As Walker led her out of the kitchen, two very pretty women came from the hall, both with welcoming smiles. Sylvie, she learned, was married to Walker’s boss, Mace. And Helena was with his best friend, Rank.
As they made their way outside, she saw several large tables pushed together with chairs all around. A lot of food was already placed out on the tables, and several men were manning grills. Seeing another familiar face, she smiled as Drew came over and offered a hug.
Walker introduced her to the other men that were there, telling her that it was not the entire group since some of them were out on missions. She tried to use her trick of repeating each name after she met the person to help her remember, but they all began to run together. Besides Drew, the two she did remember were Rank, since he and Helena were sitting on one side of them, and Mace. The owner of Lighthouse Security was not a man to easily forget. Like the other men, he was large, but with his dark hair, dark eyes, and penetrating gaze, he appeared to be a man very much in charge. He would have been someone that would have made her nervous except for seeing the smile on his face whenever he looked at his wife, Sylvie, or their son, David.
The conversation stayed light until after they had eaten, when Sylvie took David back to their home nearby, and Helena, Marge, and Horace went back inside the house.
Feeling all eyes on her, she squeezed Walker’s hand under the table. When asked about the man who tried to break in, she repeated everything that she had told the police.
“And you’re sure you didn’t recognize him?” Tate asked. She had remembered his name since Walker had introduced him as the one who had been on the computer looking for any surrounding security cameras or traffic cameras near where she lived.
She said, “No. I had my security light on which surprised me that he even tried to get in." Shaking her head, she grimaced, and amended, “I mean, I thought I had my security light on. But when I looked out there was no light. The cops told me the bulb was missing.”
She observed several shared looks between the men but was uncertain how to interpret them, so she remained quiet.
Mace looked at her, his rough voice softening as he asked, “And he mentioned one of the cities you had visited in Mexico?”
Nodding, she said, “Yes. That’s why I knew he must’ve been after me. He said ‘Mierda’.”
Babs jerked her head around and asked, “Mierda or Mérida?”
Blinking, Julie stared in dumbfounded silence, not understanding what Babs was asking. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t hear a difference in those two words.” She glanced sideways at Walker, but he appeared equally confused.
Everyone’s attention focused on Babs now, and she explained, “Mérida is a city in Mexico, the one that Walker and Drew first flew into, and I believe was on your itinerary. Mierda means…well, it literally means shit. Both in the actual word for feces and as a curse word, just like we use it. If it was the second one, then he wasn’t specifically mentioning a city in Mexico, he was just cursing.”
Julie slumped back, the various scenarios moving through her mind as she realized she could not identify exactly which word the man had said. As realization slowly dawned, her stomach dropped and she clapped her hands over her face, moaning, “Oh, my God. He may have just been a random man trying my door then cursing, and I made a big deal about it like he was someone from Mexico after me!”
“Whoa, whoa, there,” Walker said shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter which he was or what he said. He was still a man trying to get into your apartment in the middle of the fuckin’ night.”
The other men protested as well, but Mace’s voice cut through the others. “Julie.”
The authoritative tone underlined with kindness had her dropping her hands and lifting her head to look at him across the table.
“Walker is exactly right. We have no idea who the man was, but Tate is working on the security cameras in the area, and hopefully will be able to get a picture, vehicle description, or license plate number quickly.”
With a chin lift, Tate stood from the table and said, “I started a search this morning. I’ll get back to it right now.”
Several of the others stood offering nods of their own and headed back into the house behind Tate. She wondered where the offices of LSI were, but as Walker pulled her closer into his side, she pushed that thought aside.
Looking first at Walker and then at her, Mace said, “Julie, perhaps you’d like to spend a little time with Sylvie. I’m sure she would enjoy showing you the lighthouse.”
She nodded her understanding that Mace was politely trying to distract her so that his men could talk and discuss the situation without her around. Instead of being insulted, relief flooded her. Smiling softly, she agreed, “That would be lovely. I know you have work to do, and I’d love a chance to see the beautiful lighthouse.”
“Shit, my phone’s got a low charge,” Drew interrupted. “Hey, Babs, where are the extra chargers?”
Rolling her eyes, Babs thrust out her hand, palm up, and said, “Just give it to me, Flyboy. I’ll get it charged and get it back to you.”
Drew slapped the phone in Babs’ hand and grinned. “I knew there was a reason I loved having you around,” he quipped before turning and heading toward the house.
Julie watched as a specter of something undefinable but almost sad flashed through Babs’ eyes. The look was gone so quickly she was not sure she had actually seen it.
Walker stood, assisting her to her feet, turning her body so that she face-planted into his chest once again. Feeling his lips on the top of her head, she smiled as her arms encircled him.
“Baby, I’m going to be with Mace and the Keepers for a little while, but I don’t want you to feel abandoned. The others can keep you company, and if you get tired, there are guest bedrooms you can rest in.”
Leaning her head back, she looked up, seeing the worry in his eyes. Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed the underside of his jaw and said, “Really, Walker, I’m fine. You go do whatever it is you …uh…do.”
