Stranded (12 page)

He stepped back from the grouping of evergreens. So that was Darcy St. James. Strange how a grown man could be frightened of such a little lass. Luckily he was in charge, and she didn't frighten him in the least. In fact, if she chose to continue her pursuit, he'd take great pleasure in teaching her a woman's rightful place. For now he'd simply focus on damage control. Fortunately the traps he'd set to ward off curious interlopers had done their job.

Phillip had claimed he was looking for a secluded spot for his morning ritual, but clearly he'd heard the boat, heard him and his men talking, but the trap had kept him from seeing anything. And nearly losing a leg would no doubt prevent future snooping. Chef Phillip was down for the count. The man should thank him, really. His hacked-up ankle would heal a lot faster than a bullet to the head.

Climbing back on his outboard, he lit a cigarette and idled away from shore. It was ridiculous the mistakes he had to cover, the people he had to punish simply because they couldn't follow basic instructions. It was time he found a new crew. His men on the
Bering
just weren't cutting it anymore.

“What was that all about?” Landon asked, his grin enormous as Gage bent to take inventory of their gear. He needed to see if anything could be of use in the retrieval.

Gage had wondered how long it would take Landon to ask. Best to keep his answer light. No need for Landon to know about the pulsating energy pinging through him. “Just trying to warm us up a bit. Nice timing by the way.”

Landon smirked. “A little payback for all the interruptions when I was courting your sister.”

“Brother's right. Have to give the suitor a hard time.”

“Uh-huh.” Landon glanced over at Darcy sitting by the fire. “Is that what you're doing here? Courting Darcy?”

“Don't read more into it than there was.” He stood, having collected all the gear he could.

Landon frowned. “Meaning?”

Really?
Landon was going to press. That was typically Piper's job. “It's complicated.”

“Trust me,” Landon chuckled. “I've been there, bro.” His laughter settled. “Can I give you a piece of advice?”

Gage arched a brow. “That depends.”

Landon didn't bother asking on what. He just smiled and said, “Don't fight it.”

Easy for him to say. He didn't understand. Gage's feelings for Darcy had taken him from the brink of wanting to throttle her to the terror of nearly losing the woman he loved. . . .

He hung his head. Despite his stiffest measures to avoid it, he'd fallen in love with Darcy St. James, but almost acting on it had been beyond stupid. Instead of giving Landon a hard time, he ought to be thanking him for preventing him from making what would have been the dumbest mistake of his life.

“Chief's here,” Jake announced.

“Great.” Gage moved to greet him.

“Chief Wyatt Mueller.” The slender, bowlegged man stepped forward. “Y'all can call me Wyatt.”

“Gage McKenna. My company's LFA out of—”

“Yancey,” Wyatt said, cutting in. “I'm told your family aided in a serious search and rescue we had about eight months back.”

“That's right. The Williams boy.”

“I was still up in Anchorage then, but everyone round here speaks highly of you and your family.”

“That's always good to hear.”

A second man stepped forward. Taller. Younger. Dark hair. “Good to see you again, Gage.”

“Travis.” Gage shook the man's hand.

Travis gestured to the two men coming up behind him. “You remember Gary Wade and Hollace Kincaid?”

“Sure do. Good to see you guys again.” Gary and Hollace had worked SAR with them on the Williams kid's rescue. “You all remember Jake and Landon?”

“Of course,” Travis said, greeting them.

“Deputy Grainger.” Wyatt stepped forward. “Thanks for the call.”

“Call me Landon, please, and I wish we could have met under better circumstances.”

“Such is the life of a law official.” Wyatt sighed.

Travis lifted his chin. “Wyatt said you found a body?”

“Yes. Darcy's kayak flipped.” He gestured toward her as she made her way over to them, holding tight to the sweats threatening to slip from her tiny frame.

Travis dipped his head. “Sorry to hear that, ma'am.”

“Thanks, but I'm fine. Thanks to Gage, here, of course.”
Her blue eyes met his, and a wealth of passion stirred inside him. This was beyond bad.

“Can you tell me what happened then?” Wyatt asked.

“I got thrust into the sea caves. When Gage cut me loose from the kayak, I saw it.”

She was trying to be brave, but Gage didn't miss the unmistakable quiver in her jaw. She was terrified. How could he just leave her shivering like that?

