Seagrass Pier

  She sought another toehold and found it, then pushed with her left leg and swung her right onto the top of the wall. With her last bit of strength, she hoisted herself atop the wall. It wasn’t as wide as she expected, and she couldn’t stop herself from hurtling right on over. Then she was falling.

  A pair of strong arms caught her and held her close. She looked into Josh’s blue eyes. Safe.

  THIRTY-SIX

  Elin wrapped a blanket around her friend, who looked a little shocky with pale skin and blue lips. Sara’s teeth chattered, even though it was seventy-five outside and about the same here in the living room. The big windows showed the sun beginning to peek over the water.

  Elin thrust a cup of hot tea in her hands. “Here, drink this.”

  Sara wrapped both hands around the cup. “I d-don’t know why I’m s-so cold.”

  Josh sat close to her on the sofa. “You’re having a reaction. Are you hurt at all?”

  Sara sipped the tea, then shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

  “What happened?” Marc sat in an armchair on the other side of the area rug. His hazel eyes were alert, and he didn’t look like a man who had been up all night.

  Sara stared up at Elin. “You’re not going to like this, Elin. Kalianne was part of this.”

  Elin lowered herself to the chair. “K-Kalianne? Mom’s aide? I don’t understand.”

  “She’s Devi Long’s sister. I came upon her with a crate, and when I insisted on seeing inside, she knocked me out.” Sara shook her head. “I’m ashamed I let her get the upper hand.”

  Josh took her hand. “She didn’t seem the type to get violent.” He laced his fingers with hers.

  Elin looked at their linked hands. Something good had come out of this awful night. “She tried to kill you?”

  “No, that was Devi, I’m sure. She called him, and he came to take care of their ‘little problem.’ She objected and tried to protect me. When she stepped in front of me, I ran into the cave. I found the deeper passage, and the next thing I knew, I heard the cave-in.”

  Elin shuddered. “I have always thought I was a good judge of character. I guess that’s not true.” She looked at Marc. “Can we get her picked up?”

  “We can try, but I’d guess Devi took her away before she could give away any more information about him.” He pulled out his cell phone and placed a call.

  A sense of dread curled in Elin’s belly. “Mom’s been sleeping a lot. I thought it was part of her dementia. What if it wasn’t? What if Kalianne’s been drugging her so she could go out and search for those drugs?” Her fingers curled into fists. “I’ve been so stupid!”

  “We all trusted her. I gave her those tops and capris. I liked her.” Sara took another sip of her tea. “She was good at her masquerade.”

  Marc ended his call. “I think they have a lead on her and her brother. A Coast Guard cutter stopped a speedboat offshore a few hours ago. There was a couple aboard who sounds like those two. The Coasties didn’t find anything amiss, so they let them go, but they told the patrol they were headed to Kill Devil Hills. We’ve got the description of the boat and its identification number. A patrol boat is headed that way to see if their boat is in the harbor.”

  “I doubt they’ll be there.” Josh still hadn’t let go of Sara.

  “I should check on Mom.” Elin started to get up, but Marc shook his head.

  “Let her sleep. I don’t think Kalianne did her any real harm.”

  “I’m so glad I never had her watch Josie.” She glanced at Josh and Sara. “There must have been a lot of money in the drugs for them to go so far.”

  “A crate that size could contain millions of dollars in heroin,” Sara said. “I wish I’d gotten a chance to see inside it.”

  Marc yawned. “There’s time for a little shut-eye if you all want to head to bed. Everyone will be up in a couple of hours.”

  A secret smile hovering on her lips, Sara glanced at Josh. “I’m not really tired. I think I’d like a walk along the beach.”

  “I’m game.” Still holding on to her hand, he rose and helped her up. “We’ll be back in time for breakfast.”

  Elin watched them go. “Something happened between them.”

  Marc grinned. “You think?” His smiled faded when their gazes locked. “We got a little interrupted in our own discussion. Want to go back to it, or are you too tired?”

