Hurricane Bay (30 page)

They returned to the car. Back on the highway, Dane asked Jorge, “You're absolutely sure you were nowhere near that wreck today?”

Jorge looked over at him. “Dane, if I had seen anything, I'd be the first to say so.”

“Okay, so were you, Larry, Nate and Cindy near each other all the time?”

“Sure.”

“You saw them?”

“Of course. Well, not always…but there were only moments when we weren't together.” Jorge spun on him suddenly, angry. “Izzy was so quick to tell you about my activities. Have you talked to him?”

“Obviously.”

Jorge stared ahead. “Maybe you should talk to him some more.”

“Is there something you know that I don't?” Dane asked.

Jorge shook his head in frustration. “I wish there was. Hey! Look—a sheriff's car. There are Gary Hansen and one of his deputies in front of the duplex.”

Dane drove quickly onto the embankment near the front of the duplex. The motor was barely off before he was out of the car and racing toward the front door, his heart thundering with panic.

 

“Dane, hey!” Gary Hansen called out.

Dane looked like a thundercloud, all dark-haired menace as he walked toward the porch. Kelsey looked up as he came toward them.

“What the hell happened?” Dane demanded.

“The folks here think they might have had a visitor,” Hansen said.

“A visitor?” Dane's eyes were fixed on Kelsey.

“I thought there might have been someone in the yard. Then, when we were eating our pizza out on the patio, Nate thought he saw something, so we all ran out front, where he and Larry thought they saw a truck that might have been Andy Latham's.”

Dane stared at Gary. He didn't say a word; he didn't have to. Gary quickly answered his unspoken question.

“Dane, dammit, I told you, I uphold the laws, I don't make them. And so far all he's done is punch Nate and maybe trespass.”

“He has to be picked up,” Dane said.

“I've got an APB out on him,” Gary assured him. “We can bring him in on suspicion of trespassing, something like that. But if you want me to hold him, dammit, you've got to come up with something for me to hold him
on.
”

“Bring him in,” Dane said, running his fingers through his dark hair. “Bring him in, and I'll come up with cause to hold him.”

“You'd better. Because I haven't got squat.”

Gary started down the walk toward his car. Dane stared at Kelsey, and she stared back.

“Pack up a few things.”

“What? Why?”

“You're coming to my house.”

Kelsey frowned. “Dane, Larry is here, and Cindy is right next door.”

“Please,” he managed to say quietly, gritting his teeth. “Come to my house.”

Kelsey stared at him. Scary. She had slept with him last night, and now she didn't know if she trusted him or not.

No…

She did trust him. As much as she trusted anyone.

And still…

“Kelsey, please.”

She didn't want to be afraid the way she had been earlier. Seeing a face in a window, wondering if it was real or just a product of her overexcited imagination.

“Come in for a few minutes.” She looked past him, frowning, and saw that Jorge was right behind him. She stared at the two of them. “Is everything all right with you two?”

“Just fine,” Dane said curtly.

“Are you going to explain?” she asked them.

“No,” they said in unison.

“Great. And I'm supposed to go sleep at your house,” she said to Dane.

Jorge set a hand on her arm. “It's all right.”

“I have your blessing?” she inquired, a half smile curving her lips.

Jorge grinned and nodded.

“Great. Well, then, you two go on in and explain yourselves to the others, have some pizza. Beer and sodas are in the refrigerator.” She stared at Dane, whose dark eyes never gave away a damn thing. She exhaled. She was uneasy. No, flat-out scared. But, right or wrong, she wanted to be with him.

“I guess I'll go pack a few things.”

A
s Kelsey walked back through the apartment, she heard Nate, Larry and Cindy discussing Andy Latham and wondering why he was so convinced that one of them was throwing dead fish on his property. They were clustered together in the living room, and had moved on from pizza and beer to coffee and Oreos.

“Is Gary Hansen going to do anything?” Larry asked her, stretching to get a kink out of his neck.

“Yes, he's going to try to pick him up, and he can probably hold him for about twenty-four hours, but he can't really keep him unless we can come up with something on him. By the way, Jorge and Dane are back.”

The announcement was unnecessary, because by that time the group could clearly see Jorge and Dane walking in behind her.

“Did you eat all the pizza?” Jorge asked.

“No, the leftovers are in the refrigerator,” Cindy said. “Want me to heat it up for you?”

“I can manage,” Dane said.

“Did you two duke it out or something?” Nate asked.

Kelsey went to the bedroom and closed the door behind her. They could figure it out between themselves, she decided. Whatever was going on, Dane and Jorge had decided not to tell her.

She sat down again in front of the drawer where she had been digging through Sheila's things. She separated out the papers she had already gone over and started leafing through some of the others. She came to a picture that looked as if it had been drawn by a small child. It had been, of course. Sheila's name was scrawled at the bottom right.

