Rock Harbor Series - 03 - Into the Deep (31 page)

“Kade thinks someone deliberately dumped toxic chemicals in the river to make it look like the lab was to blame.”

“A gut-informed guess.”

“He found the five-gallon buckets used to do it.”

“So he says. For all I know your fiancé is just protecting your sister.” She sighed. “Look, I don’t want to fight with you. I want to be part of the community here, make amends for my past mistakes.”

Marika’s face was soft and pleading. Bree almost bought it. She switched topics, hoping the other woman’s confiding manner would
trip her up. “Naomi has been really worried about Timmy lately. Do you have any idea what might be going on with his blood sugar?”

Marika’s smile faded. “I told child welfare what I think. Your friend is not taking good care of him.”

“I know Naomi loves the children. She would never do anything to hurt either of them.”

“I’m not saying she’s deliberately neglecting them. But she’s busy with the search and rescue. And they’re not her children. She wouldn’t give them the same care and devotion their own mother would.”

“What about Donovan?”

“He’s gone too much. Just like he was when I was married to him.”

“He’s home by six, same as most men.”

“That won’t last. The store is his mistress.”

“Are you here to get him back?” Bree asked.

Marika barked a laugh. “I wouldn’t take him back if he begged me! He’s so staid and unimaginative.” Marika drained her coffee cup and got up. “I have an appointment. It’s been nice talking to you, Bree.” She grabbed her purse, left a tip on the table, and walked away without a backward glance.

Bree took her iced mocha and followed slowly. Was it possible to put a cyberdetective on Marika to track her online activity? She didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but Marika had something to do with all of this. She was sure of it.

She jumped in her Jeep and drove back to Naomi’s. The kids were playing in the sandbox in the backyard. Charley came to greet her when he heard the Jeep. He rubbed against her leg, and she petted him, then walked to the house.

Naomi met her at the door. “Well?”

“She’s a computer hacker. She seems to genuinely care about the kids though, Naomi. I’m not sure she’s callous enough to hurt her own son.”

Naomi stepped aside to let Bree in. “You’ve swallowed her ‘I’ve changed’ routine too.”

“Not necessarily. I’m not sure she’s hurting Timmy, but I think she might have something to do with what’s been happening at the mine.” Bree followed her into the kitchen.

“What other explanation is there? I’m doing everything right here. Someone who would endanger her own child like that isn’t fit to have them, not without supervision. Oh, I feel so bad for Emily! She loves her mother so much.” Naomi’s eyes filled with tears.

Trust Naomi to be thinking of someone else. Bree squeezed her friend’s hand. “I’m going to start trailing her to keep an eye on where she goes and whom she sees. We’ll figure this out. I need to call Mason and clue him in.”

Bree took the portable phone Naomi handed her and dialed the sheriff’s office. After talking a while, she hung up and turned to Naomi. “Guess what? Hilary’s ready to talk about adoption.”

“Great,” Naomi said absently. “Maybe things will all work out.” She glanced toward the sandbox. “If only Emily would listen.”

“Let’s try talking to her.” Bree stepped to the door and called her. Emily got up and brushed the sand from her jeans, then ran to her. Bree put her hand on the little girl’s head. “Hey, sweetie, I hear you’re having a sleepover this weekend.”

Emily nodded, her face bright. “I know.” A glimmer of a smile touched the little girl’s face.

“How many friends are coming?”

“Five. Daddy said I could have five.”

“Do you like them all the same?”

Emily frowned. “Hannah and Olivia are my two bestest friends.”

“Which one is the best?”

“They both are.”

“What if you had to pick one?”

“I won’t pick one. They’re both coming to my party!
She
can’t make me tell one to stay home.”

“I’m not doing that,” Naomi soothed. “But it’s like me and your
mommy. We can both love you just like Hannah and Olivia love you. You don’t have to pick just one.”

Emily said nothing, but Naomi could see the thoughts whirling in her head. “Mommy won’t like me if I’m friends with you.”

“I won’t tell her,” Naomi said. “And no matter what you say or do, I’m going to love you, Emily. Nothing will ever change that.”

Were those tears in Emily’s eyes? Bree couldn’t tell as the little girl turned her head.

25

B
ree wanted to hear Kade’s voice. She twisted the ring around on her finger. She pulled her cell phone out to see how his day was going. Dead. No wonder she hadn’t gotten a call all day.

