Safe Harbor (The Lake Trilogy, Book 3) (40 page)

*****

“This transmitter feels weird in my ear,” I say as I shove the small electronic devise into my ear. It makes a little screeching feedback sound and I wince.

“Sorry about that,” Agent Croft says. “How’s this? Is this better? Testing, testing, one, two, three.”

“Yes, that seems better I think. Does Will get one of these?” I ask.

“We’re only giving one to you,” Agent Croft answers. “We thought it would be too distracting if you both had one. Agent Watts is going over some tactical things with Will right now, so we thought it would also be distracting if he was listening to me talk while he was trying to stay aware of the external situation.”

“You mean if Will has to physically defend us,” I say, filling in the blanks with layman’s terms.

“Yes.” Croft nods once
.

“Where is everyone else?”
I look around the surveillance truck we’re in and realize that it’s just me, Agent Croft, and another female agent I haven’t been introduced to yet.

“Agent Lassiter and his team got in place before you arrived,” he says.

“Where’s Wes?” I have to know where Wes is. If I know where he is then I can at least feel a wave of ultimate protection coming from his direction.

“I don’t know. Luke said Wes
was handling this on his own. He assured me that Wes was not going to do anything illegal, so as long as he abides by that, I’m good.” I’m put at ease by Agent Croft’s openness to Wes doing what Wes does best. I’d be a mess if he tried to restrict how Wes does his job, because Wes is very good at what he does.

“It’s time, sir,” the female agent whom I still don’t know says as Will and the other agent climb into the truck.

Will puts his arm around my waist and pulls me to him. It’s a cramped space so it both puts me at ease and helps to create more room.

“Are you ready?” Will asks me.

I take the deepest breath I think I’ve ever taken and exhale in a rush. “I’m ready to help the Blasi family find closure. Let’s do this…for them.”

“Alright then. You both remember everything we went over?” Croft asks and we nod. “Agent Duke will be here in the truck monitoring the audio we’ll be getting from you earpiece. Watts and I will be in the grassy area to the southeast of the marina and have eyes
and ears on you the whole time. My portable transmitter will let me hear what you hear, too. I’ll also be able to give you any instructions. If we see anything going down that you can’t handle, we’ll be there.” We start to move out of the truck when Croft stops us. “You can do this.”

I give him a tightlipped smile and
take the small duffle bag containing the $250,000. Will threads our fingers together and we walk across the parking lot and down the steps that lead to the marina.

We’re quiet as we walk, coming up on the sidewalk that runs the length of the marina.
We pass the little shops in the building next to the North Harbor Club. Everything is so quiet. The shops are closed and so is the restaurant. There are plenty of boats in the slips, but there’s certainly no activity since it’s so cold.

“So what do you think we should name our kids?” Will asks as we approach the ramp that will officially put us on the marina docks.

“Will…” I begin.

“We’re going to talk about our future, Layla,” he says, squeezing my hand for emphasis.

“Will…” I say again, unsure I can focus on anything else.

“Future.”

“Ok…um…I don’t know. I’ve never thought about it,” I tell him. We make a u-turn from the ramp and onto the wooden dock and continue to walk slowly past the trademark yellow umbrellas of the North Harbor Club.

“How can you have never thought about it? I’ve thought about it,” he smiles.
Oh, he smiles.
The small flash of that unbelievable smile washes a wave of calm over me.

“Oh, really? What, then, do you think we should name our children?” I smile, too, forgetting for a moment that we’re not on a lovely mid-morning stroll along a beautiful marina, but on our way to an uncertain encounter with a man claiming to be capable of murder for hire.

“I’ve always liked Natalie for a girl, and Andrew for a boy,” he says.

“I like both of those,” I tell him. “Well, that was easy. Now you just have to wait five years to see which we get first.”

We stop at the small section of boat slips before the last big one and wait. You can see the highway from here. There aren’t a lot of cars passing by, but enough to let you know that it’s the holiday.