With a grimace, he moved to her side, wrapping a reassuring arm about her waist. She quickly burrowed deeper into his hold.
Do not focus on how good she feels in your arms.

A look of amusement passed between Landon and Jake, but he ignored them.

“Saw what exactly, ma'am?” Wyatt asked.

“A person. I mean a body or . . . what was left of it.” A tremor shot through her, and he tightened his hold, rubbing his hand along her arm.

Wyatt turned his attention to Gage, the question clear in his weathered brown eyes.

“The remains are mostly submerged, wedged between the rocks.”

Travis sighed. “That's where they usually end up.”

Darcy frowned. “They?”

“The bodies.”

“I don't understand. There have been other bodies found down there?”

Wyatt scratched his nose. “I'm afraid so. Not often, mind you, but we've had a couple white-water rafting accidents where someone goes overboard and gets sucked into the wash. And then there are the ocean floaters that get tugged in.”

“Ocean floaters?” she asked, her voice cracking slightly.

“Someone falls overboard from a ship or boat in the area. If not rescued or quickly retrieved, they could end up getting sucked into the wash.”

“So this body . . . ?”

“Probably falls under one of those categories,” Wyatt said.

“I'm guessing the remains are pretty smashed up?” Travis asked.

“Yes, but still retrievable.”

“All right. We've got our gear in the boat. Let's get started.”

Darcy waited on shore with Landon, Chief Mueller, and Travis while Gage, Jake, and the two local SAR men—Gary and Hollace—got to work. With safety ropes anchored to shore, Gage and Jake took lead in diving back under the water—this time fully protected from the frigid water temperatures in dry suits that local SAR had provided. Gary and Hollace braced against the boulders just out of reach of the vortex, ready to help take the body from Gage and Jake as they surfaced.

Wind slapped Darcy's face as she waited, pacing the length of the shore nearest the hole. What seemed an eternity later, Jake emerged, pulling an orange body bag behind him. Gary reached to assist, Hollace helping from behind as they heaved the body onto the boulders. Gage emerged at the tail end of the bag, and her heart settled to see him back above the water's surface.

With great care amidst the harsh surroundings, the men, working together, managed to load the body onto Wyatt's boat. Once the job was done, the men all sat back and exhaled.

Retrieval looked like hard work. Frigid water temps,
unforgiving winds, lifting dead weight against a surging current, not to mention righting and retrieving her kayak along with her soaked pack—not that it would do her much good in its current state.

She was proud of Gage. Proud of the work he did with SAR. It showed his heart for helping others.

“Darcy, you ride back with Wyatt and the boys,” Gage said, taking a sip of the bottled water Travis had brought for them all.

“What about the rest of you?”

“We'll kayak.”

They had to be exhausted.

“We can trail them behind the boat,” Wyatt said. “No sense expending any more energy today.”

Gage looked at Jake and Landon, and both nodded.

“Thanks,” Gage said. “We'd be much obliged.”

Darcy sat quietly at the ship's stern as they headed back to Eagle Cove.

Jake kept his focus on the kayaks, making sure their equipment remained secure as they maneuvered the narrow sections of the river.

Landon stood at the bow with Wyatt, the two deep in conversation.

Gage sank down on the bench beside her, watching the wind streaming through her now-dry hair. “You holding up okay?”

“Jake said the body wasn't female.” Relief clung to her voice.

“Yes, it's unlikely—and it looked like the body has been in the water a long time.” It was hard to tell, though. While
primarily submerged in the frigid water—which helped delay decomposition—the body had been battered by the waves and surf surge washing in from the ocean. The head—above water—didn't have much left to it, which was a pretty strong indicator the remains weren't those of Darcy's friend. It took more than a few days for the bugs to get that close to bone. But he'd feel better once the M.E. made an official determination.

He leaned over, nudging her shoulder with his. “Do you want to talk about it?” She was clearly shaken.

She pulled Jake's dry fleece tighter around her. “I doubt you want to talk about what I want to talk about.”

“Huh?” His brows pinched in confusion. “What is it you want to talk about?”

She bit her bottom lip and looked up at him. “The tattoo.” She spoke so softly he barely heard her over the waves sloshing against the boat's hull.

The woman had nearly drowned and had discovered a badly battered corpse, and what held her attention was
his
tattoo?

