Hurricane Bay (28 page)

“Maybe the lady was afraid she might wake up dead one morning.”

He smiled. “And maybe the little
puta
realized she wasn't going to get anything. She filed charges because she wanted a one-woman man. And that's not me. She got pissed off because she wasn't so special. That's it. You're going now? You'll leave me alone?”

“I'm going, Izzy. But I'll be damned if I'll leave you alone.”

“Remember, everyone says Sheila was with you the last time anyone saw her.” He smiled. “Alive, that is.”

Dane was tempted to risk a night in jail for one good wallop. Just one punch, enough to flatten Izzy's nose. Instead Dane took a long stride that brought him from the deck of the
Lady Havana
to the dock. Then he turned back. “Be seeing you, Izzy.”

Izzy just glared.

Dane strode along the dock. With or without Izzy's approval, he intended to talk to Jorge Marti. But the
Free as the Sea
was not in her berth.

Well, maybe that wouldn't matter. Jorge would be coming for pizza at the duplex. He knew that he himself would be hardly wanted there, not after today. Nate was the most put out.

Too damn bad.

Nate and the others had been in the water with spearguns.

He stood on the dock for a moment, watching the ripple of water in the place where Jorge's boat should have been berthed.

Then he turned and headed back for the parking lot.

Izzy was still topside on the
Lady Havana,
watching him every step of the way as he departed.

He hated Izzy because of what Izzy did.

He'd learned a hell of a lot about the man when he'd been hired by the private school to find out who was supplying the kids. Discreetly placed cameras had caught a number of the pushers in the act.

Thus far, though, even when threatened with prison, no one had been willing to identify Izzy as their supplier.

The guy was the epitome of bad news. Sleaze. Slime. A pusher.

But was he a cold-blooded, organized psychopath who killed with his bare hands?

Dane stopped, lit a cigarette and looked back over the flame of his match.

The man was still watching. And he knew that Dane was watching him.

Izzy lifted a hand, formed his fingers into the shape of a pointed gun, pretended to aim and fire, and then smiled.

Dane ignored him and started walking again. He could still feel the heat of Izzy's gaze as the man watched him while he reached his Jeep, stepped into it, gunned the engine and left the parking lot behind.

 

“What?” Kelsey cried, startled.

She had jumped at the sound of the knock against her bedroom door.

She hadn't really been scared, just startled, because she had become so engrossed in what she was doing.

She was seated on the floor in front of Sheila's dresser, still wrapped in a towel after her shower. She wasn't sure what had made her suddenly decide to lift the lining beneath Sheila's elegant undergarments before getting dressed, but her curiosity had been rewarded. A folder had yielded all kinds of interesting papers, even if they weren't particularly relevant to her disappearance. An award Sheila had earned for being top speller at the local competition when she was in third grade. A picture of her and Dane together at his high school prom. A half-written letter to Larry, trying to explain why she couldn't stay married to him. A page, apparently written when she had been very young, on which she practiced her penmanship with the line
I hate my stepfather
written over and over again.

“Kels, can I come in?”

Larry. She jumped up, wrapping her towel more securely around her and cracking the door open.

“Hey,” she murmured. “Sorry, have I been a long time? Are the others here?”

“No, no, it's all right. Cindy is still next door, and Nate went by the bar just to check on things. He called and said he'll be along. The pizza place doesn't deliver, so I'm going to go pick up our order. I wrote you a note—it's there on the table—but then I thought I'd just see if you were out of the shower before I left.”

“I'm out. I'll get dressed right away, just in case anyone shows up while you're out.”

“Can you think of anything else? I ordered one pizza with just cheese, one pepperoni, one vegetarian, and an order of anchovies on the side.”

“Anchovies on the side sounds great. Anyone who likes little hairs on their pizza is welcome to them.”

“Do we need beer, soda, wine?”

“I went shopping when I got here. We're fine.”

“Maybe I'll pick up an extra six-pack.”

“Whatever you think.”

“All right, then, see you soon.”