“Hello, Layla.” Will and I turn and finally get a good look at the man who has summoned us here today. “I wasn’t expecting you, Will, but, ok.” He’s arrogant and I find it immediately unsettling.

“It’s you,” I say, turning to see the elusive man who has been following us and taking pictures of me for months. The man who summoned us here to get the rest of his payoff. He’s tall just as I thought he would be. The sunlight shows just how light brown his hair is, almost dirty blonde, and his eyes are a rich, brown color, like chocolate.

“It’s me. Now, w
hat was that endearing name you had for me?” he asks with a smirk.

“Black Sedan Guy,” I tell him reluctantly. “
How did you..” I begin, but before I can finish I hear Agent Croft in my ear.

“Why is Agent Lassiter there? Layla? What’s going on? Did you just call him Black Sedan Guy?”

“By now Agent Croft is probably telling you that my name is Agent Lassiter. You can call me Tony, though. Is he doing that thing where he talks slow but loud? I hate that,” Lassiter says annoyed.

“I don’t really care who you are. We brought the money and now you need to tell us where Blasi’s body is.” Will is strong and direct in his speech, making me feel like it’s all going to be ok.

“Layla, just follow Will’s lead here. Lassiter is a forensic agent but he spent four years in the military as a weapons specialist. He knows his way around a gun and has remarkable aim,”
Croft buzzes in my ear and I flinch and wince at the static.

“That was Croft giving you a snippet of my resume, wasn’t it? I don’t like to brag but, yeah, I’m the shit
, so you should do whatever he tells you to do.” Lassiter pulls a gun from behind his back and just holds it at his side, like he just wants us to see it.

“Here,” I say as I take a step forward and put the duffle
bag down halfway between us. “I suppose this is how Meyer got to you. He waved dollars signs and you just bowed down, didn’t you?”

“Layla,” Will scolds me softly.

“I like her,” Lassiter says to Will. “Feisty! I like you!
Of course
it was about the money. When is it ever
not
about money? Every crime I’ve ever investigated had money at the center of it. Well, except a few of the murders. They were about sex.”

“T
ell us where Blasi is.” I try to have the same strong and direct tone as Will but I’m afraid I can’t muster it.

“Well…here’s the thing,” he begins, cocking his head to one side. “I don’t know
exactly
where the body is.”

“What?” I say a little too loudly.

“Layla,” Will scolds again. “Just tell us what you
do
know and we can work with that,” he says directly to Lassiter. Will’s tone is much calmer than mine.

“Watch you
r tone with him, Layla,”
Croft warns in my ear at the same time. Being scolded by Will and Agent Croft is not helping me right now.

“Shut up!” I say, pulling the earpiece out and shoving it in my pocket.

“What are you doing, Layla?” Will says as he tries to reach for my pocket and retrieve the annoying thing.

“Stop, Will! I can’t listen to Croft and you and Lassiter.” I focus my attention on Lassiter now. “What do you mean you don’t know where he is?”

Lassiter gestures his hand out to the lake and raises his eyebrows.

“You dumped his body in the lake?” I can feel my temperature rising.

“Yeah, but that was like, seven months ago. With the ebb and flow and tides of the water, who knows where the body actually is now. Then you have to account for decomposition and there are actually some fish in there that might have already started to eat him,” he says with complete nonchalance. He doesn’t care. Of course he doesn’t care. He killed this man on the instructions of Gregory Meyer, the poster child for apathy.

I believed,
truly
believed that we would find out where Blasi was and bring peace and closure to his family. Now all that’s left is a stinging feeling, knowing that this family will be in pain forever. Rage begins to rise up in me and I act before I think when I kick the duffle bag off the dock and into the water.

“Layla! What the hell are you doing?” Will yells at me for my rashness.
I’m going rogue again when I promised Will I would let him take care of things.
What have I done?

