The Selkie Spell (Seal Island Trilogy) (31 page)

“What the hell is going on here?” Caitlin demanded.  “Finn just told me you’d been arrested!”

“It was a misunderstanding,” Dominic said tightly, looking back at his daughter.  “Where’s Tara?  I thought she was with you?”

“She was.”  Kelsey pulled back.  “She disappeared.”

“When?” Dominic searched his daughter’s face.  “Where were you?”

“On the pier.”

Dominic’s eyes snapped up to Cory’s face.  “He took her in a boat.”

Cory reached for his phone, calling for backup.

“Dominic,” Caitlin asked, her voice edging toward panic.  “Where’s Glenna?”

“Looking for Tara.”

“Who took her?” Kelsey cried.

“Caitlin,” Dominic pushed to his feet.  “I need you to watch Kelsey.  Don’t let her out of your sight.”

“Who took Tara?” Kelsey cried as Caitlin took her hand, pulling her back.  “Dad!” she shouted after him as he ran out the door, jumping as it slapped shut behind him.

“Caitlin?” she said, lifting her eyes to the older woman’s just as an explosion outside reverberated through the empty barroom.  “What was that?”

***

“You’re not coming with me,” Glenna shouted over the engine of the ferry when Sam started untying Donal’s boat from the piling.

“Yes, I am.”

“You’ve done
enough
, Sam!”  She wrenched the line from his hand.  “You tracked Tara to this island!  You told her husband where she is!  If anything happens to her
you
are responsible!”

“Then let me make it right.”

“It’s too late for that!”  Glenna jumped down into the boat.  “You can’t just switch sides at the last minute!”

“Why not?”  He jumped down beside her.

“Because you’ve already played your part!  You led him here!”

“Let me help you.  Let me fix this.”  Sam grabbed the keys from her hand.  “I want a second chance.”

“At what?”

“At life.  At everything.”

“It’s too late for that, Sam.”

“It’s never too late,” he said, shoving the keys in the ignition.  But his hand froze on the throttle when the earsplitting crash—like a boat splintering into a thousand pieces—resounded through the harbor.

***

Tara dove from the boat, slicing into the water. The sound of splintering fiberglass rang in her ears as she kicked, swimming deeper away from the wreck.  Dark shapes moved beside her, pushing her toward land.

She surfaced, gasping for air, and dove back under.  She tried to veer right, toward the touristy beaches, but creatures moving beside her pushed her left, toward the spit of sand below her cottage.

She swam faster, harder, trying to outsmart the seals, but they surrounded her, forcing her back to her own more isolated beach.  She surfaced again, sucking air into her lungs and cried out when a hand closed over her ankle, dragging her back.

She kicked at the hand, clawing at the waves.  But the ocean swallowed her screams as he held her under.  Her lungs burned, desperate for air.  She reached for the surface, that glittering blanket of light, and his fingers slid from her ankle.

She pulled a precious mouthful of air into her lungs just as her head was jerked back and those fingers closed around her throat.

***

Caitlin ran into the street, colliding with Liam.  “What was that sound?”

“A boat,” Liam explained, leaning a hand on the wall of the pub to catch his breath.   “A boat crashed into the rocks.  I was up at Tara’s cottage and I saw it happen.  The whole thing just smashed apart.”

Caitlin put a hand to her heart.  “Was it one of ours?”

Liam shook his head.  “It looked like some kind of fancy power boat.  I couldn’t see who was in it.”

Caitlin looked at the crowds of tourists pointing out to the rocks and the large pieces of the boat floating up to the surface.  “Was it heading out of, or into, the harbor?”

“Into.”

Kelsey gripped Caitlin’s hand.  “Do you think it could have been Tara?”

“Tara?”  Liam’s eyes snapped up to Caitlin’s face.  “What do you mean?  Isn’t she in the pub?”

Caitlin shook her head, grimly.  “She’s gone.”

“Gone?”

“Just a little while ago.  In a boat, we think.”

Liam gazed out at the crash, where several smaller boats were gathering around the rocks, searching for survivors.  He didn’t have to say what they were both thinking. 
No one could have survived that impact.
  His gaze slid back to her face.  “Where’s Dom?”

“He went after her.  So did Glenna.”

“Kelsey,” Caitlin said softly, kneeling down so they were eye to eye.  “How would you like to go back inside and pick out a story for me to read to you?”

“I don’t want to read a story!  I want to find Tara!”

“A lot of people are looking for her right now.  Including the police.  But it might take some time.”  Her gaze slid back to Liam’s.  “The best thing we can do right now is stay out of the way.”

“I’m not going to stay out of the way anymore!”  Kelsey twisted out of her reach.  “Look what happened last time I stayed out of the way!  Tara disappeared and my dad got arrested!”

Liam grabbed Caitlin’s elbow, pulling her back to her feet.  “Dominic got arrested?”

“Yes.  And I’m still a little shady on the why.  But it seems to be over now.”

“He got arrested because he tried to stop them from coming after Tara!” Kelsey shouted.  “That’s
why
she ran away!   The police don’t want to help her!  They want to take her away!  We can’t let them take her away!”

“We’re not going to let them take her away,” Caitlin said.

“If they take her away she’ll never find the pelt, the selkie will never be set free, and she’ll never get to marry my dad!”

“What?” Liam stared at her.

Kelsey stomped her foot.  “Don’t you know
anything
?  Tara’s the descendent!  She’s the one who has to find the pelt!  And I know where it is!  We were going to find it today. 
Together
.  But nobody would let me leave the house!  And my dad’s going to ask Tara to marry him.  I know because I found the ring.  I was only mad about it this morning because he didn’t tell me first!”

