Tangled Lies (17 page)

Sasha walked down the street, frustrated. Why did people keep saying that?

Down the block at Annie’s Attic & Antiques, she had just reached for the doorknob when the blinds rattled down and the “Closed” sign appeared, followed by the lock snapping into place. Through the slats she could see Miss Annie, who’d seemed ancient for as long as Sasha could remember, staring her down through the gap in the blinds.

She sighed and continued down the street. She walked into Ned’s Appliance Repair, but it was empty. “Hello? Ned, are you here?”

The smell of marijuana led her out the back into the alley, but he wasn’t there. Everyone in town knew Ned smoked a joint occasionally to combat pain from injuries he’d gotten back in Vietnam. She went back inside. “Ned? I need to ask you a few questions.” She waited a few minutes, but the empty feeling in the air persisted. He’d left.

She trudged the length of Main Street and up the other side, all with the same results. No one would talk to her. When she reached Safe Harbor Auto, she made it through the office before Barry stepped around a car he was working on to tell her they were closed.

“Come on, Captain Barry. I just have a few questions about—”

He held up a hand. “I know all about your poking around the past. I can’t help you. It was twenty-three years ago, for heaven’s sake. Let the boy rest in peace, and stop harassing people. Don’t your folks have enough to worry about these days?”

She found herself on the sidewalk once more with a locked door at her back. She walked back toward the Blue Dolphin.

At the mouth of the alley that led to the restaurant’s employee parking lot, someone called her name in a whisper. Sasha looked up to see Betty motioning to her. She looked over her shoulder, but no one seemed to be paying attention. Course, that didn’t mean a thing.

Betty stubbed out her cigarette when Sasha reached her. “I know y’all were asking about Captain Alby the other day. Did you hear he died in his sleep last night?”

“What?” Sasha gasped, but kept her voice down. “We just saw him yesterday. His mind was pretty much gone, but physically, he seemed fine.”

Betty clucked her tongue. “I wondered if you’d made it over to see him. I’m sure he’s happy to be reunited with his wife, but it’s still very sad. Thought you’d want to know.”

“I can’t believe it. He was fine yesterday.”

Betty lit another cigarette, eyed Sasha through the smoke. “Strange, the timing of things sometimes.”

Sasha rubbed her arms, chilled despite the temps. She met the other woman’s eyes. “Do you know something you’re not telling me?”

Betty looked away. “Just making conversation, sugar.” She glanced over at the parking lot, where Jesse leaned against his truck. “Best not leave that one waiting too long.”

Sasha studied the other woman’s face, but she kept her eyes on her cigarette. “Thanks, Betty. If you hear anything else, let me know, would you?”

“Be careful, that’s all I’m saying.”

Sasha walked over to the guest parking lot, and Jesse offered a hand up into his truck. She climbed in without a word, mind spinning.

“No luck, huh?” he asked once they’d left town.

“None of the shopkeepers would talk to me, except to tell me to leave it alone.” She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “Makes me wonder what they’re all so eager to forget.”

“Maybe nothing more complicated than the knowledge that bad things can happen to good people.”

She considered.
Maybe.
“Betty just told me Captain Alby died in his sleep last night.” She felt him stiffen beside her. “The timing seems off, doesn’t it?”

He raised a brow. “Maybe. And maybe it was just his time.”

“Seems like a tidy coincidence, though, doesn’t it?”

His jaw tightened but he didn’t answer.

She decided to let it go for now. “Mr. Hess was at the marina the day Tony disappeared.”

“He have anything to add?”

“Two things, both of them probably nothing. He said he remembered a car leaving the marina right in the middle of the chaos, which he thought was odd, since folks from town were showing up by the carload as the word spread.” She clasped her mariner’s cross, seeing the scene as it must have unfolded. Her mother’s grief. Pop.

“Did he give you any details?”

“Not many. The chief mentioned the same thing. I wonder if there’s a way to find out who had what kind of car back then.”

“It’s a long shot. Captain Barry would be the guy to talk to.”

“Right, and he just locked the door in my face, too. But it’s the second thing Mr. Hess said that’s weird. He remembers seeing Pop sitting on the bench outside the marina, head in his hands, sobbing. As though while the search was heating up, he gave up.”

Jesse looked over at her. “I don’t think I’d read too much into that. People react differently. Maybe he just got overwhelmed for a minute and had to take a break.”

Sasha heard his words, and they made sense from a logical, rational standpoint, but she’d always listened to her gut, and her gut was telling her that wasn’t the right reaction for Pop. He would have been right beside Mama, searching, checking, frantic.

Unless he knew something.

