The Unrelenting Tide (Islands of Intrigue: San Juans - Christian Romantic Suspense) (21 page)

“Shannon!” He hadn’t meant to snap so vehemently.

Shannon smacked the lid of the little box shut with a slap. “What? I’m just trying to be helpful.”

“Well don’t. She’s not going anywhere.” Carcen stepped over and touched Devynne’s elbow. “Let’s get Marissa home and talk about this some more, alright?”

But Devynne didn’t seem to be listening to either of them. Jaw slack, her gaze hung fixed on the top of the jeweled box. She took a step nearer to the table.

The look on her face launched a wave of excitement through him. “What is it, Dev? Something you recognize?”

She reached toward the box but paused just short of touching it and looked over at Shannon. “May I?”

Shannon pursed her lips, but then nodded. They’d already pulled all the evidence they were going to get off of it, anyhow.

Dev picked up the little egg and turned it around in her fingers, examining it from every side.

Devynne quivered with shock and recognition.

The box was metal – silver. And ornamented with precious stones. Inset emeralds, sapphires, and rubies created an intricate Celtic knot on the top of the hinged lid.

Slowly she flipped the case upside down and examined the underside. Sure enough.
GE-1079
was etched into the metal there. But it was the little claw-footed leg of the piece that interested her. The leg nearest to the G. She pulled the piece closer to her face and angled it toward the light. The dent was there. Exactly as she remembered it.

“Carcen?” Her voice emerged thready and soft like it was coming from far, far away.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I think I know where he got this. Or at least I know where
someone
bought this.” Disbelief kept her eyes glued to the marred spot.

“That’s great, Dev. Where?”

She rotated the ovoid belly-up and showed him the engraving there. “
Genesis Expedition
prop number one thousand and seventy-nine.”

“That’s what that means? You’re sure?”

She felt her head dipping up and down as though it belonged to someone else. Even as she pointed to the damaged leg and looked up into Carcen’s face. “I dropped this on accident during one of the shoots. The director was quite put-out because it was a piece he’d had commissioned especially for the movie and planned to auction off after its release as a fundraiser for a charity that helps indigenous peoples of South America. In the end they didn’t cut the scene of me dropping it from the movie, and at the auction it went for more than they’d hoped because I’d damaged it.”

A glitter of excitement lit up Carcen’s blue eyes. “I told you. They always make a mistake of some kind, Dev.
Always
.” He motioned to Niemeyer and she picked up her tablet and stylus again. “Where did the auction take place?”

“It was a little art gallery.” She rubbed her forehead, trying to remember all the details. “Right on Sunset Boulevard… The name was something about memory… Remembering, or something like that… No! Remembrandts—”

“—Remembrandts!”

Devynne said the name at the same time as Shannon. Startled, she swung to face her. “Yes. Spelled like the painter. How did you know?”

Shannon angled Carcen a look. “That’s the same auction Stephan Abernathy was hurrying home to attend when he got that ticket. My friend emailed me this morning with the information he was able to pull together on it. But I haven’t had a chance to look at it yet.” Shannon glanced back at her. “The auction was in September, right?”

She nodded. “Sounds about right. The movie premiered on June fourth. And the auction took place about three or four months later. By that time I was shooting
Surf Justice
in Hawaii and I had to fly back for the auction. Steven Chadwick – he was the producer for
Genesis Expedition
– was thrilled with the price it brought. Other items from the set were auctioned too. We were all happy to have raised so much for the charity.”

“That’s really helpful, Dev. That gives us a huge lead. We’ll get on it right away. But for now…” he glanced toward the walk out front. “We need to get you two out of here. With the new security system at your house, I think that will be the safest place.”

Devynne felt her heart rate kick up just at the thought of walking out into broad daylight. She backed up a step and the table behind her pressed painfully into her legs.

Carcen held up one hand. “We have a squad car right outside, Dev. All you have to do is cross the sidewalk and then you’ll be behind bullet proof glass.”

