Against the Tide (12 page)

“Look,” his voice softened slightly. “If I thought Rory McCallister was the sort of guy who would take anything—”

“I want you to understand me,” she declared. “I am not suggesting my father intentionally ingested any intoxicating substance. But I would like to rule out the possibility that he was drugged by someone else. Can you grasp that?”

“Fine! I'll request toxicology.”

“That would be impossible.”

“Why?” he asked in a flat tone.

“My father was cremated today.”

“Oh...?” There were a few seconds of silence. “And you authorized this?”

“No. I was totally blindsided by it.” Megan proceeded to tell him of her dad's prearranged funeral plans. “I would've expected the coroner might've inquired about this before releasing the body to the mortuary.”

“Well, it is a holiday weekend.”

“So I keep hearing. But, as you can see, it's too late for toxicology now.” Her voice had a catch in it, as if she was close to tears again. But something else was troubling Garret even more at the moment.

He slowed down on the beach road, preparing to turn onto her dad's road, but the whole while keeping his eyes on a dark sedan that was parked on the side of the road about half a mile beyond them. “Megan,”
he said urgently.

“What?” She turned from the phone.

“Look.” He tipped his head toward the sedan. “I think I've seen that car before.”

She narrowed her eyes at the car then turned back to the phone. “Look, Detective Greene,” she said urgently. “You messed up on the toxicology reports, but something else is up. We're just about to my dad's house and there's a suspicious-looking vehicle down the road. Garret thinks it belongs to the—”

“You need to send a couple of patrol cars out here immediately,” Garret yelled into the phone. He turned onto Rory's road then stopped. “I'm sure it's the same sedan I saw last night. You guys better move fast.”

“And you should get out of there,” Detective Greene said quickly. “We'll be there ASAP. You stay on the line.”

“You better hurry!” As Garret backed up, getting onto the main beach road, he could see the sedan starting to slowly move toward them. “We're heading back toward town,” he shouted into the phone.

Megan turned to look through the back window. “They're following us. Speeding up, too,” she yelled into the phone. “Definitely pursuing us.”

“Scott's just confirmed he's on the way and I'm requesting additional backup,” the detective assured them. “I'm coming, too.”

“Hurry,” Garret said. “They're in hot pursuit and for all we know they're armed!” He pressed the accelerator, pushing it to sixty on the slightly bumpy road. “Get down!” he warned Megan as the speedometer passed seventy, moving toward eighty. As they flew down the nearly deserted beach road, he silently prayed that the thugs behind them weren't armed—and that he could keep his vehicle from bouncing off this washboard section of road.

“Hold on!” he yelled at Megan. He braked suddenly, jerking the SUV onto a sandy strip of road that led straight to the beach. Putting the SUV into four-wheel drive, he pushed it as fast as he could, hoping the low sedan would follow and get stuck in the loose sand. That was, unless he got stuck first. As his tires churned and ground into the sand, he knew that was a real possibility.

FIFTEEN

M
egan tried to brace herself as the SUV bounced along the rutted surface and onto the dune. Despite Garret's warning to stay down, she lifted her head just high enough to see the steep dune looming before them. Could this SUV handle the steep grade, or would they end up tumbling over on the beach?

She turned to peer over the seat and out the rear window to see that the dark car was still in pursuit and not far behind them. Surely they couldn't make it down the dune without ruining their car. Or maybe they didn't care.

“Hang on!” Garret yelled as the SUV started down the dune.

With wide eyes, Megan watched and prayed. And to her relief, the SUV remained upright and they were soon on the beach. She looked back through the rear window to see that the car had stopped.

“They're either stuck or they've given up,” she announced.

Garret kept driving, going far enough down the beach so that they were out of sight from the portion of bluff where they'd gotten away from the car.

“Looks like the coast is clear,” Garret said as he stopped the SUV. “Well, not literally.”

Megan glanced nervously around, feeling slightly relieved to see tourists here and there along the beach.

“I hope that car is stuck.” Garret kept a close lookout behind them.

“And then the police can pick them up.”

“I think I hear sirens.” Garret put his window down and she could faintly hear them, too.

Megan suddenly remembered the phone in her hand. “Detective Greene?” she asked tentatively.

“Yeah?” he answered gruffly.

She quickly explained their location and Garret asked if any of the cops had spotted the sedan yet.

“Not that I've heard. We're almost to Rawlins Road now. You stay there on the beach,” Detective Greene told them. “We'll let you know how it goes down, but I need to hang up.”

“We'll be here,” Garret said into the phone.

Megan hung up. “He actually sounded somewhat involved and concerned.”

“Nice for a change.”

With the sounds of sirens getting closer, Megan looked at the carefree vacationers out enjoying the good weather on the beach. Although a few looked around with interest at the sound of the police sirens, most seemed completely oblivious to the dangers nearby. It was reassuring to see normal people acting like normal people. Like maybe the whole world hadn't gone crazy, after all.

