Flashback, p.22
Flashback, page 22
“No, and I’ve been looking. It’s just… I hate waiting around when we should be doing something.”
“I know. I feel the same way. If I thought we could find this Delgado guy right now, I’d set out on our cruiser and track him down.”
Lynch waved his hand toward the ocean. “A needle in a haystack. I’ll keep trying to text and call. Maybe he’ll answer sometime during the night.”
After the meal, they retreated to their oceanfront room, where Kendra expected to toss and turn all night. She didn’t. The soft bed and the sounds of the ocean outside provided her with the best sleep she’d had in days.
She woke in the morning to find Lynch fully dressed and staring at his phone.
“Anything?” she asked.
“I just got a text from Captain Delgado. He said he’d meet us at the dock at noon and he’d discuss renting me his boat for a few days. Though his fee is fairly outrageous.”
“Too bad,” Kendra said. “Tell him to go jump in the harbor. We’ll find out what he knows and hire another captain and boat. Or we’ll take our cruiser and get there ourselves.”
“I want this one,” Lynch said. “Delgado’s. I’ll try to negotiate. It may not be that difficult. Anyway, want to go to brunch? I hear good things about the Avalon Grille.”
“Sure. Let me take a quick shower.” She felt guilty as she headed for the bathroom since she knew Lynch had probably been in protective mode and awake much of the night.
After a wonderful brunch, they walked Harley along Front Street and finally made their way to the berth where Delgado was scheduled to arrive.
Delgado was a small mustached man, and he stood proudly on the elevated express bridge of his forty-foot white boat as it pulled up to its berth. After bidding goodbye to his guests, he turned to Kendra and Lynch.
“So,” he said with a Spanish accent, “you want to rent my boat?”
“I do,” Lynch said, “but I find your terms a bit unreasonable.”
Delgado shrugged. “There are many other boats for rent here. Hundreds, probably. Take one of those.”
“I could, and I might. But I’ve heard wonderful things about Excalibur. Can we discuss this?”
Lynch and Delgado haggled for another fifteen minutes, and by the end of it, Delgado was laughing and hugging Lynch like an old friend.
Lynch turned to her and held out his hand. “This is Captain Delgado, Kendra. He was very cooperative once he understood my problem. Kendra Michaels is going to accompany me on my trip aboard your fine boat. She was a good friend of Todd Williams.”
“Delighted,” Delgado said as he shook her hand. “My sympathy for your loss.” He turned back to Lynch. “But the terms are still the same.”
“He strikes a hard bargain, Kendra. But we’ve come to an agreement. He’s going to let me rent his fine boat for the next few days for an exceedingly expensive amount. Isn’t that kind?”
“If you say so,” Delgado said sourly. “Four days and I get my boat back. Not one more day.”
“Didn’t I promise?” Lynch asked. “Get in the boat, Kendra. Señor Delgado needs to leave for his luncheon appointment.” He helped her on the boat. “Thank you for your services, Señor. You’re a true gentleman.” He handed Delgado a huge wad of cash. “Four days.”
Kendra’s eyes widened as she saw the denominations of the bills. “I believe I gave you a suggestion about that payment. Are you sure that—”
But Delgado was reluctantly stepping off the boat and Lynch was now speeding off across the water away from the docks.
Kendra was looking back at him. “That was a huge amount of money.”
“I had to work fast,“ Lynch said softly. “Delgado was tempted to back out if I hadn’t made it irresistible. Stop complaining. We’ll be safely away from here in another fifteen minutes and I’ll explain everything.”
She made a face. “I detest being held up like that.”
“You’ve made that clear and I’m grateful for your concern. But it’s my money, Kendra. You don’t have to stand guard over me.”
“Someone should.” She glanced at Harley curled up happily by Lynch’s feet. “Where were you when he needed you? Don’t you recognize sheer robbery when you see it?”
