Chapter 39

Athena shot a look at JD. His weathered face had drained of color, and his body seemed to have folded in on itself. His hands shook as, with a furtive glance at Russ, he snatched the whiskey bottle and sucked down a long swig.

She swung back to the new arrival.

Even in the dimming light of encroaching dusk, the anger on the man’s bearded face blazed like a torch. “I asked you a goddamned question.” He stomped across the weed-infested grass, his heavy-soled black boots thudding the hard ground.

Otis raced out of the trees barking in greeting, his tail wagging.

The man stopped and glared at the dog. “Who the hell is this mutt?”

Otis’s tail slowed its rapid swishing and slipped between his hind legs. His ears flattened, and he slunk down, making a beeline to Athena. He cowered behind her legs.

The man glowered. “Who the hell are you people, and why are you harassing my father?”

Athena backed up a step, her heart shuddering. This was JD’s son?

Russ stepped forward, his body rigid, a friendly smile pasted on his face. “We’re not causing any trouble. We’re just asking your father a few questions.” His voice was pleasant, but his hands were fisted at his sides.

“Shawn. What…what are you doing here?” JD’s voice trembled, his words slurring. “I…I thought you was in Vancouver.”

“I was on the ferry when Randy Stevens gave me a call. Said you had some visitors. Thought you might need some help.” Shawn clomped up the steps onto the porch. His lip curled in a sneer. “Looks like he was right. You’re drunk.” He turned accusing eyes on Russ and then her. “Did you buy him the whiskey?”

Athena gulped at the menace in his icy gaze. “I—”

“Wait a minute.” His eyes narrowed, and he moved a step closer. “I know you. You’re Maggie O’Flynn, or should I call you Athena Reynolds? That’s the fancy name you go by now, isn’t it?” Spittle sprayed from his mouth. “What the hell are you doing here?”

She blinked. He knew who she was? How was that possible? The red hat with the black design, the beard…it all clicked. She’d seen him somewhere. But where? Before she could fumble an answer, Russ moved closer, his shoulder brushing hers.

“We came here today to ask your father some questions,” he said.

“You did, did you?” Shawn focused his scowl on JD. “And what have you been telling them, old man?”

“Nothin’.” JD licked his lips. “I ain’t told them nothin’, Shawn.”

“Really?” He snorted. “Why don’t I believe you?” He ripped the whiskey bottle from JD and tossed it across the yard. It landed with a heavy clunk in the dark.

“Hey! Why the hell you gotta do that? That was mine.” JD’s voice was a piteous whine.

Shawn ignored his father’s outrage and faced Russ. “I know who she is—” He jerked his thumb at Athena. “—but I don’t know you. What do you want with my dad?”

“Like I said, we’re asking your father some questions. That’s all.”

Shawn’s blue eyes narrowed. “Questions about what?” He tore off his cap and threaded his fingers through his long red hair.

Athena drew in a shaky breath. “JD was explaining what happened to my parents. Please, you have to let him finish.”

Shawn spun toward his father. “You been runnin’ your mouth?” He lunged to the table, snatched the camera, and dangled it by the strap. “What the hell, Dad?”

JD reeled back from his son’s anger. “I haven’t told ’em nothin’, Shawn. I…I was just sayin’ how Angus Crawford gave me the money for this place. That’s all.” The words slurred and ran together in a continuous stream.

“He’s had too much to drink. He doesn’t know what the hell he’s saying. It’s time you two left.” Shawn’s tone made clear his words weren’t a request.

She frowned. Why was he so anxious to get them away from his father? What was the man afraid JD would say? “Please, let him finish. I need to know what happened.”

The lines on his face beneath the ginger beard hardened. “I told you to leave. Now get the hell off our property.”

Otis whimpered and licked her hand.

She shivered at the malice in Shawn’s icy eyes. “There’s no need to get upset. We’re leaving.” She crossed the deck, Otis shadowing her heels.

Russ didn’t budge. “Hold on, Athena.” He turned to JD. “Come on, JD. It’s truth time. Let’s cut the crap. You know who I am. You knew it the second you saw me. Am I right?”

JD’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. Finally, he inhaled a deep breath. “You’re Angus’s son.”

Russ nodded. “Good. Now we’re getting somewhere.” He set his hands on his hips. “There’s no way the events happened the way you described. You may have tried to blackmail Angus, but I knew my father. He wouldn’t have paid you a penny for those pictures. Besides, I’ve checked his old bank records. There weren’t any large withdrawals at the time the O’Flynns went missing.”

A cold heaviness settled in her chest as a sickening realization struck her, and in spite of Shawn’s looming presence, she blurted, “You killed them, didn’t you, JD? You killed my parents.”

JD wiped the snot leaking from his nose. “No, things happened just like I said.”

Shawn held up his hand. “Shut up, Dad! You’ve said enough.”

