Obsidian (23 page)

“Those two following you are nasty fellows. I've been watching them for a couple of weeks and from what I have seen so far, what they lack in brains they make up for in brute strength and firepower. The question is . . . just what do they have against you?”

“I wish I knew.” Jamie said.

Case kept his arm draped around Shelby’s shoulder and gave Jamie a direct, pointed gaze. He took the look for what it was meant to be. Case was going to protect Shelby and Josh, no matter what.

And Shelby deserved to be protected. She looked so small and shadowed in the oversized clothes as she huddled next to Case. She was going to need Case there for her when this was through. Regardless of what they had shared last night he couldn’t guarantee he was going to be there to do the protecting himself.

“Shelby, would you go into the kitchen and get me something to wash down the candy bar?” Case gave her hand a gentle squeeze before pushing her toward the kitchen door. He turned back to Jamie when the door shut. All the tenderness of his expression had disappeared and for the first time Jamie got a glimpse of the Case he’d heard about.

“Just whose side are you on, Case?” Case gave a nod and then looked toward the doorway to the kitchen. It was still shut fast. Jamie knew Case was making the same decision he’d made last night. If he was to let it out and trust Jamie, then he took the risk of putting himself right out into the open range of fire. Just like Jamie, Case ran the risk of losing more than trust in this situation.

“I’d just come to Chandler when things started happening. It was just after my brother had died and Shelby was trying hard to hold onto the store and the wharf and make a go of it. I wanted to be there for Josh and Shelby. I needed to protect them. They didn’t have anyone else and I had a promise to keep.” He let out a heavy sigh.

“I bought a boat and started fishing part time and helping her out with the wharf where I could. But I started getting a bad feeling when I was out walking one night and I came up on two men pulling a trap line from a Bayliner at midnight off of the point. I managed to duck out of sight before they could see me. At first, I thought they were just stealing lobsters, but when I saw what they pulled up I knew that whatever they were out doing there couldn’t be good.”

“Was it a box tied to the end of the rope?”

Case just nodded. “It was too small to be a trap and nothing else could be explained for what they were doing.”

“Are you still with the NIA?”

Case shook his head. “National Intelligence Agency? No, but then, you knew that already. I’m sure your information has already told you why I’m not with the agency anymore.”

“Because of the bombing?” Jamie needed to press on. He had to get all the cards on the table before he could decide on his next move. Even if it meant hurting Shelby. “And your involvement with the bombing that killed your brother?”

Shelby as she stood in the doorway, an empty glass in her hand “What? You couldn’t have been with my father when he was killed. He died in an accident while he was in doing research. You told me that yourself.”

Case looked down at the floor and held out his hands in frustration. Jamie hated himself for bringing it up. It had never been his intention that she hear about Case’s past from him.

“He’s right. Your father was killed because of me.” Case’s words were heavy and laced with bitterness. “The terrorist group I was trying to break up had set a bomb for me and your father was killed because he was there to meet me. I was the intended target.”

“So you’re saying that my father was killed because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time?” She was angry. Her shoulders straightened in defiance and anger flashed in her eyes. Maybe it was better that she got mad. She’d lost her father and been lied to about it. Maybe getting angry was the way to get through the hurt.

Case got up and pulled Shelby into his arms, enveloping her in a crushing embrace. She fought his hold at first and then gave in, settling against him as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Shelby, you’ve got to understand, girl. I never intended for you to find out like this.” Case’s voice was strained as he reached a hand up to stroke her hair.

“You’d just graduated from college and gotten married. Heck, Josh was barely out of high school. I thought it best you and brother didn’t know how your father had really died. He made me promise to look out for you.”

“But why tell us he was killed in an accident? Was everything I believed about my father’s death a lie that I’m now supposed to just accept?” Shelby pulled away from him and ran for the stairs, taking them two at a time. Jamie let her go.

God, it was killing him to watch her in pain, but he had to let her go all the same. Putting Shelby through this hadn’t been his intention. But it was better she know the truth. He knew that better than anyone. Sometimes, the lie was better for everyone involved.

Case got up to follow her, but Jamie put out a hand to stop him. Case towered over him, his expression was black and threatening, but there was also pain there.

“Shelby will be alright. She’s got a lot to absorb right now and accept. But she’ll be okay. Right now, you and I have to get things we need to get straight and I need some promises from you.”

Jamie moved over to the coat he’d discarded in the hall. It was the same coat he’d used to drape over Shelby to keep her from going into shock after their wild ride through the storm. The sweet smell of her filled his senses as he fumbled with the pocket.

He fought to concentrate. He had to keep going with this for David’s sake. He’d made a promised as well, and he couldn’t go back on that promise now.

“I’m here investigating possible leaks in a Coast Guard smuggling case here in Chandler.”

“Operation? There’s no operation. Someone’s been telling you lies, Rivard. If Chandler were being watched, I’d know. I’ve been sitting back, waiting to see what action they were going to take, but so far I’ve seen nothing. Not a single boarding or observation, nothing.”

“There has to be some activity. There’s an ongoing investigation already in place. I was only brought in because of the possible leaks that were threatening the operation.”

“Then you were brought in on a fool’s errand. The only people aware of what is going on in Chandler are the locals and they aren’t saying much.”

Case was silent a moment before giving him a speculative gaze. “My guess is that someone wants you here in Chandler for another reason. And I’d like to know who and why.”

Jamie nodded. “My questions exactly.”

He pulled out the piece of folded paper he’d found with the guns and handed it over to Case. “This was in a package with five handguns I found washed up on the rocks at the point. They were attached to the end of trap line that had been cut.”

