Hot Water (26 page)

Ty was as good as his word, and once they made it to the interstate, they were zipping along in the fast lane, making good time, muscling slower drivers out of their way as they noticed the light bar and sheriff’s decals. Best road trip ever—or it would have been if they weren’t in a race with a hit man.

Or if Ty had let David at least sit in the front seat. Maybe work the siren or lights. But no, David had to stay in the back. At least he had Nikki to keep him company. Ty had unplugged the computer from the center console—David wasn’t sure why, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it was to keep anyone back home from tracking them.

“Are you going to get in trouble because of me?”

“Because I’m a K-9 officer, I’m allowed to use my vehicle for personal use,” Ty answered. Or rather didn’t answer. The look he gave David in the rearview mirror pretty much said: the less you know, the better. Probably the same reason why Ty handed his cell to David and told him not to answer it.

“You sure I shouldn’t call Elizabeth?”

Same look. “No, let’s give her the night off.”

David tried to call his mom again. Still no answer. And she hadn’t opened any of the texts he’d sent either. “What if the guy already found her?”

“Don’t see how he could. Unless he has his own plane, it’d take longer to fly commercial than drive it. And a small plane flying into a hurricane? I don’t think so.”

Ty’s phone rang. “It’s Mr. Masterson again.”

Ty sighed. “Put it on speaker. Don’t make a sound.”

David leaned forward, holding the phone close to Ty’s face over the seat. He was surprised Ty didn’t pull over to take the call—just went to show how seriously Ty was taking all this.

“Ty Stillwater,” he said cheerfully.

“Deputy Stillwater,” came Masterson’s voice. He sounded angry, like he was fighting hard not to shout. “I know you have him. You’ll return my grandson to me at once.”

“David? Excuse me, sir, I don’t understand. I’m taking some personal time, headed to North Carolina, so I might have missed something. Is David okay?”

“Don’t play games with me. I’ll destroy you and your entire family. Now turn around and bring me what’s mine.”

“I’m not on duty, sir, but if David is missing, I’m happy to put in some calls, facilitate a missing persons report and Amber Alert. Or did I misunderstand your meaning?”

“No. You understood exactly what I meant. And you’ll live to regret not listening to me and doing what I asked.” Masterson hung up.

David lowered the phone, still analyzing the conversation. “You didn’t lie. Not once.”

“Didn’t have to.”

“Is he going to call the police? Are they going to be chasing us?” As exciting as police chases were on TV, the last thing David wanted was to get Ty in trouble.

“I doubt it. Not if it means letting folks know he couldn’t keep track of a nine-year-old kid. What judge would give him custody then? Plus there’s nothing Masterson hates worse than being made a fool of.”

“Is that why he hates my mom so much? That and my dad dying?”

“He hated your mom way before you were even born, David. Don’t waste too much time or energy trying to understand a man like Masterson because there’s less there than you think.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Men like Masterson aren’t complicated at all—they’re not evil masterminds like the bad guys in the movies. They’re just selfish, pure and simple. To them the entire world is about what they want. No one else exists.”

David thought about that. About how many times his mom or Jeremy or Gram Flora had gone out of their way to help him or do something nice for him. Ty and his family. Elizabeth, too. Even his dad before he died.

But the only thing Mr. Masterson had ever gone out of his way for, put any effort into, was to get his own way. Even now—fighting to get David to visit had nothing to do with David or taking the time to get to know his grandson better. It was because someone else had something he wanted.

And Mr. Masterson just couldn’t stand that.

“The judge won’t let him keep me if I tell him what I heard, will he?” David shivered even though Ty had the window cracked and the AC off. “I mean, I get to stay with Mom, right? They can’t take me away from her.”

“We’re not going to let that happen.” Ty paused, met David’s gaze in the mirror. “I promise.”

That made David feel a little better, but he still wished they’d already found his mom. She would deal with Masterson—it couldn’t be any harder than stopping those greedy corporations out to rip folks off.

They passed a sign saying they’d just entered South Carolina. David leaned forward. “Ty? Could we hurry a little more? Please?”

Ty said nothing, but the muscle at the corner of his jaw gave a jump. The speedometer edged up as they plunged into the night.

The tram still wasn’t in service, so Morris and I had to walk from where Vincent dropped us off. Morris stopped to check his bag again but still couldn’t find his Kermit and wandered off to search the riverbank. I wasn’t sure what he was so worried about—I lost phones all the time, and not just to rampaging alligators, and it was no big deal. David had taught me how to synch stuff so nothing was ever lost.

Since I’d lost my shoes in the river, I walked barefoot along the path from the outer gate to the front of the plant, admiring the beautiful sunset as the sky darkened from indigo to black. You’d never know a hurricane was getting ready to hit.

The guard at the front door looked askance at my bare feet and directed me to the security desk where they were holding my bag. I retrieved my fancy black pumps.

The front lobby of the plant had totally changed. Instead of the upscale modern hotel vibe it’d given off earlier, it suddenly felt like a neighborhood block party. The protesters were all still gathered there—in fact, if anything, their numbers had swollen.

Floyd and Noreen from the Landing Motel had joined them and were setting up a buffet table in front of the security desk. Others unrolled sleeping bags and blankets, while workers on the promenade level carried computers from their offices, placing them on a wheeled cart overseen by a security guard with a clipboard.

In the middle of it all stood Yancey, both directing and filming the operation. “What’s going on?” I asked him.

“AJ! So glad you made it back. This is going to be my best work ever. I convinced Grandel to remove any sensitive items from the offices and we’re converting them into a storm shelter for the night.”

“I’m surprised he agreed to let all these people in. I thought it would be just a chosen few.”

