Breaker's Reef

“Great. Glad to be alive.” She leaned over and hugged Sadie. “They’re letting me go home today. How about you?”

  “I’m fine. I just have to stay off this foot for a while.”

  Amelia slipped out of the bed, her nightgown sweeping the floor over her bare feet. “Everybody, I want you to meet Sadie, my half sister. Sadie, you know my mom and dad. This is my aunt Millie, and Uncle Herbert, my cousin Jimmy, and our next-door neighbors Larry and Myra.”

  Amelia had a whole family, a community, separate from Sadie’s life. People who loved her. And yet, in all the tangle, Sadie felt a bond with her that even she couldn’t understand. They were sisters, in every sense of the word.

  “Amelia, Sadie’s not your half sister,” her mother said. “She’s a full sister.”

  Amelia frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Sadie smiled up at her. “We have the same mother and father.”

  Amelia’s smile faded, and she looked from Sadie to her own parents. “Really? Are you sure?”

  “Sheila would know,” her father said.

  Amelia turned back to Sadie, looking at her with new eyes. “Well, what do you know about that? A real sister.”

  The two girls hugged again, and Sadie knew that whatever happened in either of their lives or either of their families, they had something special here that couldn’t be taken from them.

  When they broke the hug, Lana took Sadie’s hands and tearfully smiled down into her face. “We owe you so much, Sadie. If it weren’t for you searching for Amelia, figuring things out, she might still be there.”

  “Mom’s the real hero.”

  “Yes, she is. She’s been our hero twice now.”

  Sadie hoped they would say that again to Sheila. She needed to hear it. “You were a hero too, Amelia. You’re the one who shot him.”

  “I wanted to talk to you about that, Sadie. About when I shot him. I don’t want you to think I would have taken the chance of hitting you. For most people it was just too close. But not for me. In ROTC, I was the top marksman in my class. I knew I could hit him without hitting you.”

  She was glad to know that. “I guess that’s another instance of God preparing you for something you were going to have to do.”

  “He sure did,” Bob said.

  “So are you afraid to go home?” she asked Amelia.

  “Kind of.” Amelia looked at her parents, and her father took her hand. “The bureau has arranged a place for us to go for a while, so we’ll be safe. I guess it’s important for them to keep me safe since I’m the only witness who saw the other guy.”

  “It’ll be like a vacation,” Lana said. “Just until they catch him.”

  “I wanted to go to Jamie’s funeral—” sudden tears choked Amelia’s words—“but they won’t let me.”

  Sadie was glad. “They shouldn’t,” she whispered. “Amelia, he might look for you there. I think it’s a great idea that you’re leaving. They’ll find him soon. Already, they’re probably finding out who all of Nate’s friends were. It’s not rocket science to boil it down to someone that close to him.”

  “I hope so.”

  Sadie said her temporary good-bye, and made Amelia promise to come back and spend time with her this summer, so they could get to know each other under better circumstances. Then she left the room, and Blair rolled her back to the elevators. “Sadie!”

  She turned and saw Matt Frazier, coming up the hall behind her. “Hey, Matt.”

  He caught up to her, hands in his pockets, and looked down at her with soft eyes. “You’re okay. I’m so glad.” He leaned over and hugged her.

  It was the first time he’d had his arms around her, and she liked the way it felt.

  “I was so scared for you,” he said, holding on. “I prayed and prayed …”

  “Thank you. It worked.”

  He followed them down to the ICU waiting room, and Blair left them alone to go check on Morgan and the baby. Sadie told Matt everything that had happened, and how her mother had saved the day.

  He took it all in, his eyes misty, and she realized how much she mattered to him. “So how is that Nate person?”

  “He’s in a coma, just barely hanging on. They didn’t even know if he’d make it through the night. But he did.”

  He sighed. “Well, I sure hope they find the other guy soon. I guess no one’s completely safe until they do.”