She swallowed. “What about when we get to the house?” She pictured the long stairway from her driveway down to the house. Bushes and wild greenery covering the hillside in each direction. Plenty of trees to hide anyone who wanted to do Marissa, or her, or Carcen for that matter, harm. Still, she’d have to go home to get some things before she and Marissa could start a new life somewhere.

Carcen tilted his head and stepped closer. “I’ve already got a team headed to your house to make sure all’s clear. We’ll get you home safe and then we’ll have time to talk about this crazy idea of yours.” He reached up and swiped an escaped curl behind her ear. His fingers lingered against her neck as his thumb traced a hot trail along her jaw.

Devynne forced herself to breathe normally and step to one side. “Fine. Let’s get going.” If she were going to have the strength to leave, she really needed to get a grip on the feelings Carcen so easily elicited.

Carcen glanced back at Niemeyer. “You good here?”

She waved a hand. “I got this. You go. I’ll meet you and Harry at the station at say…” she glanced at her watch, “three-thirty this afternoon?”

As he scooped Marissa up off the bench Carcen nodded. “Sounds good. I’ll call Harry. See you then. Oh and, considering this, I want a rush put on that background check I asked for on Wiseman.”

Wiseman? As in Randy
? Devynne felt lightheaded but Carcen didn’t give her time to question why he was checking on the man.

He faced her. “Alright. We hit the door running. You first. Sanchez will have the car door open. You jump in and slide all the way to the other side and we’ll be right behind you. Got it?”

“Got it.” Devynne swiped her sweaty palms down the fronts of her jeans.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

Panic threatened to paralyze her. She touched his arm. “Carcen you’ll take care of her if…?”

His face softened. “Nothing’s going to happen. But, yes. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

She let out a slow breath. “Okay, I’m ready.”

Carcen signaled to the men out on the walk and one stepped over near the cruiser idling there.

“On three.” Carcen counted them down and then they dashed across the walk. Devynne dove into the back seat and scooted as quickly as she could to the other side. No shots ripped through the afternoon quiet. No hooded men rushed them from the crowd. No projectiles hurtled their way. Nothing.

Devynne pulled in a shuddering breath, feeling a little silly over all the hoopla the department was going to. But the memories of black gloved hands around her throat and Marissa holding out what could just as easily have
been
a bomb chased away all thoughts about frivolousness. Not to mention that a man had been lurking in the women’s bathroom waiting for them.

The car lurched away from the curb and Devynne laid one hand on Marissa’s back, thanking God, once again, that the assailant hadn’t hurt her.

Chapter 18

At the house a squad car was already parked in the driveway. Glancing down the hill, Devynne could see two officers, all geared up, searching the shrubs, guns at the ready. The radio at the front squawked out a stream of numbers interspersed with words, but she couldn’t make head or tails of what they were saying.

Carcen listened intently though and finally nodded his head. “Alright. We do it that way. Get them up here.”

Officer Donny Sanchez nodded and spoke into the mic. “Ten-four, that’s a go. What’s your twenty?”

Another car pulled in just behind them. The radio blared, “On your six now, Sanchez.”

He glanced in the rearview mirror and then nodded at Carcen.

Carcen leaned toward her. “The boys have been able to clear the house. And we’ve cleared the area immediately surrounding the house—”

“How do you know for sure?”

“We have a thermal imaging camera. If anyone was in the bushes, we’d be able to see their heat signature.”

Devynne swallowed.

Carcen continued. “What we can’t account for is someone out on the water. They’d have to be in just the right spot, and we don’t see anyone out there, but a good sniper might get a shot in from the water. We’re going to use shields. Two officers will go down ahead of us. I’ll carry Marissa, and we’ll go as quickly as we can but we need to stay together as a group to keep the shields tight.”

Devynne rubbed her hands together. “They’re sure the house is clean?”

Carcen nodded. “My guys are good, Dev. The house is clear and the curtains are all shut. Once we’re in there we’ll be safe.”

“Couldn’t he just start riddling the house with bullets?”

Carcen rested one hand at the back of her neck and gave a gentle squeeze. “This guy hasn’t shown any inclination to harm
you
, only people around you. We don’t think he’d do that because it would put you at risk.”