He chuckled, and she felt the rumble deep in his chest and gave him another squeeze before stepping back. Babs walked over and linked arms with Julie, and said, “Hope you’re not afraid of heights, ‘cause the view from the top of the lighthouse is amazing.”
Catching the wink Walker sent her way, she smiled and walked arm in arm with Babs into the house, still wondering where all the men were going to work.
33
As soon as Babs led Julie away, Mace and Walker joined the others in the underground compound. Once seated, Tate immediately flashed several pictures on the screen.
“She lives in a neighborhood off of a main highway, so going through the street cameras has been slow work. Her apartment building does not have security cameras, but there is an intersection camera right at the beginning of her complex. When I cross-reference the people driving on the complex after nine PM, I’ve been able to determine that they either live there or can see who their vehicle is registered to. I’m not saying it isn’t one of those, but I’m not convinced I’ve come across them yet.”
Bray looked over and asked, “So someone could have come in earlier and just waited, or they could have come in by foot?”
Walker nodded, and said, “Her apartment complex is near a busy shopping center with a highway that goes by, and it’s not a gated community. Someone definitely could have walked over or walked by.” Looking around at the others, he said, “I know. I know. It’s a security nightmare.”
“Do you think this had anything to do with what she saw in Mexico?” Rank asked.
Dragging his hand through his hair, Walker grimaced. “It’s too much of a fuckin’ coincidence, and I’ve never believed in coincidences. Whether the man said ‘Mérida’ or cursed ‘mierda’ to me is inconsequential.”
“She did witness an execution,” Drew said, his face serious. “I know the cartel has a long reach, but someone would have to have figured out who she was, where she lives, and managed to get
into this country. If that’s what happened, we’re not dealing with just any lowlife drug runner.”
“She said the man was wearing a uniform,” Walker said, shaking his head slightly, a headache beginning to bloom behind his eyes. “I didn’t think that much about it at the time other than I wanted to get her to safety.” Shrugging, he added, “Plus, as we saw, a lot of people have military or police-type uniforms. Hell, some of the military and police are working for the cartels, so who the fuck knows who they were associated with.”
“I thought about showing her some the various uniforms that the military and police wear in Mexico, but if they’re so easily bought and worn by others, I don’t guess that makes any sense,” Tate said.
Mace had been quiet during the exchange, but as the Keepers looked toward him, he said, “I agree with Walker in that the coincidence is too great that she witnessed an execution in Mexico and within two weeks someone is trying to break into her house in the middle the night. I also agree that even if the two incidences are not related, we’d still be worried about her security.” Looking over at Walker, he asked, “LSI can easily take on her security if you want us to get her set up.”
Walker hesitated, then said, “I’d like to say yes, boss, but then…well, I guess I’m hoping to convince her to stay. I know that sounds premature, but—”
“Nothing premature about fallin’ in love and wanting that person with you,” Rank said, his smile both wide and sincere.
The others around the table chuckled and grinned as well, but Rank’s comment caught Walker off guard. Love? He and Julie had not begun to define their relationship, and he certainly had not given his feelings a label. Can you love someone after only knowing them a few weeks? Uncertain how to respond, he just said, “I want her to have the best security, Mace. Let’s hold off on getting it into her apartment in Florida right now. She was planning on spending a week here in Maine anyway, so that’ll give us a chance to see what we can find out.”
As everyone continued work, he moved to a seat next to Tate so that they could look through the camera feeds together. Feeling a clap on his shoulder, he twisted his head around, seeing Rank settling in the chair next to them, a sheepish expression on his face.
“Sorry, man. Didn’t mean to put you on the spot like that,” Rank said.
He stroked his chin, shaking his head. “Don’t worry about it. We just haven’t defined what we have yet.”
Rank’s lips quirked upward as though he was stifling a grin. “I get you. I didn’t know how to define what Helena and I had for a while either. But it finally hit me…I thought about her all the time. I wanted to be with her all the time, I didn’t want to have to travel back and forth on the road between her house and mine but was willing to do it. We hadn’t known each other all that long, but if that’s not love, I don’t know what is.”
Rank stood and moved away to one of the other workstations. Turning back toward the computer screen, Walker felt scrutinized and looked to see Tate staring at him. “What? Now you got an opinion about my love life?”
Shaking his head, Tate laughed. “It’s not me that just said the words love life instead of relationship. Sounds to me like you already know what you’ve got.”
Jaw-dropping open, he mumbled, “Just stick to looking at the street cameras.” With Tate’s laughter ringing in his ears, the two men turned their attention back to the computer screens and scanning the feeds.
The stairs continued upward in the spiral leading to the top of the lighthouse. Helena and Babs were behind Julie, and Sylvie and David were in front, the exuberant little boy commenting nonstop on the lighthouse.
“There are sixty-five historical lighthouses in Maine, and my teacher says that we are often referred to as The Lighthouse State. They’ve been around for hundreds of years and get lots of visitors. This one doesn’t, of course, because my dad owns it, and it’s no longer a working lighthouse.”
David stopped suddenly, and his mom almost ran into them. He turned around, looked at Julie, and asked, “Did you know that a lot of them are on islands and the only way to get to them is by boat?”