Jesse glanced at her face and said, “Don’t go jumping to conclusions, Sash. You weren’t there. You can’t possibly know what they were thinking.”

“If your kid turned up missing, what would you do?”

“Move heaven and earth to find him. Or her.”

Sasha folded her arms across her chest. “That’s my point. So would Pop.”

Her cell phone rang, and she fished it out of her shorts pocket before it went to voice mail. It was Blaze.

“Mama’s having a rough day. Pop needs to take her to the doctor, so you need to man the bait shop. I said I’d do it, I know how, but he won’t let me—”

“We’ll be right there. Thanks, Blaze.”

“Whatever.”

Jesse already had his foot on the accelerator, weaving around slow-moving traffic.

“Thanks, Jesse,” was all Sasha could manage. Too many emotions rushed through her system. Worry for Mama. Anxiety about Pop and what happened that day. Jesse himself. When he reached over and took her hand, that simple connection centered her more than she ever thought possible.

But she couldn’t start relying on him. Or let him rely on her. She wasn’t reliable.

She hopped out the minute he pulled up in front of his shed. “Thanks for lunch. I appreciate it.”

“My pleasure.”

She took that grin with her as she raced up the dock and to the house, worry keeping pace with every step.

Chapter 11

Sasha sat on the bench in front of the marina’s bait shop as evening settled in. The captains had brought their catches and tourists in, unloaded, washed down their boats and gear, and headed home. The afternoon showers had bypassed them today, so the air remained still and hot. She leaned her head back against the rough wall of the shop, trying to understand what Pop had felt that long-ago day. Panic? Certainly. Worry for Tony’s safety and Mama’s sanity? No question. Why the defeated pose as he sat here? Was he simply overwhelmed at the possible loss?

Or did he know something about what happened that he wasn’t saying?

The minute the thought formed, Sasha pushed it away. Her mind couldn’t fathom such a possibility. If Pop had known something, anything, that could help find Tony . . .

Her brain chased round and round the many questions, no closer to answers than before. When her phone rang and she saw it was Eve, she jumped on the distraction.

“Hi, Eve. How’re things in the world of environmental wackos?”

“Saying that never gets old for you, does it?”

Sasha shook her head with a little chuckle. “Nope. Never.”

“Your message said Mama was having a hard day. I just got out of a very long meeting. How is she?”

“She and Pop just got back from the clinic. They got fluids and antinausea meds into her through the chemo port, since she couldn’t keep anything down. Her color is a lot better. Pop’s, too, now that she’s feeling a little more solid.” She paused. “It’s hard to watch, Eve.”

“I know, Sasha. If I haven’t said it, thanks for being there when I can’t. I’ll never forget it. We have to keep believing God’s going to heal her.” Eve swallowed hard. Then her voice brightened and Sasha heard the effort behind the smile. “So, anything new in the search?”

Sasha filled her in on what she’d learned from Mr. Hess about the unknown car, the reactions of the shopkeepers, the odd timing of Captain Alby’s death. “I’ll get back to it tomorrow, but tonight I’m taking a night charter.”

“I didn’t think Pop was doing them anymore since Mama got sick.”

“He’s not. Demetri and Roy hired me. Said they had tickets to a play and their wives wouldn’t forgive them if they bailed. I haven’t been out in the Gulf at night for a long time, so I’m looking forward to it.”

She paused, debated. Eve would tell her if she was being stupid. “So, um, Mr. Hess said something weird.” She told her all about Pop’s odd reaction.

“Can you blame him?” Eve shot back. Then she added, “Though it doesn’t seem like the right reaction, does it? Seems like he’d have been in the thick of it, frantic like everyone else.” Another pause, longer this time. “Unless . . .”

“Right. Unless . . . he knew or suspected or . . . I don’t know. It feels wrong to even have this conversation.”

“You need to ask him.”

“What? No. I can’t ask him that.” Sasha stood and paced, but even as she said the words, she knew Eve was right. She sighed. “Oh, God, Eve, what if—”

“Don’t borrow trouble, as Mama always says. Just toss the question out there, see if he’ll talk to you about that day. He never would before, remember?”

“Maybe he fell apart and is embarrassed at how he acted, or didn’t act.”

“You need to ask him.”

“I will. But you can’t push me on this, Eve. I need to do this my way, when the time is right.”

“But I—” Eve cut herself off. “Right. OK. So, have fun on that charter. Catch me a nice big fish, would you? Fresh seafood without an insane price tag is hard to come by here.”

“I’ll give it my best shot.”

Sasha hung up and saw a family of four headed her way. European, definitely, based on the too-short shorts on the father. When you added the varying shades of blond hair and Dad’s sandals worn with black socks, she decided these were her charter. She walked down the dock to greet them and held out a hand.

