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Crimson Point Security Series
By Kaylea Cross
Copyright © 2023 Kaylea Cross
Prologue
Teagan finished scooping out the guts of her second pumpkin onto the newspaper she’d spread out on her kitchen table and wiped her hands on a rag, then paused to glance up as Disney’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow played on her TV across the living room. Poor Ichabod was starting his lonely, midnight trek home after the party at the Van Tassel farm, with no clue about what he was in for.
It was a classic for a reason. Every time that trumpet blared as the headless horseman’s mount reared on its hind legs, its rider brandishing its sword, she got chills.
She picked up the sharp paring knife and began cutting a triangular eye into the pumpkin flesh, feeling like a kid again. Halloween was still almost a week away but you wouldn’t know it from the state of her Pacific Heights neighborhood. Almost everyone on her block already had their Victorian porches all decked out with spooky witches and ghosts and bats, spiders and cobwebs hanging from the railings along with strands of orange and purple lights. San Fran did up Halloween right.
Once the eyes were done she checked her phone for the time and saw that her cousin should be on her way over soon. She and Lily had carved pumpkins together ever since they were little, but Lily had picked up an extra shift on a research boat today and told Teagan to start without her.
She loved this time of year, the weather turning cool and crisp, leaves changing into their brilliant autumn colors. Having a whole Saturday to herself was a luxury she planned to make the most of. In anticipation of Lily’s arrival she had a crockpot full of homemade spiced apple cider ready to go on the kitchen counter along with a tray of cupcakes frosted with purple and green icing.
Once Lily got here they’d decorate them with little spiders on top made of chocolate wafer cookie bodies, slices of marshmallows and mini chocolate chips for eyes, and thin black licorice strings for legs. Their rule was, calories didn’t count at Halloween, Christmas or Easter.
Just as she picked the paring knife back up to start the jagged outline of her grinning jack-o-lantern mouth, her phone rang. She hit the TV remote to pause the movie, then answered Lily’s call. “Hey, you all done down there? I’m just carving my pumpkin face now, and—”
“I’m hiding in a boat and I’m scared,” her cousin said in an urgent whisper.
She tensed. “What’s wrong?”
“Remember how you told me to keep my eyes and ears open for anything suspicious?”
Oh no. “Yeah, why?”
“I saw a couple guys acting suspiciously on a boat moored next to us. It was already dark and they didn’t know I was there so I moved in closer until I could hear them. I overheard their conversation. It was about something bad. Then he saw me and stopped. I left in a hurry.”
This didn’t sound good, and Lily was still whispering. She set the knife down, pulse accelerating. “Where are you?”
“Still at the marina. My car’s parked out back.”
“Did they try to confront or follow you?”
“No. Well, I’m not sure, actually.”
“What did they say?”
“Some things about avoiding certain checkpoints to get the shipment through tonight. And other stuff, but it was enough for me to tell they were definitely talking about smuggling.”
Unease built in the pit of Teagan’s stomach. There had been a large uptick in drug smuggling and related crime all along this part of the coast in recent months. She’d been briefed about it again the other day, including chatter about exactly the kind of thing Lily had just described. “You’re sure they saw you?”
“Yes, they both went dead still and stared at me in a creepy way. I turned away and pretended to keep working on deck as though I hadn’t heard anything alarming.”
She stood, ready to head for the door. “Do you feel unsafe?”
“Yes, and I don’t know what to do. They definitely suspect I heard them. I know you have contacts, so I’ll tell you everything when it’s safe. I don’t want to say more over the phone in case anyone overhears me, because that’s how people die in the movies.”
Not just in the movies. Teagan was genuinely concerned about her cousin’s safety. “Hang up and call the cops.”
“No, I don’t want to involve the cops yet. I want to talk to you first and see if you think I’m right.”
“You need to get somewhere safe.” She rushed for the back door. Dammit. She’d been the one to put Lily in this position by asking her to keep an eye out for anything suspicious when she was at the marina. “Where are you at the marina?”
“Hiding below deck in another boat. I was too scared to go to my car in case they’re waiting for me in the parking lot or something.”
“I’m coming to get you,” she said, grabbing her keys as she shoved her feet into her boots. It was completely dark out, making it easier for someone to attack or follow Lily.
“No, just wait and stay on the line with me. I’m going up on deck now to take a look around.”
Teagan bit back an argument, not liking the feel of this at all. She had military training. Lily was a civilian. A marine biology student working on her Masters degree and making a bit of extra money by picking up shifts on research vessels on the weekends. “Be careful.”
“I will.” A full minute passed before Lily spoke again. “Okay, I think they’re gone. Don’t see anyone else around. But I’m going to ask someone at the office to escort me to my car just in case.”
