—JAMIE
Sun streams in from thewindows of the lower deck of my father’s yacht. I turn over, still sore from… well, from everything. My arm throbs with new stiches. I climb out of bed and enter the skinny corridor, the other bedroom doors closed as I make my way to the upper deck. Noa is in one of the rooms, hopefully still asleep. Her father and brother also stayed on the yacht, their family home all but destroyed.
After my father was brought to the police station for questioning, along with his lawyer, my mother came down to the dock to speak to me. She apologized and asked me to come back to the resort with her. I wasn’t ready for that. I asked her instead if I could stay on my father’s yacht—it was the least they could do—and she agreed. I know I’ll have to talk with her later today. I might even have to speak to my father again eventually, although I’m not going to do that without witnesses. Brent Matthews is a dangerous guy.
But I’m not afraid of him anymore. I can’t guarantee he’ll ever be charged with a crime, if he’ll ever see justice, but I know the bad press will be a killer for him. He won’t be able to bury the story this time, and he deserves every second of misery it brings him. However, it guts me that my sister will be collateral damage. I’ve already called mygrandfather, and he promised to be there for Astrid if she needed him. Same with me. I told him I’ve missed him.
As I get into the kitchen, I find Noa’s brother, Ellis, there with a mug of coffee. He jumps up when he sees me, clutching his side for a moment, before apologizing for wandering around the boat alone. I let him know it’s fine and pour myself a cup of coffee. I join him at the table.
When I do, I smile. “I’m so glad to see you alive, man,” I say, making him chuckle. He winces, holding his side again. Luckily, it was just a graze.
“I could say the same for you,” he says. “You disappeared yourself. But it’s good to have you back in Cape Hope, James.”
“Jamie,” I correct.
“Jamie,” he repeats, like I’m fancy. “You got taller,” he adds, looking me over. Noticing my eye. “Did Noa punch you in the face when she saw you again too?”
“Nope,” I tell him, taking a sip. “But she did steal and wreck my boat.”
“Oh no…” Ellis says with a laugh. “I would have rather taken the punch.”
“Same.” We sit quietly for moment, and then I look at Ellis again. “Are you sticking around?” I ask him point-blank. I don’t want anything to hurt Noa, and her brother leaving again would do just that.
“Yeah, I’m back,” he says with a smile. “How about you?”
“No place I’d rather be,” I say, meaning it.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Noa says, startling us both.
She walks out in one of my oversized T-shirts with basketball shorts, her hair an absolute knot of tangles, and smudges of smoke still dotting her face. She grabs a bottle of water and comes to lean against the kitchen counter, looking over at her brother.
“All right,” she says to him. “I know you already told the police, but it’s time for my version. Why did you abandon us like that?”
Ellis winces, looking down at his coffee cup on the table. “I was tryingto save the Surf Shack,” he says. “When Dad told me about the loan with Mancini, I knew it would end badly. I couldn’t let that happen to Mom’s dream. Felix and I… we put together a plan. We had to find the one thing Alessandro Mancini was scared of…”
“The Starline Hotel,” Noa says, and he nods.
“At first we couldn’t find it,” Ellis continues, “but I knew time was running out to save the Shack. So Felix and I went to see him. Although we hadn’t found Rum Runner Island, we had a pretty good idea of where it was. We faked it. We went to Mancini and told him we’d been there. That he lied about the Starline, even though I had no actual proof. Still, we demanded he rip up the loan and back off the people of Cape Hope. He agreed.” Ellis shakes his head, throwing up his hands. “Felix and I couldn’t believe it—Mancini actually agreed and had us sign NDAs.” His expression falters.
“Too easy,” I say, and Ellis nods.
“Too easy,” he repeats. “A few weeks later, Felix came rushing down from the resort. He told me we had a problem. He’d overheard Mancini talking to the owner of the Sunset Docks. He asked one of his men to take me out. He told him to burn down the Surf Shack once I was dead.”
Noa shifts uncomfortably, horrified at the threat they were facing.
“What could I do?” Ellis says, looking over at her. “I packed up and left, but there was nowhere to go. I didn’t have money, a place to stay. At first, I’d camp out in the Everglades and Felix would bring me supplies. We kept searching for Rum Runner, and then… one day… we were out after a small storm and we found it. We actually found the Starline Hotel. At that point, I had the leverage—proof it will still there—meaning Mancini lied to the cops from the start. With that, it was time to renegotiate our terms,” Ellis adds.
“That wasn’t very smart,” Noa says, shaking her head.
“Clearly,” he says. “Felix went to him, and Mancini wanted to meetme in person. Seemed the safest place to do that was at the Starline.” He lowers his eyes. “We just… we underestimated him. It should have been me instead of Felix.”
“It should have been none of you,” Noa says immediately.
He shrugs like he’s not sure he believes her, and I feel for the guy. It’s a messed-up thing to lose someone, but having to witness it… I can’t imagine.
“I really thought it was almost over,” he says quietly. “And then… he killed him. I can’t tell you how much I miss him. I don’t even have those words. But I will say, I always planned to make Alessandro Mancini pay. I just had to find a way home first.”
“And what about the sheriff?” Noa asks. “What role did he have in this? Because he’s been really annoying.”