Lynch was shaking his head with amusement. “I believe it’s time to change the subject when you’re attacking Harley. Suppose I tell you what I learned from Delgado before we made our deal? His response was basically the same as Darlene Gatwick’s. He said that Williams didn’t mention having any other passengers aboard his rental boat. As far as he knew, the Williams job was going to be a solo fishing trip.”
“That’s a disappointment.”
“If it was the truth. He appears to like cash. Williams could have bribed him to say anything he wanted.”
“At least you realize how Delgado is trying to play you.”
“It did occur to me, you know.”
“Then why were you determined to hire this particular boat?”
“Perhaps I had a reason.” He tilted his head. “What do you think?”
She was gazing at him with narrowed eyes. “I think you’d better explain in detail before I get very annoyed.” She suddenly snapped her fingers as it came to her. “The navigation system.”
“You got it.”
She slapped her forehead. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of it until now. There’s a GPS record of all this boat’s trips in there.”
He nodded. “As soon as I’m sure we’re totally out of sight, I’ll examine the navigation console and cycle it back through several trips.”
She gazed eagerly at the map. “And you’ll see where the boat has gone and trace Todd Williams’ journey.”
He nodded. “That’s the idea. Does it meet with your approval?”
“You bet it does.” She gave him a quick hug. “Brilliant. Let’s get started. And I’ll definitely have to tell Darlene that you’re not just a pretty face!”
“What a relief,” he drawled. “I can’t tell you how worried I was about that.”
Wallace smiled as he focused his binoculars more closely on the boat that was now almost flying across the water. It was all going exactly the way he had planned, he thought. He had been right to be patient when he hadn’t been able to take down Kendra as quickly as he had hoped after Lynch began interfering. But her death would be all the more satisfying now that his plans were coming together. It would be the ultimate pleasure to see the light fading from her eyes.
He switched his focus so that he could enjoy gazing at the bitch where she was sitting on the boat. She looked wonderfully happy today and quite beautiful. She was wearing white shorts and a red-and-white sweater and the sun was shining on her hair and making her seem to glow. Or maybe it was that bastard, Lynch, who was making her this happy. He must be screwing her or he wouldn’t be willing to risk his neck as he’d done lately. Go ahead, get it while you can. Make her glow so that those final moments will be that much more satisfying for me when she knows what I’m taking away from her. He enjoyed that particular part of his work most of all, and he was looking forward to all the agony and sadness he’d be able to inflict on this woman who had the nerve to hurt and defy him. No one was allowed to do that. He was the one who had to be in control.
But his phone was ringing now. Victor Krebb. This should make the son of a bitch happy. He reluctantly shifted his glance away from Kendra to answer it. “Hello, Victor. I was just about to call you.”
“But you didn’t,” Krebb said curtly. “Look, Wallace, you can’t keep ignoring me to go your own way. Remember, I’m the one who saved your life when you managed to annoy everyone, even the president. I’ve been giving you profitable work that will benefit us both. But you have to cooperate with me.”
He didn’t have to do anything he didn’t want to do, Wallace thought. Krebb had never learned that in all these years. “Why, I am cooperating, Victor. I was just going to call you and tell you that Kendra Michaels and Lynch have rented Delgado’s boat and are skimming toward you and your men even as we speak. I told you what I thought they’d be planning. Soon all we have to do is set up a trap and then gather them in.”
“You mean I will,” Krebb said sourly. “I haven’t seen you helping me lately.”
“I’ve been doing your dirty work for you all over Europe for the past fifteen years. I’d still be there now if you didn’t need me to come back and help clean up the mess you made for yourself here.”
“Your mess,” Krebb said. “It was only fair that you come back and help perform cleanup duty after Setzer opened his mouth to those sisters.”
“I took care of Setzer with my usual efficiency,” Krebb said. “Your men were supposed to take care of the rest.”
“Plans change. You know that, Wallace. We needed your help to track down every person privy to our little secret and every piece of evidence that might give us away. Again, your fault.”
