In Shelter Cove (32 page)

“Brianna!” he shouted, his voice lost in the rushing sound of water.

A rush of terrified adrenaline ran through his body as the narrow beam from his penlight danced off the black walls like a laser beam. He hadn’t been in the caves in years. If he took the wrong turn, he could easily get lost.

The water rose higher with each passing second.

“Brianna!” he yelled again. “Where are you?” The icy water swirled around his legs. It was difficult to fight the strong current and the cold. A new wave rolled in, pushing him further into the cave. “Brianna!”

“Help!”

His heart stopped at the sound of her voice. “I’m coming, Brianna!”

“Jason!” she yelled.

“Where are you?”

“I don’t know. I can’t see anything.”

Her voice was loud now. He stumbled and fell against the wall, then slid down as a cascade of dirt and rocks showered on him.

“Jason, where are you?”

“I’m here!” he yelled, trying to pull his foot loose, but the rocks had shifted, pinning his leg.

He heard more scrambling. He tried to point the light toward where he had heard her voice, hoping she’d see it.

She appeared like an angel in the night, her blond hair standing out in the darkness.

“Jason!” Tears streamed down her face as she threw her arms around his neck. “Thank God. I didn’t think I was going to make it.”

“We’re not that far from the entrance.” He kissed her quickly.

“Let’s go, then,” she said.

“I can’t. My leg is pinned under a rock. Take the light.” He held out the light to her. In the shadow, he could see the fear on her face. “You hold it while I figure out what to do.”

Brianna couldn’t see what was holding him down, because the water had risen to their thighs. She leaned over, digging with her hands, trying to move the large, heavy rocks that now seemed immovable. Jason kicked out, hoping to free himself, but all he could feel was the jagged edges of the rocks cutting through his jeans.

“You’ve got to get out of here now,” he said. “Call nine-one-one when you get to the beach.”

“I’m not leaving you, Jason.”

“You have to. You’ve got Lucas to worry about.”

She struggled harder to move the rocks.

“Brianna,
go.
We’re running out of time.”

“Then shut up and let me do this, dammit.”

She gritted her teeth and pulled with all her might. The rock budged ever so slightly. She squatted down in the water, grappling with the rocks. Another wave came rolling in, dousing them with a chilling spray, but Brianna didn’t give up. She could die trying to save him, and he couldn’t let that happen.
Save her,
he prayed to the angels.

A wave splashed over them, and for a second there was nothing but dark, swirling water. Then the water receded, and new bright streams of light flowed through the cracks in the walls, as if the sun had come out.

Brianna shoved at the boulder again, and it lifted just enough for him to slide his leg free.

“You did it,” he said in amazement.

She smiled back at him. “Let’s get out of here.”

He grabbed her hand as they splashed back toward the entrance. They were almost out when the current enveloped them, lifting them off their feet.

“Don’t let go of my hand!” he cried. “We’re going to ride the wave just like I taught you.”

Then they were swept out to sea.

He knew the ocean well, knew how to swim parallel to the coast until they could fight the current.
Brianna struggled to keep her head above water. She was terrified, but she was fighting for all she was worth.

Fifty yards down the beach, they finally made it onto the sand, collapsing from the effort. For a few moments, all he could do was breathe in and out, searching Brianna’s face for any sign of injury or pain. She was soaking wet. Her skin was white, her eyes a dark, dark blue.

Unable to speak, she pointed toward the caves, and he followed her gaze. The black storm clouds had parted directly over the rocks and beams of light streamed down from the heavens, illuminating the cave as if it were onstage, and the rest of the world was in the dark.

Maybe the angels had heard his prayer, or maybe Derek had been watching out for Brianna. Whatever the reason, he was immensely grateful that they’d made it out alive and together.

Brianna crawled across the sand and fell into his arms. She cupped his face and kissed his lips, her mouth cold but joyful. “We made it,” she said. “I wasn’t sure we would. You saved my life, Jason. I was lost in those caves. Then I heard your voice, and I knew where to go. I wouldn’t have made it out if you hadn’t come for me.”

“I made things worse. You could have drowned trying to rescue me. Next time, I tell you to go—go.”

