Lethal Tide

by Beth Prentice

  "It sure looks like what I think," I managed to say.

  Pushing Veronica aside, he rushed towards me. "It's not. Believe me. It's not."

  "Then what is it? Because it looked like you were kissing her."

  "I wasn't. She kissed me." He turned to Veronica, running his hands through his hair. "Tell her!" he yelled at her. "Tell her what happened!"

  I could see the panic take over him. He wanted this to have played out differently. Well, so did I.

  Veronica gave me a sly smile. "I warned you," she said, her voice silky smooth and even.

  "Veronica," snapped Casey, his voice low. "Tell her the truth."

  "Okay," she said, facing me head on. "I kissed him."

  "Did he kiss you back?" I asked, hardly recognizing the sound of my own voice. It was shaky, croaky, and quiet.

  I held my breath waiting for her to answer. Instead she gave me a smile and spun on her three-inch Jimmy Choos.

  As she walked away, she glanced back at me and mouthed the words—I told you I always get what I want.

  Casey was pale.

  "Did you kiss her back?" I asked, deathly quiet.

  "Sam, it doesn't matter."

  "Stop telling me that!" I yelled, my veil of shock lifting and anger taking its place.

  "Well, it doesn't."

  "It's the only thing that matters! I saw you kissing another woman. A woman who just happens to be your ex-fiancée. A woman who has told me she made a mistake letting you go and she wants you back." I doubled at the waist, sucking in much needed air, and waited for the shaking to stop. "It's okay," I said, straightening up and taking a slow calming breath. "If you want that, just let me know."

  "So that's it? You just give up like that?" snapped Casey. "I thought we had something. Something that mattered. I'd fight for you!"

  "Would you? Would you really?"

  "Yes." He stood strong, defiantly looking directly into my eyes.

  "So when a strange man sent me those flowers, you cared about that, did you?"

  "Yes, I cared."

  "So just so I get this straight. You had an ex-fiancée cheat on you with your best friend, but I get attention from another man and you do what exactly?"

  Casey's eyes hardened, and their color darkened.

  "That's right. You did nothing," I spat, hurt and anger mixing into a toxic mess.

  "I trust you."

  "You trusted her until you came home and found her naked."

  "Yes, and I'll never make the mistake of trusting her again!"

  "Maybe not. But you still love her, don't you?" I wasn't letting the tears fall. I wasn't. Not until I was away from here.

  "I don't love her, Sam."

  "Really? I saw you, Casey. I saw the emotion in your eyes."

  He was about to say something, when his phone rang in his pocket. He snatched it out, distracted. "I'm sorry. It's Owen. I have to take this," he said, swiping it to answer.

  The call gave me a moment to breathe, to think. Not that there was anything to think about.

  Ending the call, Casey pushed his phone back and looked at me, his expression softer. "Sam, I'm sorry. I'm sorry you saw what you saw, but I can't change what's happened. I can only change my choices for now."

  "And for now?"

  "I don't want Veronica back in my life. I've moved on. Seeing her again did bring back a lot of emotions. Ones I thought were buried and long gone. I just need some time to get this all straight in my head, and then everything can go back to normal."

  Great. I too wanted everything to go back to normal. I just didn't know what normal was anymore.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The day had dawned bright and sunny. It was another day in paradise, yet my mood was completely the opposite. Luke, Alani, Casey, and I were sitting at one of the umbrella'd tables outside of The Lava Pot.

  The ladies of the Scarlet Socks seemed to be enjoying themselves. I could hear their chatter about an adventure they were planning, but as Lori more than once touched Casey's shoulder as she walked past him, it did nothing to help my mood.

  "We need to go back to the rain forest," I said, daring anybody to argue with me.

  Casey and I'd had a fight. Our first real fight. And so far we hadn't kissed and made up. Plus, I still hadn't decided if I was angry with him or sad. It all depended on the time of day you asked me.

  I didn't like the feeling, especially as he was sitting opposite me, flicking through his phone like nothing was wrong. Well something was bloody wrong! We had a murder to solve.

