Tangled Lies (15 page)

It was full dark when they secured
The Painted Lady
in her slip. Jesse went to his shed and returned with a work light and an eighty-foot extension cord, anger bubbling under his skin.

Sasha looked over his shoulder as he unscrewed the gas cap. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she asked.

He nodded and shined a flashlight into the tank, then used a siphon to suck up some of the fuel and check it.

He cursed and leaned back on his heels. He wanted to throw things, so he concentrated on taking several deep breaths instead.

“Water or sugar?” Sasha asked.

“Sugar,” he bit out, too angry to say anything else at the moment.

“You think whoever trashed your shed did this?”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“Somebody really doesn’t want you in that race, I think.”

“Too bad. Because I’m going to win it.” He saw something flicker across her features. “You don’t think I can?”

“I have no doubt you can win. But this worries me. How far will this person go to stop you? I don’t want you hurt, Jesse.”

“I can take care of myself.” He stood and moved in front of her. “My biggest concern is that whoever it is will mess with your family.”

“What are you talking about?”

He studied her face for a long moment, debating how much to say. “Sal came to see me today.”

Something about his tone alerted her, because she crossed her arms and waited. “OK. And?”

“He tried to get me to take my boat and go somewhere else.”

“What? Why would he do that?”

“He’s getting pressure from the dear citizens of Safe Harbor about my being here. It could hurt business.”

“What did you tell him?”

“That I’m not leaving, at least not until after the race.”

“How did he respond?”

“He didn’t like it, but he didn’t push too hard, either.”

“It’ll blow over after a while. People will get to know you.”

“Do you know of anyone else in town with a connection to this race?”

“You mean, someone with a vested interest in you being out of it?”

“Something like that.”

Sasha thought a moment. “No, I don’t think so, but I could ask around.”

He held up a hand. “No, don’t do that. Just keep your ear to the ground in case you hear anything.”

Footsteps pounded down the dock toward them. Blaze stomped in their direction, her usual scowl in place. “You took off. Again. And made Mama cry. Again.”

“What? How did I make her cry?”

“Even though she’s been sick as a dog all day, she got up and made homemade macaroni and cheese for you, because she said it used to be your favorite. And then you didn’t show up to eat it.”

“How could I have known that? Nobody told me she was planning to cook.”

“If you had bothered to tell somebody you were going out for a cruise, we would have told you.”

“Why didn’t you call my cell phone?”

“I did. You didn’t answer.”

Sasha pulled her phone out and sighed. Sure enough, there was the missed call from Blaze. Along with another two from Eve.

Sasha looked up at Jesse, stricken. “I have to go.”

Jesse watched them leave, then went back to work. It was going to be a long night.

Chapter 10

Sasha gave up trying to sleep just before the sun peeked over the horizon. Nothing kept a girl awake like knowing she’d made her mother cry. Her sick mother. Again.
Oh, God. Help me do right by Mama. Help me find answers.

She got semipresentable for the day, then padded downstairs, Bella thumping along behind her. Once the coffee finished brewing, she took her cup and went over to open the bait shop.

It amazed her how quickly she fell into the familiar banter, how much she remembered about the shop’s routines, about each captain and their preferences and the members of their family.

Two of her favorite captains, Demetri and Roy, came in together, bickering like an old married couple, Roy’s two nephews behind them, egging them on.

“Good morning, gentlemen. What can I do for you this fine morning?”

“Turn on the air conditioning outside, will you, sugar?” Roy teased. “I hear tell it’s going to top ninety-six today.”

“Then you boys best get going so you can be back before it gets too hot out there.”

Demetri elbowed Roy. “She’s trying to get rid of you, you big lout.”

“Didn’t see her inviting you to stay, either,” Roy tossed back.

Sasha handed Demetri his coffee and Roy a cold soda and nodded to his nephews, Al and Scooter. “How do you stand them all day?”

“As long as they’re each on a separate boat, they’re tolerable,” Al, said, and everyone laughed.

Pop stepped in and slipped behind the counter to join her. She kissed his cheek as she reached past him for more coffee.

“Morning, Pop. You and Mama get some sleep?”

He nodded yes, but the dark circles under his eyes said no. “Morning, Roy, Demetri, boys. Need anything before you head out this morning?”

Roy leaned over toward Demetri and stage-whispered, “See, they’re both trying to get rid of us.”

“Only because having you in here is bad for business. You scare the customers away,” Sasha said with a grin.

Demetri and Roy exchanged shocked expressions, then Roy turned to Sasha. “There is one more thing. We just got a request for a night-fishing charter tonight, and we have tickets to take the wives to some play or something in Tampa.” He nodded over his shoulder and rolled his eyes. “The boys all have hot dates. Think you can take the charter out for us, Sasha?”