“Good evening and welcome to the Safe Harbor Marina. You must be the Habershams. I’m Captain Sasha and I’ll be your guide this evening.”

The dad’s eyes narrowed a bit, but his wife’s twinkled. “You are
der
Kapitän
?”

“I am,” Sasha said with a wink at the woman. She shook the hands of a boy and girl of about sixteen and fourteen, respectively, who were wearing the long-suffering looks of teenagers everywhere.

“I don’t like fish,” the girl said.

“To eat or to catch?” Sasha asked. The girl crossed her arms, and Sasha thought she looked a lot like Blaze. “Fishing can be very relaxing, and if you don’t want to eat your catch, I’m sure your brother would be happy to help you out.”

“I’m going to catch a big von,” he said. His accent and confidence made her smile.

“Then let’s get this party started,” Sasha said as she held the shop door open. “Feel free to get whatever snacks you’d like to take along. I have sandwiches from the restaurant in town, as well as water and sodas.” While the family wandered the shop, she loaded the rolling cooler Roy had dropped off earlier.

She secured the cooler behind the helm and went back inside to collect her guests. As she reached for her captain’s bag, she noticed an envelope poking out the top, her name scrawled across it in big black letters. Inside, she found a single sheet of paper printed with what looked like a black felt-tip marker.

Stop looking for Tony. For your families sake.

For a moment Sasha just stared. Then a chill settled in her belly and spread through her entire body. Someone had threatened her family.

“Sasha? Hey, Sasha.” Jesse touched her arm and she jumped.

She folded the paper as she turned to him. “What brings you out here?”

He studied her, eyes narrowed. “What’s going on? You’re pale and your hands are shaking.”

She tried to tuck the paper back into the envelope, but Jesse took it from her when she couldn’t quite manage it. She watched his eyes widen, then darken with fury. “When did you get this?”

“Just now, hence the shaking and everything.”

“They spelled
family’s
wrong,” he said, pointing.

“So I’ve ticked off an ignorant meanie?” Sasha tried to joke, but it fell flat.

“I’m trying to get a sense of who wrote this.”

Sasha wrapped her arms around her middle, trying to ward off the chill. “I know. And I’m trying to stay calm.” She had to think, plan, figure out her next steps. Make sure her family stayed safe.

Mr. Habersham appeared at her elbow. “We are ready, madam, whenever you are.”

Sasha nodded and reached for her bag. Right now, she had a job to do. She held out her hand for the envelope.

“What are you going to do with that?”

She glanced at her guest, then back to Jesse. “I haven’t decided yet, but whatever it is, it will have to wait until morning.”

Jesse nodded. “Do you have all the gear?”

“Already aboard.” She turned to Mr. Habersham. “Let’s be on our way.”

She helped everyone aboard Captain Demetri’s
Fair Isle
, started the engines, and went over the safety features and equipment. Jesse waited on the dock, and at her signal untied the lines.

He hopped aboard just as she pulled away from the dock.

“What are you doing?”

He grinned, but Sasha caught the worry in his eyes. “I’m your first mate tonight.”

She glanced over at the elder Habershams, who watched the two of them with interest, to their son, who looked out to sea with his hand shading his eyes, to their daughter, who already had her phone out, texting busily.

“Thank you. I appreciate it.”

The couple whispered in German, and for a moment, Sasha wondered if they had been hired to do something to her while they were out tonight. She shook her head at her own foolishness. Still, someone had threatened her family. Maybe suspecting everyone, given the timing of the note, wasn’t as crazy as it sounded.

“Did you leave Bella at the house tonight?” Jesse stood beside her at the helm, and for one second, Sasha wanted to ask him to wrap her in his arms and hold tight. She pushed the thought away. She couldn’t, wouldn’t lean on him, physically or emotionally. When she left—and she would; she always did—she didn’t want to hurt him. She’d never considered how her actions would affect others before, since she normally didn’t think that far ahead. But this was Jesse, and he mattered. Maybe too much.

She glanced up and realized he was still waiting for an answer. Bella. Right. “I left her planted at Mama’s feet. Bella could tell something was up, so she wouldn’t leave.”

“Intuitive dog, your Bella.”

Sasha shrugged, not sure how to explain. “Bella had been abused, was almost dead, actually, when I found her. She’s seen me through some hard days, too. She has a keen instinct to protect and comfort. I was glad to see it directed at Mama tonight.”

He stepped up behind her and massaged the tension from her shoulders. “Now you have me as your watchdog,” he whispered.