  What was he saying? That kiss had shattered her last bit of resistance. She loved him so much. Had he been about to admit he had feelings for her? She’d asked him how he felt, and he hadn’t answered.

  She feigned a yawn. “We can talk about it another time. I’m pretty tired.” She rose and headed for the stairs.

  Elin had gone off to rest awhile ago, and Marc sat with his parents on the back deck with the birds singing from the trees lining the back of the property. Saturday morning cartoons playing on TV would keep Josie and Ruby occupied for a few minutes while he discussed things with them.

  His mother looked about to burst. She still wore her blue robe, but his father was dressed in jeans and a red T-shirt. His fishing hat perched on one side of his chair. They both looked tired, probably from keeping up with a four-year-old.

  Marc stirred nuts into his oatmeal. “What do you think of your granddaughter?”

  His mother handed him the cinnamon. “Oh, Marc, she is darling! But I’m so worried Elin is going to yank her away from us.”

  “Elin wouldn’t do that.”

  His mother shifted in her chair. “We have no rights to her. I’m sure her birth certificate lists Tim as her father. What if you and Elin get into a spat, and she refuses to let us see her? We’ll have no recourse.”

  “Elin wouldn’t do that.”

  His father gave a slow nod. “She doesn’t seem the vindictive type.”

  “What are you going to do to ensure you get to see Josie? That we all do?”

  His mother would worry that bone into shards. “I’m working on it.”

  “What does that mean? Have you gotten a lawyer? Your father could help with that. I think we should get Elin to agree to give us grandparent rights.”

  “Things are fragile right now, Mom. Don’t rock the boat. Let me handle this. I don’t need a lawyer.” It took everything in him to keep his voice from rising. He wasn’t four.

  She bit her lip. “I’m just worried, honey. We love Josie already.”

  “So do I. And Elin is thankful we love her daughter. A child never has too much love.”

  “You know how your father and I feel about a child growing up without a father. You’ll need to take extra steps to ensure Josie always knows you’ll be there for her.”

  “I intend to.” He choked down another bite of oatmeal.

  Feeling so helpless in this situation wasn’t something he relished. Elin held all the cards. He had to dance to her tune. For the first time, he wondered if he should talk to his dad about the legalities. How many fathers had found themselves standing on the outside of their children’s lives? He didn’t want to be one of them. And the killer closing in made things even more difficult.

  “You know exactly what you want to do,” his father observed. “Let’s hear your plan.”

  Trust his father to recognize the intent on his face. “I want to marry Elin.”

  His mother gasped and half rose until his father grabbed her arm. “I knew you had feelings for her! I can see it whenever you look at her.” She toyed with her spoon, twirling it around on the table. “I was beginning to think you didn’t believe in a lasting love and marriage.”

  He had to shake his head and look away from his mother’s penetrating gaze. “I only have to look at you and Dad to know real love exists. That kind of love is hard to find.”

  “Does she love you?”

  He made a face. “I doubt it.” Though that kiss last night had shattered his certainty about a marriage of convenience only. But if she loved him, why was she avoiding talking more about marriage?

  His
father leaned forward. “Marriage takes work. It’s not about luck or just love either. It’s about commitment. When you’re in the thick of the battle with raising kids, juggling busy careers, and finding time to mow the grass, a couple can look at each other and wonder where love went. It’s still there though, if you look for it and nurture it. You don’t enter into a commitment like that for convenience sake.”

  “You against it, Dad?”

  His father shook his head. “I didn’t say that. You are not the kind of man who makes a promise lightly. How do you feel about Elin? You skirted your mom’s question pretty well, but that speaks volumes too. You love her.”

  Marc exhaled and sat back in his chair. The bald statement was a stone pressing against his heart. It was so much easier to convince himself he only wanted this for Josie. The truth was so much more complex.

  “No rebuttal?” His father was in full attorney mode now as if he were arguing a case.