“See, now you’ve pissed me off. I don’t like to be pissed off. And if you still had your earpiece in, you’d be getting a warning from Agent Croft about what happens when I get pissed off. Looks like I’ll just have to show you.” Lassiter raises his gun and points it at me.

All I can think in this second is that I wish I could speak and tell Will how sorry I am, how I didn’t mean to go rogue. I just couldn’t stand the thought that Blasi’s family will never know the kind of peace that comes when you know for sure what’s happened to someone you love. They’ll live forever letting their imaginations run wild with theories about where he is and what happened to him. They may even come up with stories, lies they tell themselves about what happened to him just to feel better. They’ll wish they were dead because death would be sweeter than the pain the uncertainty brings.

Lassiter’s face twists from
the rage I’ve just caused him. I stand still and wait for the shock of pain to enter me, to blast through me like a cannonball. Lassiter fires his gun and all I see is Will’s body rush in front of me.

The shot hits Will in the chest and sends him
diving into the cold, November water.

“N
ooo!” I scream. “No! No! No! Will!” I fall to my knees, desperately reaching for Will, but it’s already too late. His body dove out too far from the dock and went under quickly.

“Get up!” Lassiter shouts at me. “
That’s one brave guy you had there. Had you not freaked out on me, he might still be alive. As it is, you just cost me a quarter of a million dollars. I hope your daddy has some extra cash put away. I have a feeling he’ll pay a lot more than that for you.” 

“Let me go!” I shout at him
as I start to cry. I try to pull free but he’s yanking and dragging me down the dock with a firm grip on my arm. I have to go back and search for Will. I can’t just let him float away into oblivion.

“I know you’re watching, Croft! Keep your distance. You know I’m not afraid to do what
ever I feel is necessary!” he shouts out into the chilled air.

As w
e approach the ramp that will take us back up to the sidewalk I continue to twist my body around, looking back at the place where Will fell in the water after he saved my life.
Oh, my God, he saved my life!
I can’t see him though, and the ripples from where he fell are gone.
This can’t be happening.

We’re about to make the u-turn onto the ramp when I get shoved down and away from Lassiter. When I look up I see Wes has tackled Lassiter to the ground. Lassiter still has his gun, but Wes is doing an incredible job of keeping it away from himself.

“Go! Layla go find Will!” Wes shouts.

I run back down the
dock and hear gunshots. I turn back and see that Wes is holding Lassiter’s arm out to the side. The gun has fired rounds into the air. Wes must be trying to empty the clip. Agent Croft and the rest of his team are descending on Wes and Lassiter, their own guns drawn.

I go
to where Will fell in the water and begin screaming his name. “Will! Will!” I lie on the dock on my stomach and try to get as close to the water as I can, hoping I can see something. I can’t just jump in not knowing where he is. I’ll freeze and then we’ll both be dead.

“C’mon, baby, where are you? I’m so sorry! Please don’t leave me!” I chant as I move around the dock on my belly, thinking maybe Will has drifted under the dock. I’m about to shove my head in the water like an ostrich when I hear coughing. I turn around and see Will
at the very end of the dock, trying to pull himself up.

“Oh
, my God, Will!” I rush to him and pull him out of the water with all my strength. I pull and twist, trying to get a good grip on him. His clothes are freezing from the almost frigid water, but I manage to get finally get him out, laying him flat on his back. I look back to where Wes and Lassiter were fighting and see that Agent Croft’s FBI team has surrounded Lassiter, guns drawn. “Oh, baby! Just lay here. I’ll get some help. You’re going to be ok!” I tell him as I stroke his face. I look at his shirt and try to find his wound but can’t seem to find any blood anywhere. I’m pretty sure I should be applying pressure to it to keep him from bleeding out. Will moves my hands and unbuttons his shirt revealing a bulletproof vest. “What? How did you…” I can’t seem to form a complete sentence. I’m just so happy he’s really ok.