She closed her bedroom door when Larry left and returned to the dresser. She dropped the towel and she suddenly found herself looking toward the rear window. The drapes were open. There was faint light out in the patio and pool area, but bright light in the bedroom.

She cursed herself, grabbing the towel, suddenly afraid that she was being watched. She grabbed her underwear and bra and raced into the bathroom, then discovered that she was shaking as she slipped into them. Of course. What she had done was idiotic. Every woman knew not to dress with her shades open.

And great. Now she was wearing a bra and underwear, but her jeans were still in the dresser. She was really getting stupider with every passing moment. She should have simply closed the drapes.

And now…here she was.

She was suddenly afraid to stay in the bathroom. Afraid that she might find herself trapped there if the someone watching her made it into the house.

No one could get into the house.

Larry would have locked the door.

What if he hadn't?

She could lock the bathroom door and hole up until Larry returned, Cindy came over, or one of the others showed up.

She reached for the knob, all the while assuring herself that she was being ridiculous. But then she thought she heard another knob turning. Someone coming into her bedroom…

She waited in absolute stillness…and listened.

Seconds…minutes…

She exhaled, unaware that she had been holding her breath. It sounded to her like a jet engine. She was afraid that she might have missed some subtle noise beneath it. She held her breath again. Nothing. Nothing…

She was becoming ridiculously paranoid.

Kelsey opened the bathroom door.

And screamed.

D
ane tried in vain to find Andy Latham. His truck wasn't at his house, and his fishing boat wasn't tied to the pier.

He tried the usual hangouts, the bars Latham frequented, and found no sign of him.

As he pulled out of the parking lot of one hole-in-the-wall, his cell phone rang.

A soft female voice spoke tentatively on the other end. “Dane?”

“Yes?”

“It's Katia. From Legs.”

He stopped the car, pulling back into a parking space to listen attentively. “Katia, hey. Thanks for getting back to me. Did the pictures jar anything in your memory?”

“Yes.”

“Which one?” he asked, hearing the tight sound of his own voice.

She let out a long sigh. “The scary thing is, I see so many people. They all look familiar. Every face in the shots you gave me seemed familiar. You could probably give me a picture of some old geezer who was European royalty a hundred years ago and he would look familiar.”

Dane lowered his head, listening, rubbing his temples.

“So…you might have seen these guys…and you might not have seen them.”

“Well, yes.”

“Thanks, Katia. I appreciate you trying.”

He was ready to hit the end button on his phone when she spoke softly again. “I said they all looked somewhat familiar. But one of them…I know one of them has been coming for months.”

Dane's heart quickened again. “Who?” he asked.

His hands tightened around the wheel as she answered him.

 

“Kelsey?”

Cindy burst into the bedroom just as Kelsey cut off her own scream.

“What is it?” Cindy demanded.

A face in the window. Or had it been? There was now a large lizard where she was certain she had seen, at the least, the shadow of a head. A very large lizard.

“Anole,” she said, exhaling.

“What?” Cindy asked.

“There's an anole, a big lizard, on the window.”

“You screamed because of an anole?” Cindy said incredulously. “You've seen them all your life, Kelsey. Kelsey?”

She could feel that she was still white and shaky. She didn't know if paranoia was setting in, or if she really had seen a face in the shadows.

She stared at Cindy suddenly. “Is Larry still gone? How did you get in?”

“Larry should be back any minute. I let myself in with my key when you didn't answer my knock. Kelsey, maybe you should go on home. Maybe this whole thing with Sheila isn't good for you. You're taking it all so much to heart, and…”

“And what?” Kelsey stared at her.

Cindy shook her head. “I don't know. Have you done something to someone? It's possible someone was taking potshots at you in the water. And now you're seeing faces in the window. Kelsey, I'm going to be more worried about you than Sheila if this keeps up.”

Kelsey stared at Cindy. “Maybe there
was
someone in the backyard.”

Cindy answered slowly and carefully. “Right. Maybe.”

“Well, I intend to look back there. For footprints or something.”

“You think we have a Peeping Tom?”

“Maybe. Maybe it's something worse.”