“I explained how much more bang for his buck he could get by opening his doors—and that the value would far outweigh the costs of the extra security guards.” He looked down from his camera’s viewfinder for a moment. “Where’s Vincent? We need to get some shots of him and Grandel making nice together and all that jazz.”

“He went to see to his own people. But he said he’d be back.” I looked around. Hated to say it, but this crazy stunt could very well solve all of Grandel’s problems now that his feud with Vincent was over. “Seems my work here is done.”

“Oh, but you can’t leave. The party’s just starting.”

Morris came in the door behind me, looking upset.

“Just a few loose ends and I’ll be on my way.”

Yancey nodded absently and wandered through the crowd to interview Noreen. I caught up with Morris before he passed through the portal monitor. “Hey, can I talk with you for a minute?”

He looked around and nodded. “Sure, let’s go to my office.”

Morris’s office was in the operational area, so I had to go through the portal monitor one more time, get a dosimeter, and be pronounced “clean” before we could proceed. He led me inside, dropped his bag on the floor, and sank into a comfortable rolling chair that sat in the middle of the floor.

His office was in the center of the building—one door led to the observation deck and one into the control room—and there were no windows, only large monitor screens lit up with a steady stream of information. There was no desk, but as he swiveled in the chair with its wireless keyboard attached to one arm, I could see he didn’t need one. Everything was right on the screens before him.

“You really can run the whole place from here.”

“I don’t use this office very often,” he said, scowling at the empty space. “I programmed my Kermit to run the whole place from anywhere. It meant I could get out, talk with folks, not be cooped up inside here all day.” He made a complete circuit in the chair, gaze raking over the readouts, then turned back to me. “What’s up? You’re not leaving, are you?”

“Yes. I need to get home. But before I go I wanted to let you know that your secret is safe with me.”

He stopped, planting both feet on the ground, the chair swinging to a halt.

“Morris, I know you were paying the protestors from town. I’m not going to tell Owen, I just want to understand why.”

At first I thought he was going to try to deny it—but it would have been useless. His face was so easy to read. “I thought it would keep Owen here. Stop him from moving to Japan.” He scuffed his foot against the carpet and looked up with a rebellious expression. “That’s all.”

I blew my breath out. I’d thought it would be something like that. “You know you can’t keep him here forever.”

“I know. I guess.” He looked down, his hair falling into his face, reminding me of David.

“Morris. Look at me.” He glanced up, finally meeting my gaze. “You didn’t arrange those accidents did you?”

His eyes went wide with surprise. “No. Of course not! I couldn’t do that, someone might have gotten hurt.”

He was telling the truth. “Okay, good. That’s all I wanted to know. Good-bye, Morris.”

“AJ—” He stopped me just as I reached the door.

I turned back. “What?”

He stared past me at the monitors on either wall beside me. “Nothing. I guess. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” I closed the door behind me and headed out through the portal monitor one last time—still “clean,” thank goodness.

One final stop and I’d be out of here—with plenty of time to beat the storm as long as the roads weren’t too clogged with traffic. But hopefully most of the evacuees were long since gone.

“Can I use your phone to call long distance?” I asked the guard. He nodded and dialed an outside line for me. No answer at the summerhouse or Flora’s, but Elizabeth finally picked up.

“Where have you been?” she answered, not bothering with hello. “I’ve been calling and texting and e-mailing all day.”

“No phones inside the plant,” I took the easy way out, not giving her the play-by-play explanation. “Can you put David on?”

A long pause. Too long. “That’s why I was calling.”

My stomach plummeted. I
knew
there was something wrong. Why hadn’t I listened to my gut? “What happened? Is he okay?”

“David’s fine. But he’s not here. The judge wouldn’t let him stay with me or your parents. He sent him to Masterson’s for the night.”

“Old Man Masterson has my son?” A few people in the lobby turned my way as I raised my voice. I put my back to them, leaning on the countertop. “Elizabeth, how could you?”

“It’s only for the night. He’ll be fine.”

“I’m calling him. Telling him to bring David back immediately. He has no right—”

“You might want to calm down and just let things run their course. The judge wants us all in court tomorrow. Three p.m.”

“To decide visitation?”

“That’s what you need to stay calm about. He’s going to decide custody. AJ, you have to be there. And you need to play nice with Masterson; he could really screw you over.”

My teeth ground together so hard I thought I was going to break a filling. “Tell me everything.”

By the time she had finished, I had managed to stop hyperventilating, although I was far from calm.

“So, your folks are at Flora’s, David’s fine for the night, and there’s really nothing you need to worry about except getting home in time for court,” she summarized.

“I’m leaving now.” I hung up and turned to the guard, who’d been listening in and looked highly entertained by the drama that was my life. “Is Mr. Grandel in his office?”

“Yes, Ms. Palladino. He said for you to go on up.”

TWENTY-SEVEN

Hutton hadn’t counted on this. Tracking AJ to her motel only to be told by the owners that he’d have to leave. And now trapped at a slumber party locked up inside a nuclear reactor with her just across the room, only he couldn’t touch her—couldn’t even follow her when she left to go into the secure area, where he might have had a chance to get her away from this crowd.

Definitely not what he’d bargained for. This is why he never let others call the shots for his jobs. When he set the time and place, when he was in control of all the parameters, things went perfectly.

Between Masterson, Mother Nature, and AJ herself, this was turning into a disaster.

He climbed to the promenade at the top of the stairs to get a different vantage point and assess his options. AJ returned through the monitors and made a phone call at the security desk. He watched her walk across the marble floor. She wasn’t very steady in those heels—given what he’d seen of her, they either weren’t her shoes or she wasn’t used to wearing heels.