Tide Will Tell (Islands of Intrigue: San Juans) (28 page)

“The women who got in my way.” Her words dripped like melting icicles.

“Emily and Trina?” Kate swallowed against mounting fear. “You killed them? Both of them?”

“I didn’t intend to.” Sam lifted one shoulder. “Emily tried to fight me when I told her I was in love with Chase. But she was drunk. It wasn’t my fault she slipped.”

“She…she slipped?”

Sam nodded. “Hit her head. I left her there, but then I realized how easy it would be to get her out of my way. When I went back, she was still unconscious. I dragged her to the pool and pushed her in. She tried to fight, but I held her down till she stopped moving.”

Kate let out a small sob. The thought of poor Emily and how confused she must have been made her even queasier.

Sam sniffed. “Then I went home and waited for Chase to call me. I must be a good actress, because he never suspected I already knew she was dead.” A sickening smile played on her lips. “Then he protected me without even realizing it.”

“Protected you?”

“The policeman wrote in his first report that it looked like a homicide staged to look like an accident.”

Something struck Kate as strange. “His
first
report?”

Sam nodded. “Even though he had nothing to do with it, Chase knew that would make him look guilty. So he paid the man to change the report. Drowning. No one ever figured out the truth.”

“And…Trina?”

“Trina.” Sam shook her head. “Stuart told her just what he told you about the night that Emily died. She came to me, frantic, thinking Chase had done it. So, we took a little cruise out on the yacht. A ladies’ night. We sailed out past the bay, and…” Her look turned fierce. “She never deserved Chase. All she wanted was financial support so she could be free to do her
art
. Then she took up with that transient. She was planning to leave soon anyway.”

“But…couldn’t you have just let her go? You didn’t have to—”

“I didn’t
mean
to. We were fighting, and she was acting crazy. It was stormy. A wave came and jostled the boat, and she went over the side. She just…never surfaced.”

“So…that wasn’t your fault.”

Sam snapped her a fiery gaze. “Of course it wasn’t. Trina was my friend. But once it was done, I realized that she was out of my way. I gave Chase time to mourn. Then just as he was starting to see I was the one he needed, you had to come along and ruin everything.”

“But if I had known—”

“I have to get rid of you. And this time it won’t be by accident!”

The car slowed, and Kate looked up. They were approaching the gate. She had to get out before they left the property.

“You’re just using him for his money.” Reaching for the gate remote on her visor, Sam stopped the car. “The same as Trina.”

In one swift move, Kate grabbed Sam’s phone and jumped from the car.

Her feet hit the muddy road, and she fumbled with the phone as she tried to run. She felt for the ‘9’ on the dark pad and it lit up. All she had to do was hit 1-1, but the rain beating against her face all but blinded her.

Hearing Sam coming from behind, Kate twisted a look over her shoulder. Sam lunged at her, wrapping her hands around her throat. Struggling for air, Kate tried to loosen Sam’s grasp with one hand, while desperately prodding the phone pad with the thumb of the other.

As lightheadedness threatened, Kate thought she saw a figure step in front of the headlights behind Sam. A guttural sound reverberated in her head. As she felt herself start to succumb to the lack of oxygen, a vague thought registered.…
Sasquatch?

In an instant, Sam’s hold on her was relinquished and Kate fell backwards, hitting the swampy road with a thud. Fighting back from the fog of near-unconsciousness, she identified the black-sweat-jacket-clad figure wrestling Sam to the ground.

Scarcely able to speak, she rasped out recognition.

“
Dakota?
”

Chapter 30

Kate sat at a table on the deck of the main house watching as the divers prepared to go into the water by the dock. The thought of what they were going to bring up was only slightly less horrifying on this bright sunny morning than it had been when she’d discovered it the day before.

Resolving to focus on the bright side, she thanked God again that Josh’s stab wound hadn’t turned out to be life threatening. He might even get to leave the hospital today if everything went well.

Pushing the black hood off Dakota’s head, she watched him dig into a huge bowl of oatmeal. “It’s getting warm, Dakota. Are you sure you don’t want to take off that sweat jacket?”

Chewing, he shook his head. “The truck driver said I…I…I could keep it.”