She laughed and asked, “Would you like to live in one of those?”
His eyes widened, and he nodded with enthusiasm. “Yeah! And if the weather was bad, then I wouldn’t have to go to school!” Sylvie rolled her eyes as David turned around, bounding up the last of the steps.
Reaching the top, they walked along the outer edges of the lighthouse lens, and she admitted, “This is the first time I’ve been up in a lighthouse. These lights are so much bigger than I could’ve imagined.”
At the door leading to the outside observatory deck David stopped, obediently waiting until his mother could take his hand. Stepping through the door herself, Julie could understand why Sylvie was nervous. “Oh, my, we are up high.”
“It’s eighty feet tall,” David announced proudly.
“I’d be out of breath if I hadn’t just been climbing all those pyramid steps in Mexico,” she laughed.
Moving out of the way so Helena and Babs could step out on the deck as well, Julie looked out over the blue ocean, the waves crashing against the rocks below. It looked so different from the ocean view in Florida, and yet, it was hard to put into words why. The gulls appeared larger. The force of the waves appeared stronger. And as she listened, she realized it was the crashing sound of the water against rocks that was so different from the waves upon the sand in Florida. Strangely mesmerized, she stared out over the beauty of the coastline. To each side was the lush, grassy lawn ending in thick, evergreen forests all around.
From down below, she heard Horace call up, “David? You goin’ into town with me?”
Sylvie smiled with benevolence at her son’s renewed excitement and called down to let Horace know he was on his way. Watching, she cautioned him to take the stairs slowly as he bounded down toward his next adventure.
The cool breeze tossed Julie’s hair about, and she said, “I’ve never been to Maine, but it’s just as beautiful as the pictures I’ve seen. After living in hot Florida for several years and having just come back from the summer heat in Mexico, this is absolute heaven.” At the mention of Mexico, she noticed that the three other women shifted their gazes to her.
Helena held her gaze before smiling widely. “Since Walker and Rank are such good friends, I’m hoping we can spend some time together while you’re here.”
“Not too much time,” Babs quipped. “After all, I’d say they got some reacquainting between the sheets to do.”
Laughing, Sylvie shook her head. “Babs…the things you say.”
“Hello, ladies. I’m only saying what you’re thinking.” Huffing, Babs continued, “At least the three of you are getting some regular. I’m the one who has to go out and look for it. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a guy who’s got looks, talent, cares about his mind as much as his body, and even has a clue how to give me a good O?”
Julie let go, her laughter causing tears to leak down her cheeks. “Oh, God, I needed that.”
Babs grinned and said, “Anyway, I think it’s great you’re with Walker. I think all the Keepers are good men and deserve to find someone special.”
She licked her bottom lip before she nibbled on it. “I know I’m with Walker for now. I mean, we’re not seeing anyone else. I just don’t have an idea what the future holds. I don’t even know what you’d actually call us. We’ve never talked about labels or exactly what our relationship is.”
Sylvie leaned back against the glass windows of the lighthouse, crossing her arms in front of her, nodding. “It’s hard at our age, isn’t it? When you’re young it’s so easy to say that someone is your boyfriend. When you get older, that almost sounds silly, and yet, I think we naturally want to be able to define what we mean to each other.”
Throwing her hands to the side, Julie agreed, saying, “Yes! I work with teenagers, and the word boyfriend and girlfriend are thrown around all the time. That’s the common word
for defining two people who want to be together and are dating exclusively. But when you hit your adult years, boyfriend and girlfriend almost sound too juvenile.”
Helena joined then, adding, “Lovers doesn’t sound right either, even if that’s what you are. You’d never introduce him as, ‘Hey, meet my lover’.”
With a lifted eyebrow, Babs shook her head. “Lover. Boy toy. Fuck buddy. One-night stand. I’ve got all kinds of words I can use.”
Laughter erupted from the group again, then Julie noticed a faraway look in Babs’ eyes as Babs added, “Not really the words I want to use, but…well, someday…maybe.” Babs gave a quick shake of her head, her wistful expression morphing into delight once again as she clapped her hands together and rubbed them briskly. “Who cares how you define your relationship with Walker? The bottom line is y’all are together!”
A ring tone sounded out, and Babs jumped. “Shit! I was supposed to charge Drew’s phone, but I guess it must have a little bit of a charge left.” She pulled his phone from her pocket, glancing at the screen as she let the call go to voicemail. “I swear he’s such a juvenile, always taking pictures of people so he can see who’s calling, saying he’s bad remembering names.”
Julie glanced down at the screen as it lay in Babs’ palm, blinking to clear her vision as she stared at the picture that appeared. Her heart stuttered for several beats before pounding out of her chest. Her fingers flew to her lips as she stared in horror. “Oh, my God! It’s him!”
34
By the time the four women were racing down the concrete steps of the lighthouse, Sylvie had already called for Mace to meet them. Blocking out everything but the sight of the man’s picture on the phone, Julie barely heard Sylvie use the words immediate and emergency.
Walker: Lighthouse Security Investigations Page 19