If Gabriel didn’t frame Will, then who did?
The question burned through Jane as they trudged back through the drizzle to the beach. The shrubs and trees dripped with moisture, and she was drenched again before they’d gone ten feet. The mud sucked at her bare feet, and her legs felt heavy from the effort of pulling herself free with every footstep.
Sunset was coming, and the sun that had begun poking through the clouds began to sink in the west. And she was tired, so tired.
The gun pointed at them made her back itch. Walter could trip and shoot one of them in the fall. At the first opportunity she planned to get that rifle away from him. Most men underestimated her because of her small stature. This big guy would do the same, and he wouldn’t see her coming until she disarmed him.
In spite of her tired muscles, she had to summon the strength somehow.
They broke through the line of vegetation bordering the beach and stepped onto soggy sand and slick rocks. The boat still bobbed in the water. She hadn’t been sure the anchor would hold. The swells were ferocious, bigger than they’d been when they came ashore. The tide was coming in, amplifying the surging waves.
Fighting that surf felt impossible right now with her legs aching, but she had to do it. Safety was on the boat, and every minute they stayed on the island increased the risk of never getting off of it.
Reid took her hand. “Hang on to me.”
“Hold up,” Walter said from behind him. “I don’t think Gabriel wants it done this way. The water is too rough.”
Too rough to keep his rifle dry for sure. Which was very good.
“Back to camp,” the big guy said. “We can wait awhile.”
Now or never. She caught Reid’s gaze and saw the same determination in his face. She gave a slight nod and turned.
Walter gestured with the rifle. “March.”
She looked past him and frowned. “What’s he doing here?”
When Walter turned, she kicked out with her right foot and struck him in the knee. He went down, and Reid snatched up the rifle and tossed it into the churning water. The two of them raced into the waves to get to the boat before the guy could summon help.
The waves snatched Jane up and tossed her to the sandy bottom. Salty water filled her nose and mouth. Which way was up? Her hands grasped sand. Wrong way. A strong wave rolled her over again, and she began to panic. She needed to breathe.
A strong hand grabbed her arm and hauled her to the air. “Hang on to me!”
She nodded and gulped in blessed air. As she clung to his hand, he plowed through the rollers to reach the boat. The faint sound of shouts rose above the thundering surf. Saltwater churned over her head several times and forced itself into her mouth.
She was breathless and sputtering when Reid pushed her hands onto the ladder’s rungs.
“Climb!”
Boosted by his strong arms, she staggered up the ladder and fell gasping onto the boat’s deck. He was right behind her.
He thrust her gun into her hand. “I’ll get us out of here while you cover us.” He paused long enough to haul up the anchor, then rushed to start the engine.
She got onto her knees, wiped her dripping hair out of her eyes, then took aim at the shore where men were beginning to stagger into the water after them. Her finger pressed the trigger, and she shot twice over their pursuers’ heads. They all lunged for the ground, then crawled into the bushes. Several rifle barrels poked through the vegetation.
The report from a few rifles came in quick succession, and their thunder rang out over the sound of the surf. They had plenty of manpower.
She ducked as a bullet whistled past her ear. “Get us out of here!”
A roar from the engine starting answered her, and the boat slewed in the water, then took off away from the island. A bullet banged the hull’s side, and she peered up over the side to watch the beach fade into the dim twilight. Angry shouts followed them, but she didn’t see anyone hauling out an inflatable or any other kind of boat to pursue them.
The rain lessened to a drizzle, and the men rose and disappeared into the woods.
Once they were out of range, she stood and went to sit beside Reid as he aimed the boat to Pelican Harbor as fast as it could go. “That was close. You weren’t shot?”
“Not a graze. You weren’t injured, right?”
“I’m fine. Shook up, but fine.”
Reid laughed. “You’re a dynamo. When you took Walter down with one kick, I was ready to cheer.”
“You really think he was lying about framing Will?”
“Positive. I know the guy.”
Not what she wanted to hear. Jane had wanted to find evidence and take it straight to Augusta to give to the DA. “Then who is behind this?”
“I wish I knew.” He reached over and took her hand. “I think we need to find the evidence the key unlocks.”
“Why now?”
“I don’t want to leave any stone unturned. Especially not out of fear of facing the past. I think he was lying, but what if I’m wrong and the pictures hold a clue? While I’m not eager to look at the photos, I have to. Just in case.”
“It’s Saturday, but the bank manager will let me in, I think. I just have to make a call. We can grab the key and meet her at the bank. We can scoop the contents into a box and take them back to my apartment to go through.”
“Let’s get dinner and eat it while we go through the stuff.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You’re losing weight, Jane. Your cheeks are hollowed out, and your pants hang on you. I’m not hungry either, but we have to stay healthy. For Will. For each other.”
“Okay, I get it. What do you feel like eating? I’m sick of pizza.”
“Shepherd’s pie from Mac’s Irish Pub? We haven’t had that in a while.”
Her mouth watered a bit at the thought. “Okay, you found my weak spot.”
Darkness was beginning to fall fast. Reid switched on the boat’s lights, and the glimmer from downtown Pelican Harbor began to twinkle on the horizon.
Every muscle in her body ached from battling the surf, and the stress from the past few days was beginning to take its toll. Her brain felt sluggish, and she struggled to focus on what needed to be done next.
Would this nightmare never end?
* * *
Reid and Jane sat on the sofa of her living room with their food on the coffee table. In addition to shepherd’s pie, they’d also picked up a box of beignets on the way home as well as coffee for the long evening ahead. After getting the contents of the safe-deposit box, they’d both showered, and he’d squeezed into a set of Will’s sweats he’d found in the closet. Jane’s hair was still damp and gleamed in the lamplight. Cleaning up had done a lot for his mental attitude, and she seemed brighter and more alert as well.