“I know.” Kate smiled at his endearing way of repeating words while his brain caught up to his tongue. Downs Syndrome had denied him precise enunciation, but not the ability to put thoughts into words. “It was smart of you to figure out where I was.”

“Iowa saw you on the T…TV.” He shoveled in another bite as if he thought he might not get a chance to eat again soon. “The man called you ‘K…Kate’, but I knew he got it…got it wrong. He said you were marrying a man on…
Sha’island
.”

Kate smiled at his focused pronunciation of the two words, as if they were one. “And did you know where that was?”

“No, but B…Ben told me.” He smiled proudly. “Washington.”

“So you started to walk? Didn’t you know how far Washington is from California?”

“No.” He shrugged. “But I was happy when that tr…truck driver…stopped for me.”

She gave Dakota a reassuring smile. “He must have been an awfully nice man to drive you all the way to Seattle from San Diego.”

“Then he helped me get on the bus and told me how to…to…get to the…” He paused, as if trying to remember the correct word. “The
ferry
.”

“And then how did you get onto the property?”

“Easy.” Dakota shrugged. “I saw a big tr…tree and I climbed it. I swung right over the fence.”

“Well, I’m glad you came to find me, but I don’t want you to hitchhike ever again, you understand?”

He nodded, swallowing. “I don’t want you to leave ever again. You understand?”

She laughed, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “I understand.”

Her heart warmed at the irony. Here she had spent two years thinking Dakota couldn’t make it without her there to protect him, and last night he had been the one to rescue her. A shiver passed through her at the thought of what would have happened to her if he hadn’t been hiding in the trees, keeping watch over her. God had given her an unlikely guardian, that was for sure.

The French doors clicked open, and Jessica stepped out onto the deck, followed by a disheveled Stuart, who reminded Kate of a wounded puppy with his arm held awkwardly in a sling.

Kate was surprised to see them up so early. “How are you feeling, Stuart?”

Before he could answer, Jessica rolled her eyes and crossed to the table to pour a cup of coffee. “He’s fine. Only my lamebrain brother would go and get himself stabbed in the shoulder.”

Stuart plunked himself down in the chair next to Dakota. “Thanks for coming to my rescue, dear sister.”

“Humph.” Jessica moved to the railing to look down at the dock while she stirred her coffee. “I knew I’d have to post bail for you someday, but I always thought it would be for a DUI, not a robbery.” Tipping her head toward Kate, Jessica gave Stuart a stern look.

He cleared his throat. “My sister seems to think I owe you an apology.”

Kate pulled in a breath. “I’m sure you had your reasons for taking the money.”

“Not just for that. For something I did the night before.”

“Oh?”

“See,” he squinted, as if the memory added to an already-present headache. “I was upset about that fight I had with my dad. I went out to the yacht to talk to Sam, but when I got there, I overheard her telling somebody on the phone that you had taken his quarter mil and that he should come take you away and get the money back. I figured I needed the money, and that you must have stashed it in the guesthouse.”

Kate stared at him. “You mean
you’re
the one who ransacked the guesthouse?”

He lifted a shoulder. “I don’t make the best decisions under the influence of drink.”

“Wait.” She reached into her purse—thankful that it had been retrieved from the yacht—and took out the note. “Do you know anything about this?”

As Stuart narrowed his reddened eyes, Jessica peered over his shoulder. She snickered. “Where on earth did you find
that?
”

Taken aback by her amusement, Kate stammered. “I…I found it on my bed in the guesthouse. Any idea whose handwriting it is?”

“Sure.” Jessica shrugged. “It’s mine.”

“Yours?” Kate gaped at Jessica. “You mean, this note is from you?”

“Well, yes, in a way. See, Friday afternoon before you arrived, the bunch of us were playing
Consequences
out here on the deck. Stuart was on the phone with one of his girlfriends—”

“Ahem.” Stuart raised his eyebrows.

“—and his turn was coming up. He wouldn’t listen to me, so I wrote him a note and flashed it in front of his face.” She snapped it from Kate and waved it at Stuart. “He was
next
.”

Kate couldn’t help a smile spawned by relief. Then confusion crowded out the comfort. “But, how did it wind up on my pillow?”

