Tangled Lies (16 page)

When they stepped into the Blue Dolphin, all conversation stopped. Most of the captains from this morning hadn’t returned to shore, yet the grapevine had apparently hummed along at top speed. They were getting the silent treatment.

“Funny how cold it can feel inside on a hot summer day,” she commented, glancing around as they slid into a booth.

“We’re stirring things up around here, and that can make some folks very, very nervous.”

Sasha stood suddenly. “I’m about to make things worse. I’ll be right back.” She crossed the restaurant and sat down beside an older couple in a back booth.

“Hi, Mr. Hess. Mrs. Hess. How are you folks?”

For a moment, the tiny birdlike woman just blinked at her. Across the table, her husband, balder than when he taught her high school biology, pushed his horn-rimmed glasses farther up his nose.

“Miss Petrov. I heard that you’d returned to our fair little town. How lovely to see you. Rumor has it you’re a boat captain these days.”

Sasha smiled. “Yes, sir, I am, and I love it.”

“Will you be staying in Safe Harbor permanently?”

Sasha shook her head. “I’m just here for a little while to help out around the marina.”

“I heard your poor mother is dying,” Mrs. Hess whispered.

Sasha shook her head. “Oh no, Mrs. Hess. She’s fighting cancer, but she’s a long way from death’s door.”

“Well, that’s not the way I heard it,” she sniffed, chin in the air.

Sasha didn’t think shouting would help, but she wanted to be very clear. “You were misinformed, ma’am. My family would be grateful if you set the record straight if you hear such things again.” She stared at the old woman until she gave a reluctant nod.

“So what can I do for you, Miss Petrov?” Mr. Hess asked, leaning forward on his elbows. “I’ve never known you to chitchat without a good reason.”

Sasha would have protested, except he was right. “I’ve been going over the events of the day my brother, Tony, disappeared—”

“He wasn’t technically your brother, was he, since the Martinellis never legally adopted you girls, did they?” Mrs. Hess interrupted.

Sasha didn’t remember Doc Hadley’s old nurse being quite this obnoxious in the past. “That’s true, Mrs. Hess, but my point is that I’m talking to folks who were at the marina the day Tony disappeared, trying to see what they remember, piece together the events of that day, if I can.”

Behind his glasses, Mr. Hess’s eyes widened. “You mean there’ve been new developments after all this time? That seems highly unusual.”

“No, nothing new, just trying to retrace that day.”

Mrs. Hess thumped her bony fist on the table. “She’s dying, I’m sure of it.”

“She’s not dying!” Sasha’s voice carried farther than she expected in the restaurant’s silence. She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “She’s not dying, OK?” She turned back to Mr. Hess. “Could you tell me what you remember about that day?”

“Of course. It was hot, I remember that. I’d been helping Captain Barry with fishing charters, acting as first mate. We weren’t there at the time Tony, ah, disappeared. We were out with a family on a half-day charter. They were from England, I believe. They came back looking like boiled lobsters, but they had a wonderful time.”

“What time did you get back?” Sasha knew how long the half-day charters went, but she wanted to see how much detail he recalled.

“We arrived just before noon, about eleven fifty, to be precise. One of the children had started feeling queasy, so we headed back a few minutes early.”

“What was it like at the marina when you got there?”

“Chaos, utter chaos. The town’s two police cars, the fire truck, and the EMT vehicle blocked all access, and people were running all over, peering into the water, under the docks, calling Tony’s name.” He swallowed and met her eyes, pain visible in his. “And above it all, your mother, running back and forth shouting Tony’s name with a kind of desperation that still gives me chills.”

Sasha looked away for a moment, tried to close out the scene, but it didn’t work. “What were the police doing?”

“They were doing the same thing as everyone else when we got there. Searching. Everyone figured he’d somehow wandered out of the yard and fallen in the water. Otis Monroe, who hadn’t been elected police chief yet, arrived about the time we did, and got the other officers started interviewing those who were there at the time. By this time, word had gotten out, and folks from town were showing up on the run, trying to help.” He looked off into the distance for a moment. “Even given the gravity of the situation, seeing how the community came together—it was moving.” He shrugged. “It was one of the reasons we stayed in Safe Harbor. This community cares about each other.” He paused again. “Although, now that I think back . . .”

