Dark Waters (2013) (9 page)

Katherine Plantain hurried to dress for breakfast. She shimmied into new linen pants and wondered if the neighbor’s teenage son had remembered to cut the lawn. She checked her wristwatch: 6:50 a.m.

They’d agreed no cell phones on this vacation, but she’d nurtured that lawn back to life after Ed had removed one of her prized azalea bushes last fall. Damned if all her gardening efforts were going to waste for the sake of a thirty-second phone call. She turned on the phone and noticed she had a message from Anna.

She smiled, then sighed. Thoughts of Anna always brought a pang. She’d failed her in so many ways and had no idea how to make it up to her, or how to fix things. But Anna didn’t need fixing and she’d made it more than clear over the years that she didn’t want her mother’s help. She’d made herself a good life in the States. Had a successful, fulfilling career. Except for that one blip, Anna was the most sensible, most levelheaded person she knew. They all knew who to blame for the blip.

Anna was OK now, and she was also fiercely independent. Katherine put her phone to her ear and listened to the message.
Her knees dissolved. She sank to the bed as her muscles turned to smoke.

Davis was dead?

She expected to feel relief, happiness even, but the image that flickered through her mind was him on his knees the day he’d proposed, and the look of love that had captured her already ensnared heart when he’d begged her to marry him.

Ed stuck his head through the door and she jumped.

“I thought we’d agreed no cell phones?” he chided sternly.

“I was just reminding Nate to mow the lawn.” The lie tripped off her tongue without conscious thought. She struggled to form the words to tell Ed about Davis’s death, but they dissolved, unspoken. A cold wave of something that felt a lot like grief washed over her and pinned her in place with the weight of iron. Her lips refused to move.

She just needed time to process the information,
then
she’d tell Ed. First, she needed to call Anna back, to see if she was OK.

His lips firmed.

“Fine.” With shaking hands, Katherine deleted the message and turned off the phone. “I won’t call him. See?” She went to stow the cell in the side of her suitcase, but Ed shook his head and held out his hand.

“Hand it over. We’re on a technology-free vacation.”

She wanted to roll her eyes, but felt a familiar sense of numbness closing in around her. There were pay phones on the ship, she’d call Anna later. “Fine. But if that grass is d-dead”—she tripped over the word—“I’m ordering new turf when we get back.”

Ed tucked the phone into his satchel and shook his head. “Who would have thought when I married you that you’d turn into a gardening fiend?” He slipped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her brow.

She leaned against him and waited for his presence to calm her. But it didn’t. Instead there was an unexpected pain that she could never reveal to the man who’d saved her when the man she’d loved
had ripped her existence to shreds. Being dead didn’t change the betrayal or the grief, but it sank the knife that little bit deeper.

Tired of her confinement, Anna broke out some cash and decided to hit the convenience store. Chocolate might not cure all that ailed her, but at least it would give her a temporary high that wasn’t dangerous or illegal.

The reality that her father was dead was beginning to sink in. She would never get the chance to repair their relationship. Never get the chance to kiss him good-bye and tell him she loved him—that she’d always loved him.

There was a pain in her chest, just under her heart. It ached.

The sky was clear blue and the trees a dense impenetrable green as she followed the gravel road back the way she’d come last night. The air was sweet with grass pollen, bushes dripping with ripening huckleberries and thimbleberries.

Could she really be in danger in a place like this?

The idea seemed surreal. Staying with an ex-con was surreal. She tried not to think about the fact she was being forced to rely on a man about as trustworthy as her father.

Brent was not the man she’d expected to find, and yet he was exactly the kind of person she needed to help her through this mess. And her father had trusted him. That bond had gone deep.

She walked past the Coast Guard station and turned right along the boardwalk to the store to buy a cold drink. Two men sat on a bench outside the store, watching her curiously. Another guy in crisp black pants and a pale blue uniform shirt stared at her with eyes the color of coal. His face was handsome but harsh. She avoided his gaze and picked up a basket from near the door. The men’s interest unnerved her and she felt the back of her neck itch as if they were talking about her.

She loaded up with chips, chocolate, and cookies. Decided she needed to at least pretend to be an adult and grabbed bread,
cheese, and tea bags. Then she pulled a couple of steaks out of the freezer, picked out two large potatoes, and a bunch of sad-looking broccoli. The idea of preparing a meal appealed to her innate need for control. Brent didn’t want her here and she didn’t want to be here, but at least she could show some basic appreciation for him not throwing her out on her ear. And not raping and murdering her in her bed last night.

She gritted her teeth.

She was sick of being wary of men, of living with the weight of the past strapped around her neck like a giant anvil. All these years later and she was still trying to shake it loose. What would it take to finally move on? To be free of the past?

The guy behind the counter rang up her purchases. “Visiting friends?”

“Uh-huh.” She could see speculation in his eyes, but he didn’t venture any more questions. An older woman, hauling a shopping bag that looked far too heavy for her to handle, called out a good-bye to the guy. Anna eyed the wine section and figured she’d never be able to manage her purchases as it was, then grabbed a bottle anyway. She had all day to walk the half mile back to Brent’s house, and wine would help her get through the meal without succumbing to insanity. Anna counted out her cash and asked for a box to carry everything home.

She hefted her purchases and headed outside. Pretty houses were scattered along the inlet, backed by ubiquitous evergreen forest. Small boats were moored at a variety of jetties and docks of all shapes and sizes. A floatplane bobbed on the water, and a fancy cruiser chugged out of the inlet with a group of fishermen huddled on the deck, sporting big grins of excitement and anticipation. A dark wedge of rock above the water told her the tide was receding and with that came the fresh scent of seaweed—not unpleasant. Massive plate-size starfish glittered in rock crevices, and she could see shoals of tiny fish darting beneath the timbers of the dock.