“I put…put it there.” Dakota ran a finger around his now-empty bowl to retrieve the last remnants of oatmeal.

Kate stared at him. “
You
did?”

“Sure. I found it on the ground by your house and I thought it…it was yours. I walked all the way around looking for a place to put it where you’d see it.”

She smiled at her ‘Sasquatch’. “You walked around the outside of the guesthouse?”

“Uh huh.” He licked his fingers. “Then when I saw you run out, I went in and put it where I knew you’d see it.”

She shook her head. “But why didn’t you let me know you were there?”

“I was a…afraid you’d make me go back.”

“Oh, Dakota—”

Again, the click of the French doors interrupted Kate. This time, it was Chase who appeared in the doorway, stealing the air from her lungs. The last time she had seen him, she’d been convinced he was a wife killer who wanted to add her to his list. Now, she knew how wrong she’d been.

“Daddy.” Jessica practically dropped her coffee in her haste to throw her arms around him. “Did you hear about Sam? It’s so horrible.”

“She’s not who we thought she was.” Chase gave her a reassuring hug, then smiled at Kate. “Katie. Thank goodness you’re all right.”

She swung her leg—which now sported a brace to accommodate the healing of her knee—to the floor, then stood. “I’m sorry I ran…or should I say ‘drove’…drove away. I seriously thought you were responsible for…” She cast Jessica an apologetic glance, then tipped her head toward the divers down below. “You know. For
that
.”

Closing his eyes, he nodded gently. “I hope you understand now that I only came back last night so I could take you away before Joe could harm you.”

“But…” Kate slanted him a confused look. “I never
told
you about Joe.”

“You didn’t have to. I already knew.”

“You did? But how…?”

“Let me start at the beginning.” He gestured for them to sit, then started to pace as if he were about to give a business presentation.

“When we met in San Francisco, I thought you were a nice young woman, but I would never have thought to pursue a relationship with you.”

Kate lowered her chin, not sure how to take that.

“Until,” Chase went on, “I believe it was the third night of my business trip. I sat down at the bar and the man next to me started to boast that he was a detective and that he’d tracked you from San Diego.”

Kate’s face went cold. “You talked to Detective Johnson?”

“Yes…or rather, he talked to me. He told me about Joe Malone and the clinic, and that he intended to threaten to arrest you to get information. So I did what I felt I had to do. I helped you get away.”

“But why? I mean, you didn’t even know me.”

“No, but I felt like I did. You see, you reminded me of the two women I had loved and lost.”

“You helped me because I reminded you of Emily and Trina?”

“I’m sorry Katie.” His look of remorse seemed genuine. “I realize now that I was trying to protect you because I failed, or
thought
I had failed, to protect my wives. I thought I could somehow make up for that by saving you. I hope you can forgive me.”

“Forgive you?” Her throat tightened around the words. “I don’t know what would have happened to me if you hadn’t stepped in.”

Chase let his gaze linger on Kate for a moment before he went on. “I was prepared to go through with the wedding up until yesterday when things…changed. Sam called me in a panic. She said that you had found Trina’s body and that the two of us—she and I—had to leave the country before one or the other of us got arrested.”

Jessica’s eyes widened. “Did you know she had done it?”

“Not until that moment did I even suspect. I had no idea she’d been pining for me all these years, or that she was responsible for Emily’s drowning.” He gave Stuart a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry, son. I should have paid more attention to your version of the events of that night.”

A corner of Stuart’s mouth lifted at the long-overdue apology.

Chase continued. “I said I couldn’t leave the country because of my impending wedding,” he looked at Kate, “and she told me about her plan to eliminate you.”

“‘Eliminate’?” Kate shuddered. “That’s harsh.”

“She said she had found out about Joe and that she intended to turn you over to him, so I hurried back from Vegas. I wanted to get you away from here before Joe got to you.”

“But…” Kate gave him a questioning look. “Why didn’t you just tell me that?”

“I wanted to get away first. I was afraid that the appearance of the body was all the police needed to build a case against me. I would have explained everything that Stuart told you.”

“So, explain it now.” Stuart perked up. “I saw you skulking around in the woods the night Trina vanished.”