He shifted, his gaze fixed on the ocean. “What about it?”

“I'm guessing they are Tucker's footprints.”

He nodded, something in his heart seizing at his boy's name.

“That's precious.”

He reclined, shifting his weight away from her, trying to create some distance, at least spatially. He had to. The unbridled emotions of the day finally settling, his brain was kicking back in. There was no way he could risk his heart. Not for Darcy—not after she'd held out on him. How could she go on his excursion without telling him she couldn't swim? Didn't she understand the risk that posed to everyone involved?

And what else might she be holding back? Despite his
feelings for her, he knew, when it came down to it, he needed a woman he could trust—a woman who would be up-front with him no matter what. That was non-negotiable. Otherwise he was walking in blind, and he knew, from agonizing experience, that only led to disaster.

Gage spotted his sisters sitting on a pier bench as Travis steered the boat into an open slip in Eagle Cove's harbor. The
Bering
sat anchored on the opposite side of the marina, people littering the decks to see the commotion below.

Piper and Kayden stood at their approach and moved to greet them.

Landon hopped from the boat and tied the rope to the pylon.

Piper rushed toward him and engulfed him in a hug. “Any idea who it was?”

“According to Jake, it's not Darcy's friend,” he whispered.

“What do you mean ‘according to Jake'?”

Gage rubbed the back of his neck. “Jake said the remains are male, adult, and have been in the water too long for it to be Darcy's friend.”

“Jake?” Kayden said. “How would he know?”

Gage shushed her as Darcy stepped from the boat. “You want her to think it's her friend?”

“Of course not, but Jake's hardly an expert. We shouldn't assign any validity to what he says on the matter.” She shifted her gaze to Landon, who'd worked numerous crime scenes.

Landon shrugged. “I haven't seen the remains. Jake and Gage bagged the body before bringing it to the surface to prevent any further contamination. Chief Mueller's calling Cole in to assist me in running a full crime-scene analysis of the cave. Maybe we'll get lucky.”

“I know Cole's the best,” Kayden said, “but I'm here, and I've worked numerous underwater retrievals and assessments before.”

“I know, but Cole runs the team, and besides, you're needed on the excursions. I wasn't even supposed to be here, remember? So my absence from the excursions won't make any difference. Yours would.”

“Landon's got a point,” Gage said.

Kayden sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

Gage shook his head. She was disappointed because she thought she was missing out on the fun. Searching a sea cave for crime-scene evidence was hardly fun, in his opinion—it was thorough, painstaking work—but Kayden had unique interests. For him, nothing was better than sea kayaking, and he was eager to get back to it. That was, if Mullins wasn't about to fire their excursion team.

A man rolled a gurney down the gangway. He lifted his chin in greeting to Wyatt and his men and introduced himself to the rest as the town coroner, Nick Saunders. “Winters is on his way over now.”

“Winters?” Landon asked.

“He's the new M.E. over on Dutch Harbor. They're the closest island with a large enough medical facility to staff a permanent M.E. He took off by floatplane shortly after your call came in. Should be here soon.”

Travis and Gary lifted the body onto the gurney, and Nick strapped it in place. “Who do we have here?” Nick asked.

“Not a local,” Wyatt said, leaning against a pylon and popping a mint in his mouth. “I can tell you that.”

“How on earth can you be certain of that?” Landon asked.

The gurney wheels squeaked as Nick maneuvered it up the gangway toward the hearse he had parked at the top.

“We had a very heated discussion regarding the fish-processing plant at the town-hall meeting last night. It affects nearly every family's livelihood, so all families on the island were accounted for last night. That's how I know it wasn't one of our locals.”

“Has anyone gone missing in the last year?” Jake asked.

“No one but that Williams boy you all helped find about eight months back.”

“How's he doing?” Gage asked.

“Just fine. Won't go near wells anymore, but I suppose that's a good thing.” Travis chuckled.

“A very good thing,” Landon said.

A well had nearly cost the boy his life.

“So you're thinking it's a tourist?” Jake asked, glancing back at the hearse.

“That'd be my guess.”

“You get many tourists in these parts?” Landon asked.

“Mostly the adventure type and, of course, the cruise folks.”

“Cruise folks . . .” Darcy murmured, tugging Gage's sleeve.

He lowered his head. “What?”