His voice trailed off, and Sasha leaned forward, waiting. “What was different, Mr. Hess?” She said it quietly, not wanting to startle him from whatever he was seeing in his mind’s eye.

He shook his head as if to clear it, then met her eyes. “It was strange, really. While half the town seemed to be rushing to the marina, one vehicle was headed away from the marina.”

Sasha tried to curb her impatience. “Do you remember when that was, what kind of car?”

“It was shortly after we arrived, in the midst of the chaos, as it were. Let’s see, it was a Chevrolet, I think. A large vehicle. Gray.”

The chief had also mentioned a car leaving. Was this the same one?

“It wasn’t a police car, was it?”

“Oh no. All of those were clearly marked. But it might have been the same type. Perhaps a Crown Victoria. I don’t know that it means anything. I just found it odd that it was headed away, when everyone else was headed to the marina.”

“Did you get a glimpse of the driver? Any impression if they were male or female?” Sasha knew it was a long shot, but she had to ask.

“No, nothing like that. I was too far away.” He spread his hands. “I wish there was something else I can tell you, but it all happened so long ago.”

“Was anyone acting, I don’t know, odd in any way? Strange, given the circumstances?”

Mr. Hess cocked his head, sunlight glinting off his thick glasses. “Not really, except . . .” He trailed off again, and his expression turned sheepish, uncertain. “I know people handle grief and anxiety differently, but to me, the strangest thing that day was Sal’s behavior.”

Sasha reared back, unsure what to say. “Please tell me what you mean, sir.”

“Well, as I said, your mother was in a total panic, running hither and yon, screaming Tony’s name. Sal was, too. For a while. After the first hour or so, while the police started talking to everyone there, he just sort of . . . stopped. I saw him slumped on the bench outside the bait shop, face in his hands, hunched over, just sobbing. It was like he’d given up. But to me”—he sent her a quick glance, shrugged—“it seemed like it was much too soon for that. The search was just getting started.”

Thoughts swirled in Sasha’s mind, tangling with all sorts of questions. But they would have to wait. “You weren’t there that day, Mrs. Hess?”

She snorted, a very unladylike sound from someone who always dressed so primly. She reached up with a bony hand and fluffed her white hair. “I don’t get out in the sun. Does terrible things to your skin. You should watch yourself. Keep spending time out there and you’ll be covered in that awful melanoma before you hit forty, mark my words. Why, a friend of mine—”

Sasha cut her off by sliding out of the booth. “Thank you both so much. I appreciate your time.”

As she walked back to their table, she heard Mrs. Hess whisper, “I’ll bet my last dollar her mother is lying at death’s door.”

Sasha ignored the old lady’s words, more concerned about what Mr. Hess had said—and hadn’t said. She’d have to see if anyone else had noticed the same thing.

She looked up and saw Jesse watching her, his smile getting wider the closer she got. She couldn’t help smiling back. Nobody had ever looked at her quite the way he did, as though he saw past all the masks and defensive shields and liked her anyway. It was freeing.

And terrifying enough to make her hands shake.

She slid into the booth opposite him and glanced at the food on her plate and his half-eaten lunch.

“I was starved and Betty was getting impatient, so I ordered for both of us. You used to love their burgers.”

Sasha inhaled deeply and popped a french fry into her mouth. Nothing like grease to help her regain her equilibrium. “Nobody does burgers like the Blue Dolphin.” She had to use two hands to hold it. “This is so good,” she mumbled, taking another bite.

She looked up to find Jesse watching her, heat in his eyes. An answering spark ignited deep in her belly, and she took another bite, smiling as she did so. His nostrils flared, and she felt his bare foot rub hers under the table. Just like he’d done in high school. The spark burst into flame, and she felt his eyes drawing her closer as though he were reeling in a snapper—slow and steady.

“Are you flirting with me, Jesse Claybourne?”

His foot traveled farther up her calf, and she almost jumped in surprise, especially when his grin grew positively wicked. “Me? Since when has that ever worked on you, Sash?”

He slid his other foot up her calf, slowly, then back down, and Sasha set the burger aside, determined not to squirm. How could something so innocuous be so intense?

“Aren’t you going to eat that?” The gleam in his eyes said he knew exactly what he was doing—and that he was enjoying every minute of it.