She parked in front of her lighthouse and carried her sleeping son inside. She put him on the couch. It was too late to let him sleep long, but she could clean the kitchen while he dozed. The message light was blinking on the answering machine. She punched the button and heard her sister’s voice.

“Bree, do you have Dad? He’s missing. Call me.”

Bree grabbed the phone and dialed Cassie’s number. “It’s me. What’s going on? I don’t have him. I’ve been with Naomi all day.”

“Someone signed him out last night at midnight. They signed my name. I called Mason when I couldn’t get you. He’s here now, talking to the nurses. No one has any idea where he is. What are we going to do?”

“I’ll be right there.” She clicked off the phone and carried Davy back to the Jeep. He awoke when she put him in his car seat. Rubbing his eyes, he started to cry.

“It’s okay, sweetie. You want to go back to Naomi’s and play with Timmy?”

“I want Samson,” he wailed.

Jonelle peeked outside the cabin. Zane was prodding Samson with a stick again, and the dog was grabbing it and growling. She sighed. She felt sorry for the poor thing.

“Breakfast is ready,” she called through the screen door. She went back to the stove and slid Zane’s eggs onto a plate. Over easy, with the edges of the whites crisp, just like he liked. Toast practically burned and slathered with real butter and thimbleberry jam from their own patch. Bacon practically raw, to her mind.

Zane came in wearing a pleased smile. “That new dog will give Bruck a run for his money. He was worth all the trouble we went through to snatch him. I think I’ll keep calling him Samson. It suits him.”

“I hate to see you turn him mean. He’s a sweet dog.”

“Have you been petting him again?”

Too late Jonelle realized she’d given herself away. “I couldn’t help it. I think he misses his family.”

“From now on, I’ll feed him. You probably gave him too much food anyway, didn’t you?” Zane threw himself into the chair and grabbed his fork. “I don’t know how many times I’ve told you this, Jonelle. You never listen. But he’s meaning up now. I just shot him full of steroids again.”

She sat in the chair opposite him. “Do you ever think about getting out of here, Zane? Just you and me taking off somewhere else? I don’t want you caught and put in prison for what you’re doing. Now that we got a baby coming, we need to think about the future. There’s no future in this dogfighting, Zane. You don’t want your son growing up without his daddy around.”

For a few precious moments, she thought she’d gotten through to him. His face softened, and he reached out and touched her face. “You’re gonna be a good mama, Jonelle.” Then he pulled his hand back and frowned. “Maybe I can cut back after this big score. We got the big boys coming in from Chicago for this fight. I’d be stupid to turn my back on all that money.”

She stared at him wearily. “And after that there’ll be another big score and another. The law will hear about you sooner or later, Zane. Can’t you see that?”

“I just see you’re turning into a nag like your mother.” He shoved back from the table. “The law don’t care about dogfighting! It’s on the books, yeah, but they don’t go looking for us. You worry too much, Jonelle. I’ll be at the dog pens putting Bruck through his paces.”

He stormed out of the kitchen, and Jonelle sighed, then scraped his half-eaten eggs onto a paper plate. He could use them for the dogs. Her gaze wandered through the window to the backyard. Samson had his head hung over the fence. He was drooling, and the dazed look in his eyes about broke her heart. Zane would be in the barn with Bruck. He’d never hear her over the treadmill he had the dog on.

She picked up the paper plate and stole out the screen door. Glancing around to make sure Zane was nowhere around, she stepped quickly to the pen housing Samson.

“Hey, Samson,” she whispered. “You hungry, boy?” She put the food under his nose, and he gobbled it up like he was starving. He probably was.

Jonelle didn’t think he could ever turn this sweetie mean. She could see him defending his loved ones, but those soft, intelligent eyes didn’t have a mean streak in them, not even clouded with steroids and cocaine. She caressed his head, and he turned and licked her hand. She wished she had the courage to turn him loose. Zane would know she had to have done it, and she’d never hear the end of it. He hadn’t hit her, but she was never sure if he might, and she didn’t dare risk it now with the baby coming.

She gave him a final pat and took the plate. She’d throw it away before Zane saw it. Samson whined as she walked away. It was all she could do to keep going.