A little thrill of excitement passed over her skin, but she ignored it and plopped her elbows on the counter, ready to deal. “Depends. What are you offering?”

Beside her, Sal grinned. “That’s my girl.”

“What? No favors between old friends?”

“I’m only seeing this favor flow one way.” She made a
give-me
motion with her hands. “You’re going to have to do better than that, boys.”

“Tough cookie, that one,” Demetri said, shaking his head.

Roy leaned closer on the counter, and Sasha settled in for some serious negotiation. “How about half the fare and we pay the gas for your boat?”

She shook her head. “I get seventy-five percent of the fare, and I use your boat. Take it or leave it.”

Demetri and Roy exchanged glances. “The wives would kill us if we missed the play, and neither of us is willing to take them alone, so I guess we have a deal.” Roy reached over and they shook hands. He pulled a scrap of paper from a white bakery bag out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Here’s everything you need to know. Family of four, tourists from Germany, never been fishing. Should be interesting.”

Sasha nodded her thanks as she tucked the piece of paper in her pocket. Night charters were always fun, and the extra money wouldn’t hurt, either.

Suddenly she realized the temperature in the shop had dropped and all talking had stopped. She looked up to see Jesse had walked through the door.

“Morning,” he said, nodding to those he passed by.

He headed straight to the counter, and the grin that spread over his face made her want to drool, so she sent him a controlled little smile instead. “Morning, Money-boy. You’re up early.”

His grin faded. “Got a lot of work to do today.”

Sasha poured him a cup of coffee and turned back to see several more captains standing behind him. Captain Doug, short, balding and skinny, eyed him from beneath his fisherman’s cap. “We don’t need no racing team here, Claybourne. Best you take that fancy boat of yours elsewhere.”

Jesse turned and looked down at the other man, his face carefully blank. “I’m not starting a team, not yet anyway. Just racing one boat in one race.”

Wiry Captain Tobias, who could be any age between sixty and eighty, spit into the spittoon by the door. “Seems to me that’s one boat too many. We don’t need your kind here.”

Sasha glanced behind her, looking for Pop, and saw him fiddling with the coffee machine, head down as if he didn’t hear what was going on. If he wouldn’t say anything, she would.

She planted her hands on her hips and ran her gaze over all of them. “I’m surprised at you, all of you. Thanks to the gossips in our little town, we all know every single one of you has a thing or two in your past you’re not proud of. Why shouldn’t Jesse get a second chance, too?”

Captain Tobias crossed his arms over his skinny chest. “We don’t need no jailbirds here.”

“Who gave you the right to decide who’s worthy to live here? If I heard right, you mortgaged your house
and
boat to pay your gambling debts. Does that mean you shouldn’t live here, either?” Her voice rose with every word.

Across the counter, Jesse said quietly, “Let it go, Sasha.”

She was on a roll, so she ignored him as she eyed the group. “You all ought to be ashamed of yourselves, treating folks this way. I’m disgusted with the lot of you. Now get on out of here.” She made a shooing motion. “Go. And if you need something before you go, you’d best keep a civil tongue in your head while you ask for it.”

A few captains slammed out the door, and a couple of others shuffled to the counter and made their purchases, heads down.

Jesse winked but didn’t say a word as he set down three bottles of water and a bag of peanuts.

“Have a nice day,” she said, same as she had to every single other customer. She waited until the last one left before she let out a huge sigh. “Stupid, pig-headed, small-minded—”

“You should have left well enough alone, Sasha,” Pop said, coming up behind her.

She whipped around to confront him. “Seriously? Since when do we let people talk to our customers that way?”

Then she remembered that he’d asked Jesse to leave to avoid exactly this kind of situation.

“Jesse is a good man, Sasha, don’t misunderstand. But our business depends on the local captains and their support.” He heaved a sigh. “And those drugs Mama is getting don’t come cheap, even with the little bit of insurance we have.”

There it was, Sasha thought with disgust. Principles shoved aside to deal with the practical. She could understand his reasoning, but she couldn’t accept it. There had to be another way.

She spent several hours stomping around the shop, but eventually, the bigger question reared its ugly head.

Someone, probably one of the captains there this morning, had trashed Jesse’s shed and put sugar in his gas tank. How much further would they go to get him to leave? She had to find out. But first, she had an overdue apology to deliver.

“Hey, Pop, you good here for a while? I need to go check in with Mama.” She ducked her head when he sent her a reproving look. “I know I missed supper, and I’m so very sorry. I didn’t know she was cooking, and—”

Pop held up a hand. “I’m not the one who needs the apology, Sasha. Go on up to the house. She should be up by now.”

Sasha trudged up the path, Bella at her side. Why couldn’t she get her act together and stop hurting the people she cared about? She never meant to. She just got . . . sidetracked. Distracted. Didn’t pay attention. They got hurt, and she didn’t know how to fix it.