  Why? Why was it my responsibility to solve it? Because so far Detective Ray hadn't, and even though Casey didn't seem to be his number one suspect anymore, I needed my life back. I needed all of Casey's past to go back to being his past so we could get back to being us. Preferably together.

  "Why?" asked Alani. "What would we be looking for?"

  "Ryan's phone. It's bugging me that it's missing. Plus, we know that Ryan said the treasure was near the tree. Should we at least have a look around for it?"

  "What's the point?" questioned Luke. "We don't have the exact coordinates, and it was buried two hundred years ago. Vegetation has grown since then you know. The forest doesn't look like it would have back then."

  "My family doesn't believe the treasure exists," said Alani quietly.

  "What do you believe?" I asked her.

  Alani's brows knitted together, and her fingers fiddled with her napkin as she considered her response. "I'm not sure. But I do think looking for the phone is a good idea."

  "Say we did find the phone," said Luke. "What would it prove? It doesn't tell us who the killer is."

  "I know that. But who's to say it won't give us another clue?" I continued, filled with a renewed energy.

  "It's a long shot at best," said Luke.

  Casey had put his head back down, seemingly ignoring the entire conversation.

  Owen walked over to us, placing our drinks on the table. "Casey, could I bother you a second?" he asked apologetically.

  Casey looked up from his phone, hitting the off button. The screen went black, and Owen got his full attention. Lucky Owen.

  "What's up?" he asked.

  "There's been a mix-up with one of the deliveries. I was wondering if you could give me some advice."

  Casey nodded, stood, and pushed his chair backwards, following Owen inside.

  I watched his retreating back and gulped, the lump in my throat threatening to suffocate me.

  "When are you two going to sort this out?" asked Alani, seeing my reaction.

  "It's not that easy," I said, attempting to swallow the emotion.

  "Sure it's that easy. You just talk to each other. You're very good at talking. This should be easy for you."

  "Thanks." I think. "But Casey doesn't want to listen. He just tells me I'm being silly. He's no longer in love with Veronica. But I saw him. I saw him kissing her." Tears stung, and this time I failed at pushing down the emotion.

  "Did you?" asked Luke. "You saw him kissing her?"

  "Yes! Maybe." I sniffed loudly, accepting a napkin from Alani. "At least I thought I did."

  Luke leaned back in his chair, running his hands through his hair impatiently.

  "Sam," he said. "This is what I was worried about. When you first started dating him, what did I say to you?"

  "Your exact words?" I said, using the napkin to wipe my nose. "Well, as I recall, they were don't f this up, Samantha."

  Luke sighed at the memory. "Yeah. Well, Casey's my mate, and I was always worried about you dating a mate. It just makes everything so much more complicated."

  "How?" I shouted, a bit too loudly, as Martin, who was sitting at the table behind us and occasionally attempting to keep Lori in check, looked up from his drink, frowning. Sorry, I mouthed to him. "How does it complicate things?" I said much quieter. "Anyway, you're my brother, so you should be on my side." I sulked.

  "I am on your side. I spoke to Casey and told him where I stood," said Luke, his f
inger hitting the table, emphasizing every word. "But then I got both sides of the story, and he said it was Veronica who kissed him. Not the other way around."

  "So that makes it alright?" I asked.

  "No, of course not. But there's a difference."

  "I know that, but you weren't there. You didn't see the emotion in his eyes and the way he touched her hand." The tears welled again, and Alani handed me another napkin. "That's the part that's killing me," I finished quietly.

  "He's coming back," she whispered to me.

  Biting down my fears, I dabbed my eyes, looking questioningly at Alani.

  The vibe of have I got panda eyes crossed to her. She studied me and shook her head, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze.

  Casey sat quietly back at the table.

  "All sorted?" asked Luke, attempting to dispel the atmosphere that had settled over us.

  "For now." He took a swig of his beer, glancing my way.

  My stomach jumped.

  Clearing my throat, I asked, "So who's coming with me? To look for Ryan's phone."

