скачать книгу бесплатно
He called the house number, determined to tell her at least some of what was going on, and to hell with the consequences. The machine came on.
“Beth, I know you’re angry. You have a right to be. But I’m worried about you. Jake can’t stay there forever. Listen. I think that you were followed today, from Nick’s to the club. A couple left right in your wake. That was why I followed you. A couple, Beth. It might have been Brad and Sandy, in disguise. If they’re the pirates, they’re dangerous.” He paused. “Guilty of murder. Jake has to go home sooner or later. You need to stay with someone.”
“What’s happening?” she picked up and demanded. “Why did you leave, then, and come back so worried and determined?”
“I had a meeting, that was all. I said I’d be back. Put Jake on the phone, if you just want to fight with me. Please. Honestly, if I knew what was happening, I’d tell you,” he said bitterly.
He heard her sound of frustration. “Listen, Beth, I’ll explain everything to you as soon as I can, I promise. For now…please, pack a few things and go with Jake to his place.” He was quiet. “I’m not leaving until I see you go with him.”
“All right.” She hung up on him.
He remained where he was, tense, pondering his next move. Then his cell phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and realized she had hit Redial. “Beth?”
“It’s Jake. She’s coming back to my place.”
“Thanks.”
“She still won’t agree to filing a police report. I’ve tried everything but brute force,” Jake told him.
“Just keep her safe, huh?”
“You bet,” Jake assured him.
Keith remained where he was. He expected a long wait, but it was no more than ten minutes before Jake and Beth appeared. She locked the house but didn’t glance his way. Jake gave him a wave as he got into the passenger seat of her car.
Despite Jake’s presence, Keith followed. He pulled out his phone and dialed when he realized she was going in the direction of Nick’s.
Lee answered. “I’ll be there in about another ten minutes,” Keith told him. “You can bring the tender and get me at the dock at Nick’s.”
“Great. Glad you’ve had your entertainment for the night,” Lee said sarcastically.
Keith hung up.
He waited in the car while Beth parked at Nick’s, grabbed her overnight bag and headed toward the rear with Jake. Then he followed.
The place was jumping. It was a Saturday night. Nothing could go wrong with that many people around.
Please, God, he thought. Let that be the truth.
He saw Ashley, her youngest child in her arms, making her way through the tables to meet Beth and Jake.
Once they were all together, Keith circumvented the busy patio and headed out to the pier.
He heard the motor of the tender soon after. Lee had come. The stare he gave Keith spoke volumes.
“No involvements,” Lee muttered with disgust. “Yeah, like hell. We came in for information. Not for your entertainment.”
“Let’s just go,” Keith said.
“Hell, yeah. Let’s just go. Eye on the prize, pal.”
Keith swung on him. “Hey, swallow this, pal. Fuck you. The prize has changed.”
IF NOTHING ELSE, it had probably been the longest, most eventful day of Beth’s life. By the time she reached the privacy of Ashley and Jake’s place, in an ell off the restaurant, she was so keyed up she was ready to scream—and not at all sure of where to start.
“You lied to me,” she told Ashley.
“I’m not at liberty—” Ashley began.
“I’ve already explained that,” Jake said, staring at Beth. “Over and over again.”
“Oh, come on. You know I would never say anything to anyone else if you told me not to. What the hell is going on here? I can’t imagine that you’ve become buddy-buddy with some kind of criminal, but he keeps denying that he’s a cop.” Beth stared from Ashley to Jake.
“Shh,” Ashley pleaded. “You’ll wake the kids.”
She let out a sigh. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to make your lives any harder, but—”
She broke off, wincing.
But Amber had been threatened. And Keith’s words on the phone had hit disturbingly close to home. She had noticed the couple herself. She just hadn’t realized they had followed her.
They had probably been following her all day, before staking out her house. She had to pray they hadn’t waited around to follow her here.
She stood very still and stared at Jake. “I need someone off duty to keep an eye on my niece,” she said softly. “And I mean now. That’s the only reason I agreed to come here. You two can help me. I need Amber protected.”
“Amber?”
She nodded. “Jake, you’ve got cop friends coming out of the woodwork. I can pay, but I want Amber protected. Without Ben knowing. I don’t want him doing anything stupid.” She was angry; her decision was made.
“Does someone want to explain exactly what’s going on?” Ashley demanded.
“Beth was attacked,” Jake said.
Ashley gasped.
“Threatened is more like it,” Beth said.
“Keith showed up, they ran off.”
“And you didn’t call the police?” Ashley asked incredulously.
Beth groaned.
“I told her she should have called the police immediately,” Jake said sternly. “So did Keith.”
“They threatened Amber,” she said. “And I’m not filing a report of any kind. I mean it. I’m not taking any chances. I want you to help me with this.”
“Keith saw a couple here today, while you two were together today. They followed Beth when she left. I’m willing to bet they’re the same two who are suspected of pirating the missing boats.”
“Here?” Ashley said. “Beth, do you think it might have been them?”
“I don’t know for sure, but it’s starting to sound likely. And, oh yeah. I found a skull on my desk today, but the cop I called seemed to think I was a paranoid lunatic, so if you don’t mind, I’m not speaking officially to any more police today. I think that someone got into my office, then followed me. The official cop couldn’t see that. Okay? Wait! I don’t care if it’s not okay. You lied to me, Ashley. You said you didn’t know him.”
Ashley glanced guiltily at the floor.