  Marc shook his head. “I don’t want to love her.”

  His mother’s eyes softened. “Love isn’t something you can turn off and on like a water spigot.”

  He exhaled. “Yeah. Kind of inconvenient though. I don’t think she feels the same.”

  “You’re afraid to talk to her about it?”

  “She’d run away if she knew I loved her, and things would be strained between us. I don’t want that. I thought it was better if we had a common goal. We could at least be friends, and maybe in time she’d come to feel something for me.”

  His dad gave that sound he often made in court—something between a chuckle and a clearing of his throat. “Son, you need to take a good look at her. Love is written all over her face.”

  “I’ve only seen distance and wariness.” But that was a lie. There had been something she wanted to say last night, but he’d been too afraid to let her close.

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  Sunday morning Elin slept in until eight, and by the time she showered, Christine had everyone fed and ready to head out for church, followed by an afternoon at the beach. Elin hated that she’d overslept and would miss church.

  Christine hailed her when she came down the stairs. “I can’t get your mother out of the garden. She thinks she has to pull every weed before church.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.” Christine followed her out the back door. Mom was standing in the mud in her bare feet, and she didn’t stop when Elin called to her.

  Her mother plunged the hoe into the dirt, displacing a tomato plant. “I need to find it.”

  Elin touched her arm. “What are you looking for, Mom?”

  “The pouch. That leather pouch. It has to be here. Kalianne took it.”

  Elin frowned and looked at Christine. “What’s Kalianne got to do with this? Have you seen her lately?” She hadn’t told them about Kalianne’s involvement. There hadn’t been time.

  Christine frowned. “I don’t know. We haven’t seen her since late Friday night.”

  “Friday night?” Elin’s pulse sped up. “I thought she left early.”

  “She did, but she came back, saying she forgot to give your mother her medicine. She fixed us some tea, and we went off to bed while she was still here.” Christine rubbed her eyes. “Neither of us have felt very well this weekend. I’m tempted to stay home from church today myself, but I don’t want to disappoint Josie.”

  “She’ll be fine if you don’t feel up to going.” She studied the circles under Christine’s eyes. “But about Kalianne. What time was this?”

  “Oh, after dark. Maybe nine?”

  After her attack on Sara. “Did she give Mom her medicine then?”

  “I think so. I didn’t watch her. She went inside for a little while, then came out with some new tea. It had a funny taste, and I wondered if I was allergic to it. Maybe that’s why I haven’t felt well.” Christine shook her head. “But Frank feels the same. Maybe it’s a bug.”

  “Maybe she drugged you.” Elin launched into what Kalianne had done. Christine’s eyes got bigger and bigger. “So she came here after she thought Sara was dead. What does she want here? That’s what I don’t understand.” She glanced at her mother again, who was still digging in the dirt.

  That leather pouch. Could her mother have mentioned the diary to Kalianne? Maybe that’s what she was looking for. Elin kicked off her flip-flops and stepped into the garden. “Mom, come with me for a minute. I need to talk to you.”

  “I can’t find it.” Tears hung on her mother’s lashes. “It’s not here.”

  “I don’t think you put the leather pouch in the garden. You went to the attic, remember?”

  The clouds in her mother’s eyes lifted, and she nodded. “We found it though, me and Kalianne. I told her to leave it here, but I can’t find it.”

  “Kalianne wants the leather pouch?”

  Her mother nodded again. “It belongs to her.”

  “It doesn’t belong to her. If she comes here asking for it again, tell me, okay?” Though her mother nodded, Elin knew she’d never remember. “Did Kalianne give you tea the other night? Or did she give Josie anything?”

  “Josie.” Her mother looked toward the house. “Josie couldn’t find it either. Kalianne made her go to bed.” Tears ran down her cheeks. “I don’t like Kalianne anymore. She yells at me.”