Megan let out a weary sigh as she gazed out toward the churning waves. With all the happenings these past couple days, she hadn't even taken a moment to enjoy the seascape that she usually loved to soak in while visiting here. “Looks like a fog bank on the horizon.” She nodded toward the ocean.

“Yeah, I heard the weather's supposed to turn cool by tomorrow. Might put a damper on the Memorial Day parade.” He was heading the SUV slowly down the beach, stopping on a less crowded stretch of sand. “We'll do like Detective Greenhorn says and just stay put awhile.” He glanced up and down the beach with a watchful expression.

Megan waved a teasing finger at him. “You do know it's illegal to drive a motor vehicle on the beach, don't you?”

He gave a half smile. “I think the police will give us a pass today.”

Megan leaned back in the comfortable leather seat in an attempt to relax. “I feel like I'm stuck in some weird action movie,” she said quietly, “or maybe it's a video game. It seems like no matter what we do or where we go, someone is trying to kill us.”

“I know. I was just thinking the same thing. Nowhere feels safe.” He tipped his head toward his side window, looking up toward the bluff. “If someone was up there with a high-powered rifle, we could be in trouble right now.”

She jerked to attention, looking past him to see what he was pointing at. “Can you see anyone?”

“No. Just saying.”

She leaned back again, taking in a deep calming breath.

“You know, Megan, if they really wanted us dead, they've had their opportunities,” Garret said slowly.

“Meaning?” She glanced over at him.

“Meaning, they might be keeping us alive in the hopes that we'll find that envelope for them. And then they'll probably knock us off.”

“But what about my attacker last night?” she questioned. “He was ready to kill me.”

“I'm sure it seemed that way, but maybe he just wanted to scare information out of you.”

She considered this. “Well, if I'd had information, it probably would've worked. I was pretty scared.”

“I'm starting to think they just want to make us understand that they're playing hardball.”

“How many of these thugs do you think there might be?”

“Good question. Offhand, I'd guess they might have at least five guys. Between the boat, the guys in the car, the guys we've seen on foot—well, it's hard to say, but it's no small-time operation.”

“And if they're working for the Marco brothers like Dad suspected, and if the Marco brothers really are involved in organized crime, I'm sure they'd have more than just a couple of guys.”

“I wish Rory had told me more of the details about what all was in that envelope.”

She sighed. “I wish I knew where he'd hidden it. Or that he'd simply handed it over to the police.”

“I'm sure that was his plan—after the release of his story to the public. Rory told me he wanted to run it in the newspaper so that everyone in town would know what was going on—all at the same time. He'd even talked about getting other media sources here. He wanted to make it into a big deal so that Cape Perpetua citizens would be willing to do something about it. And it won't be easy to deal with the Marcos. Not without everyone behind it. I seriously doubt that the local police can handle it alone.”

“That makes sense. Especially considering how a lot of the locals, including some of the police force, feel like the casino and the restaurant have really pumped life back into this town.”

“Well, in a way they have. Money does that.”

“Even when it's illegally gained money.”

“Unfortunately.”

Megan studied Garret's profile and was struck, once again, by how handsome he was. “I'm curious about something,” she said suddenly.

“What?” He turned to look at her.

“Oh—nothing.” She waved her hand and turned away in embarrassment. What had she almost done? “Never mind.”

“Okay, now I really want to know,” he told her. “Nothing gets my curiosity up as much as someone starting to say something then putting on the brakes. What are you curious about, Megan?”

“Forget it. Sorry, it was silly.”

“Come on.” He reached over, giving a playful tug on the sleeve of her denim jacket. “Out with it.”

“Okay.” She turned back to look at him, knowing her slip up was probably a result of exhaustion and stress. “I was just curious as to why someone like you— I mean, you seem like a pretty great guy—at least as far as I can tell. Anyway, why hasn't some smart woman snatched you up by now?”

He threw back his head and laughed. “Well, thank you. I'll take that as a compliment, Megan.”

She frowned at him. “It was meant to be a question. And since you forced it out of me, I must insist that you answer it.”

“I'm guessing you're pretty good at grilling people,” he teased.

“Inquiring minds want to know.” She folded her arms in front of her, waiting.

“Well, I won't try to pretend I've never had a girlfriend.” He chuckled. “But the truth is there haven't been many. As you might remember, I was pretty shy in high school. Going through my parents' marital problems in the public eye...well, it wasn't easy.”

Megan vaguely remembered the scandal involving his mom and the junior high principal—and something about his dad had gone through the rumor mill, too, but she honestly couldn't recall the details. “I can sort of relate,” she told him. “When my parents got divorced, it seemed like it was everyone's business. Your family stuff probably felt similar.”