“And if he’s not a cop, what the hell is he?” Beth demanded, still angry.
“We don’t have the right—” Jake began.
“Oh, Jake! What do you think Beth is going to do—post it on the Internet?” Ashley demanded impatiently. “He’s not a cop. In fact—”
“Don’t even try to tell me he’s a scuba instructor,” Beth snapped.
“Well, actually,” Jake said, “he is.”
Before Beth could literally scream with aggravation, Ashley spoke, explaining, “He’s with a company that specializes in dive rescues and retrievals, salvage and maritime crimes.”
Beth stared at her friends, perplexed. “Why couldn’t you tell me that?”
“Because we don’t know what he’s doing,” Jake said impatiently. Then he hesitated. “They contract their services to the government. He could be working for the feds or the state. When I see him, I don’t ask. Whatever he’s doing this time, it’s important that people don’t know who he is. He often works undercover. So when he doesn’t tell me what he’s doing, I respect his position and don’t ask. I don’t want to jeopardize his work—or his life.”
Beth stared at him, shaking her head. “Why wouldn’t he tell me? Why wouldn’t he trust me?”
Jake shook his head. “Beth, when you’re undercover, you tell no one. You pray that you don’t run into the people who know you. And if you do, you pray they keep their mouths shut.”
“Who on earth would I say anything to?” Beth protested.
Jake shook his head. “You wouldn’t say anything on purpose, Beth, but what if you accidentally let something slip to Ben? They’ve already threatened Amber.”
“Get someone out there now, Jake,” Beth demanded hotly, then added a soft “Please.”
“All right.”
He went away to arrange it, leaving her with Ashley. Beth still felt angry.
“You could have said something to me,” she insisted.
“Beth, the point is, anyone can inadvertently say something. You just learn to keep your mouth shut.”
“Fine,” Beth said. “Then let’s see what I can tell you. It seems that Sandy and Brad—or whatever their real names are—have been stealing yachts and murdering people. They probably changed their appearances and came here to scout for their next victim. They somehow decided that I had them pegged, probably when they saw me here with you, so they attacked me. They’re out there somewhere, but Keith Henson—if that’s his real name—has decided to go back…somewhere. I hope to find them.”
“There’s already an APB out across the country for them,” Ashley said.
“Well, they were here. Right here, on land,” Beth said. “And there was a skull on the island. Keith was in the clearing right after I discovered it. Did he take it? Did he bring it in somewhere? Did it belong to one of the Monocos?”
Ashley shook her head. “I don’t know.”
Beth shook her head in disgust. “Great detective I would have made. I figured Eduardo Shea must have had something to do with it…someone who was profiting off the dance studios. Or Amanda. I probably just wanted her to be guilty of something.”
She fell silent.
Had Keith Henson been questioning Amanda? Had she misread that whole thing?
Jake reappeared. “Amber will be fine,” he assured Beth.
“Jake, I don’t care what it costs. I’ll pay it. You called people you really trust, right?”
“Beth, I called people I’d trust with my own life, Ashley’s life—my children’s lives,” he assured her. “And they’re friends, doing me favors. You don’t have to worry about it.”
“Yes, I do,” she said firmly. “But the point is, until…Brad and Sandy are brought in, Amber has to be kept safe.”
She felt deflated suddenly. She’d been so angry, so frightened. And now she felt as if she were a balloon that had been suddenly popped.
“Beth, are you all right?” Ashley asked. “You look pale.”
Beth lifted her hands in a shrug. “At least he isn’t a criminal.”
“Keith? No, he isn’t a criminal,” Ashley said.
“Beth, the FBI, the local police, the Coast Guard—everyone is looking for Sandy and Brad. They will be caught,” Jake told her.
She forced a smile and nodded.
Sure.
But when?
That was the question of the hour.
WHEN JAKE AND ASHLEY HAD gone to bed, Beth found that she was still too restless herself to sleep. She went online and looked up the island. To her surprise, there was a great deal written about Calliope Key. Apparently almost everyone since Columbus had put ashore there. Ponce de León had stopped by. The Spanish had claimed it, then the English. Despite its proximity to the Bahamas, it had remained part of Florida after trades between the Spanish and English, the Spanish and the Americans, and the English and the Americans.
When the Spanish had held the island, they had often lain in wait to surprise English ships and lured them onto the reefs. Apparently the welcoming sight of the island, and the sound of the wind on the water and through the trees had beckoned them onward, and thus the name, Calliope Key. Sadly, the islet had been like a siren, enticing men to their deaths.
There had been too many wrecks to count, but as she read, Beth came across one very specific incident. A battle between an English ship and a Spanish ship, the Sea Star and La Doña. Captain Pierce had battled Captain Alonzo Jimenez. All had been lost, including the innocent travelers aboard, seeking to reach Spanish ports in Central and South America.
Beth stared blankly at the screen.
The ghost story, the tale that Keith had told that very first night around their campfire, had been true, or at least based on truth.
She was suddenly certain that meant something.
That it just might be at the base of everything else.
But what did it mean? Treasure seekers were always combing the coast of Florida. There were so many known wrecks that had yet to be found. The legend of the Bermuda Triangle had sprung up because so many had been lost and no trace ever found.
She hesitated, then began combing the article again. Both ships had been lost with treasure aboard, as had so many ships before their sad encounter. But these treasures had been worth millions, even at the time. Heaven only knew what they would be worth now.
Enough to kill and die for, certainly.