  “She’s not coming back,” Elin assured her. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

  She led her mother out of the mud and over to the hose where she washed the mud from her bare feet. “You’re going to miss church if you don’t hurry.”

  Her mother brightened. “I like the songs.” She shuffled toward the house at a slightly faster pace.

  Christine leaned down and turned off the spigot. “I think we should take Josie and your mother back to our house, Elin. Surely you can’t want them here with so much danger.”

  “You’re right.” Elin hadn’t wanted to let go of her little girl, but the danger wasn’t over. And there wasn’t anyone to watch Mom either. Kalianne and her brother would be back. Laura’s killer too. “Take them home with you after church. Call me every day though, okay?”

  Christine embraced her, and Elin clung to her solid figure. “I’ll take good care of her, honey. We already love her. Frank knows a lot of policemen. We’ll hire someone to watch the house too, just in case.”

  “Thank you,” she choked out. “We’ll get through this. Thank you for loving my little girl in spite of everything.”

  “Thank you for letting us into her life. And yours.” Christine released her with a final pat.

  Elin watched her go. What would Marc think of this turn of events?

  With the house quiet, Elin went to her office to do a little work. She heard the shower running in Marc’s bedroom, so he was up too. She rubbed bleary eyes as she fired up her program. She’d gotten a text message a few minutes ago about a new donor she needed to work on ASAP. She studied the middle-aged woman’s stats. Good lungs, bad heart, good corneas, kidneys, and liver. The work would get her mind off what was happening here.

  She pulled up her list of recipients and began running through her matching procedure. She pulled out her phone and scrolled to the first recipient, a man in his midthirties who needed a liver transplant. Before she could place the call, a bar filled the screen of her computer.

  YOU WILL NEVER MARRY HIM. YOU LOOK GOOD IN BLACK.

  She gasped and rocked back in her chair. Looking around wildly, she tried to think of how someone could have taken over her computer. This was a highly secure website. It would be no easy matter to hack into it.

  Marc appeared in the doorway with no shirt and his hair still wet. “What’s wrong?”

  She pointed to the screen. “Look.”

  He moved around behind her, and she caught a whiff of his clean-smelling skin. She handed the laptop to him so she could move to a safer distance.

  “He knows a lot about computers. And I think he’s obsessed with you, wants you for himself. It would explain why he hasn’t just killed you the
way he did Laura.”

  She shuddered and clasped her arms around herself. “I’m beginning to think so too.”

  He stared at the screen a moment. “What if he’s another OPO representative?”

  Her eyes widened. “Oh, I hope not. That seems wrong—that someone who is dedicated to bringing life from death would parcel out such pain to people.”

  “Evil can lurk in any heart. Let me get my computer too.” He handed her the laptop, then headed for the door. “Can you get me a list of all the OPO representatives in this area?”

  She nodded and went into an even more secure area where she downloaded a list of names. The thought of one of her coworkers being involved made her shudder. “Before you go, I need to tell you something. I told your mom she could take Josie home with her today. I’m worried about her being in the middle of this mess.” She told him about Kalianne coming over after the attack on Sara.

  “I was going to do my best to convince you to do that today. My parents will take good care of her. I want her out of here too. Glad you agreed.” He stepped into the hall. “I’ll be right back with my computer.”

  That had gone better than expected. Now to get this mess figured out.

  Marc returned and sat in a chair with his computer on his lap. “I’m going to export the manifest. Send me the list, and I’ll run a comparison to see if there were any OPO representatives on that boat the night Laura died.”

  She nodded. “Give me your e-mail address.” She typed it in as he rattled it off, then attached the file to it. “You realize I’m not supposed to share this information?”

  “You can trust me with anything.” He bent over his computer keyboard. “It’s here. Let’s see what I can find out.”

  Warmth spread through her at his words. She knew she could trust him.

  The ominous message on her screen vanished, and she eased back into her chair and exhaled. The doorbell rang, and she glanced out the front window of the office to see Sara standing outside. “I’ll be right back.”