She smiled. “Not a chance.”

“Why?” he asked, the question slipping past his
lips. “Why would you risk your life for me? You should hate me, Brianna. I made mistakes in the investigation. Derek didn’t steal the paintings, and he’s dead now because I sent him to jail. I screwed up. I didn’t ask the right questions. I didn’t look beyond the obvious. I didn’t imagine there were so many twists and turns, that—”

Brianna put her fingers against his mouth, cutting him off. “Don’t, Jason. Don’t blame yourself for not seeing what Derek took such pains to hide. He went to jail because he
tried
to steal the paintings, even if he didn’t succeed, even if he was double-crossed. He was still involved and guilty, because he
did
knock out that security guard.”

“You’re letting me off the hook,” he asked in amazement.

“It’s past time I did. Maybe you didn’t have all the answers when it came to Derek, but neither did I. We were both duped—me most of all. But Derek’s death didn’t have anything to do with either of us. That was a tragic accident. The rest was of Derek’s own making. I’ve learned a lot about my husband in the past week. Like that damned Eve, Derek had more than one face. He had plenty of time to tell me the truth, to reveal himself to me, and he chose not to. Not even in his last letter did he come clean.”

“Because he didn’t want to disappoint you,” Jason said, knowing that just this once he had to stick up for Derek. “You believed that he was better than he was, and he wanted to be that man for you. He loved
you, Brianna. He told me so that day in my garage. He said he’d finally found the woman he’d been looking for. She’d been in the mirror all along.”

“He saw something in the glass that wasn’t there, and I guess I did, too.” She drew in a breath and let it out. “Derek was as fake as his paintings; beautiful but not real.” Her fingers slid down the side of his face. “You’re the real thing, Jason.”

His heart pounded at the look in her eyes. He’d wanted to see love there since the first moment he’d met her.

“You’re honest,” she continued. “You stand up for what you believe in, no matter the cost. You have a strong moral compass, and I like it.” Her lips trembled, and her eyes glittered with emotion. “In case you didn’t know, I’m falling in love with you.”

“I’m already there,” he confessed, “but you take all the time you need to be sure. I know the Kanes mean a lot to you, and I don’t want to hurt them either.”

“They do mean the world to me. They’re the main reason I stuck it out with Derek. It actually would have been easier to divorce Derek than them. I hope eventually they’ll come around to the idea of you and me, because I love them, and Lucas needs his grandparents. But I can’t make my decisions based on them. I want you in my life. The rest we’ll figure out along the way.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” he said with amazed relief.

She smiled back and then flung her arms wide.
“I feel
free!
Completely and totally free, for the first time in forever.”

The shadows were gone from her eyes, and she was once again that girl in the bar with a lifetime of possibilities in front of her. Thank God she wanted him to be one of those possibilities.

“So are you going to kiss me, or what?” she demanded.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

He pulled her head down, wanting to taste every sweet inch of her. He’d been waiting his entire life for her, the one woman who made him want to jump off a cliff—or at the very least, run into a flooding cave.

As the wind picked up, he felt her shiver in his arms, reminding him that they were soaking wet and night was falling. “We need to get dry.”

“And we need to find Katherine,” Brianna said, jumping to her feet. “She’s the one who took me into the caves.”

“I saw her driving away. Why did you follow her in there?”

“She told me she thought the paintings were there, based on the sketch Derek had drawn. She was acting so friendly, so helpful. In fact, she told me that Gloria and Derek had had an affair and that she was sure Gloria was the unseen partner. It made perfect sense. When we got here, she said she’d go in on her own. She didn’t force me to go with her, so I wasn’t at all suspicious.

“Once we got deep into the caves, she admitted
everything—that she was Derek’s partner, that she set him up to take the fall, because she was pissed off that he’d gotten engaged to me. She let him rot in prison to pay him back for not choosing her. Derek couldn’t rat Katherine out, because she knew about other things he’d done. We have to stop her before she gets the paintings and runs. I am
not
going to let her get away with this.”

