Elizabeth Goddard - Thread Of Revenge

When she opened her eyes again and looked at Gage, his gaze was penetrating. Almost accusing. “So you went to her house for your own investigation.”

She shrugged. “Yeah. There wasn’t any crime scene tape or anything. The authorities ruled her drowning death an accident.”

“What happened next?”

She tried to picture everything in her mind. Tried to remember it all. “Her vacation rental house is right along the beach above the rocks. I remember thinking how apropos that the storm clouds were brewing in the distance. I couldn’t understand why no one in law enforcement found her death suspicious.”

“They’ll listen now, Sadie, since someone tried to kill you.”

She was glad she could talk to him and he really listened and believed her. It was just like old times, only much more serious. “Not just someone, Gage. The same person.”

“Keep talking.”

“I came back for the funeral. I’d been in Indonesia researching for a grant I desperately need—I’m a marine biologist now—when I got the call. Nothing could have brought me back. Nothing except the death of someone I love. Do you understand?”

His expression turned somber yet compassionate. He moved closer, appearing absorbed in her story. “Yes, I think I do. What happened next at Karon’s house? I want to know how you ended up on the boat.”

He questioned her like an investigator, keeping her on track. “Well, I remember something crashed outside the house. I thought it was a garbage can. I glanced out the window but saw nothing but branches scratching the glass with the gust of wind. I booted up Karon’s laptop and what I found stunned me. I guess it shouldn’t have.”

Gage inched closer. “What did you find?”

“The thing had been wiped clean.”

“And did you call the authorities?”

“No. That’s where my memories grow fuzzy and unclear. I had this creepy sensation that someone was watching me. I can’t say for sure but I think someone was there with me. I remember...someone. Just not who or even what they looked like. If it was a man or a woman. And the next thing I remember is waking up on that sinking boat with no radio or flotation devices. My head was pounding, and I felt woozy, weird, like the effects of a drug wearing off. Someone wanted me dead. Talk about the perfect crime.”

When she lifted her gaze to meet Gage’s, he appeared visibly shaken. “It would only have been the perfect crime if you had died. Sounds like you were definitely drugged. But did the person responsible intend for the drugs to keep you asleep until you drowned? Or had they meant for you to wake up and know the situation was hopeless, which could mean a personal motive for murder? Either way...” Gage cleared his throat instead of finishing the sentence.

His deep concern surprised her.

She would finish the sentence for him. “Either way, it means I’m still in danger once they know I survived.”

* * *

Gage paced the hallway outside Sadie’s hospital room. He hadn’t revealed his role as an investigator for the Coast Guard because he didn’t want to give her false hope that he would help her. Or that his SAC—special agent in charge—would assign him. Another CGIS special agent, Thompkins, had already investigated Karon’s death along with the sheriff’s office and ruled it an accident.

Could they have been wrong? That’s why Gage had wanted to question Sadie himself. That, and, well...they’d been friends. In that sense he would always be there for her, and it seemed that life had a torturous way of bringing them back together every few years.

He had no other responsibility to her and could have gone straight back to work, but for two things.

Her words to him about someone trying to kill her.

And the fact that it was Sadie Strand that he’d pulled from the ocean. He couldn’t believe it when he finally realized who the woman in the water was. He couldn’t believe it when he’d swum to her, fighting against the ferocious Pacific, and finally gathered her into his arms. He wasn’t someone easily traumatized.

But that incident had shaken him.

They’d grown up in the same small town in Coldwater Bay. Had gone to school together. He’d had a crush on her back then, but she’d never noticed him. Then they’d met again at the University of Washington in Seattle and had become close friends. Frequently shared long walks on the beach. And yeah, he’d gotten that crush on her again.

She hadn’t noticed that time either because she’d been smitten with someone else. At least that’s what he told himself. Maybe it had been a lie. Regardless, there was always someone else to catch her attention. Of course, that had been years before and Gage had gotten over her a long time ago. They’d been friends and he would always care about her that way. None of those residual romantic feelings remained, for which he was grateful. Still, finding her and saving her from near death had unsettled him.

He waited in the hall now for someone from the sheriff’s department so he could share what she’d told him and watch his reaction. A deputy sheriff strode straight for Gage. He knew the investigative deputy, Bob Crowley, and tried to work with him when their investigations crossed, but that wasn’t always possible.

“Good to see you, Sessions,” Deputy Crowley said. “Sorry it took me so long to get here.”

“Not a problem.” It gave him an excuse to hang around and talk himself out of going back into Sadie’s room.

“Tell me what you know.” Looking beat, Crowley rubbed his neck as if he’d already pulled an all-nighter.

Gage told him what Sadie had shared with him, including her belief that Karon was murdered and she’d become the target now. “I asked the doctor to run blood tests to find out what drug is in Sadie’s system.”

“Karon Casings’s death was already ruled an accident. That comes from me. The other CGIS agent looked into it since she was Coast Guard reserve and decided her death had nothing to do with her duties, so he didn’t have any jurisdiction. Maybe Sadie is distraught over her death and not thinking clearly. Her story sounds far-fetched,” Crowley added. “What do you think?”

Was Crowley serious? Or was Gage’s relationship with Sadie clouding his judgment about the facts? He didn’t think so. He believed someone had tried to kill her, but he based that solely on her word. Gage hesitated with a reply. He didn’t want to give too much away. He believed it was always best to wait and watch people. “I guess it all depends on why someone would want to kill Karon, and then Sadie? Any ideas on that?”

“None.” Crowley frowned and glanced up and down the hallway.

Gage would talk to Agent Thompkins about it too. Two investigators claimed Karon’s death was an accident. What had they missed? Was it possible that Karon’s death had, in fact, been an accident, but someone had tried to kill Sadie and they were two separate cases? Sadie had been in Karon’s home when she’d been abducted and placed on the boat to die. No. Definitely connected.

Gage pressed his fist against his lips and thought about Sadie. She’d been all about protecting marine life and conservation. All about justice for those who couldn’t protect themselves. Gage didn’t feel comfortable walking away from this, walking away from her. And if this was connected to Karon and her death hadn’t been an accident—what was going on? Could he let someone else investigate even if he had no jurisdiction?

No. No, he couldn’t. In the end, his SAC would have the last say, but Gage could be persuasive when he wanted. He just needed a valid motive.

Then finally, he said, “We’ll see what the blood test says. I’ll talk to my SAC. We might need to reopen Karon Casings’s investigation too.”