  "Count me in," said Alani, smiling.

  "It's a long shot," said Luke. "But if we took a metal detector, it would increase the odds."

  Casey shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I'll come," he said. "It's better than doing nothing."

  Okay, Casey was still on my side. That was encouraging at least.

  It was only as we stood to leave that I noticed Veronica sitting at the bar, one long leg crossed over the other, watching his every move.

  * * *

  We all piled into Alani's red Beetle and made our way back to the rain forest, stopping on our way at Alani's to borrow her brother's metal detector. Luke was riding shotgun as Alani drove, which put me in the back with Casey. More than once I jumped as his leg touched mine, causing a thousand volts to shoot towards my heart. I wanted to reach out and hold his hand, for us to be easy together. I didn't want this wall between us, yet the memory of his eyes as he looked at Veronica just wouldn't disappear.

  Could I make him forget her? Could I make him love me that way?

  I sighed and looked out the window. The weather had changed and had become overcast and moody, an afternoon storm brewing. Maybe it was channeling me.

  Alani pulled the car into a parking spot opposite the entrance to the tourist hike and killed the motor. A few cars were parked nearby, indicating that others were also enjoying the Hawaiian scenery.

  We got out, and she led the way.

  The walk this time was almost as beautiful as the first time. The humidity had increased as the storm built, the birds noisily preparing for it. I followed behind Luke—Alani was up front. Casey was behind me, and as we made our way along the well-worn track, I wondered what he was thinking.

  We crossed paths with a few happy hikers. "Aloha," they sang as they passed.

  "Aloha," we called.

  Losing all other walkers once we veered off, we followed Alani. The distant sound of water competing with the song of the birds smothered all negative thoughts I was having.

  The stream bubbled as we hopped over rocks, crossing to the opposite side, and moved deeper into the forest. The trees got denser and the terrain harder to navigate.

  I stopped to get my water bottle from my backpack, the heat messing with my stamina.

  "Are you okay?" Casey asked me.

  The sound of his voice jarred me. It was the first thing he had said to me since our argument.

  "Yes. Just thirsty," I replied with a small smile.

  His vibrant blue eyes locked on to mine, vulnerability shining bright.

  My heart squeezed, and I had a moment of thinking everything would be okay.

  But then he gave me a tight smile and pushed past me on the path. The moment was gone.

  I couldn't dwell on it. I couldn't. Instead I opened my bag, retrieved my water, and took a moment to rehydrate.

  The others continued on ahead without me. It was okay. I wasn't going to let them out of my sight. I definitely didn't want to get lost.

  Movement behind me caused me to jump. I spun around, thinking of Bicep Man and his words to me the last time I had seen him. Sure we weren't exactly here for the treasure, but his warning rang, causing my anxiety to soar.

  But then, he didn't know we were here, did he? So maybe it was one of the wild boars Alani had told me about. I couldn't see anything, but the forest was quite thick in parts, so that was hardly reassuring. Either way, I picked my bag up and hightailed it after the others.

  "Hey, Alani," I called, catching up to them. "Did you mean it when you told me that Hawaii has wild boars?"

  She stopped, holding a low-hanging vine, and looked back at me. "Yes. Why? Did you see one?"

  "No." Thank goodness. "I just heard something, and I liked the idea of it being a wild boar better than the idea of it being Bicep Man."

  Alani scanned the terrain around us, her eyes sharp as she searched for anything we might not want to encounter.

  "Just keep moving forward," she said. "If you see anything, let me know."

  Unreasonable fear danced over me, causing my senses to be on high alert. I had no reason to be worried. Surely it was just my overactive imagination playing tricks on me.

  We kept putting one foot in front of the other in silence. I was behind Casey now, and every now and then when we climbed over a rock or a fallen tree, I got to admire his physique from behind.

  I might have been hurt and upset with him, but I could still admire his backside, couldn't I? It was a damned good backside, and it definitely distracted me from worrying about what was lurking in the forest.