This was a cute town for a short visit.

She rested her groceries on the railing to watch a seal pop its head out of the water and then disappear again. This is what her father had loved about this tiny community. This, and his best friend Brent.

Perhaps she was finally ready to admit that there was a tiny part of her that was actually jealous of their relationship. A small immature slice of her soul that wished she’d been as close to the man who’d raised her as his prison cellmate was. The fact that the gulf between them since he’d gotten out of prison had been her fault didn’t make it hurt any less.

Hot grief surged up inside and a warm knot formed in her throat. She’d avoided seeing him lately. Told him she was busy with work and canceled at the last moment when she’d been due to visit. Had she subconsciously been punishing him? Or had she just been terrified he’d finally figure out what had happened to her when he’d been locked up, and do something stupid that would get him thrown back in prison? Dark feelings tangled inside her. She should have talked to him. Should have spent more time with him.

Anna drew in a long breath and tried to let it go. Regret would get her nowhere. Her father was dead and she needed to figure out why.

The cry of a seagull drew her back to the scene in front of her. Across the water sat an impressive array of buildings in all shapes and sizes, including a scallop-shaped one that faced the sea.

“That’s the Bamfield Marine Science Center.”

Anna jolted. She hadn’t realized she had company. The older woman from the store stood stroking a small tabby.

Anna had to forcefully clear the frog in her throat to speak. “Looks impressive.”

“It is impressive.” The woman plopped her bag on the boardwalk, juggled a small bunch of tulips, and stuck out her hand to shake. “I’m Laura Prescott.”

Anna shook her hand quickly. A boat was motoring over from the other side of the inlet. She squinted. It was Brent. She eyed her
heavy box and then leaned over the railing, putting two fingers in her mouth to produce a sharp whistle to get his attention. When he looked up, she waved frantically. All eyes swung in her direction and she felt highly conspicuous.

“You know Brent Carver?” the woman, Laura, asked her.

“Yes. It was nice to meet you.” Anna winced as she hefted her box and walked down the narrow gangplank toward Brent, tying up against the dock. When she got down to the boat, he took her groceries with a frown.

“I’ve got plenty of food.” He eyed the massive bars of chocolate and smiled. It disturbed her. “Hop in and find a life jacket.” He picked up a large wrapped canvas. “I just need to mail something.” He loped up the gangplank and said something to the woman who’d been talking to her. To Anna’s surprise, Laura started down the gangplank and headed for the boat. Anna took her bag and helped her climb in.

“I never learn. Every single time I buy more than I can carry. I’ll be getting a car next, just for this side of the inlet.” The woman huffed as she settled herself onto one of the seats.

“You’re a friend of Brent’s?” Anna asked carefully. She couldn’t see him offering a ride to anyone who wasn’t.

Laura snorted. “Not exactly.” Her gentle smile turned cutthroat. “I’m his lawyer.”

Anna’s eyebrows rose. Brent was now banging loudly on the door of a small red building—the post office—beside the store. The guy leaning against the railing in the pale blue shirt said something to him. The exchange didn’t exactly look friendly.

“The old bat who runs the post office just locked the door because she saw Brent coming up the ramp. She wouldn’t know kindness or compassion if it bit her on the butt,” Laura muttered under her breath. At Anna’s confused look, she added, “Brent finds it hard to get served in the local shops. Mind you, he doesn’t exactly make it easy for himself. And Cyrus Kaine has a stick up his ass when it comes to my client.”

Anna guessed Cyrus Kaine was the guy in the blue shirt.

“He’s the Coast Guard captain.” Laura nudged Anna’s arm and the boat rocked. “Better hope we don’t sink, because Cyrus might not rescue us if we’re with Brent.” Her eyes shone with delighted amusement. “Although, he has an eye for a pretty girl so you’ll probably be all right.”

Brent strode down the gangplank with a carefully blank expression on his face, belied by the fire in his eyes.

“And you are…?” Laura asked pointedly.

“Anna.”

“Anna what?” Laser-sharp eyes bored into hers. Everything inside Anna froze.

“Anna Karenina. Drop it, Sherlock.” Brent climbed into the boat without using his hands and stowed the canvas down the side of his seat. He gave Laura a pirate’s grin. “Anna is a personal friend of mine and that’s all you need to know.”

He made it sound like they were lovers, which made sense since she was holed up in his cabin, but she blushed from the tips of her toes to her hairline.

Laura eyes sparkled. “Known each other long?” She wasn’t put off by his briskness or his tone. Anna had a feeling Laura wouldn’t be put off by much.

“Years.” He looked surprised by the word that had escaped, and Anna realized he thought he knew her because of her father. His eyes shot to hers, knowledge alive in their depths. Then a terrible sense of foreboding stole through her. Had her father shown him her letters? She might not have told him everything, but she’d sure as heck told him a lot more than she wanted a stranger to know. Especially a sexy ex-con like Brent.

She looked away, concentrating on the blast of the ocean breeze as they headed around the point and out into Barkley Sound.

Laura held tight to a bunch of tulips that probably wouldn’t survive the wind. The ride was bumpy and had Anna gripping
hard onto the sides. She’d lived by the sea all her young life, but had never been much of a boat person. They motored past Brent’s home, which looked magnificent from the water, and around a corner to a much smaller and more modest cottage on a hill above a short sturdy dock built into the rocky edge of a secluded beach.

Brent docked and tied up the boat. “I don’t know why you had Finn rebuild your dock when you don’t even own a boat.”

“Maybe I just liked having your brother around for some decent company,” Laura said with enough snide in the remark to make Brent smile.

“If you wanted decent company, you shouldn’t have moved to Bamfield.”

“I didn’t know you had a brother,” Anna cut in, surprised.