Reid didn’t want to do this, but he had to.
The contents from the safe-deposit box sat on the coffee table in front of him like a Pandora’s box he didn’t dare open. He’d need to eat before reviewing the contents. The pictures it contained were likely to kill any hunger he had.
They’d haunt him for the rest of his life.
Jane handed him his shepherd’s pie. “Our visit with Gabriel wasn’t what I’d expected.”
He nodded and took the hot bowl. He ladled in a bite, and the rich taste of ground beef, garlic, and spices rejuvenated him. “I’d hoped for more answers. Instead, we have more questions.”
The dish was thick and tasty, and his appetite kicked up at the flavor. His spoon scraped the bottom before he realized it, and he put the bowl on the table, then reached for a beignet. He demolished it in three bites and had two more.
Jane set her empty bowl on the table and helped herself to a beignet that left powdered sugar on her lap. She brushed it off before Parker could get to it. “I’m ready when you are.”
His belly contracted, and he exhaled before he nodded. “I’m ready.” But was he really? No part of him wanted to see his mother’s murdered body or a bloody knife in his father’s hand.
She pulled the box onto her legs and opened the lid of the old shoebox they’d taken from the bank. Inside was a jumble of pictures.
His soul cringed at the thought of fully facing his father’s evil. Was there any part of that madness in him? He didn’t think so, but the doubts would rise once he saw the proof in this box.
Jane removed the pictures and placed them faceup. A sheaf of pictures all designed to give him nightmares.
She lifted the first picture into the light. A twilight setting in the woods with the trees providing shadows interspersed with shafts of fading sunlight. A woman lying on the ground with two men looming over her. He recognized his father and Gabriel at a glance. His mother was still alive in this picture, and her right hand was reaching up in a beseeching gesture.
The picture gutted Reid, absolutely gutted him. His eyes flooded, and he smelled his mother’s scent—homemade lye soap and Secret deodorant. He remembered her smile and the fierce hugs she always gave. The sound of her voice. A thousand small things overwhelmed him.
A keening sound came, and he realized it was coming from his own throat.
Jane squeezed his hand. “Are you okay?”
He took several deep breaths. “Give me a minute.”
She put the box aside and crawled into his lap. With her arms around his neck and her fresh scent in his nose, the horror began to fade. “I’m okay.” He nuzzled her neck and inhaled. “Let’s continue.”
She moved her hands to his cheeks and stared into his eyes. “You’re sure?”
“We have to do this.”
“Okay.” She slid off his lap and reached for the pictures again.
His mother’s raised hand was a plea the two men above her showed no sign of answering. His father’s right hand was raised with a knife in it, and blood stained the blade. At the sight of the blood, his gaze went back to his mother, and he saw blood on the arm she’d lifted. A defense wound.
He closed his eyes and breathed in and out a few times.
“You don’t have to look at more, Reid. I can do it.”
He opened his eyes and stared into her face. A face full of concern and love. He drank in the expression in her eyes and the curves of her cheeks. This wasn’t something she should do alone. It would take both of them to make sure they gleaned every clue from every picture.
“Just give me a minute.” He pulled her into another embrace.
She was his port in the storm, his anchor when waves battered him. She grounded him, completed him. And he didn’t think she had any idea of how much he loved her. He wasn’t an eloquent guy. He preferred to show his feelings, not spout flowery words. Hopefully she could sense his love in everything he did.
She nestled against his chest and nuzzled her nose against him. “You smell clean and yummy.” Lifting her face, she pulled his head down for a kiss.
He kissed her with every bit of the love filling his heart. She tasted of sunshine and vanilla. Of forever and family.
He pulled away and rested his chin on her head. “I see what you’re doing. Distraction can only go so far. This job is still in front of us.”
She gave a throaty laugh. “But you don’t have to do it, Reid. I really don’t mind. These kinds of pictures are the terrible things I have to see all the time.”
The touch and smell of her rejuvenated his determination to do what had to be done. To face this horror.
He kissed the top of her head. “This isn’t any easier for you. It might bring back memories of that night. Got any glimmers yet?”
She shook her head. “Just that same initial feeling of holding a shovel and a sense of panic. Maybe that’s all I’ll remember.”
“I hope so. I know it had to be terrible. Go ahead. Let’s see the next picture.”
She sighed and lifted it into view. This one showed Gabriel with his knife buried in Reid’s mother’s chest. He tried deep breathing for a few seconds. Maybe his father hadn’t been the one who killed her. But the next picture shattered that hope. His dad’s knife was in her throat. He’d executed the final cut.
“What an evil man,” Jane murmured. “I’m sorry, Reid, so sorry.”
His throat was too tight to answer, so he pulled her close and buried his face in her hair until he calmed again.
“How many more pictures?” he muttered against her cheek.
“A bunch. Want me to look at them first?”
He lifted his head. “No, let’s just do it. One after another quickly, then we can go back and examine them for details. That way I’ll know what I’m facing.”
“Okay.”
They saw several pictures of his mother’s dead body followed by several pictures of her in a shallow grave. Jane inhaled at the final photo of herself shoveling dirt onto his mother’s prone body in the hole. She was easy to identify because of her very pregnant belly.
Tears tracked down her face.
“It’s okay, honey. There wasn’t anything you could have done to stop it.”
“Why can’t I remember this? I need to remember.” She shoved the pictures off her lap and clutched him.
She couldn’t look at anything more. Not tonight. She had to remember.