“We both have our places in the scheme of things,” Wallace said. “You have a lethal group of men to order about and keep our enterprises afloat. I have superior brains and a fine intellect, which you lack.”
“Bullshit,” Krebb said. “I’m getting sick and tired of you trying to tell me what to do. You’re not moving fast enough. You’ve gotten distracted from the real mission here. This isn’t one of your sick games, Wallace. If you don’t start giving me what I need, you might find me going on the attack by myself.”
“Really? I wouldn’t suggest you do that,” Wallace said softly. Krebb was doing it again, he recognized with annoyance. Perhaps it was time to make certain it never happened again. “I know what needs to be done.”
Krebb didn’t answer immediately. He might have sensed how dangerous it could be. Wallace found himself disappointed. He’d already begun to wonder whether he needed to use a dagger or a gun to teach Krebb his lesson and exactly where to land the first blow.
Krebb finally spoke in a subdued tone. “I just need you to respect me and to move a hell of a lot faster.”
“Then consider it done,” Wallace said. “Whatever you want, Krebb.”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll keep an eye on that boat and call you if they seem to have an agenda or destination you might be interested in.”
“Great idea. Naturally I’ll do the same. Have a good day, Victor.” He hung up the phone and picked up his binoculars and once more trained them where Kendra was sitting on the deck. He much preferred watching her to baiting Victor Krebb. Though Krebb might be future amusement. What he was going to do with that smart, glowing bitch was the stuff his dreams were made of…
CHAPTER
17
It was just before sunset and the waters were choppy as Lynch piloted the boat toward a mountainous, green-sloped island.
“What’s this?” Kendra said.
“Another one of the Channel Islands.” Lynch looked at the navigation screen. “San Clemente.”
“I’ve never been to that one.”
“Most people haven’t. It’s administered by the navy. They took control of all of these islands during World War Two. They used some for bombing practice ranges, and others as outposts to monitor possible foreign invasions. Most have been turned over to the park service in the last few years.”
“What’s this one used for?”
“I honestly don’t know. Probably training, but from this map, it looks like the few structures are clustered on the island’s north side.”
“Is that where we’re headed?”
“No. It looks like we’re going to a cove on the south side. Williams steered this boat there, then went back to Catalina about ninety minutes later. We’ll go there and take a look around.”
“What if the navy objects?”
“It’s a fairly big island, and it looks like Williams was almost twenty miles away from the only active installation. We should be okay, but I’ll steer clear until after dark.”
Forty-five minutes later, Lynch steered the boat toward the isolated cove, which was home to four dilapidated buildings made of corrugated tin, a loading dock, and the remnants of an antenna that once towered over the complex. Vines now covered much of the area.
Lynch pointed toward the antenna. “This looks like one of those old monitoring stations I told you about.”
“Well, it kept the homeland safe during World War Two. But I’m not sure why Williams would bring the Morgan sisters to a place like this.”
“To seal them off from the world. Or, more importantly, to seal the world off from them. I can’t think of a better place. I actually feel good about having you here right now.”
“If you’re having thoughts about leaving me here, forget it.”
“I wouldn’t dare.”
Lynch eased the boat up to the loading dock and cut the engines. Kendra tied the landing ropes to the cleats. Only when Lynch turned off the deck lights did she realize how incredibly dark it was out there. There were no lights and no power at this long-abandoned installation, and the only sounds were of water lapping against the nearby rocks.
Lynch handed her a flashlight. “I think you’ll need this.”
Kendra, Lynch, and Harley left the boat and walked across the boarding dock, which creaked and splintered beneath them. Kendra could feel herself wincing with each step. Was this thing going to hold?
They finally made it.
Lynch aimed his flashlight beam toward the right, at a building that appeared to be living quarters. “Let’s start there, and we’ll work our way to the left.”
“No.”
“No?”