She ignored Shawn and focused on JD. “I’ll tell you what I think happened.” She moved closer to JD, invading his personal space, making him squirm. His sour stench gagged her. “The boat capsized, and Mom and Dad were washed overboard. My mother…drowned like you said, but Dad survived. But then you killed him. You had to. He found more than photos on the catamaran. Didn’t he?”

JD’s bloodshot eyes widened.

She rushed on, determined to finish this once and for all, no matter the consequences. “You were a drug dealer. You’re still one.” She nodded at the bulge in his front pocket. “Dad found your stash of drugs. Isn’t that right? That’s the only thing that makes sense.” She inhaled a wavering breath. “He was going to tell Angus, and Angus would have called the cops. You’d be arrested and end up in jail. You couldn’t let that happen. All the money Angus paid you to take photos of me would be gone, wouldn’t it?”

JD squeezed his hands together, his swollen, arthritic knuckles white. A dozen emotions crossed his stricken face…fear, regret, sadness, anger, and something more—something feral and deadly. “William shoulda kept his mouth shut.”

“Let’s go.” Russ tugged her hand.

She shook him off and ignored the warning flashing in his eyes. “You killed my father, JD! I don’t know how, but you killed him to shut him up.” Her chest heaved as if she’d run a marathon, but the stricken look on JD’s face made clear she’d spoken the truth.

Shawn leaned back against the deck railing and crossed his arms over his chest. “Go on, Maggie. What else do you think he did? Lay it all out.”

She shuddered at the threat in his harsh voice, but she couldn’t stop. The truth had to come out. “He hid their bodies where no one would find them, hoping the cops would think my parents sailed away on their ketch and left me.” Tears filmed her eyes. All these years she’d lived with the hope her parents were alive, and one day she’d find them, and they’d be reunited. Now that dream was dead. She glared at JD, and a wave of revulsion and hatred flooded her. “You murdered my father.”

“Let’s go, Maggie.” Russ’s voice was firm, and he gripped her arm and steered her down the steps, not giving her a choice.

Once again, she shook free of his grasp. “I’m not finished.” A sob hitched in her throat, but she swallowed back the lump and let her fury reign. “Do you realize the hell I’ve been through, JD? All these years I’ve wondered what happened, thinking my parents deserted me. Not knowing has eaten at me until it destroyed everything good in my life. And that’s on you.”

JD raised his grizzled head and turned bleary eyes on her, a pleading light in the rheumy depths. “I’m sorry, Maggie, but if your father told Angus about the drugs, I woulda lost everything. I needed that shipment. I needed the cash. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.” Tears filled his eyes, and he blubbered. “It just sort of happened. William wouldn’t stop talkin’ about the drugs, sayin’ he was going to the cops, and I had to shut him up. I…I found a rock, and the next thing I knew he was dead.”

Shawn lunged at JD and slapped him across the face. “Shut up, old man. For once in your life, shut the fuck up.”

JD’s head snapped back, and the chair tilted and crashed onto the deck, throwing him onto his back. He sprawled, chest heaving, a string of drool escaping his gaping mouth.

She stared in stunned silence, shocked at the violent explosion.

Russ rushed to JD and helped him sit up. He glared at Shawn. “Why the hell did you hit him? He’s your father, for God’s sake.”

Shawn hitched up his pants and sniffed. “He wouldn’t shut up. He never shuts up.” He glowered down at JD.

The package of cocaine lay on the deck where it had slipped out of JD’s pocket when he fell.

“Shit, Dad. You showed them the drugs? What were you thinking?”

JD groaned and tried to scramble to his feet but collapsed on his butt. “It’s not my fault.” He jerked his chin at Russ. “He found the package in the freezer. I didn’t tell ’em it was yours. I didn’t, I promise.”

Shawn smoothed his hand over his scraggly beard. “You just did, you stupid old man. You talk too goddamned much.” He drew back his fist.

Russ stepped between father and son and held up his hands. “Don’t hit him again.”

Shawn’s eyes narrowed to slits, and he jutted out his bearded chin, but he lowered his arm.

A bone-crushing weariness stole over her. “I need to know one more thing, and then we’ll leave.” She swallowed, but her mouth was devoid of moisture. “What…what happened to my parents’ bodies? What did you do with them, JD?”

“Don’t say anything more, Dad. Keep your friggin’ mouth shut.”

JD’s red-rimmed eyes met Shawn’s. A look of defeat deepened the lines on his weathered face. “It’s too late, son. She deserves to know.” With Russ’s help, he stood on unsteady feet and leaned against the table. “I wrapped their bodies in a strip of old canvas your father had lyin’ around and carried ’em to their skiff. Then I sailed to Sewell Island. They’re buried there.” He stared at his shaking hands. “I found a real nice spot under a tree on a hill overlookin’ the ocean.” His rank breath huffed out in a noxious cloud. “After I laid them to rest, I sailed the ketch to a remote location, opened all the valves, and scuttled her. A friend picked me up on his boat.”

Her legs wobbled, and she grabbed the back of a chair for support. She finally had her answer. She knew where her parents were, where they’d been all these years. Clara was right—sometimes the truth was worse than the not knowing.