Elizabeth Goddard - Thread Of Revenge

Crowley pursed his lips, hung his head and shook it. “I thought you were in the middle of trying to catch the drug smugglers off our coast. What are you even doing here, Sessions?”

“I pulled Sadie from the water. Or did I forget to mention that? But you’re right. I’m working on drug runners.” He’d just have to handle both cases. “So what’s it going to be, Crowley? Are you going to listen to her story or not?”

“All right. I’ll go talk to her.” Crowley put his hands on his hips. “But Karon’s death was an accident. End of story. Maybe I can convince her of that.”

Maybe, but you can’t convince me just yet after what happened today. Gage held his tongue and nodded, still troubled by everything that had happened and unsure what he was supposed to do. Uncertain if he could leave Sadie to face this with anyone except him by her side. With Crowley to look into things. It would all depend on his SAC’s take on it. But what if the man didn’t want to reopen the Casings investigation? What about Sadie? Someone had tried to kill her and she wasn’t Coast Guard. Crowley would be in charge of that. Could he trust the deputy to protect her and find the truth?

Gage’s cell rang. He glanced at the phone. Crowley waited for him to take the call, acting as if he had more to say. Gage answered.

“I’ve got some news.” It was his SAC—Jim Sullivan—at the regional headquarters in Seattle.

“What’s happened?”

“Lieutenant Sean Miller’s body washed up. Two bullets to the back. The same kind of bullets your drug runners use. So it could definitely be tied to your investigation, Gage. I need you to get to the scene the next county up.” Jim relayed the coordinates and ended the call. Well, that was it then. His spirits sank at the thought of leaving Sadie, but he had his orders. He’d talk to Jim about what happened today, but Gage doubted he would see Sadie any time soon until fate pushed them together again.

He lifted his gaze to meet Crowley’s. “A Coastie’s body washed up on the beach north of Coldwater Bay. Next county over, so your counterpart will meet me there to conduct his own investigation. I guess I have my marching orders. I’ll leave you to take care of Sadie.” And saying those words pained him more than it should. She wasn’t his responsibility. He struggled to force one foot in front of the other to leave her and trudged slowly toward the exit.

“Sessions, wait.”

Gage slowed and turned around. “What?”

“That would be the second body in two weeks, wouldn’t it? The other one belonged to Karon Casings, as you know. But Karon’s mother told me that Karon had been seeing someone. He’d been on leave and nobody could tell me where he’d gone. But he didn’t come to her funeral.”

Gage stiffened. Could it be? “What was his name?”

Crowley’s lips flattened. “Lieutenant Sean Miller.”

Gage glanced at the door to Sadie’s hospital room. And Karon Casings had been Sadie Strand’s best friend. The three incidents were all connected.

Fear fisted around his heart and wouldn’t let go. Sadie was in danger.

THREE

Exhaustion would overwhelm her soon. She hoped the deputy would finish up.

“Thanks for answering my questions,” Deputy Crowley said. “You’re sticking around town in case we have more, right?”

“Of course. I’m not leaving until I know who’s responsible for what happened to Karon. Finding out who tried to kill me today will give me that answer.”

Deputy Crowley angled his head, a deep crease in his brow. “We’ll see what we can find out. I need a number and an address where I can reach you if I have further questions.”

“I live with my aunt Debby.” She gave him the address.

After college she’d been busy traveling, working and researching and never actually took the time to move out. But someone had attempted to kill her; she should reconsider staying at the house.

“We know where to find you then. Get some rest.” He turned to leave and just as he reached the door, she called out.

He turned to face her. “Yes, ma’am?”

“The other man, the one who pulled me out of the water.”

“Special Agent Sessions?”

Special agent? Why hadn’t she known he was in law enforcement, a special agent, at that? She’d assumed he was Coast Guard. He’d been on the Coast Guard cutter. She frowned. “Gage Sessions. Is he still out in the hallway?”

He shook his head. “No, ma’am. He left a while ago.”

She sagged at the news, surprised at how disappointed she was.

“Can I do anything for you?” he asked.

“Do you know if he’s coming back?”

“I couldn’t say, but it all depends on if he’s involved with the investigation.”

She nodded and the deputy exited.

After the hospital staff had come in to get her signature on release papers, she waited on Aunt Debby to give her a ride home.

Sadie rubbed her head, which still felt a little woozy. And after she got home, then what? She weighed her options. Common sense told her to go back to her research on the other side of the world and let the authorities find out who tried to kill her—she’d be safer that way too. Let them find out who had murdered Karon. But as a marine biologist, she was also a researcher—she conducted scientific investigations, as it were. She didn’t trust anyone else to be as thorough as she would be. Conducting her own investigation would mean putting her future on hold indefinitely—possibly missing her chance at the grant she wanted. Still, there was nothing more important to her than bringing Karon’s murderer to justice. And she wasn’t entirely confident that Deputy Crowley was the man for the job.

She hoped that Gage would be involved. But she was getting ahead of herself. First she needed to get out of this hospital room.

Someone knocked lightly on the door. “Sadie?”

Gage’s voice rang out. The sound warmed her.

“Come in.”

He opened the door and stepped all the way into the room. His shoulders were broad. And his arms. She remembered those strong arms around her, scooping her against him as she nearly drowned, swimming her to the smaller boat that took them to the Coast Guard cutter. The Kraken, if she remembered correctly.

An image came to mind. Gage Sessions swooping down from the Kraken to rescue her. And she’d thought it wasn’t a princess story, and more than that, she’d wanted to save herself. Ha!

She realized she was grinning.

He studied her with those alert hazel eyes, which seemed to take in every detail, everything about her. Her cheeks warmed. She was glad he couldn’t read her mind.

“It’s good to see you have your color back.” His smile was engaging.

“I’m so glad to see you. I wasn’t sure if you were coming back.”

His expression turned serious. “Of course. I had to make sure you’re going to be okay.”

“Earlier when you were here, I forgot to thank you for pulling me from the ocean.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I hope they didn’t give you a hard time. I heard that you kind of broke protocol.” And she wondered why. She had a feeling his willingness to risk his life in the ocean for her, and willingness to go against the Coast Guard’s protocol, had saved her life.

“Anything for a friend.” He jammed his hands in his pockets. “So...how are you doing? Really?”

She leaned back in the chair. That was a good question. Sadie closed her eyes to think. Looking at Gage was too distracting. She didn’t remember that about him from before. “I’m still shaky after everything.”

“That’s understandable.” Gage sat on the edge of the bed.

She opened her eyes. Yeah, he was still a distraction. “So what happens next?”