/.
Also by Tracy Sharp
Leah Ryan Thrillers
Repo Chick Blues
Finding Chloe
Dirty Business
Jacked Up with J.A Konrath
Spooked
Soul Trade<
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Flash Fire
Repo Chick Blues
Reformed car thief Leah Ryan is trouble. She is turning over a new leaf, but needs a job fast. She's a natural at stealing cars. What better job for her than Repo Chick?
When Leah stumbles onto a sex ring during a routine repo job, her distrust of law enforcement and all things authority leads her to enlist the help of a few friends from her shady past.
A past she promised herself she'd never return to.
This is the first book in the Leah Ryan Series. Leah also appears in the short novel Jacked Up, which also features Lieutenant Jack Daniels, written with in collaboration with J.A Konrath.
Finding Chloe
An exotic dancer vanishes from the underbelly of the city. Repo agent and reformed car thief Leah Ryan has a knack for rescue, and she's a sucker for a lost cause.
Unable to turn away from helping find a stripper whose disappearance many are indifferent to, Leah soon discovers that there are those who would keep Chloe Nolan from being found, and that there is far more to her disappearance than meets the eye.
This is the second book in the Leah Ryan series. Leah also appears in the short novel Jacked Up, which also features Lieutenant Jack Daniels, written in collaboration with J.A Konrath.
Dirty Business
Pregnant women are disappearing in the capital region. The mother one of the missing women hires private investigator Leah Ryan and partner Jackson Quick to find her daughter.
A simple missing persons case turns into a nightmare as the list of suspects grows. Alexia's unfaithful husband, a cult leader who impregnates his female followers whose babies suddenly vanish, and a shady network of adoption agencies involved in a black market baby scheme.
Taking this case leads Jackson and Leah into a labyrinth of mystery and murder.
This is the third book in the Leah Ryan series. Leah also appears in the short novel Jacked Up, which also features Lieutenant Jack Daniels, written in collaboration with J.A Konrath.
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2014 by TRACY SHARP
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, situations and incidents are the product of the author’s imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
About the Author
Also by Tracy Sharp