Accused (21 page)

The two jailers shoved them onto the yacht, ignoring any pain they were inflicting. Biceps opened a door and directed them into a pitch-black corridor.

“In here.” Baldy pointed to another small door.

Before Carly realized what was happening, she was shoved into a closet, Jeff after her. The door closed behind them and a click of the lock sealed the prison. They were plunged into complete darkness.

34

“How bad are you hurt?” Carly strained to discern Jeff’s features in the darkness, but it was impossible.

“I’m sorry. I really got us in a mess, didn’t I?” he lisped through broken teeth.

“You didn’t exactly twist my arm. I would have plunged ahead with or without you. I can’t see how bad your face is.”

“I’ll live.” He laughed weakly and faded into unconsciousness or a deep sleep. She felt his body relax, and in a short time heard slow, labored breathing.

Carly settled in across from Jeff in the tiny jail cell. She drew her knees up to her chest in order to fit comfortably. The small Indiglo light on her watch illuminated the numbers 8:05. She’d left Mark at the hospital three hours ago. She hadn’t given him any indication about how long she’d be. His instructions were merely to call Nathan. She hadn’t told him where she was going, but then she hadn’t known herself at the time. Even if he and Nathan got worried, they’d never know where to look.

The yacht rocked gently. Every so often she could hear and feel it bump against the dock. She couldn’t hear much else. Muffled voices occasionally broke the quiet, but she couldn’t make out what was being said.

Carly tried to focus on possible escapes but knew she couldn’t get Jeff out if he couldn’t leave under his own power. When her thoughts drifted to her mother or Nick, she felt too much like crying.
I’ve got to keep a cop attitude. It’s always too soon to quit.

Five minutes stretched into forty. Carly’s legs cramped in the confined space. She heard more voices and the sound of footsteps walking back and forth past her cell door. Then the yacht’s motor roared to life. Shortly, Carly felt the boat begin to move. She assumed they were pulling away from the dock.

“We’re not in Kansas anymore,” Carly said to herself, startled by the sound of her own voice.
They mean to get rid of us at sea, I bet. I felt more confident docked near land.
She fought the urge to panic. In the academy she’d learned that the cop who gave up first was the cop who died.
Never give up; never stop fighting. I will survive this.
The ability to think clearly was of paramount importance.

Something she’d read that morning when she was in the mountains popped into her mind. It related to being safe in God’s care, and no one being able to take a person out of God’s hand. At the time she thought about her parents’ faith. If they really believed they were constantly being protected and held in God’s hands, no wonder they had peace.

Right now I wish I had Nick’s faith or my mother’s faith. It would be nice to believe there was a God watching over me in this closet.

“God, God.” She mouthed the words and closed her eyes, wishing with all her might she could believe.
God, if you are there, if you are real, I need you. I know I’ve never believed. I need to see things to believe them. Can’t you please show me something? Nathan said you would if I ask. I’m asking.

Tears filled her eyes, and this time she didn’t try to stop them. She hugged her knees and wept.

Somewhere inside, after the tears, she felt better. She wiped her face with her sleeve and took a deep breath, thinking of Burke and Drake.
You zips sure aren’t going to see any tears or weakness.
Her face dry, she sniffed her last sniffle just as the door to her jail cell opened.

“Come on out.” Biceps gave the order in a tone that dared rebellion.

Carly squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light. A salty sea breeze wafted through the open door. She stood, and Biceps jerked her out into the corridor. He shoved her toward the upper deck while Baldy leaned into the closet to rouse Jeff.

Once on deck, Carly saw the lights of the breakwater ahead. The yacht would be out in the channel shortly. She fought to keep her balance on a painful ankle. Jeff looked horrible. The front of his shirt was soaked crimson and his face was pale. But he walked without assistance. The fact that she and Jeff were not bound told her that they were not considered a threat. She hoped to use that to their advantage.

“Should’ve helped me when you had the chance, Edwards.” Drake leaned against the railing, a beer bottle in his hand and a smirk on his face.

Carly ignored him and swept the deck with her eyes, realizing that the “they” she and Nick had wondered about a couple days ago were now accounted for. Beside Drake, Burke sat on a deck chair grinning, Mario Correa next to him. They reminded Carly of cocky thirteen-year-old juvenile delinquents.

“You gave us a good chase, Hanks,” Burke taunted, “but we knew it was just a matter of time. Poking around in things that don’t concern you will always trip you up. Thanks for bringing Officer Edwards to the party.”

“You’ll get caught,” Jeff said, his speech distorted. “The body count is growing, and the trail leads to you.”

“I don’t think so.” Burke’s smug expression made Carly sick to her stomach. “You two sit tight until we reach the perfect spot. We excel at tying up loose ends.”

“Was Nick a loose end?” Carly asked, surprised when Burke laughed.

“Curious to the end. Karl said that would flush you out.” Burke shrugged. “You actually showed up a lot faster than I thought you would.” He checked his watch. “I’ve sent someone to finish the job on him, by the way, and now you and the pesky Mr. Hanks have outlived your usefulness.” He nodded to Biceps.