Jonelle had just crammed the paper plate into the bottom of the trash when a car pulled up outside. The sheriff’s car. Her heart jumped to her throat. She flew out the back door and ran to the barn.

“The sheriff’s here!”

Zane blanched. “Stall him while I hide the dogs!”

She ran back to the house and through the back. A uniformed man
was knocking on the door. She spared a glance through the window and saw Zane leading Samson to the barn. Smoothing her shirt, she forced a pleasant smile to her face and went to the front door.

She took a deep breath and opened the door. “Oh, hello. Can I help you?”

The man outside nodded. “Ma’am. I’m looking for a lost or stolen dog. Answers to Samson. He has tags.” He held out a picture. “This is the dog. His owner is very eager to get him back.”

Her fingers icy, Jonelle took the picture and forced herself to study it. The little boy had his arms around Samson’s neck. Poor kid. Careful to keep her voice regretful, she shook her head. “Sorry, Sheriff, I’ve never seen the dog. Looks like a nice one though. And the kid seems fond of him.”

“It’s Deputy, ma’am. Deputy Montgomery. Samson is a favorite around town. He’s a search-and-rescue dog and very valuable. You mind if I take a look around back?”

“No, of course not.” She started to step outside.

“Don’t trouble yourself. I’ll just take a gander in the back and be on my way. Thank you kindly for your help.” He tipped his hat and went around the corner of the house.

Jonelle shut the door and ran for the kitchen. Peering out the window, she saw that Zane had removed the dog cages as well. The backyard looked bare and safe. As safe as they’d be for now. But what if one of the dogs barked while he was out there? Or maybe Zane had muzzled them. He might have had time while she kept the deputy talking.

She had to find some way to get Zane to quit this crazy business. Once this big fight was over, maybe he’d listen to reason. She just hated that it meant Samson was going to get hurt. Or worse.

Cassie paced the worn carpet in the nursing home hallway. She felt stunned and dazed. Who could have taken her father—and why? He was an old man without any real value to anyone except her and Bree.

The front door flew open, and Bree rushed in. Cassie turned and practically fell into her arms. She wanted to share her pain with someone, and she knew Bree would be just as concerned.

“What’s going on, Mason?” Bree demanded after giving Cassie a fierce hug.

“No one saw a thing. The nurse was taking a potty break, evidently, or she fell asleep, though she’s not admitting to that. No one noticed him gone until this morning, and they found the sign-out sheet filled out.”

“Why would anyone take Daddy?” Cassie wailed.

Mason turned a penetrating gaze on her. “They might be planning to demand a ransom.”

“Ransom! We don’t have any money.”

“Could it have anything to do with what’s happening at the lab?” Bree asked.

“I wish I knew. I’ll put out an APB on Bernard, but I’d advise you to go home and wait for a call. I’ll put a tap on your line,” he told Cassie before exiting to his car.

“This makes no sense,” Cassie moaned when Mason was gone.

Bree put her arm around her.

Cassie’s cell phone rang. She grabbed for it. “Dad?” she said breathlessly.

“Cassie?” His querulous voice made her dizzy with relief.

“That’s all.” The electronically altered voice was familiar. “If you want to see your dad again, you’ll do exactly what I say.”

“Who are you? What do you want?”

“Your dad has something that belongs to me. A file. I want you to find it.”

“What file?”

“It’s marked ‘Top Secret,’ he says.”

“I’ve seen it.”

“Good. Then it should be no problem to find it. When you’ve located it, put it in a plastic bag and dive down to where you’ve been harvesting algae. Put a weight on it and a marker, then leave. I’ll retrieve
it. If it’s the right file, I’ll let your dad go. Don’t tell the sheriff or your dad’s dead.”

“Don’t hurt him,” Cassie whispered. “That file is old and outdated. It can’t possibly be of interest to you.”

“You have twenty-four hours.” The phone clicked off.

Still shaking, Cassie dropped the phone back into the cradle. “We have to find the file and leave it at the bottom of the lake where I go diving” she told Bree. “I think I know where it is.”

“We have to let Mason handle this,” Bree said.

“No! The kidnapper said he’d kill Dad.”

Bree took her by the shoulders. “God is in control of this, Cassie. We have to trust him here.”

“You and God. How can you be so sure he’s even there?”

“I can sense him in my soul. He’s my constant companion, no matter what I go through. He’d be there for you too, if you’d just let him.”