“We can check it out,” Cindy said. “Of course, we can wait for the guys, too. On second thought, I may be buffer than either Nate or Larry.”

“No, you're right, we should wait. There's safety in numbers.”

“And there may be safety in clothing, too,” Cindy said dryly, pointing out Kelsey's state of semiundress. “Were you planning on an underwear pizza party? The guys would appreciate it, I'm sure.”

Kelsey reached for a pair of jeans and a knit shirt, sliding them on quickly. She strode quickly across the room then, drawing the drapes. The anole darted away when it sensed her approach.

She closed her eyes, wishing she weren't still feeling so shaky. There couldn't have been anyone out there. Her slightest movement had caused the anole to scamper away in panic. It never would have stayed on the window if someone else had been out there.

“Hello? Kelsey? Cindy?”

“It's Jorge,” Cindy said, pleased. “He can go out with us.” She raised her voice. “Hey, Jorge, we're here, in the bedroom.”

“How did Jorge get into the house?” Kelsey said.

“I must have left the door open,” Cindy said. Kelsey stared at her. “Well, I heard you scream, I opened the door as quickly as possible…and I must have left it open.” Kelsey was still staring at her. “You were screaming,” Cindy said. “I thought you were in trouble.”

“Well, thanks, it's good to know you're ready to run to my rescue.”

“You can count on me in any lizard situation,” Cindy said dryly.

“Hey…?”

Kelsey looked across the room. Jorge had come to the door. In dark jeans, a navy cotton shirt, with fresh washed, combed back hair and the slight scent of a pleasant aftershave, Jorge was both attractive and reassuring, built to take on the creatures of the night.

“You two all right?”

“Kelsey thinks she might have seen a Peeping Tom,” Cindy explained.

“Or a big lizard,” Kelsey admitted ruefully.

“You have to watch out for the lizards around here,” Jorge said gravely. “They seem to be watching all the time. Just like Big Brother.”

“Maybe we'll find out that the lizards are aliens, and they've been waiting all these years to take over the earth,” Cindy murmured.

“Want me to check the yard?” Jorge asked.

“Let's all check the yard.” Kelsey said. She started to open the sliding glass doors that led out to the back.

“Wait, I'll head out that way,” Jorge said. “You go out the front, and that way, if there's a Peeping Tom, we'll know it because you'll see him trying to get away.”

Jorge went out the back. Cindy and Kelsey went out to the front porch and ran right into Nate and Larry.

“Hey, guys, I found Nate out here, which is good, because even I—weekly-businessman-perfect-athlete that I am—cannot handle the pizza boxes and drinks all in one,” Larry said. Then he frowned, staring at them. “You didn't come out to help with the pizza, did you?”

“We're checking out the yard,” Cindy said.

“For lethal lizards,” Kelsey explained.

“Lethal lizards? You think there's a gator back there or something?” Larry asked.

“No, just a big anole,” Kelsey responded. She took the pizza boxes from Larry and nearly ran with them into the kitchen. Cindy was behind her with the sodas and beer. Then they hurried to rejoin the men, following them through the tall wooden gate of the privacy fence on the side of the house and around the back. They got to the window in question, but there was nothing there, and nothing seemed disturbed at all.

“Any footprints?” Cindy asked.

“Lizard prints?” Larry said.

“People prints,” Cindy said with exasperation.

“I sure don't see any,” Nate said.

Jorge was standing about five feet from the window, looking at them in dismay. “Well, actually, now there are lots of them.”

“Just what are we looking for?” Larry asked. “A lizard or a person?”

“Signs that someone was here,” Cindy murmured.

“I thought someone might have been back here in the yard,” Kelsey said. “I—I thought I saw someone. Maybe it was just a shadow or something,” she added lamely.

“She definitely did see a lizard,” Cindy said. “I saw it, too.”

“Let's check under all the trees,” Larry said. They all split up to look around the yard.

“The pool looks nice tonight,” Jorge said.

“We can always dive right in,” Larry said.

“We've left all our suits behind,” Nate reminded him.

“There's skinny dipping,” Larry suggested.