Good. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come get you? It’s no problem, I can be there in twenty minutes.” With a weapon.
“No, I’m good,” she said at normal volume, clearly feeling less afraid. “I was just spooked, that’s all.”
“Never ignore your intuition. It was warning you for a reason.” Women dismissed that inner danger detector way too often.
“Okay.”
“I’ll stay on the phone with you while you go to the office.”
“All right. I’m up on the dock now.” Hollow footsteps sounded in the background as Lily hurried along the wooden planks. Then a door squeaked open. “Hey, Bob. Would you mind walking me to my car?”
“Sure,” a male voice answered. “Everything okay?”
“Yes. I’d just feel better with an escort.”
“No problem.”
“Don’t hang up,” Teagan told her, the sharp edge of anxiety easing slightly now that Lily had someone with her. If the men from the boat were watching her, they were less likely to try anything in front of a witness.
“It’s okay, Bob’s taking me to my car now,” Lily said.
“You know him? Enough to trust him right now?”
“Yes.”
Teagan would still have preferred to come get her herself. “You still want to come over? Or you want me to meet you somewhere?”
“Actually... Can you come over to my place instead?’
“Yeah, of course. I’ll leave right now.”
“Thanks,” Lily said on a relieved sigh. “I’ll fill you in on everything when you get there.”
“Okay, but call if anything feels off. Anything at all. Promise?”
“Yeah, promise.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too. See you in a bit.”
Teagan shrugged her coat on drove to Lily’s place over in the Marina District. Road construction and detour traffic delayed her by ten minutes and when she arrived at the townhouse complex Lily’s little black car was already sitting out front at the end of her walkway. Her cousin’s front porch light was on, and so was the one in Lily’s bedroom in the second floor front window.
She rang the bell and waited but there was no answer. She tried knocking. Then texted, thinking maybe Lily was in the shower.
Hey, I’m at the front door.
But after several minutes, there was still no response. It was cold out and a light rain was starting to fall so she decided to get the spare key and let herself in.
She went around to the side of the townhouse and through the wooden gate into the tiny backyard. Lily kept the key hidden in a faux rock set in the little garden off the back patio. She picked it up, slid the top portion to the side and took out the key in the slot before heading back around to the front again.
“Hello?” she called as she stepped inside, locking the door and taking off her boots on the mat in the entry. “Lil?”
Still nothing.
She jogged up the stairs to the lower landing, paused. She didn’t hear the shower running upstairs. “Lil?”
Frowning, she kept going to the second floor and stopped outside the master bedroom door. Knocked. “Lily, I’m here.” She knocked again. “Hey, are you okay?”
When her cousin didn’t answer she tried the doorknob. It was locked.
“Lily, I’m getting worried,” she called out in a louder voice. “Are you in there? Just answer me.”
She waited another ten seconds, then went to the hall closet and took out a coat hanger, anxiety buzzing in her gut. She straightened out the hook and stuck it into the hole in the lock, jimmied it around while turning the knob and pushing it in.
It snicked open. She shoved it wide and barged in, only to freeze in horror.
Lily lay sprawled facedown on the carpet beside her bed. Her head was turned toward the door. Eyes open, her lips blue.
“Lily!” She raced forward, knelt beside her cousin and cupped her face in her hands. “Lily, can you hear me? Come on, wake up.” She checked her carotid pulse. Felt only the tiniest flutter, and Lily’s chest wasn’t moving.
Swearing, she rolled Lily to her back, quickly checked her airway for a blockage and then began chest compressions with one hand as she whipped out her phone with the other and put in on speaker to call 911. The instant the operator answered, Teagan cut her off to list the address and explain what was going on. She kept up with the compressions all the while, frantic to keep Lily’s heart beating.
“Come on, Lil,” she choked out, own heart hammering. Tears blurred her vision. This wasn’t happening. Couldn’t be.
But Lily wasn’t responding to anything. Her lips were turning purple now, the rest of her face an awful, ashen grey, her half-closed eyes staring at nothing.
“Paramedics and the police have been dispatched,” the operator’s voice said through the phone.
Teagan didn’t answer, busy tipping Lily’s head back to give her a breath and then jumping back into the compressions. Knowing her cousin was dying right in front of her and determined to stop it from happening. No, no, no...
Something fell out of Lily’s right hand as her fingers relaxed. A small plastic bag. Tiny multicolored pills spilled out onto the carpet.
Teagan stared at them, ice trickling up her spine. She knew what they were instantly.
Rainbow fentanyl. A deadly opiate lethal in even the smallest doses.
Except Lily had never taken an illicit drug in her life.
This was a setup.
Her cousin had just been murdered. And Teagan knew it had been the men from the marina.
*End Excerpt*
