B007GFGTIY EBOK (31 page)

T
he sun beat down on another glorious St. Kitts morning. Through his sunglasses, Hayden had a tinted view of the white sand beaches, blue skies, crystal-clear waters, and Rebecca carrying two tall drinks. She sat on the beach chair beside him and handed him one. Her skin had bronzed evenly over the length of her body, making it even more pleasing to the eye. She smiled and sucked at the straw as condensation dripped from her glass and soaked into her bikini. She noticed him staring at her.

“What are you looking at?” Rebecca asked.

“Nothing much,” he said in mock disapproval.

“Hey.” She whipped out her straw and squirted him with the contents. “Now say something nice.”

“Something nice.”

She frowned. “I suppose that’s the best I can hope for.”

Three weeks ago, they couldn’t have hoped for anything. They would have been dead if Eskdale hadn’t given the decontamination team all the information needed to treat them. Once Hayden and Rebecca got the all clear on their health, California seemed too hot to hang around with the incriminations flying. They left for the Caribbean at the earliest opportunity.

A young man wearing the hotel’s corporate Hawaiian-style shirt and white shorts came up to them. “Mr. Duke, I have a phone call for you.”

“Thanks.”

“Who can that be?” Rebecca asked, but she knew the answer.

It could be only one person. Hayden followed the young man to the beach bar and picked up the phone resting off the hook.

“Hello, detective. Is this on Marin County’s dime?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t waste my own money speaking to you.”

Santiago had wasted a lot of the county’s money on phone calls. He’d already called Rebecca and Hayden twice before.

“You’ve been out there two weeks. When are you coming back? You can come home anytime.”

“Probably in another two weeks.”

“How nice.”

It
was
nice. After all he’d been through, the thought of going back to the daily grind didn’t appeal to Hayden. He’d almost lost his life, so it was time to live it for a while. He had no idea what he was going to do when he returned home. All he did know was that he was going to have Rebecca in his life. It seemed like a good start.

“How’s Rebecca?”

Hayden glanced over at her. She had put down her glass and resumed sunning herself. He smiled.

“She’s good.”

“She’s a keeper. Don’t screw it up.”

Hayden smiled. “I won’t. Have you made a decision?”

“Yeah. I’m taking the academy instructor’s position. If what I teach saves one deputy on the streets, then Mark’s death won’t have been for nothing.”

Losing Rice had hit Santiago hard. An officer under his supervision had died on the job. He’d received a commendation, but he refused the promotion, requesting a teaching position instead. Hayden saw the request for what it was—penance. He wished he could offer Santiago some comfort, but he knew the only person who could forgive Santiago was Santiago. Hayden hoped that would happen sooner rather than later.

“You’ll be missed on the streets. There are too many people left for you to piss off.”

Santiago chuckled. “I might harass you for kicks.”

“Thanks. What’s the latest on Lockhart?”

“He’s finished. Eskdale sold him out. The Feds are tearing through his past dealings. There are a few government and military officials distancing themselves from him, so expect a few resignations in the coming months. The trial should be a gala event when it happens.”

“You still involved?”

“Nah. Not once the arrests were made. Since the Feds took over, I’ve been given the mushroom treatment.”

“Kept in the dark and fed on bullshit?”

“Yeah. They did do me the courtesy of giving me updates, but it was nothing I couldn’t catch on the nightly news.”

“What about the Chinese I saw with Lockhart?”

“Gone. The Feds tore the Fairmont Hotel apart looking for them, but they’d checked out. The prevailing opinion is they fled the country via Mexico.”

“At least they didn’t leave with the devices.”

“I guess we call that a tie.”

It was over, but the trail of destruction left in its wake was huge. So many people dead, so many lives ruined, and for what? Hayden was disgusted, but he couldn’t let it get to him.

“So the world hasn’t come to an end because I’m not there,” he said.

“We can get along nicely without you, believe it or not.”

“That’s good.”

“I’ve got to go, Hayden. I can feel my ears burning, so the wife must be calling. Give my regards to Rebecca.”

“OK.”

Santiago hung up and Hayden returned to Rebecca. She smiled at him when he sat down.

“How is our fairy god detective?” she asked.

“He’s OK. Still down over Rice.”

Rebecca’s smile slipped. “Only to be expected.”

Hayden nodded. He picked up his drink and sipped it. The ice had melted and it was too warm to drink.

“Hayden, what are we going to do?”

He put his drink down. “Go snorkeling.”

“You know what I mean.”

He did. The future loomed, but he wasn’t thinking that far ahead.

“I meant what I said. Go snorkeling. Anything else gets in the way. Come on, let’s go.”

He took her hand and helped her up from the beach chair before leading her back to the hotel. The day was beautiful and too good to waste.

“Do you want to stay an extra week?” he asked.

Photograph by Barry Evans Studio, 2003

A
nthony Award–winning author of a dozen books as well as over 150 published stories and articles, Simon Wood is an ex–race car driver, a licensed pilot, an animal rescuer, an endurance cyclist, and an occasional private investigator. Having dealt with dyslexia from an early age, Wood’s ambition has been met with rave reviews for his previous publications, including
Accidents Waiting to Happen
,
Dragged into Darkness
,
Working Stiffs
,
Paying the Piper
,
Terminated
,
Asking For Trouble
,
The Fall Guy
, and numerous others published under his horror pseudonym, Simon Janus. Originally from the UK, Wood moved to the US in ’98 to share his world with his American wife, Julie—and a longhaired dachshund and four cats.