Case unfolded the paper and read it, then folded it up again before handing it back to him. “It’s a proverb. Something about treachery and the betrayer.”

“I know. I had a friend translate it for me. But I was hoping you’d be able to shed some more light onto what an Irish proverb is doing wrapped up with five military issue pistols and sunk in a water-tight container that was weighted at the end of a lobster buoy.”

“Military issue?” This caught Case’s attention.

“I’ve seen this kind of thing before.” Jamie said. “Guns are small, compact, powerful, and easy to smuggle. That, along with the note have me guessing they are smuggling into Northern Ireland.”

Case stood up straighter, towering over Jamie’s six-foot frame. He didn’t flinch. “Just an educated guess,” Jamie said.

Case nodded again.

“If I were you then I’d be putting me at the top of the list of suspects.” Case was anything if not direct. “Then again, I don’t have any reasonable gain from this whole operation. Money isn’t important to me. I’ve already lost everything else, except Shelby and Josh.” He shrugged.

“How much do you know about what is going?”

Case settled himself back on the couch before answering. “I know enough to know that those two men sitting off of Hen Island are a lot more dangerous than most people are giving them credit for. The locals have discounted them. They think they’re just a bunch of rich people staying out on in a summer home and maybe doing a little drug dealing. But these aren’t the usual summer types. They’re too shifty, too suspicious and too standoffish to be out there for a simple reason. They never interact with the locals and they rarely come into town. In short, they’re not what they appear to be

“But if you came to this conclusion then how come everyone else hasn’t?”

Case just shrugged. “I recognized them early on as the two men I saw hauling trap lines I told you about. As for everyone else in town, people in Chandler pretty much stick to themselves. If what they’re doing was out in the open, then they’d do something about it. But as a rule, they don’t go looking for trouble. Regardless, I don’t think they’re the brains behind this operation. They’re too slow about their movements. It’s as though they’re waiting for someone to tell them what to do.”

“You think someone else is calling the shots and making the drops?”

“I do. They are particular about when they do their pick-ups. I managed to monitor a cell phone call made out there a few days ago. Whoever it was that contacted them, he wasn’t too happy about what has been going on here in Chandler. He was upset about someone who had just come here and he was telling them to hurry up and pick up a drop that was made a few days ago.”

“If you knew they were up to something, why didn’t you report them? Why let it go this long without doing something about it?”

Case shook his head. “I can’t afford to call attention to my being here. I put a bug in the right ear, but I kept a low profile for Shelby and Josh’s sake. I couldn’t risk someone finding out who I was and having the whole damn world coming after me. It would only take one good investigative reporter to get a whiff of my presence and I could put Shelby and Josh’s life in danger.”

“You knew there was a risk with your presence, but you stayed anyway. Why?”

“Because I owed it to them and my brother. I owed them something that I’ll never be able to pay back, a family. And, if that meant staying here and keeping low to help them out, then I had to do it.”

Case was telling the truth. Jamie could see just how much Case had at stake.

“So if you aren’t behind this, then who is?”

“I don’t know, but I think this person is closer than we realize. From the beginning I’ve watched every move made. The worst part is that I think Josh found out that they were more then a bunch of vacationers and I think they realized he was watching them and went after him.” Case shook his head.

“Do they have Josh?” Shelby stood in the doorway. Her arms were wrapped tight around her waist as though trying to ward off the entire world.

“I’m sorry, girl, but I think they do. I got as close to the island as I could, but I wasn’t able to find out for sure.”

Case got up and placed an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. “Gut instinct tells me they’re coming to the end of this little operation they have going. They aren’t going to do anything to risk bringing attention, just yet. We just have to get there before they decide Josh is a liability.”

“Josh couldn’t have been involved in something illegal. He couldn’t do that. I’d have known.” She tilted her chin in defiance, looking from one man to the other. Jamie only hoped that Shelby was right. It was going to be difficult enough getting themselves out of this without having to wonder what part her brothers had played.

“What do we do now?” Despite the strong gleam in her eyes, her voice held a note of pain.

“I’m guessing that they aren’t too far behind your uncle. We can sit around here and wait for them to come to us, but I’d suggest we go to them.”

It was almost dawn by the time Taimon and Caruso made their way to
the address the old man had given them. Everything was quiet as they picked their way through the low scrub pines and oak trees surrounded the summer cottage. Thanks to the storm knocking out the power, everything was dark and quiet.

Taimon pulled his gun from his shoulder harness and pressed his back to side of the cottage, the weathered shingles bit into his back as he motioning for Caruso to do the same. Caruso moved along, edging as close as he could to the expanse of windows facing the water. He peered around the corner looking for movement inside the house.

There was nothing. No lights, no activity and nothing to suggest that anyone were there. Above the wind he heard the roar of a motorcycle engine in the distance. Scrambling backward, he tripped over a fallen branch. He picked himself and set off in a run. As he rounded the corner of the house the sound of the bike's engine faded away as they disappeared down the road.

Taimon came lumbering from the other side of the house, holding his side as he gasped for breath. “They got away?” he asked.

“This time,” Caruso said, promising this would be the last. Rivard and the woman had more lives than a cat. And the last thing he wanted to do was to tell the old man he’d let them get away. Again.

They waited at the head of the cove as long as they could. With any luck there’d be some anonymity in the few boats that were headed out to haul after the storm. There wouldn’t be many, but they wanted the advantage of trying to blend in with the ones that were brave enough to ride out the lingering effects of the hurricane.