Caitlin dropped back to her knees.  Her mind reeled, but she’d deal with one thing at a time.  “You know where the pelt is?”

“Yes!”

“Where?” Liam demanded.

“It’s under the roses!”

When they both stared at her, she blew out a frustrated breath, spun on her heel and ran into the pub.  She came back out several seconds later with a book in her hands.  “See,” she said, shoving it at Liam.  “It’s just like in the story.  The prince had to get through a hedge of roses to wake the princess.  If my dad is the prince and Tara is the princess, the pelt
has
to be under the roses.”

Liam took the book from Kelsey’s hands.  His blood hummed as he flipped through the glossy pages, his fingers tracing the picture of the roses creeping like a wall around the castle, around the sleeping princess. 
It couldn’t be that simple.  Could it?

But wasn’t it always that simple with fairy tales?  Wasn’t the simplest clue always hidden, just beneath the surface, never too hard for anyone to find?

Liam held out his hand to Kelsey.  “What are we waiting for?”

***

Cold hands slid away from Tara’s throat and she choked, gasping for air.  The muscles in her arms burned.  Her legs ached.  She could hear his strained breathing behind her, feel his arms wrapping around her stomach now, jerking her back toward him.  She kicked, tripping over the sandy bottom.

The sandy bottom?
  She fell, stumbling back into the surf.  His arm hooked around her, lifting her out of the water, dragging her from the waves.  She raked her nails over the hand that clamped over her mouth, the arm cutting off her air.  Her eyes searched the deserted beach and she spotted the cliff path, the one that led up to her cottage.  She recognized the caves—gaping mouths of slick, black limestone—as he yanked her toward them.  She heard the seals barking frantically from the water, calling out to her, as he pulled her up, onto the rocks.

She fought him, struggling, her nails digging into his flesh.  His voice—a low, terrifying growl in her ear—hitched when his foot slipped.  He tripped, losing his grip for a split second.  She jerked free.  Only to be dragged back by her wrist, her head snapping around like a doll’s.  Anger poured from his throat in a violent rage.  She cried out as the back of his hand slammed into her face.

***

“Are you sure this was his boat?” Glenna cried when Sam cut the engine next to the wreck.

“No, but it could be.”  Sam threw his leg over the side of the boat.

Glenna grabbed his arm.  “What are you doing?”

“I’m going in.”

The boat rocked in the choppy water, pushing them toward the rocks.  “You can’t go in there!”

“Why not?”

“Because we don’t have time to search for another person!”

Sam threw his other leg over the side of the boat and jumped into the frigid water.  “I’m a strong swimmer.”

Glenna watched him disappear under the surface and turned, racing to the other side of the boat when she spotted Dominic standing at the bow of the approaching police boat, his eyes raking the surface of the water.  “Dominic,” she called out over the engine.  “We don’t even know if this was her—”

He pushed off the bow, diving into the water.

Glenna squeezed her eyes shut. 
There was no way. No way
anyone
could have survived this crash. 
She heard the splash as Sam surfaced.  “Did you see anything?”

“No,” he shouted, treading water.  “Nothing.”

Glenna’s eyes combed the surface, scanning for something, anything that would tell her if Tara had been on this boat.  She heard Sam fill his lungs with air, watched him dive back under. 
What were they going to do if they couldn’t find anything?  If there wasn’t even anything left to find?

She leaned over the rail, watching the two men dive, reaching for splintered pieces of wood and torn seat cushions that floated toward her.  She heard the raised voices on the other side of the rocks, heard the officers calling out to each other over their motors as more boats arrived.  She was pulling a wedge of wood from the water when a hand—Sam’s hand—shot out from under the water and grabbed it from her.

He slung an arm over the side of the boat, working a knotted chain of glittering silver off the nail protruding from the end.

When he held it up to her and Glenna spied the silver whistle dangling from the end of the chain, her blood ran cold.

“Dominic!” Glenna cried with he surfaced a few yards away from them.  “Was this Tara’s?”

Sam held it up and Dominic sliced through the water, grabbing it from him.

Glenna watched his face pale at the recognition.  Hooking an arm over the side of the boat, Dominic closed his fist over the chain and his murderous eyes locked on Sam’s.  But he froze as a single frightened cry shot out over the water.

Tara!
  In a single fluid motion, he pulled himself up, out of the water and into the boat.  He saw the seals, a black wall of them, gathered around the cave by her beach.  He tore the keys from Glenna’s hand and shoved the keys in the ignition.

Glenna raced to the other side, helping Sam climb back into the boat as Dominic slammed down hard on the throttle and they shot off, over the water.  Breathing hard, Sam sagged back against the side of the boat, his soaking wet arm hooked through Glenna’s.

“I probably don’t need to tell you this,” Glenna breathed over the scream of the motor.  “But if anything happens to her, he
will
kill you.”

“Great.”  Sam lifted his eyes to the sky just as the black clouds raced in, blotting out the sun.  “Thanks for the heads up.”

***

Tara woke in the darkness, her cheek pressed into a rock, her shoulder twisted painfully against the cave wall.  The ground beneath her was cold and wet.  She heard the faint sound of dripping water and the ocean was an echo in her head.  Dazed, she tried to sit up.

Cold hands pushed her down.

Tara blinked, disoriented.  Her vision blurred, then focused, and when her gaze locked on a pair of brown eyes, the color of belt leather, she let out a small cry.  Her palms scraped over the cave floor, reaching for the walls.

She could see the ocean, a silver reflection through the opening of the cave.  She could see the seals, bobbing on the surface.  She heard them crying, calling out to her.  If she could only reach one of them.

She screamed when his hand fisted in her hair.

“What’s the matter, Sydney?”  He jerked her head back.  “You think if you scream loud enough, someone’s going to rescue you?”