Lavender Beach (39 page)

“And what about your part in it? You made this happen, too.”

“I plowed a field and agreed to oversee things.”

“Don’t do that. Don’t diminish the impact you’ve made here.”

She sent him a sweet smile. “I like it that you can do that.”

“What?”

“Redirect my mood when I’m ticked off or cheer me up when I’m down.”

“Hey, I’m just as pissed off about those guys showing up and threatening you. Maybe we should do something about it.”

She got to her feet. “Like what?”

“Between you and Brent, you’ll think of something.”

Twenty-Six

A
fter calling Brent to ask where they should meet, Eastlyn was surprised when she was told to simply stop by the station.

An hour later she wandered in to see Brent plopped on the floor of the outer office surrounded by an elaborate fort built out of boxes. Luke deliberately crashed into it bringing the cardboard structure down in a heap.

“Am I interrupting?” she asked.

“Nope. Just smashing things up,” Brent said, getting to his feet. “Nice job on finding Zach Dennison by the way.”

Eastlyn waved him off. “Cooper’s actually the one who located him. I need to talk to you about something else that happened earlier today at the barn.” She sat down, took out her cell phone, played the detailed account aloud that described the encounter with the two men.

Brent didn’t like what he was hearing. “These guys came out to the barn to intimidate you? That was stupid, tipping their hand like that.”

Eastlyn pushed her hair back.  “Maybe. But it was effective. I really want to nail these guys more than ever now. Did Thane mention he’s backing my search and rescue idea?”

“That and then some. He’s on a mission to show the county we don’t need ’em.”

Eastlyn’s lips curved up. “Which is probably not the best approach to take.”

“I’m glad you see the folly of thinking like that. We do pay a considerable amount of taxes to the county for their services. The thing is I don’t think Sunday’s lack of response was on purpose or personal in any way. It was a busy weekend for them. They were swamped.”

“But still another reason we need to be self-sufficient. Where does the investigation stand with Thorwald?”

“I gave the sheriff’s department all the evidence you and Cooper collected.” When he saw the disappointment settle on her face, he added, “These things take time. And you knew going in that I didn’t have the jurisdiction to touch Thorwald as long as he and his thugs stay in that part of the county. That’s the frustrating part. The only hope is to somehow link Thorwald’s operation to Pelican Pointe and go after the connection here, which is Titus Driscoll.”

“Then we’ll get more evidence,” Eastlyn said.

Brent pointed a finger at her. “You got confirmation the compound has a meth lab on it. Your job is essentially done out there. We’ve already talked about the only way to go from here is to keep tabs on Driscoll. He’s the only link we have. You can do that from right here.”

Eastlyn puffed out a breath.

“Let me finish. I’m not risking an incident at the barn either. Don’t work out there alone. When this took place today, did you have the Beretta with you?”

She laughed. “No, I’d left it at home. I didn’t think I’d need it there. Turns out, my cell phone was the only weapon I had on hand.”

“Play that threat again for me. Is there any way to transfer this to an audio for the file?”

“I have no idea. Cooper would probably know.” She played the recording again but this time stood up to pace while the voices played out. Hearing that menacing tone one more time caused chills to run up her spine.

After listening to the recording, Brent’s eyes grew wide. “I want you to keep your weapon with you at all times along with this.” He reached into a drawer, pulled out a brass shield and slid the tin across the desk. “Here. You’ve earned it.”

Overwhelmed, Eastlyn rocked back on her heels. “Really? Cool. What’s next? Some kind of special training to be a member of the force?”

Brent smiled. “Maybe down the road. For now though, I think you’ve proved you can handle yourself. Besides, I like the idea that one of my officers is able to fly a chopper
and
head a search and rescue outfit.”

“Do I get to wear a uniform?”

Brent couldn’t remember the last time he’d witnessed this much excitement coming from a coworker. It certainly hadn’t been that way with his brother. “Funny, Ethan never showed this kind of eagerness to wearing khaki.”

“Khaki, huh? Well, I suppose it’s too late to hope for dark blue. Khaki and camouflage aren’t that much different from the army getup I wore. When do I get it?”

“I’ll place the order this afternoon. You’ll want to keep this to yourself until I make the announcement.”

“Which is when?”

“When I take you off the undercover assignment I gave you originally. I’d like to keep this as quiet as possible.”

“Does the town council know that I’ve been working…?”

“Undercover? Just Murphy. I went to him this morning, told him what I’d done. He gave me the go-ahead to make it official.”

“Without talking to the council?”

“What can I tell you? He’s the mayor. But until we make some headway with our case, I think we’ll keep this under wraps for your own safety. It wouldn’t do for Thorwald’s thugs to get wind of your new employment, especially after what happened today.”

“But I have to tell Cooper.”

Brent grinned. “Yeah, I figured that one out already. Just make sure he doesn’t spread it around.”

That evening she
flew to Cooper’s to tell him the news. As soon as she walked into the atrium she saw him hunched over the kitchen counter, a piece of paper in his hand.

