In all honesty, they could’ve put the pistols away. The trio of men were as docile as newborn pups. Will and Brady babied their injuries, and Jace’s head hung down in shame.
Once again Doc was overcome with the anguish of Fin’s death. And whether or not Cami was right and his soul had suffered another tear, orhewas right and it’d sustained one more stain, the simple truth was that because of him, somewhere up in Maine there was a wife who’d never see her husband again, little kids who’d hugged their father for the last time.
“Sorry I slept through the end of the storm,” he said to LT.
His former commanding officer snorted. “Slept.Riggghhhttt.” Then he wiggled his eyebrows before giving Doc a wink and a nudge.
Doc frowned. “What are you? Thirteen?”
“You know what they say.” LT shrugged.
“I’m afraid to ask.”
“Growin’ old is mandatory. Growin’ up is optional.”
Doc shook his head but didn’t say anything more. Leo “The Lion” Anderson had always been such a serious man. Ever since marrying Olivia, however, LT’s whole persona had lightened. It was like his wife had dragged him out of the shadows and into the sun.
Doc couldn’t help but feel a little envious.
After the group trudged past, he stepped into the hallway, purposefully keeping his eyes turned away from the open door at the end of the hall and the blanket-covered body lying on the floor inside the room. He didn’t need a visual reminder of the night’s consequences. The whole, horrible scene was burned into his brain.
He must’ve made a noise because Cami finally grabbed his hand. As they fell into step behind the others, he curled his fingers around hers, taking comfort in her touch at the same time a lump formed in his throat.
This is probably the last time she’ll ever reach for me like this,he thought joylessly.
He hadn’t set out for a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am, but that’s effectively what’d happened. And considering Cami was a proud woman, a woman with a heaping helping of self-respect, she wasn’t going to thank him for it. In fact, she’d probably give him the tongue-lashing of his life before refusing to ever speak to him again.
It’s what’s best,he reminded himself staunchly,for everyone.
John and Dana had lit half a dozen candles and placed them around on the stacked furniture in the living room—no doubt in preparation for the Coast Guard’s arrival. Which meant there was plenty of light to see by. So Doc had no trouble recognizing the tall, severe-looking woman who stood in the center of the room.
“Captain Rachel Mallory.” He dipped his chin in greeting. She’d been the one to come to the rescue when he, Cami, Mia, and Romeo had been stranded on the deserted sandbar. Six of her crewmen, all dressed in their blue Coast Guard uniforms, formed a semicircle behind her. “Nice to see you again.”
Mallory returned his gesture. “Nice to see you too. Although, you think it’s possible we meet under less ominous circumstances next time?”
“Not likely.” He shook his head woefully. “Trouble seems to follow me.”
She grunted and then included all the Wayfarer Islanders in her next question. “Who wants to tell me what happened here?”
LT was quick to explain what’d brought the men to the island. But before he could get to the shootout, Mallory stopped him.
“Last I heard, you’d found theSanta Cristinabut not her cargo. You saying I heard wrong?”
LT ran a finger under his chin. “It’s not like we were goin’ to take out an ad announcin’ our discovery.”
“Guess that makes sense.” Mallory nodded. “Which begs the question, how didtheseguys find out about it?” She gestured toward the trio of Mainers, and Doc’s ears perked up when LT answered.
“This one here”—LT shot a finger gun at Will—“says he got the information from some guy named Bernie Lutz who’s apparently that one’s cousin.” LT turned his finger gun from Will to Jace.
A loud gasp echoed through the room, and Doc glanced down to find Cami’s dark eyes wide and unblinking. Her perfect mouth was open in a little O and she’d pressed a shaky hand to her chest.
Foreboding had the skin on the back of his neck crawling. “What?” He scowled at her. “Doyouknow who this Bernie Lutz character is?”
Her voice was a raspy wheeze. “My father’s cellmate.”
Now it wasn’t simply the skin on the back of his neck that was crawling. His whole body felt like he’d been attacked by a colony of fire ants. “What?” He dropped her hand and took a step back. “You told yourfather—”
“No!” She shook her head, her eyes pleading with him to understand. “I don’t evenspeakto Dad. I told you that, remember? I don’t know how—” She came to an abrupt halt and all the pink drained from her cheeks.