Mama sat in her padded rocker on the porch, and she smiled when Sasha approached. Sasha crouched down at her knees, taking Mama’s hands gently in her own. “Mama, I’m so, so sorry about last night. I didn’t know you were cooking or I would have been here, would have eaten every bite.”

“Not every,” Mama teased. “I made enough for the entire week.”

“Then I’ll look forward to having some later. Thank you so much for going to the trouble on my behalf.”

Mama waved that away. “What trouble? It is cheese and noodles.” She leaned forward and cradled Sasha’s cheeks in her hands. Sasha’s heart contracted anew at how frail she’d become, how thin her skin was. “Besides, how can I not do a little something special for the daughter working so hard on my behalf?” She leaned back. “Come. Sit down and tell me what you’ve discovered. Is there any news about my baby?”

Sasha tried to smile. She told her about her conversation with Mary Lee and about talking with the divers at the Blue Dolphin. Mama listened attentively, but then her face fell. “There isn’t anything new, is there?”

“Not that I can see, no. Mary Lee’s story is the same as yours. She called you that morning at Helen’s urging, and, well”—Sasha spread her hands—“you know the rest.”

“What will you do next?” Mama asked. She leaned her head back against the chair, and Sasha knew her strength was fading.

“This afternoon I’m going to talk to those who were here at the marina that day. See what they remember. And then, before I take a night-fishing charter out, I’m going to gorge on your macaroni and cheese.”

Sasha smiled as Mama’s eyes slid closed. Sasha stood and kissed her cheek, then she and Bella slipped away. Too bad she’d ticked off all the captains this morning. Meant her chances of them talking to her were not good.

She walked down the dock and leaned against a piling next to
The Painted Lady
, watching Jesse work
.
As though he’d sensed her presence, Jesse’s head snapped up, and Sasha snorted at her own foolishness. More like he’d heard her and Bella clumping down the dock.

“Hey, hummingbird, what’s up?” He straightened, and as he chugged down water, Sasha fought the urge to sigh. Was there anything better looking than a shirtless, incredibly hot guy on a sweltering day?
Oh my.
He caught her staring and lifted a brow. “See anything you like?”

Sasha felt the flush spread up from her neck and scowled. “Just admiring the general scenery,” she said, scanning the area.

He laughed and hopped onto the dock beside her. “What brings you down here?”

“I was killing time until the captains come in so I can talk to the ones who were here the day Tony disappeared.”

He had the gall to laugh. “Good luck with that. Probably should have done that before you chewed them all out this morning. Not that they didn’t deserve it.”

She cocked her head at him, surprised to see a healing scar on his side. Without thinking, she reached out to touch, but he stepped out of reach. She drew her hand back and met his gaze.

“What happened?” Though she had a pretty good guess.

“Difference of opinion with some of the folks at the county jail.”

Understanding slammed into her. “This is why you wanted me to keep quiet this morning. You don’t want to draw unwanted attention to yourself.”

His expression darkened, and he gripped her arm and pulled her close, his voice rough. “You think I’m afraid of a couple of local boys? Somebody tampered with the engine on my boat, fed your dog drugs. I don’t want you or your family in the line of fire because of me.”

She tried to lighten the mood. “Too late, I think.” She smiled, but if anything, his expression turned even darker.

“Be careful, Sasha. Somebody is pretty serious about all this.” He let her go. “Have you had lunch yet? I’ll buy you a sandwich.”

She shrugged. The commercial captains wouldn’t be back for at least an hour, with the charter captains after that. “Sure, why not? I don’t have anything else to do.”

He put his tools away, then grabbed his shirt and swatted her with it. “You sure know how to stroke a guy’s ego.”

“Guys with an ego as big as yours don’t need stroking.”

He grinned, one side of his mouth kicking up. “Don’t we?” He grabbed her hand and swung her around so she crashed against his chest. His mouth came down on hers all playful and inviting, and before she knew it, Sasha had opened her mouth and invited him in. Their tongues touched and teased, while his hands roamed over her back, easing her ever closer to his rock-solid frame. The kiss went on and on until Sasha leaned her head back to give him better access to her neck and locked eyes with a disapproving Pop behind them.

“Pop,” she whispered, and Jesse stiffened and eased away.

They pulled apart, and Sasha felt like she had ten years ago when Jesse had given her her very first kiss. Then, as now, Pop had seen. And scowled.

“Don’t start fires neither of you are prepared to put out,” he said, then turned and headed up the dock to the house.

“He said the same thing the last time he caught us,” Jesse commented.

“I know. But I’m still not sure what he means by it.”

Jesse laughed. “Can’t you guess?”

She socked him in the arm. “You know what I mean.”

He nodded. “I do. Let’s eat. I’m starving.”

They climbed into Jesse’s truck and headed for town, unaware of the eyes watching them.