She swallowed hard. She wasn’t only worried about herself here. “What if he has a thermal imaging gun scope? Won’t he be able to pick us off in the house?”

Carcen took her hand. “They don’t work that way, Dev. He’d see the heat signature of the house, but wouldn’t be able to see us inside it. The surface of the exterior walls will give off too much interruption.”

“Even through glass?”

He nodded then cleared his throat. “There are other devices he might use, but all of them are fairly expensive or need to be close to the wall to work. And even then, he’d only see heat signatures and wouldn’t know which one was yours. But he won’t be able to get that close because we’re going to have officers stationed outside at all times. Besides, this guy doesn’t strike me as having enough smarts or connections to get his hands on anything military-grade. I think we’ll all be safe in there.”

Sanchez shifted in the driver’s seat, as if anxious to be moving.

She pressed her lips together and scanned the area again. Finally she sighed. “Okay.” Carcen hadn’t let her down yet. Maybe they’d all live long enough for her to disappear once more.

The two officers who’d been searching the hillside jogged up the stairs. They stopped next to her car door with huge, full-body shields. Turning their backs to her, they blocked her view of anything but them and the ground at their feet.

Carcen nodded his reassurance. She pushed the door open and stepped out, Carcen and Marissa immediately following.

“Right. Here we go,” Officer Boyd said, and they all stepped forward together.

Devynne kept her attention focused on her footing as they descended the length of the steps and before she knew it Carcen was rushing her through her kitchen door and keying in the code to secure the house. They system gave a comforting beep and Devynne felt a minuscule portion of her tension ease away. Thankful for the extra layer of protection, she collapsed onto one of the tall chairs at the island and rested her head in her hands.

Seeming to understand her need to keep Marissa close, Carcen laid her on the couch, but Marissa woke and protested more sleep. He glanced Devynne’s way in question, but she didn’t have the energy to make a decision one way or another. He settled Marissa in front of the TV with her headphones and turned on
Cinderella
.

Thankfully, the little girl still seemed oblivious to all that was going on. Another wave of despair rolled over Devynne.

If the stalker had found her this time, what was to prevent him from finding her yet again a few years down the road? At a time when Marissa
would
be old enough to understand and truly comprehend the terror. What kind of a mother would she be if she let that happen? But what could she do?

Carcen settled into the chair next to her. He leaned forward on his elbows, but he studied her, a slight frown pebbling the skin between his brows.

Officer Sanchez stepped into the middle of the kitchen. His gaze darted to Marissa and then he cleared his throat.

Carcen glanced over at him. “What is it?”

He held up a plastic bag with a paper in it and then set it on the counter before them. “I just found this under the windshield wipers on her car.” He had a look of apology in his eyes.

She’d left her car here this morning when Carcen and Randy had picked her and Marissa up and given them a ride to Roche Harbor. Anyone could have put a note on it at anytime during the day.

She focused on the sloping scrawl.
Next time I won’t be so nice to your little girl
.

All the anger and frustration she’d been bottling up inside gushed out on a guttural screech. She slapped the bowl of fruit just to her right and sent it flying into the wall. The bowl shattered, one large piece spinning like a wobbling top.

Sanchez dropped down behind the kitchen island and immediately set to picking up the fruit.

“Devynne!” Carcen snapped at her with a warning look toward Marissa.

Marissa, her headphones pushed back on her head, stared, wide-eyed, from her to the indentation in the wall.

Devynne forced herself to smile. “It’s alright, honey. Just watch your show, okay?”

“You still can’t find him?” Marissa’s eyes held too much understanding for one so young.

She shook her head, keeping her forced smile in place. “Not yet, honey.”

Marissa returned her focus to
Cinderella
.

Sanchez keyed in the code and stepped out onto the deck to toss the shattered bowl and smashed fruit in the garbage, leaving the three of them alone in the house. She needed to keep a rein on her temper from now on. Losing it certainly wouldn’t help them catch this guy.

Marissa turned back to them with a little shrug. “I bet he’s tired of hiding. I get tired when Gwandpa is looking fo’ me! He’ll pwobably come out pwetty soon.” She grinned and then went back to her movie, adjusting her headphones into place.