“It makes more sense for us to separate and start on each end. We’ll work our way to the middle, so we won’t miss them if we send them scurrying. I’m sure it’s what you would have done if you were here with anyone else.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I’ll have Harley, plus…” She flipped up her shirt to show the holstered automatic she was carrying. “I’ll be okay, Lynch.”
“I still don’t like it, but you’re right. It is what I would do with anyone else.”
Kendra nodded. “I hope we do find some sign of Chloe and Sloane and that it’s not going to be just another tragic ending.” She closed her eyes for an instant. “We’ve had too many of those lately. I don’t want another one.”
“Neither do I.” His arms were suddenly around her, holding her. God, he felt wonderful. He reached into his knapsack and pulled out a walkie-talkie. “Reach out if you get into trouble.”
Kendra held the device as if she’d been presented with something from another world. “A walkie-talkie? I haven’t seen one of these in a while.”
“Still very useful in places where there’s no cell reception. That one you’re holding has saved my life twice.”
If it was anyone else, she might have thought he was exaggerating. But she had no doubt Lynch was telling her the truth. She clipped the walkie-talkie to her belt. “Got it.”
“After I check out the buildings, I’ll walk up to higher ground and see if I can spot any other boats on our tail. It’ll be difficult in the dark, but I’ll give it a shot.”
Just then, they heard the barking of seals in the distance. Harley returned the barks and ran ahead of Lynch.
“So much for my protector,” Kendra said. “Seals again. I’m beginning to think bringing Harley was a mistake.”
“He’ll be fine. I’ll meet you back here in twenty minutes.” He kissed her. “Twenty minutes. If you’re late, I’ll sick the dog or the seals on you.”
She smiled and waved until she couldn’t see him any longer. It seemed strange to not be with him any longer after all this time together.
Good heavens. Exactly what she’d been trying to avoid since she first met him. Where was her independence?
She turned and started down the broken concrete path that led to the radio shack. A faded statue was positioned just before the front entrance. It was Neptune, the Roman God of water and the seas. This figure was gazing out at the ocean, keeping a watchful eye.
“The eye of Neptune,” she said aloud. It’s what Williams was trying to tell Lynch in his last moments.
They had come to the right place.
The structure’s front door was chain-locked, but there was ample room to enter through the other side, past the broken hinges. Kendra slid through and trained her flashlight around the installation. It had clearly been a radio room, although there was no longer equipment on the well-worn wooden tables. There were faded maps and posters on the wall, showing hundreds of call signs and radio relay stations. The place clearly hadn’t been used since the mid-1940s.
Kendra moved through the room and down a narrow hallway. It didn’t look like there was much more to this building, except a bathroom and maybe a—
BAM!
A figure jumped from the shadows and hit Kendra with a flying tackle! Before she could react, she was on the floor and two hands closed around her throat.
“Can’t… breathe…”
The figure leaned close, squeezing even tighter. “Who are you?” her attacker whispered.
Kendra thrashed from side to side, trying to break free.
Just then, someone grabbed her assailant and pulled her away.
Lynch?
No, she realized. It was a woman. They both were women.
“Back off!” the second woman ordered. “Don’t you know who this is?”
“Who?”
“It’s Kendra Michaels.” She knelt beside Kendra and helped her sit up. “Are you okay?”
Kendra squinted to see in the darkness. “Chloe?”
Chloe Morgan smiled. “Pleasure to meet you.”
Kendra turned to the other woman. “And you’re Sloane. Hello.”
Sloane rolled her eyes. “Oh, shit. It is her.”
“You know who I am?”
Chloe nodded. “Of course. We’ve spent most of our lives trying to catch a serial killer. And you’ve helped catch quite a few of them in our hometown.”
“I was brought into this case by an acquaintance of yours. A retired detective, Paula Chase.”
Sloane gasped excitedly. “She’s here?”
Kendra decided to wait to break the bad news. “No. I’m here with a friend. When you meet him, I don’t recommend lunging for his throat.”