“Don’t worry. She’s not getting away.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I already found the paintings, Brianna.” He smiled. “A lot happened today. While you were with Katherine, I was with Wyatt and the Markhams. After they saw the forgeries, they realized that Katherine had to be responsible. Apparently, until this point, they all secretly blamed the other. Gloria thought Wyatt had double-crossed her because he was related to Victor, and Wyatt thought the Markhams had done it because of Gloria’s ties to Ramón. She was descended from him, by the way.”

Brianna’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”

“Oh, yeah. I’ll tell you the rest on the way.”

When they pulled up in front of the Markham Gallery, night had fallen, but the building was ablaze with lights. A police car was parked outside. Brianna walked ahead of Jason into the building. She saw Gloria, Steve, and Wyatt standing with Joe Silveira and another officer. The first thing she noticed was
that the wall of mirrors had been ripped apart, with large pieces of glass lying on the floor.

“What happened to you two?” Joe asked, taking in their sopping appearance.

“Katherine lured Brianna into the caves and left her there,” Jason said shortly. “We barely made it out alive.”

Brianna heard Gloria gasp and wasn’t sure she believed the sincerity of that reaction. She didn’t know if Gloria’s affair with Derek was one of Katherine’s lies, but she suspected it was not.

“I’m glad you got out,” Joe said, concern in his eyes. “The Markhams shut down the gallery early according to plan. Katherine showed up as soon as everyone was gone. She turned off the security camera, or so she thought, took the mirrors off the wall, and pulled the paintings off the backs. We got it on our own cameras. She had quite a look of satisfaction on her face.”

“You let Katherine steal the paintings?” Brianna asked in shock.

“Not exactly,” Jason said, a pleased smile on his face. “We took the mirrors down, removed the originals, and replaced them with the copies. We needed to catch Katherine in the act, and we figured she’d try to snatch them as soon as she could, knowing the trail would lead to her.”

“So Katherine has the fakes?”

Jason nodded. He tipped his head to Steve Markham, who moved around the reception area
and pulled out the paintings. One by one the
Three Faces of Eve
were placed on the counter as the group gathered around.

For a while, there was nothing but reverent silence.

Brianna stared at each of Eve’s faces and let out a sigh. “I really hate Eve, but I’m glad she’s back.”

“I’m sorry, Brianna,” Wyatt said gruffly. “I knew Derek was guilty, but I should have realized he didn’t have the smarts to do it all on his own.”

She didn’t know if that was a compliment or an insult, but it didn’t matter anymore. She glanced at Jason. “How did you know they were behind the mirrors?”

“We were standing by the door, talking about where Katherine might have put the paintings,” Jason replied. “Since she lives with her mother, home wasn’t an option. It seemed likely that she’d want to keep the paintings close by, like here at the gallery. Wyatt mentioned how Katherine and Derek used to play with mirrors when they were painting, which reminded me of your sketches, and the first time you met Derek.”

“When he saw me in the mirror,” Brianna said. “And the gallery entrance—the mirrors were in one of his sketches that he did in prison.”

“Exactly,” Jason said, meeting her gaze. “I looked at the mirrors, saw my reflection, and thought maybe . . .”

“Very intuitive,” she said.

He tipped his head. “It was time for us to get a break.”

“
So what happens now?”

“We pick up Katherine.”

“Already done,” Joe interjected as he hung up the phone. “Laughton picked her up on the outskirts of town. She’s on her way to the station.”

“It’s over, Brianna,” Jason said. “We’ve got her in possession of the stolen art. She’s going to go to prison.”

Brianna felt a wave of relief. “Thank God.”

“Do you want to come to the station?” Jason asked.

She shook her head. “No, I’m done with Katherine. I’m done with all of this,” she said waving her hand toward the paintings. “I’m going to tell the Kanes what happened, and then I’m taking my son home. We’re going to carve pumpkins and have dinner and make plans for the future.” Her eyes teared up as she realized she’d really come to the end. Her questions had been answered. Maybe not in the way she’d hoped, but at least she had the truth now. She could move on, and she was more than ready to do that.

Jason put his hands on her shoulders as the others moved away. “I know you wanted to clear Derek’s name for Lucas, that you wanted him to have a father he could be proud of.”

“I’ll make sure Lucas knows that Derek was more than just the crime he committed. Maybe you can help.”