“Where’d you get proof?” Bruce asked.
“Charlie always had a feeling things were off with that case,” Vince said. “I never believed him. I told him to drop it, just like you just did to me. But there was something that never settled right in Charlie’s gut about that case. Even after he retired he kept files and was still working the investigation on his own. I found all of his notes. And then I found the key.”
“Key to what?” Jimmy asked, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning in slightly.
“A storage locker,” Vince said. “And I hit pay dirt. I called you here because y’all worked the case with me and Charlie all those years ago, and I don’t know who else to trust. I can’t turn this over to the cops.”
“Why not?” Bruce asked.
“Because Carmen de Salva had arms of his operation everywhere. Including the police department.”
Bruce whistled. “You think the cops are dirty?” He and Jimmy shared a look.
“Somebody is,” Vince said. “So will you help me?”
“Sure,” Jimmy said, shrugging. “Where’s this storage locker you found?”
“Whiskey Bayou,” Vince told him.
“Then I guess we’d better go get it,” Bruce said, squeezing Vince on the shoulder.
I saw the quick flash of steel and knew Bruce had blocked Vince from seeing Jimmy pull his weapon.
Jimmy pistol-whipped Vince in the back of the head, and I watched in horror as my stepdad dropped like a sack of potatoes.
“He won’t stay out long,” Jimmy said. “He always did have a head like a rock. I’ve got zip ties in my trunk.”
Jimmy and Bruce bent down and lifted Vince off the ground, and Jimmy threw him over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. I stayed low, but I needed to get as close as I could to the front of the house so I could at least get a license plate number.
I made my move as they were struggling to get Vince to the door, and I eyed the overgrown moss and grass a couple of feet from my stilt. I leapt without thinking, and my feet hit their target. It was short lived as the deceptive marsh gave way beneath my feet and I went down into the freezing water.
It turns out I didn’t need Google after all. I figured out what a flotant was all on my own.
Chapter One
Wednesday
Two Days Earlier…
On a scale of one to awesome, marriage was right up there with the Constitution, orgasms, and free samples at Costco.
I’d been married to Nick Dempsey for a little over a month, and we’d spent most of that time in a tiki hut on the water in Tahiti. Neither of us had tan lines, which should tell you a little something about how we spent most of our time.
On this particular morning, the marriage part of being married was amazing. It was the tiny person growing inside of me that I wanted to file a complaint to the manager about.
“Are you feeling better?” Nick asked, wrapping my hands around a mug of hot tea. “I brought you some toast.”
“You’re the best,” I said and meant it. I tried not to look at the toast. I might as well have thrown it directly in the toilet.
“It seems like the least I could do, considering.” The corner of his mouth twitched.
I’d hit the jackpot with Nick. He was movie-star handsome with dark hair and Irish blue eyes. He had a body sculpted by the gods, a wicked sense of humor, and he lived to serve and protect. And best of all, he’d chosen me.
“It seems unfair that men get to have all the fun of making the baby, but they don’t get the pleasure of the vomiting, hemorrhoids, and irrational mood swings.”
“Yeah,” he said, his smile going wider. “It’s a real bummer. I appreciate you taking one for the team.”
“You’re hilarious,” I said.
“I’ve been told that before.” He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “Are you going back to bed or are you getting up?”
I thought about it for a second. I was tempted to curl back up under the covers and sleep the morning away. Growing a person was exhausting. But I saw Nick was dressed in dark gray slacks, a royal-blue shirt, and a blue-and-gray-checked silk tie. He wore his shoulder holster and his badge was clipped at his belt.
We’d been home from our honeymoon for three days, and it had been magical. We hadn’t told a soul we were back, and we’d spent our time watching movies, eating whatever we wanted, and making love. But today was his first day back at work, and the party had to end.
“I’m getting up,” I said, tossing back the covers. “I’m told my energy will come back eventually.”
“Yeah, in eighteen years,” he said cheerfully. “Come on, you can walk me out.”
He grabbed his sport coat, and I looked out the window at the miserable weather. We’d had nothing but clear skies and warm days in Tahiti, only to come back to the longest and coldest winter Georgia had ever had. It was still in the upper thirties, and the precipitation couldn’t decide between drizzle and slush. Whatever was falling from the sky, the clouds were gray and it was cold and nasty.
I looked down at my flannel pajama pants and white T-shirt and stuck my feet into the slippers next to the bed. I shuffled after Nick down the stairs and watched him fill his to-go cup with coffee. He took a sip, grabbed his bag and his keys, and took his long wool coat from the hall closet.
I eyed him up and down, and then caught him staring at me. “Are you sure you have to go into work today?” I asked. “I could have all of those very nice clothes off of you in thirty seconds.”
“As tempting as that is, you should probably brush your teeth first.”
“Huh,” I said, pressing my lips together.
“But I’ll take a raincheck for later.” He grabbed the umbrella out of the stand, and I opened the front door for him. “Oh, and I should probably mention that there’s a taxi sitting out front. You might want to see what that’s about.”
I narrowed my eyes and looked past him into the dreary mist. Sure enough, there was a yellow taxicab idling behind his truck.
“How long has it been there?” I asked.
“It pulled up just as I was moving the truck from the garage.”
“And you just left it there?” I asked, suspicious.
“I wanted to make sure you were up to visitors,” he said. “And then I forgot it was out there.”
“You’ve never forgotten a thing in your life, Nick Dempsey. You already know who it is, and you just don’t want to deal with it.”
He grinned and then leaned down to kiss my cheek. “I’ve got to get to work. Don’t overdo it today.” And with that, he flicked open the umbrella and hightailed it to his truck. He was at the end of the driveway by the time I got my feet in my rain boots and the slicker wrapped around me. I pulled the hood up and then stepped out in the wet, sloshing my way to the cab.
The taxi driver was a grizzled man in a newsboy’s hat with an unlit cigar in his mouth. He was absorbed in a crossword puzzle and didn’t notice me until I was almost at the window. I couldn’t see into the back seat because of the tinted glass.
He rolled down his window. “I was wondering if we were going to have to wait here all morning,” he said. “But your husband said you’d be out so I could be on my way. It’s a long drive back to Port Canaveral.”