The drawing was done with the simple strokes of a grade school art class. Arms and legs were little more than sticks.

What was disturbing was that the picture, despite its simplistic form, was very real. It depicted a man and a child, his arm around the little girl. Not around her shoulders or her waist. Lower. His smile was little more than a slash of color, and yet it captured a strange sense of evil. The girl was clearly afraid of the man. Studying the crude crayon drawing, Kelsey bit her lip. She wondered if anything she was seeing could prove that Andy Latham had been a child molester.

She doubted that either Sheila's diary or her old drawing would be enough in a court of law, not without Sheila here to do something about it. Gary Hansen knew just as well as they did that Andy Latham should be locked up, but like he had said, he didn't make the laws, he just upheld them.

She stashed the picture, the rest of the papers and Sheila's diary in an overnight bag and grabbed a few more things. She walked back out to the living room with the bag packed.

“What's that?” Larry asked in surprise, an Oreo halfway to his lips.

Dane was seated in the armchair next to the sofa. He had a large coffee cup in his hands. He looked at Kelsey over the rim of it and replied to Larry. “Kelsey is going to stay with me at Hurricane Bay tonight.”

“Oh,” Larry said.

They all stared at Kelsey.

“That didn't take very long,” Larry murmured.

“Well, I guess we've all known all along that there was…something between them,” Cindy said.

“Still, three days,” Larry said, looking at Kelsey with a shake of his head.

“Three days,” Nate echoed.

“Three days—and how many years?” Jorge said.

“I guess I just never realized before that Kelsey and Dane knew each other so quite well,” Larry said.

Larry looked at Kelsey, still confused. “Did Sheila know?”

“Did Sheila know what? That I'm going to stay at Hurricane Bay tonight because I'm spooked by what happened here?” Kelsey asked, unable to repress a certain irritation that she seemed to have three extra parents judging her actions.

“About you and Dane,” Larry said with a sigh.

“There wasn't—isn't—any ‘me and Dane,”' Kelsey said. “I'm just sleeping at Hurricane Bay tonight.”

“It's because he thinks one of us tried to kill you with a speargun,” Nate said suddenly, angrily. “And I guess you think so, too.”

“No!” Kelsey protested. “Nate, that's not it at all. I'm just a little uneasy about Andy Latham or someone sneaking into the yard and watching me.”

“I'm here, too, you know,” Larry said.

“And I live in the other half of the house,” Cindy added.

“You could have come to my house,” Nate said, eyeing her levelly.

“I'm glad I'm not in the middle of this one,” Jorge murmured.

Nate kept staring at Kelsey as he said, “She's always been in love with him.” He offered her a rueful smile.

Kelsey groaned, dropping the bag and staring at the lot of them. “I'm here, right here, you don't need to talk around me. Dane made me the first offer, so I'm just going over to Hurricane Bay for the night. I'll figure it all out from there tomorrow. Is that all right?”

Larry looked at Nate. “He was in the armed forces. And he's a private investigator.”

“Carries a big gun,” Nate agreed.

“Larry, if you're feeling protective, I may just stay on this side tonight, in Kelsey's bed,” Cindy said.

“Sheila's bed,” Kelsey corrected.

None of them said anything, their silence seeming to indicate that they shared her fear that something bad had happened to Sheila. No one even tried to suggest that Sheila might show up that night.

“There's a plan. Cindy, who can bench-press twice her own weight, is going to let me feel protective,” Larry said.

Jorge crumpled his pizza plate in his hand. “Well, I know where I'm sleeping—in my own bed. I'll wish you all good night.”

He nodded around the group, then looked at Dane, who was just walking in from the kitchen. Kelsey was both baffled and curious. Dane nodded back at Jorge, as if the two of them had come to some new understanding that went beyond anything she could begin to comprehend.

It was nice, of course, since they had been friends for a very long time. But it was also annoying as all hell. She felt very much on the outside.

“I guess I'm going, too,” Nate said, rising.

“And we'll be on our way. I'm about to drop,” Kelsey said.

Nate was standing behind her. “Oh, yeah. I'll bet you're going right to sleep,” he said softly.

She stared at him, frowning. “Do you remember that we didn't sleep at all last night? We came rushing back here because Latham decked you.”

“Thanks for the concern,” he said. He started out the door, then turned back. “Hey, Larry, if Latham really is getting freaky, you two do need to watch it, being here. Make sure you lock up tight.”

“We'll do a thorough inspection of all windows and doors before going to sleep,” Cindy assured him.

“Of course,” Larry said, “we could all go to Hurricane Bay and be safe.”

“Except that we're not all invited,” Jorge said. “Good night.” He headed out for his car.

“Good night, and, Cindy, Larry, really do lock up,” Kelsey said.

“I'm on it,” Cindy assured her.