  "What was that?" asked Luke, pointing to his left.

  "Where?" asked Alani.

  "What was it?" I asked, goose bumps exploding all over my body, my mind suddenly no longer on Casey.

  "I don't know," replied Luke. "I just thought I saw a flash of color."

  "What color?"

  "Red."

  "It was probably a bird," said Alani, her eyes searching for anything out of place. Her voice was calm, but I noticed her tense.

  "Maybe," said Luke.

  "Did it look like a bird?" I asked.

  Luke just shook his head and kept moving forward.

  Alright, don't worry, Sam. It was nothing. A chill ran down my spine, and I hurried to stay closer to Casey.

  The nearer we got to the lagoon, the more my nerves jumped. The last time we'd been here, we'd found a dead body. And we still had no idea why he'd been murdered. What if it was someone lurking in the forest, waiting for stupid unsuspecting people to wander past? What if it was someone who didn't like strangers being here? What if there was someone doing something illegal and didn't like being interrupted? So many questions zipped around my mind that I gave myself a headache.

  It was another ten minutes before we made the lagoon. By then my shirt was stuck to me from sweat, I had grazes up my leg where I'd slipped crossing a very large rock, and I'd had enough. Whose idea was this? Oh, that's right—it was mine.

  I just hoped we found something that made it worthwhile and that we made it home safely.

  Looking at the terrain around me, I wondered how we would ever find anything here.

  "We stopped for a swim," Alani explained to Casey, who'd wandered towards the water's edge.

  We took a minute to catch our breath and just admire the beauty of nature. I wasn't sure about the others, but for me, the beauty clashed with the thought of the violent death that had occurred not far from where we were standing.

  "Let's keep moving," suggested Luke. "We'll search the area where we found Ryan's body."

  Alani led the short distance, stopping once she reached what we were looking for.

  "Okay, well let's start looking," said Luke, pulling the metal detector from the strap he'd used to attach to his backpack. He adjusted it to suit the terrain and then lowered it to the ground. Instantly it started to make a low-level humming sound. As he swept it backwards and forwards, I
held my breath. He moved slowly, listening for any differences in the sounds the detector was making. After fifteen minutes of the same constant hum, I wanted to turn it off and go home. But I was apparently too impatient.

  I sat heavily on a rock as Luke continued walking in circles, unzipped my backpack, grabbed my drink, and opened the lid. My eyes kept flitting around us, wary of what was out there, my mind replaying the vision of Ryan's dead body, on a never-ending loop.

  A high-pitched scream echoed through the afternoon air, drowning all sounds surrounding us.

  "What the…" I jumped, spilling my bottle of water down the front of my shirt.

  Luke stopped what he was doing, silencing the metal detector as he moved. Both he and Casey immediately started to look to see what made the noise.

  "It came from that direction," I said, pointing to the path we had come in on, my heart now racing.

  "I'll go and check it out," said Casey.

  "No!" I screamed before he could move. "No. That's probably not safe. I mean, last time we were here, someone was murdered."

  "What do you propose we do then?"

  First of all, I didn't like his tone. Second of all, I had no idea what we should do, but my nerves were shot already. I wanted him to hold me tight and tell me everything was going to be fine.

  Standing in silence, we strained to listen for anything out of the ordinary.

  The sounds of water thundering over the rocks from the lagoon not far behind us drowned most noises. That scream would have been pretty loud for us to have heard it.

  "I think you two should stay here," said Luke, indicating to Alani and me. "Casey and I'll go and see what it was."

  "Luke, that may not be safe," said Alani. "We should stay together."

  "No. I want you and Sam to stay here. Keep looking for Ryan's phone. We won't be long."

  "But what if…" said Alani, not finishing what she wanted to say. Or maybe she had. What if just about summed it all up.

  "Let's just keep moving," said Alani quickly. "There's a cave not far from here that we can stop in and gather our thoughts. Talk about what we should do." Her eyes pleaded with Luke.

  "Alani, it could be a hiker just like us, who's in trouble. We need to get to them."