The words touched her in ways fancy poetry never could. She stared as he walked over to Hans, the Habershams’ son, and showed him how to choose the right hook and get a live pinfish on it as bait. Sasha finally found her tongue and started her tour-guide patter, surprised at how easily she fell into the spiel she’d learned as a teen. She talked about the different fish they might catch, spun tales of memorable catches of yesteryear that had Hans wide eyed, and explained the Gulf’s moods and temperatures and the many varieties of sea life that called it home. All the while she kept her eyes out for dolphins, always a hit with guests.

The tip of Hans’s pole bent down sharply, and he shouted, “I got von. I got a big von.” The elder Habershams crowded around as Jesse helped him reel it in. Sasha stayed at the helm and kept the boat steady while Jesse coached the teen on the best technique to use. Since they’d left the marina, the wind had picked up slightly, and the boat rocked gently in the water, which made landing the fish more of a challenge.

Once they got the snook into the boat, Jesse held the measuring stick next to the fish while Mrs. Habersham took photos of the triumphant fisherman displaying his catch. Jesse deftly removed the hook and tucked the fish into the cooler.

A while later, Hans asked, “Where did you say the sandwiches were,
Kapitän
Sasha?” They’d been out about two hours, and by now he and his parents had all caught several good-sized gray snappers. Katie, his sister, wouldn’t even look at the fishing poles, determined to sulk over her cell phone. Sasha handed out the food and snacks.

Katie unwrapped her sandwich and wrinkled her nose. “Tuna fish?” She handed it back.
“Nein danke.”

“Katie,” Mrs. Habersham scolded and followed it with a spate of German.

“I’m sorry,” Katie mumbled, clearly not sorry. Sasha dug in the cooler and took out the turkey sandwich with her name on it. She handed it to Katie. “This is the only other option. Sorry.”

Katie nodded and took a tentative bite, then almost smiled. Sasha called that a triumph.

All eyes were focused on a pod of dolphins playing nearby when Katie said, “I don’t feel so good,” and promptly threw up. Sasha stepped over, grateful the teen had leaned over the side of the boat. She offered paper towels and a bottle of water to rinse her mouth. “Better?”

The teen nodded. “I want to go back.” She turned even paler and leaned over the side of the boat again.

Once the dolphins swam away, Mr. Habersham looked between his daughter and his son. “I think we need to go back,
Kapitän
Sasha.”

“I agree.” She looked at Hans’s disappointed expression. “I don’t think you’re going to do much better than that snook. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is very particular about size with them. They have to be caught in season, and be between twenty-eight and thirty-three inches long. Yours fits right in that slot.”

Hans grinned and lounged back on the seat, quite proud of himself. Mrs. Habersham hovered over her daughter. “Are you all right, Katie? Do you need something?”

Katie lay back on the bench seat, a towel over her face. “Leave me in peace, please.”

Jesse moved to stand beside Sasha, and they exchanged a knowing glance. German teens didn’t seem a whole lot different from their American counterparts. But right now, they had a more serious issue.

“Mr. Habersham, I’d like to call the local paramedics and have them meet us at the dock to check on Katie, just in case it’s a bit more serious than seasickness.”

The parents whispered in German, then nodded. Sasha used her cell phone to call it in and guided them back to the marina.

The paramedics wheeled a stretcher down the dock while Jesse hopped out to secure the lines.

Mrs. Habersham kept close as the two men examined Katie.

After a few minutes, the older paramedic snapped off his gloves and reached for his clipboard. “We’d like to take her in overnight, get some fluids into her, make sure everything is OK.”

Katie immediately protested, and Mrs. Habersham asked, “Is that really necessary?”

The paramedic smiled. “Always better to be safe than sorry, ma’am.”

As they packed their gear and prepared to transport Katie to the county hospital, Sasha stepped beside the gurney and asked quietly, “Is there any sign this might be, ah, poison of some kind?”

The older paramedic’s bushy gray brows rose almost to his hairline. “Do you have some reason to suspect poison?”

“Maybe, but I hope not.”

He eyed her sternly. “You need to call the police, ma’am.” He scribbled on his chart. “But I’ll have the doctor check for that, too.”

“Thank you. I will.”

Mrs. Habersham climbed into the back of the ambulance with her daughter. Once they were gone, Mr. Habersham eyed the cooler. “Would you know where I can find someone to clean the fish?”

Sasha set the cooler by the fish-cleaning station. “I’ll be happy to do that for you right now.”

She and Jesse expertly cleaned the fish, then loaded the Habershams’ catch into a Styrofoam cooler filled with ice to take along.

Before they left, Mr. Habersham tried to hand her a hefty tip, but she politely declined. What if it really was poison? She hosed off the fish-cleaning station, then turned to clean and secure Demetri’s boat, surprised to find that Jesse had already done it.