“Or just underwear,” Cindy said. “Kelsey will be all set. She's wearing her good stuff tonight.”

Kelsey smiled vaguely at Cindy. If someone had been in the yard, he had left by the gate. Or else he had been in really good physical condition and scaled the wooden privacy fence around the rear of the duplex.

“There's another car out front,” Cindy said.

“Let's go back in,” Kelsey said suddenly. “It must be Dane.”

“So he did come,” Nate murmured.

“Maybe we shouldn't mention all this,” Cindy said. “Dane really seems to be on edge lately.”

“Good idea. Don't say anything,” Kelsey said. Jorge was staring at her, frowning. “He'd rip apart the entire backyard because I saw a lizard,” she explained.

“And accuse us all of being Peeping Toms,” Nate said.

“Shh,” Cindy said.

Dane was out of the Jeep. He saw the open gate and joined them.

“What are you all doing?” he asked.

“We just decided to come outside and see the night,” Cindy said. “It's a beautiful night.”

“Yeah. But wouldn't it be more beautiful from the patio?” Dane asked.

“Um, well, we were just trying to find an anole. There was a really big one on Kelsey's window a while ago.”

“Hey, the pizza is getting cold,” Kelsey said. Dane didn't seem inclined to press the point. He was watching Jorge, and she was curious at the way he was staring at the other man.

“We can eat out on the patio,” Cindy suggested.

“That sounds great,” Kelsey said. She automatically started for the sliding doors to the bedroom, while the others began to go around the front. “We can get in right here,” she called.

“Yes, but then we'd have to tromp through your bedroom,” Jorge said.

“It doesn't matter.”

“We'll go around the front.” Dane snapped out the words. The others froze, staring at him.

He looked at the group. “Oh, what the hell. Jorge, I have to talk to you.”

Jorge's face, though darkly tanned, turned ashen. “Oh?”

“Let's go for a ride,” Dane said quietly.

“All right,” Jorge said.

“Wait a minute. You haven't even had any pizza,” Cindy protested.

“It's all right,” Jorge said.

Kelsey and the others stared in amazement as Dane turned and started for his Jeep, Jorge following behind him.

“Well, hell, leave it to Dane to spoil the damn party,” Nate said.

“You don't think that…that Dane thinks…Jorge might have had something to do with Sheila's disappearance, do you?” Cindy asked.

“Of course not!” Larry protested. His words sounded hollow.

They stood in the yard in silence for long seconds.

“Well…” Nate said.

Kelsey threw up her hands. “Let's go get the pizza.”

They walked through the house and into the kitchen. They were quiet, politely passing paper plates and plastic cups.

“It is beautiful outside,” Kelsey said. “Why don't we sit around the pool?”

“Sounds good.”

A few minutes later, the four of them were gathered around the pool.

“Hey, that depression is stalled over the Bahamas,” Larry said.

“Hannah, right?” Cindy said.

“Yeah, they're calling it Hannah. Right now, it's still supposed to be heading for the Carolinas. I hope it doesn't turn. Since Andrew, every time it looks like the wind might blow hard they want to evacuate the Keys.”

“That's natural. It's dangerous down here when a really big storm hits.”

“Well, yes, but evacuating…man, I hate it. We don't get tourists for weeks afterward.”

“I don't mind the lack of tourists,” Cindy said. “I just hate it because all the fast-food restaurants close, and we have no electricity, which means no air-conditioning.

“The duplex is high. I think it would take a major storm for us to have to leave here.”

“Nothing is high here,” Larry argued.

“But we're not right on the beach. And when they evacuate…the traffic, oh, Lord!”

“If the storm is over the Bahamas, it will probably go north,” Kelsey said. The pizza was good, she was hungry, but this was strange. She still hadn't shaken the feeling that someone had been in the yard. And when Dane had told Jorge that they needed to talk, Jorge had looked like a man who had been caught at something bad.

And yet the four of them were sitting here talking about the weather.

“A penny for your thoughts,” Larry said to Kelsey.

“They're probably not worth it,” she replied lightly.