When he crushed the letter in his fist she stepped to put her arms around him. “Are you okay?”

“Why does she keep doing this? How does Eleanor even get my address? She somehow managed to get Caleb’s phone number. How? Why does she bother with us now? It’s like an obsession. What could she possibly have to say to any of us that we’d want to hear? An apology is never going to cut it.”

She leaned over his shoulder to read Eleanor’s words. “What is this bit about someone else’s involvement in the murders?”

“Eleanor’s always tried to pass the blame. Nothing’s ever her fault. If a third party had been involved, don’t you think her attorneys would’ve brought that up to the prosecution? They would’ve used that to say she wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger that night on the beach. But no one did. There’s always been a theory that she was having an affair of her own. But her affair doesn’t mean another party did anything at all, except use poor judgment in hooking up with her.”

“You really don’t have a very high opinion of your mother, do you?”

“No, I don’t. You don’t know her. You don’t know what she was like back then. I’ve always believed she reached a point where she wanted my father gone. Then she deliberately took extreme measures to do something about it. End of story.”

“But your father wanted a divorce so he could be with Brooke?”

“That’s the kicker.”

“So why would she kill your father and Brooke if she was having an affair of her own?”

“Simple. No one leaves Eleanor Jennings unless Eleanor is ready for them to leave. No one. Not even her kids.”

Eastlyn could see the distress on his face and hear it in his voice. She took a deep breath. “Maybe hanging onto this rage you have for her is a bad plan. Maybe getting rid of it is the only way to give you the peace of mind you need to move past the traumatic event that happened to you in childhood. You can either let Eleanor keep winning, tugging forever on that hold she has on you, or let go of it and refuse to give her the leverage she demands. There is a third option. You could go out to Chowchilla and have it out with her face to face, hear what she has to say.”

He turned to stare into her green eyes. “How’d you get so smart?”

She combed her fingers through his hair. “Easy. I’ve lived with my own demons too long. I’ve survived most of them. And you will too.”

“Honestly, I’m not sure I could look at her long enough to listen to her talk.”

“You’ll have to make that decision. Either find a way to put up with her harassment from jail without it upsetting you every time like it does, or have it out with her.”

“What are you doing home so early anyway?”

“I have good news.” She took out the badge from her pocket. “Brent made it official.”

He grinned. “Then we should celebrate.”

She ran a hand down his cheek, stood behind him to rub his shoulders. “We will. First, you need to get rid of all this tension.”

He spun around and took her mouth. The kiss sent her pulse racing. Her mind went blank. “Back rubs are good and all. And you have exceptional fingers.” To prove it, he kissed each one. “But I have a much better idea.”

“Does it include getting naked?”

“Oh yeah.”

With that, he lifted her up and onto the table, slid his hands under her cotton top. As he explored all the curves and angles, she moved her hands down his back, urging him on with a rush of need. 

They eventually found their way to the bedroom where they stayed wrapped up in each other the rest of the night, closed off from the world, settling into their own private bubble—or tried to.

Just when they thought they’d pushed the world away, the issue with Eleanor reared up again. Kinsey called to tell Cooper she’d verified that the warden definitely had taken Eleanor’s phone privileges away.

“It didn’t make much of a difference,” Cooper relayed to Kinsey. “Eleanor’s taken to writing me letters, four in all, more like notes really, telling me she has something major to share and keeps begging me to talk to her.”

“Persistent mother you have there, Cooper,” Kinsey noted.

“Don’t I know it.”

“I’ll do what I can to let the prison officials know she’s becoming a pest. But, in truth, I’m not sure what else we can do other than file formal complaints.”

“I know you’ve done all you can.” Cooper left it like that and hung up the phone. He turned to Eastlyn. “If I were to agree to meet with Eleanor at the prison, would you go with me?”

“Absolutely. But why would you? Don’t fall into letting her blackmail you. It’s fine to go see her. But do it because it’s what
you
want to do and not because she’s using a lure to get you there.”

“You’re right. I’ll give it a few days before making my decision.”

Eastlyn’s cell phone rang. She gave Cooper an apologetic look. “I didn’t turn it off because I thought Brent might need me for something, like what happened on Sunday, an emergency.”

“It’s okay. Who is it?”

Looking at the display, Eastlyn frowned and wondered if one of the animals at the clinic had taken a turn for the worse. She slid the bar over to take the call. “Hi Cord. What’s up?”

“I hate to bother you this late but there’s a guy hanging around the guest cottage. He looks disheveled, like a homeless person. When I asked him if he was supposed to be there he said he was trying to find you. He refused to give me his name. But, Eastlyn, he seems really out of it.”

She went with her first thought. “Do you know what Titus Driscoll looks like?”

“Sure. Why? It’s not Titus.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll be there in a sec.” She looked at Cooper as she grabbed her prosthetic and clothes. “I have to go. Someone’s hanging around the house. Cord didn’t recognize who it is.”

“It might be one of Thorwald’s men snooping around your place. I’m going with you.”