She held it up. “Want to share?”

He leaned closer and they both took a bite at the same time. Someone snickered at a nearby booth, and just like that, the sensual spell snapped. Good grief, they were acting like a couple of teenagers at the busiest gossip hub in three counties. What were they thinking?

Sasha tucked her head down and polished off the burger, avoiding those knowing eyes.

“Ready?” he asked as he slid out of the booth.

She nodded and they headed out to his truck, the afternoon heat a slap in the face. He walked her around to the passenger side, but when he reached for her, she held out a hand to stop him, afraid suddenly of the wanting in his eyes. Especially since he would see the same in hers. This wasn’t a simple lunch flirtation. This was Jesse, and she couldn’t play games with him. Couldn’t ever take him lightly. He mattered too much.

“What are you afraid of, Sasha?”

They stared at each other, tension crackling like palm fronds in a storm, but she couldn’t move or speak. She clenched her fists to keep from reaching for him as fear and regret raced around and around in her head and made her dizzy. She thought of her father and that long-ago night in Russia, when he told her to stay home with her brother. Of his face when she happily skipped up to his meeting anyway, surprised at his anger, his fear. Of seeing her parents, dead in the car, just hours later.

What if she’d listened to Papa? What if she hadn’t ignored the rules and done what she was supposed to do? Would it have made a difference?

Terror held her still. If she ignored the warnings and followed her heart, would her selfishness destroy Jesse, too?

“Sasha Petrov? Is that you necking like a teenager in broad daylight in front of God and everybody?”

The shrill voice broke the spell, and Sasha couldn’t help a rueful smile. Imagine if they had been necking!

“Have to love small towns.” She turned and saw Captain Roy’s wife standing two rows over, hands on her hips, shaking her head. “Hi, Miss Mary Lee. You just heading inside? Hot out here today.”

Mary Lee stepped closer. “Who is that you’re . . . ooh. That Claybourne boy.” She marched over and poked a finger into Jesse’s chest. “You leave that girl alone, Jesse. And while you’re at it, you can take yourself off back to Tampa or wherever it is you hail from and leave us alone.”

Sasha glanced at Jesse. In high school, words like that would have had him swinging. “I reckon Sasha can choose her own companions, ma’am. Enjoy your lunch.” He leaned closer to Mary Lee and said quietly, “Just for the record, I’m not going anywhere.”

Mary Lee stood openmouthed in the parking lot. Then she spun on her high-heel sandals and marched off to the restaurant like a general heading into battle.

Sasha leaned against the truck and turned to Jesse with a little smile. “You’ve gone and done it now, Money-boy. Got the old biddies all riled up about my virtue.”

“I like your virtue. I want to get all kinds of familiar with your virtue, just so you know.”

Sasha laughed out loud. When Jesse opened the truck door, she changed her mind. “Are you in a big hurry?”

He shrugged. “Nothing that can’t wait an hour or two. Why?”

“I thought since we’re here, I might ask some of the shopkeepers what they remember about the day Tony disappeared.”

He nodded. “I’d go with you, but I don’t think you’ll get anywhere if I do.” He opened the driver’s side door and climbed in, rolled down the windows. “I’ll wait here. Take your time.”

Sasha recognized the truth in what he said, but she still felt naked and exposed as she walked down Main Street. She approached Beatrice’s Hair Affair and locked eyes with the owner through the window. As Sasha stepped through the doorway, Beatrice, a big lady whose tight gray curls hadn’t moved since Reagan was president, blocked her path.

“I’m just closing up. Sorry.”

Sasha looked around the shop. Four of the six chairs were occupied by women pretending they didn’t see her and weren’t listening to every word. The pink-smocked staff doing their hair were equally determined to ignore her. Sasha sighed.

“Look, Miss Beatrice, I don’t need my hair done. I just wanted to know what you could tell me about the day my brother, Tony, disappeared.”

Someone in the back stifled a gasp, and the silence grew louder. Beatrice opened the door and held it, waiting for Sasha to leave.

“That was a terrible tragedy that happened a long time ago. There is nothing more to be said.”

Sasha studied the woman’s closed expression and knew more questions were futile. “Thank you for your time, Miss Beatrice.”

As Sasha stepped out, Beatrice added, “Leave the past alone, Sasha. For everyone’s sake.”