Carly bristled with the realization that Burke planned to strike Nick while he was hospitalized. But before she could say anything, she and Jeff were pushed into a sitting position by the railing. Taking a deep breath and shoving her fear for Nick down deep, Carly tried to get her bearings in the dark channel. Soon they cleared the harbor, exited the breakwater, and picked up speed, heading across the channel in the direction of Catalina Island.

“Any last words?” Burke prodded Carly.

“What is there to say?” She blew out a breath, not wanting him to see her concern for Nick and pounce. “You’re a low-life murderer. I don’t want to talk to you.”

“I have a question.” Jeff spoke up, surprising Carly with the strength in his voice. “What exactly did Teresa say that made you decide to kill her?”

Burke smiled an oily smile. “Trying to clear your conscience? Wondering if what you and her puzzled out was her undoing?” He paused, very pleased with himself. “Dear Teresa paid an unscheduled visit to my office. The two of you had guessed a great deal. She came to give me a chance to come clean on my own. She claimed to have found religion with you, her knight in shining armor. I laughed in her face. Her death wasn’t really intentional, but it turned out for the best. I can thank you for that.”

He smiled at his coconspirators. “Jackson helped himself to the car before there was a chance to dispose of the body. By stealing the car, he did us a bigger favor than he had the capacity to understand.”

“Why’d you kill him if he helped you?” Carly asked, realizing that Jeff was stalling and wondering what he thought that would accomplish.

“He got greedy.” Burke sipped a drink. “He wanted more for his confession than we were prepared to give. He was easy to eliminate, almost as easy as you two.”

Drake and Correa erupted in laughter.

“And the other kid fries.” Jeff kept them focused on him.

Carly tried to determine how far out they were.

“Better him than me,” Burke said. “Teresa didn’t understand how good I was to her. My business may not be Fortune 500, but it is extremely profitable. I perform a service. The people of Las Playas pay me a lot of money for their narcotics. Other countries pay for the merchandise I provide. The money is then conveniently laundered through the Las Playas redevelopment fund. My business has helped rebuild the city, and it helped Teresa keep her precious mayor job. She and her self-righteous conscience would have destroyed a great deal. I deserve every penny I make.”

The trio toasted their accomplishments.

This information caught Carly’s attention. Las Playas rebuilt by drug money? One of those supposed to be a city savior was insufferably proud of his criminal endeavors. Teresa would have been blown out of the water if she’d exposed Galen. She’d found religion, Burke said. Was it Nick’s God?

Carly remembered Nick telling her that Nathan wanted the truth, even if it meant Londy was guilty. Did Teresa want the truth even though it would cost her job and her image? One thing was for sure—confronting Galen cost her life.

This God of Nick’s asks a lot.

The three criminals began to joke about how Londy would meet his end and how they’d committed perfect crimes.

Jeff leaned close to Carly. “You still swim like a fish?” he whispered.

She nodded.

“Can you make it home from here?”

She shrugged. “What about you?”

“Don’t worry about me. One of us needs to make it.”

Carly started to protest, but Jeff shushed her. “I need to do this, Carly, and you need to get back and tell what you’ve seen and heard,” he pleaded.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Find a way to get over the railing and swim like crazy.” He stared at her and she felt a lump in her throat.

“Jeff—”

“Please,” he cut her off. “Just tell Elaine I love her, and tell everyone I wasn’t dirty.” He squeezed her hand. “It’s all I have left to give.”

He turned away from her, moving his body in front of hers. “You can’t possibly believe you will continue to get away with this,” Jeff yelled, breaking up the celebration.

“I have gotten away with it. When you two hit the water, no more loose ends.”

Anger surged inside Carly. She wanted to wipe the smirk off Burke’s face.
What I wouldn’t give for a solid nightstick and enough room for a good swing.
Thinking about space made her reconsider Jeff’s suggestion. She looked at Baldy and Biceps on either side of her and knew she’d have to act quickly.

“You don’t have any problem at all killing two cops?” Jeff addressed Drake while Carly slid away from him.

“We went through this already. I have no problem at all, but I will have lots of money.”

“And you were supposed to be such a great investigator. What about Harris? Is he dirty too?” Jeff spoke scornfully.

Carly inched along the railing while a plan became clear.

“Nope, Pete is solid and respectable. He doesn’t have the same expensive tastes I do.”

“So what’s the plan now? Shoot us and make us fish bait?” Jeff moved squarely between Carly and Drake. Carly understood he was trying to give her room. Biceps was still close, but his attention was on Jeff.

“Something like that.” Drake pulled his jacket back and exposed the butt of his .45.

Carly saw her chance. In a split second she knew it was her only choice. Ignoring her ankle, she turned and lunged toward the railing. Biceps reacted first and reached out to grab her, but Jeff jumped up and intercepted him.

“Go, Carly!” Jeff yelled.

Planting both hands on the railing, Carly vaulted and swung her legs out and over, clear of the yacht. She fell toward the cold, dark water rushing by below.