  When he started to leave, Sadie rolled herself into the hallway with him. He stalled for a moment before leaving, as if he wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words. “I was thinking that … maybe when all this has settled down … maybe I could take you to a movie or something, if you still want to go.”

  She smiled. “I’d like that.”

  “And I’d love to meet your sister. See if she’s as pretty as you.”

  Warmth burst through her. He’d never told her she was pretty before. “She’s getting out today. But I plan to spend a lot of time with her this summer. You can get to know her then.”

  “I’ll look forward to it.” He took her hand, looked down at it, then leaned over and pressed a kiss on her lips.

  She hadn’t expected that, and she felt the blood rush to her cheeks, a warm blush of surprise.

  “See you soon.” His whisper brushed her ear, then he started back to the elevators.

  Sadie just sat there watching him go, feeling as if God had just ordained another new beginning.

  CHAPTER 54

  I told him he was gonna come to no good.”

  Cade and Joe stood in Nate’s father’s house, listening to the man’s angry rantings about his son. It hadn’t disturbed him to learn that his son was dying in the hospital. Instead, he’d launched on a tirade about how he’d predicted this. He reeked of alcohol and cigarette smoke, and his house was filthy, with piles of old newspapers and magazines everywhere. Three smelly bulldogs sniffed Cade’s and Joe’s legs, their paws slipping on the dusty hardwood floor. Two big cats lay on top of stacks of newspapers and magazines that were piled on the couch and in several chairs.

  “Ever since he was a little kid, he’s been gettin’ into trouble. Never could control him. He ran wild, that boy.”

  “How long since he’s lived here with you?” McCormick asked him.

  “Years. He done dropped outta school in the ninth grade, wound up movin’ in with some drug dealin’ friends of his.”

  “Could you give us their names?”

  “I don’t know their names. You think he brought ’em home for supper? He didn’t show his face around here much. And it was good riddance.”

  “Where’s his mother?”

  “She’s at the hospital with him. She don’t feel the same as me. She always thought there was hope for him. Guess she knows better now.”

  As Cade and McCormick drove back to Cape Refuge, Joe shook his head. “Well, it doesn’t take a genius to see why Nate turned out like he did.”

  “No, it doesn’t.” He tried to think where they needed to go next. Even though the state police were still handling the case and trying to find Nate’s accomplice, Cade had decided he couldn’t leave this to them. If there was anything he could do to help, he would do it.

  “Why don’t we go to the Flagstaff and talk to that Tina girl Sadie met? She saw Amelia and Jamie getting into the car with them. Maybe she saw more than she’s telling.”

  “Good point. Maybe, now that Nate’s out of the picture, she’ll feel freer to talk.”

  Though it was eleven o’clock in the morning, they had to wake Tina up. She came to the door looking as if she’d just crashed after a three-day high. “What do you want?” She squinted out into the light.

  “We want to talk to you about Nate Morris.”

  “What about him?”

  “Can we come in?”

  “There are people sleeping.” She stepped back so they could see in, and Cade saw another girl and a man asleep on the bed.

  “How about you get dressed and talk to us outside?” Cade asked.
r />   She sighed and shoved her hand through her hair. “All right, I’ll be out in a minute.”

  They waited just outside the door, and finally, Tina came out. She had pulled on a pair of shorts, but still wore the long baggy shirt she’d apparently slept in. Her hair looked wild and unbrushed, but she’d washed her face of the smeared makeup that had circled her eyes before.

  She took a long drag from her cigarette and faced them. “So what do you want to know?”

  “We want to talk to you about what you saw the night Amelia Roarke and Jamie Maddox were abducted.”

  “I’ve already told you what I saw.”

  “That’s right, you did. But we thought since Nate was off the street, that maybe something else might have occurred to you. Like who the second guy was.”

  She leaned over the rail, looking down into the parking lot. Her hands trembled, and Cade knew she needed a fix. “I didn’t lie to you before.”

  “We don’t think you lied.” McCormick leaned next to her. “We just thought you might not have told us everything.”