“Only it was even more public.”

“Maybe, but I get the sense you are skirting my question,” she said in a journalistic tone.

He nodded. “Well, anyway, my first real girlfriend dumped me in college. Well,
girlfriend
is probably an overstatement since she only went out with me a few times. But as it turned out I was more into her than she was into me. I suppose that hurt my pride some.”

“That's understandable.”

“I had a couple more relationships after that. But nothing very serious. At least not on my end. And then I got busy working at the marina after my grandpa passed away. I really haven't had time to pursue any kind of serious romance.”

“I'm sure that some women might've tried to pursue you.” She gave him a sly look.

“Maybe so. But no one that I was interested in.” He gazed at her with what felt like more than just a casual glance, making her cheeks grow warm. “So now that I told you about my lackluster dating history, how about you tell me about yours.”

She shrugged. “There's not much to tell. Strangely enough, it would sound very similar to yours. So much so you might think I made it up.”

“Really?” He brightened like this was good news.

“I had one semiserious relationship. Also in college. We dated for nearly a year before he dumped me.”

Garret frowned. “I don't know why anyone would dump you. The guy must've been an idiot.”

She smiled. “Thanks.”

His eyes lit up. “But I'm selfishly glad that he did.”

“You are?” She blinked in pleasant surprise.

“Uh-huh.” He grinned as he placed his hand on her shoulder. “Girls like you don't happen along every day.”

Just then his phone began to ring and, realizing she still had it in her hand, she gave it back to him and because he put it on speaker mode, she could hear him talking to Scott Barnett.

“I don't know how we missed the car,” Scott told him. “We had cruisers on both ends of the beach road. And last we heard they were supposedly headed north, right?”

“That was my guess. They obviously wouldn't go south since that road is impassable down there.” Garret explained about how he'd departed the road for the beach. “By the time I heard sirens, I would've estimated the sedan would've been coming to the intersection to town.”

“Well, somehow we missed him.” Scott asked where they were and Garret explained. “We'd still like to go up to Rory's place and look around.”

“I'll meet you there,” Scott told him. “From here on out, until we catch these guys, we don't plan to let you and Megan out of our sight.”

“Great.” Garret turned on his engine. “We appreciate it.”

After he said goodbye, Garret aimed the SUV back to the sandy access road. “You still need to look for your phone,” he reminded her. “And we really need to find your dad's big yellow envelope.”

“But didn't you insinuate that if we find it, they won't have any reason not to kill us?”

“Well, it's not as if we'll advertise that we found it.”

“That's true.” Megan suddenly got an idea. “Unless we did just that.”

“Huh?” Garret was cautiously looking both ways on the quiet beach road, before entering it.

“I have an idea.”

“Okay, let's hear it.” He turned right, heading toward her dad's house.

“What if we made a fake envelope?”

“A fake envelope?”

“Kind of like bait,” she continued. “We could go someplace where we know we'd be seen by one of the bad guys, and we could pretend to exchange it.”

“And then get killed?” he asked.

“Hopefully not. We'd need the police all around. Probably undercover, though, since the whole point would be to draw the bad guys out—at least some of them. If the police could get them in custody they could question them. Maybe some of them would talk.”

Garret slowly nodded. “You know, that kind of makes sense.” He pointed to where Scott was just pulling into Rory's driveway.

“Well, unless we find the real envelope,” she added. “In that case, we just get it into the hands of the police and let them take care of it.”

“Hopefully, we'll find it.” Garret pulled up behind Scott's police car. “At least we'll give it our best try.”

They exchanged hasty greetings with the police, but Scott and his partner Derrick Freeman insisted on going inside ahead of them. “I don't see any sign of intruders, but keep a safe distance behind us,” Scott told them as Megan handed over the key.

To her surprise, Garret took her hand, keeping her close to him in a comfortingly protective way as they followed the cops up to the house.

“Stay right there.” Scott pointed to a screened corner by the porch. “Until we are sure it's unoccupied.”

Megan watched as both cops drew their guns and, calling out, let themselves into the house. “I really don't think there's anyone inside, but I'm glad we didn't come alone,” she whispered as she and Garret hovered in the corner by the porch.

“At this point nothing would surprise me.” Garret was keeping a close watch all around them. “These guys are really driven, Megan. My guess is that they've been offered a big chunk of cash to deliver the goods.”

“That's why my decoy envelope makes sense,” she said quietly.

“Except for the danger factor.” He pulled her closer to him, wrapping his left arm around her shoulders, but keeping his right hand free and near his gun holster.

“You guys can come in,” Scott called out after several minutes. “Doesn't look like anyone has been here since the last break-in.”

“I want to look for my phone first,” Megan told them. “It should be right around here.”

Garret pulled out his own phone. “I'll call your number and we can listen for the ring.”