35

The crack of gunshots coincided with the shock of hitting the cold water. Numbing chill zinged her senses. Choosing to jump was the only option. She’d rather face the ocean than bullets, and she silently thanked Jeff for running interference. The pain of knowing she’d probably never see him again and the churning frigid water clouded the wisdom of her choice.
There’s no going back. Jeff, your sacrifice will be worth something.

Surfacing for breath, Carly found herself awash in the turbulent wake from the yacht’s engine. She sputtered and coughed. Her eyes stung from the salt water. The yacht moved away at a good speed and was already shrinking in the distance. Teeth chattering from the cold, she watched the lights from the yacht and wondered if they would turn around and come after her.

In a few moments it was obvious they weren’t turning back. The lights grew smaller, and as she treaded water, she tried to gain perspective on just how far out she was. Burke obviously didn’t think much of her chances in the water.

I’ll show you, Burke, and you, Drake—the party is over.
Buffeted by gentle swells as the wake receded, Carly could still see the lights of the harbor bright and strong. She couldn’t be more than a mile or two away from the rocky breakwater at the harbor entrance. Her goal became the stone breakwater wall. Lifeguard patrols were regular.
Somebody will find me if I can make it to the wall.

The water was a good ten degrees cooler than the surf she was used to training in, and the current pulled her away from, not toward, the harbor. It was time to get moving.

Her wet clothes were already starting to drag her down, so she kicked off her boots. Thankfully the water wasn’t rough. She settled into her best training stroke and started for the breakwater.

Carly reminded herself of all the time she’d put into training these past months. A two- or three-mile swim should be a piece of cake. People swam from Las Playas to Catalina all the time, and that was ten times longer than the swim in front of her. She tried not to think about the fact that an entourage of support boats usually accompanied ocean distance swimmers. The only thing she concentrated on was the fact that this was her element.
Water is life.

When she reached a rhythm in her stroke, a place where she was comfortable and a pace she felt she could keep up forever, her body warmed up. Her mind focused on the task at hand, and Carly felt tremendous peace. Over and over she recited a prayer of sorts in her mind.

Lord, if you get me out of this, I’ll believe, I swear.

She remembered her dad telling her he wasn’t afraid of death. He tried to assure her that there was a God and a heaven, and that it was a better place.

I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want to believe a higher power was taking my dad away.
Now, closer to death than she’d ever been, Carly clung to the hope there was a God and he would prove it.

Nick is so sure you’re real, so sure you hear prayers.
Thoughts of Nick quickened her stroke. More than anything she wanted to see him and make sure he was okay. The idea that an assassin could be at his door this very minute terrified her. How trivial the affair and all the hurts and arguments seemed when weighed against life and death. If nothing else, she wanted to be certain Nick knew that she’d forgiven him. Though she’d said as much in the hospital, had he heard?
Oh, God, hear this prayer and watch over Nick.

After what seemed like hours, Carly felt as if she’d been swimming forever and the harbor lights were no closer. She used a buoy just outside the mouth of the harbor as a landmark to swim straight. The flickering light cheered her on. Imagining the buoy loomed closer, she kept swimming.

Fatigue hit like a brick. Carly felt numb with cold, and she began to fear she’d underestimated the distance to be covered. Or worse yet, overestimated her ability. Burke hadn’t given her a second thought. The yacht hadn’t even slowed.
They all must have figured I was done for.
As her doubts grew, her fatigue increased. The cold intensified, and she realized she couldn’t feel her toes.

Hypothermia was a very real threat. The buoy was her only hope. Carly struggled with her stroke now. She tried a resting stroke, but the current made her lose ground. The taste of salt water turned her stomach and made her mouth raw. The ocean was black. Carly knew she could do this swim physically. If she quit, it would be a mental failure. And if she quit, she would die.
So will Nick.
With that thought, new energy coursed through tired muscles.

Finally the buoy was close. With a last burst of strength, she surged toward it.

Suddenly, from under the water, something bumped her leg. Carly didn’t even have the strength to panic. Would she feel teeth biting into her leg?

“So this is it, God? You aren’t real and I’m shark bait,” she croaked.

Her leg was bumped again, and then a dark shape broke the surface in front of her. It was a seal. Carly smiled, but in the back of her mind she wondered if she was delirious with fatigue.

The seal barked and disappeared underwater. He surfaced again near the buoy and barked some more, as if talking to her. Carly was spent, but the seal encouraged her. He climbed onto the buoy and slid off again. His face popped up in front of her, a little closer this time.

She reached for him, but he dove out of her grasp, reappearing once more at the buoy. Back and forth he went, and Carly edged closer to the buoy. Chasing the seal took her mind off her fatigue. The barking was a comfort after the solitude of the ocean.

At last Carly reached the buoy. She grabbed for it, but her hand slipped off the algae and seagull poop that covered the base.

Marshaling her last bit of strength, Carly grabbed again and found something to grip. Resting for a moment, she knew she needed to get out of the water while she could. It was as if the sea was telling her to let go, to slide down into the dark water and rest. Carly wanted rest. She wanted to give in to the grip of darkness. But something propelled her, forced her to work herself out of the water and onto the buoy.

The seal swam round and round the buoy, barking from time to time. Carly lay across the buoy in slime, freezing, and passed out.