  “Nate’s not coming back, you know,” Cade said. “If he lives, which he may not, he’s going to prison.”

  Tina wet her lips and squinted into the breeze. “I told those girls not to stay here. I warned them it was dangerous.”

  “You were right.”

  “The other guy, I didn’t know him. He was clean-cut. Didn’t look like he belonged with Nate.”

  “Then you knew it was Nate?”

  She straightened and looked from Cade to Joe. “I knew, but I also knew he’d put a knife to my throat without a second thought if I told.”

  “You could have helped us find them sooner.” Joe’s tone was hard. “Obstructing justice is a crime.”

  “So you want to bring charges against me? Get in line.”

  Threatening her wasn’t going to get them anywhere. Cade leaned on the railing. “Tina, we’re not here to accuse you of anything. We just want to find the other killer. What can you tell us about him?”

  “It was dark, and I only saw him from behind. But I’m pretty sure he had short brown hair. He was wearing jeans and some kind of polo shirt. It was green, I think.”

  “How tall was he?”

  “Taller than Nate. Six feet, maybe.”

  “Did you hear him talking?”

  “No, they were too far away.”

  “What age would you say he was?”

  “Young. Nineteen, twenty maybe. I can tell you for sure it wasn’t that crazy writer guy. You couldn’t miss him.”

  She wasn’t much help. The description she’d given matched the one Amelia gave, and seemed just as vague. Amelia had even tried to talk them through a composite sketch of the man, but he’d been wearing sunglasses, so she hadn’t seen his eyes. That made it even more difficult.

  “Look, I do want to help,” Tina said, and Cade thought she looked sincere. “That girl Amelia was nice to me. I don’t get that a lot. And the other one, her sister …”

  “Sadie.”

  “Yeah, her. She was nice too. Gave me her phone number, told me I could come and live with her or something, if you can believe that.”

  “I do believe it,” Cade said. “She lives at Hanover House. They take in people who want to clean up their lives. If you ever want a better life, you should call that number.”

  The mist in Tina’s eyes spoke volumes. “Maybe I will someday.”

  CHAPTER 55

  Cade just gotten back to the station when Yeager called him.

  “I wanted to let you know that we checked out that file on Gibson’s computer. The one with the scene describing the murder?”

  “Yeah. Did his theory pan out?”

  “It sure did. Turns out he’s right. Our analysts believe that scene was inserted by someone else. And the initials on the hacker’s computer were SC”

  Cade’s mind raced to match those initials. Jotting it down, he said, “So you weren’t able to get the whole name?”

  “No, that would be too much to hope for. And our cybercrimes guy cautioned us that he could have been using someone else’s computer. Or, if he was aware that the Track Changes feature was on and knew what it was, he could have faked the initials. That’s doubtful, though.”

  “Why?”

  “He assures me that not that many people know what Track Changes is. It seems like the hacker didn’t. If he had, he would have inserted the scene into one of the other files on the computer. There were other versions of the document that didn’t have Track Changes on, and wouldn’t have identified him. It looks like he just picked the file Gibson worked on last.”

  Cade thought about the shoe in his truck, the blood … The killer was shrewd, good at setting others up. If it wasn’t Gibson, then he’d been set up too. What if the killer was playing with them all? “What if he knew the computer well enough to use the Track Changes feature to throw us off yet again?”

  “I guess that’s possible. He’s not stupid, after all.”

  Cade ran his pen over the initials again. “It just seems too obvious to think he’d allow his initials to pop up in Gibson’s program. I can’t see that happening.”

  “Cade, you’ve been in law enforcement long enough to know that killers often leave stupid clues behind. All it takes is one mistake. If he was in a hurry, he might have forgotten about the initials.”

  Cade stared at the wall. His gut told him something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t figure out what. “Are you sure this isn’t Gibson sending us on a wild-goose chase? It was his gun, his work, and he didn’t have an alibi for the first two girls. Maybe he has a partner who did all this. Maybe Gibson directed it from his home while he was under surveillance.”