Nate didn't say goodbye; he just watched Kelsey as she climbed into the Jeep beside Dane. As they left, Cindy and Larry waved from the door. Nate at last lifted a hand.

When the others had left, Cindy looked at the two men. “It's not actually a surprise.”

“You mean Kelsey going off with Dane?” Larry said.

“Of course. Nate, you're the one who used to tell me all the time that you thought something went on between them years ago.”

“Yeah,” Nate said.

“So why didn't they stay together?” Larry asked.

“Who knows? Maybe Kelsey felt she had betrayed Sheila or something like that.”

Larry made a snorting sound. “How could anyone betray Sheila?” he asked.

“Poor Larry.” Cindy put her hand on his arm. “I know she hurt you, but…but I think sometimes that she just must have been…is…so messed up inside that she couldn't help it.” She watched him, hesitating for a minute. She was about to make a confession. “I…could tell you…”

“What?” Larry asked her.

“Never mind. Let's take a walk through my place, check it out, lock it up and come back here.”

“You think someone might have broken into your place?” Nate asked.

“I don't know, but I'll feel better if we look around. I'm like Kelsey, just feeling a little spooked.”

“Whatever makes you happy,” Larry said.

“Can't hurt,” Nate told Cindy. “Maybe I'll hang around on the couch tonight. We'll all be here then. Would that make you feel better?”

Larry groaned. “Just because I'm usually in a suit doesn't mean I haven't got balls, you know.”

Cindy laughed. “Larry, we're not questioning your manly credentials.”

“Right,” Nate said. “Actually I might stay just because I'm spooked myself, and I'm not sure I want to drive home alone. I had Dane set up cameras and stuff for security at work, but hell…we haven't locked our doors around here for years. Larry, you can protect me, too.”

“Cool,” Larry said. “Let's start with Cindy's place, then.”

They locked the door to Sheila's place, and Cindy unlocked the door to the other side of the house.

“Want us to hang out in the living room?” Larry asked.

“No, I want you to follow me every step of the way.”

They did. They went through every room, checked out every closet, then made sure every door was locked. Just as an extra precaution, they shoved a mop handle against the sliding door in the back bedroom that corresponded with the one where Kelsey had been sleeping. Larry found a broken broom to use for the same purpose off the dining and living area.

“Happy?” Larry asked.

“I am,” Cindy said.

“Okay, now we go through the other side,” Nate said.

They walked through the house together, then secured the doors, taking extra care with the back where Kelsey had slept and where Cindy would sleep that night.

“Am I crazy?” Nate murmured, looking out the window before closing the drapes. “Are we all crazy? Kelsey might have seen a head—or she might have seen a lizard. I might have seen a flash of someone—or it might have been my imagination. We might have seen Latham's car—and we might not have seen it.”

“We're all overtired,” Cindy said. “We've hardly had any sleep at all.”

“All right, well…there's my bunk,” Nate said, indicating the couch. “I guess you two are beat.”

“Exhausted,” Cindy agreed. “But…not quite ready to sleep. I shouldn't have had that coffee. I'm wired.”

“I know how to cure that,” Nate said.

“How?” Cindy asked.

“Let's have another beer.”

“Great. Then we can sit around and talk about old times,” Larry said dryly.

“If we have two beers, who knows what I may wind up telling you,” Cindy said.

“Something scandalous?” Larry asked.

“Low down and dirty,” Cindy said.

“I'm on my way for the beers,” Nate told her.

 

“I wish you would tell me what went on with Jorge,” Kelsey said. “You came in the first time as if you wanted to throttle him. You came back in later as if you were his best buddy.”

“I wouldn't say that,” Dane told her, pulling onto the road to Hurricane Bay. “Jorge just explained a few things, that's all. No one is off the hook yet.”

“Off the hook? Dane, I know that I've been the one pressing to find out what happened to Sheila, but I think you're becoming paranoid.”

“Kelsey, have you forgotten that someone shot at you with a speargun today?”

She turned in the seat, staring at him. “There were lots of boats out there today. You didn't even catch the names of all of them. And let's face it, most of the problems down here are caused by tourists who don't know what they're doing. And if someone around here is guilty of any of this, it has to be Andy Latham.”

“I'm sure he
is
guilty of something. But that doesn't explain a lot of the things that have been going on. I didn't really look at all the boats out there today—I was too anxious to hook up with all of you—but I think I would have noticed Latham's boat. It's a floating cesspool.” Dane shook his head. “Besides, I can't see Andy Latham having the intelligence to track you down, take a speargun and manage to hide himself so well.”

“If he is the Necktie Strangler, he's certainly demonstrated his intelligence,” Kelsey said. “He's managed to dispose of his victims so that they don't surface until it's almost impossible for the police to get evidence from the bodies.”

Dane brought the car to a halt and turned off the engine. “All right, I'll grant you that.”