“It seems like a dream that I grew up here and am back in Coldwater Bay on an investigation.” With you, no less! It hit too close to home. Fate was cruel or God had a sense of humor. He could decide which when this was over.
Finally, they neared Karon’s vacation house. Gage parked in the street in front, half on the grass, half on the asphalt. A sand drive led up to the house.
He shifted to face Sadie.
“It also seems like a dream that I almost drowned today. And that Karon is gone. Murdered.” She angled her head.
He wished she wouldn’t look at him like that, her soft blue eyes reminding him of moments like this in college. But several years and life experiences had changed them both. And today’s incident had also likely changed Sadie in ways she didn’t even realize yet.
She reached for the door handle. “She would never have been out in the water that cold without a dry suit.”
“That’s why things like that are called accidents, but now that it appears someone tried to stop you from interfering, we have to look deeper.” And end this before someone else got killed.
She opened the door.
“Sadie, wait.” Gage jumped out and ran around to stand in her way. “Wait for me. I’ve been put on this case now, sure, but it’s more than that. You can show me things I might not otherwise notice, yes, but the initial investigators have already searched the house for clues. Though they didn’t find anything, as you know, we should still be careful not to disturb anything that could turn out to be evidence or help us find out who did this to Karon.” He might want to bring in forensics. Since neither Thompkins nor Crowley had thought Karon had been murdered, they had likely missed something.
“Don’t you think I know that?” Her brows furrowed. “The initial investigators missed the proof. They probably didn’t even look at her computer. But I did and found it wiped clean.”
“Maybe they looked and found nothing suspicious. Maybe it wasn’t wiped when they were there, or they had no reason to even look. I’ll have to read through the report, like I said.” He held out his hand. “Come on. Let’s go.”
The sudden sense that someone was watching them crawled over him. Trees butted up near the house, which faced the ocean. Waves crashed against the rocks behind them. He squeezed her hand. Was he making a mistake?
A door shut. A man in a red cap that shadowed his face exited the house.
Gage froze. The man spotted him and took off running into the thick temperate forest that hugged the Washington coast.
“Wait in the truck.” Gage tossed the keys to Sadie and ran after the man.
“I’m not waiting here!” She followed Gage around the house and into the woods, but soon fell behind. He couldn’t leave her there alone. He’d lost the man anyway.
Gage backtracked through the trees and found Sadie behind a tree. He grabbed her hand and kept walking back toward his SUV. “This is too dangerous. I should never have brought you here.” He tugged his cell out to call for backup.
The air whooshed from his lungs as a concussive explosion slammed his back, forcing him to the ground.
* * *
Sadie lifted her face out of the sand, gasping for breath. What just happened? Her ears were ringing. Strong arms gripped her. Pulled her up and against a wide chest. Once again she found herself in Gage’s capable arms.
His face appeared blurry. His mouth was moving, but she couldn’t hear his words, understand them. But she knew he asked if she was okay.
She nodded. “I think...” How could she be sure? She focused on Gage. “Are you okay?”
He looked dazed himself. They sat there together for a few seconds.
Flames consumed the house—Karon’s family vacation house. Gage stood and pulled Sadie to her feet.
Dizziness swept over her, but she ignored it as she took in the utter devastation heating up the air around them. “Oh, no, Gage.”
Though her ears were still ringing, she heard her own voice this time.
He searched the ground near their feet and closer to the SUV.
“What are you looking for?” Sadie noticed a few chunks of the house—the roof, shards of glass from the windows, a splintered door—all these unintentional deadly weapons littered the yard.
“My cell. I was about to call for backup. Now we need emergency services. A fire truck.”
They could have been killed a thousand times over. They could have been inside the house when it blew up. Thank You, God! Her knees wanted to buckle but she refused to give in.
“There. I see it.” Sadie pointed at his cell on the ground a few yards away. She stuck close to him as he found the phone and examined it.
His demeanor on edge, he made a call as he held her gaze. “It’s ringing. Seems to be working fine.”
Phone to his ear, he led Sadie back to his SUV and they both climbed in. He locked the doors as he relayed the information regarding the blast. When he ended the call, he reached for Sadie’s hand, hesitated, then pulled back.
“They’re sending an ambulance too. I want you to go with them. You need to make sure you don’t have a concussion or internal injuries.”
“I think I’d know if I did.” Wouldn’t she? Though she couldn’t say she’d ever experienced a concussion before, or internal injuries for that matter. “And what about you? You need to make sure you’re all right too. Don’t try to be all tough guy on me, CGIS special agent Gage Sessions.”
She dragged out his name as an attempt to add humor to the situation, but it rolled over him. His gaze darkened. “I’ve been through worse. I need to stay and talk to the sheriff. He might be calling in state police at this point. Lots of law enforcement to deal with, and I need to stay connected.”
“I understand, but I don’t want to leave. I want to be part of it too.”
“You’re not an investigator, Sadie. I know you tried by looking through her house, but it’s not safe for you here at the moment.” He worked his jaw. “Whoever was in the house must have planted an explosive device. Or they could have cut the gas lines and rigged it to explode to possibly look like an accident.”
“Except we saw him leaving. But I didn’t get a good look.”
“Unfortunately, neither did I, but I know it was a man. He wore a red cap. I know his height and approximate weight. And he could still be out there somewhere watching us from a distance.” He reached over and this time he took her hand. “I won’t lie to you. Investigating is turning out to be more dangerous than I thought, but I want to keep you close. I want to make sure you’re okay and stay that way. I want to protect you if I can, but I’m not sure how I can do both.”
Protect her? Sadie wasn’t sure how to take his words. Was he saying them from his position as a CGIS special agent? Or was it coming from somewhere inside of him? Something far more personal. At the thought, her heart tingled with warmth that was more than what she should feel for a friend. She and Gage had been friends before and they were still friends. She trusted him with her life, but feeling something more for him? That would never work. Even though he wasn’t active duty or reserve Coast Guard and instead worked for CGIS as a civilian, he might as well be a Coastie, and Sadie had written off falling for a Coastie ever again.
Another smaller explosion at the house rocked the SUV. Sadie jumped and let out a small yelp. Gage leaned closer to her and together they watched the house now completely destroyed as the bright, hot flames continued to devour it.
A shudder ran over her.
Sadie pressed her face in her hands and leaned forward. Sucked in a few breaths.