  “But the girl at the Flagstaff says it was two young men. She was clear that it wasn’t Gibson.”

  Cade sighed. “Yeah, you’re right.”

  “My hope is that this is a real clue, Cade. Do me a favor and mull it over for a while. If you come up with any names, let me know ASAP.”

  “You got it.”

  “By the way, you’ll be happy to know that we’ve ruled you out as a suspect, after interviewing Amelia.”

  Cade breathed a laugh. “Well, that’s good news.”

  “Sorry we ever doubted you, man.”

  “That’s all right. The evidence didn’t look good.”

  As Cade hung up the phone, he stared down at the initials. SC It was someone who knew him, knew he’d been planning to propose to Blair, knew where he was doing it. Someone who held a grudge, wanted to get even.

  His mind raced through names …

  “Hey, Chief.”

  He looked up and saw Scott standing in his doorway. His heart jolted.

  Scott Crown.

  “I got that list you wanted of all the tenants at the Flagstaff for the past three weeks.” He tossed it on Cade’s desk. Cade took it and scanned down it for the initials SC There was only one—Sarah Colvert.

  “Thanks.” He looked up at the young man who was Joe McCormick’s nephew. Was it possible? Could he be a killer? Okay, so he held a grudge against Cade for reaming him in front of his peers, and he knew Gibson’s work, knew computers, had found the first girl …

  Cade swallowed hard. “Tell me something, Scott. You’ve gone to Cape Refuge schools all your life, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Nate Morris was your age. Did you ever know him when he was still in school?”

  Scott hesitated. “No, I don’t think I did. Why?”

  Cade made a note to check the yearbooks for the years prior to Nate’s dropping out. If he could make any connection at all …

  “Just wondered. We’re trying to find out every little thing we can about the guy.”

  He stared at Scott for a long moment, his mind racing. Scott had overheard him talking to McCormick about his proposal plans. He could have taken Jamie’s body out to the cavern, left her there for him to find. He was one of the last ones to see Sadie.

  “I’
ve been asking around about him,” Scott said. “If anybody tells me anything, I’ll let you know.”

  “Do that.”

  Scott left the room, and Cade stared at the doorway. He rubbed his face, trying to decide how to proceed. He would have to talk to McCormick, but it wouldn’t be easy. Scott was his nephew, his sister’s son.

  But if he was a murderer …

  He got up and went to the doorway. McCormick sat at his desk, checking something on the database. “Joe, can I talk to you?”

  McCormick got up and came into his office. “Yeah, Cade. Whatcha got?”

  Cade sat back down and ran his hand over his jaw. “Close the door, Joe.”

  McCormick closed it and sat down. “Must be good.”

  Cade crossed his hands on the desk and looked hard into his friend’s eyes. “Joe, I just talked to Yeager. He says that Gibson’s theory about his computer file was right. The initials of the hacker were SC.”

  “Good. That’s something to start with. Have you looked on the list Scott just gave you?”

  “There’s only one person at the Flagstaff with those initials, and she’s a woman.”

  “Okay. We need to match it to all of Nate’s acquaintances. I’ll get right on it.”

  He started to get up, but Cade stopped him. “Joe, sit down.”

  McCormick sat back down. “What is it?”

  “There’s one person that came to my mind. Someone who has those initials, who knew about my proposal, had access to my truck, knows computers, has a grudge against me … and even fits Amelia’s description.”

  Joe’s forehead creased. “Who?”

  “Scott.”

  Joe just sat there for a moment, staring at him. “No way! Cade, you’re way out of line here. You can’t seriously think—”

  “He found Emily’s body, Joe. He wasn’t even supposed to be over there. His reason was lame from the get-go. Maybe he put her there.”

  The skin of Joe’s face began to redden, and his lips tightened. “My nephew is not a killer, any more than you are.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I know him. Cade, he’s my sister’s kid! I’ve known him since he was born, and he doesn’t have this in him.”