“Jake said his guess was the body had been in the water at least nine months.”

“So?”

“Isn't that right about when Drake Bowen went missing?”

“Bowen?” Wyatt asked, overhearing them.

“That was before your time, Wyatt,” Travis explained.
“Drake Bowen was on a kayak excursion out on Kesuk. The guy snapped, killed his wife, and took off. If it is him in that body bag, then I'd say justice has finally been served.”

“Okay, but if it's Bowen's body, who killed him?” Darcy asked. “Maybe Bowen was telling the truth and he didn't kill his wife after all. Maybe he took off to find her just like he'd said he was going to.”

Wyatt frowned. “The wife's body was never found?”

Travis shook his head.

“Then how could they claim the man killed her?”

“She was missing and they found her blood in the couple's tent.”

“Maybe Bowen wasn't killed,” Landon suggested. “Maybe it was an accident. He got too close to the water while searching for his wife, fell in, got sucked into the vortex, and was dragged down into the sea caves just like Darcy was today.”

Darcy paled slightly.

Gage wrapped his arm around her, despite his recent vow to keep his distance. The lady needed comforting. He couldn't ignore that. He didn't
want
to ignore that. But when this ordeal was over, he'd muster the strength to walk away and figure out how to put Darcy St. James out of his mind for good.

“Wait a minute,” Kayden cut in. “Why are we all assuming that Jake is right about how long the body's been in the water? For all we know that body has only been in the water a couple days.”

“Kayden,” Piper said, her gaze darting to Darcy.

“I'm just saying we should wait for an expert's opinion.”

“That body has been in the water for months,” Jake said. He looked at Darcy. “I guarantee it.”

Relief once again swept over Darcy's face at Jake's assurance.

“He's not an expert,” Kayden said.

“Right.” Darcy averted her eyes. “I know that.”

Kayden narrowed her eyes, glancing between Darcy and Jake.

It was clear Darcy was taking Jake's ruling as final, but why? Gage didn't have Kayden's suspicious nature, but even he wondered at that. As phenomenal at tracking as Jake was, and as bizarrely helpful as he proved to be when it came to offering advice in legal and investigative matters, he surely wasn't also an expert on decomposition or forensic analysis of remains. Gage studied the man and pondered his confidence in his conclusion. Maybe Jake did know what he was talking about. But how or why?

“Winters,” Wyatt said, and they all turned to find the M.E. striding toward them. Not a whole lot older than Landon—the man shared a similar rugged build and light brown hair.

Wyatt shook his hand. “Thanks for flying over.”

“No problem. I took a look at the remains before Nick loaded them into the hearse.” He gestured over his shoulder, and everyone glanced at the hearse slowly pulling away from the marina.

“And?”

“I'll need to do a full autopsy, but I can tell you that the remains are that of an adult male and they've been in the water at least nine months.”

Kayden's shocked gaze swung to Jake.

He cleared his throat. “If I'm not needed anymore, I'm going to load the kayaks and take them to camp.”

“Of course.” Gage nodded, completely stunned at Jake's accuracy on the matter. The man never ceased to surprise him. “Thanks for your help.”

Jake nodded and glanced once at Kayden before leaving.
There was something in his gaze—hurt, perhaps. Hurt that she was questioning him yet again.

Kayden released a throaty exhale once he was gone. “
Pleasssse
tell me you aren't all going to ignore Jake's unusual knowledge
again
? I mean,
how
does he know something like that?”

Darcy looked down at her feet, shuffling them against the battered planks of the pier.

Kayden pounced. “That's the second time you've done that.”

Darcy looked up, startled. “Done what?”

“Looked away when I've questioned Jake's vast knowledge. You know who Jake really is, don't you?”

Landon cleared his throat. “Looks like we're garnering quite a crowd.” He lifted his chin toward the
Bering
—even more passengers had amassed along the rails, staring at the activity brewing below.

Gage sighed. “Guess I better get back on board and explain to Mullins. Hopefully we'll still have our excursion contract with them come tomorrow morning.”

Darcy grabbed her pack, still damp, and slung it over her shoulder. “I need to get back on the ship too. People are going to start wondering why I'm hanging around the excursion crew and local police.”

“No way.” Kayden blocked her path. “Not until you explain.”

“Explain what?”

“Exactly who Jake is.”