Chapter Thirty-Four
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C assie’s patience had run out more than an hour ago.
About to come unglued, she barely kept herself from pacing up and down the dock as the Coast Guard cutter made its way to the berth at the far end. The only thing stopping her was Tristan, standing silently beside her while holding an umbrella over them. For whatever reason, probably some misplaced sense of loyalty, he’d insisted on coming here with her after they’d been released from the marina.
This whole thing had been one giant shit storm. But at least Bristol was alive.
“Not long now,” he said quietly, the rain drumming so hard on the umbrella it poured off the edges of it. The storm had turned out to be much more intense than forecasters had predicted, and showed no sign of letting up. The latest models showed it raining and blowing until early afternoon tomorrow.
“Not soon enough,” she grumbled, shoving her hands deeper into her coat pockets, her left one curling around her personal phone. She’d switched it off because it had blown up with calls and messages from her mom and Bristol’s dad as soon as she’d texted them what was happening. Thankfully, calling hadn’t been an option because things had been too chaotic at the time.
She’d been careful not to make it sound that bad, but their concern was completely understandable. Her final message to them was that the Coast Guard was bringing Bristol to shore and that Cassie would personally contact them once she had Bristol back safe and sound.
After a small eternity, the ship finally finished docking. She headed straight for the gangplank at a rapid clip, Tristan right beside her, keeping her dry. She’d thank him for everything later. Right now, she was one-hundred-and-twenty-percent focused on Bristol. Anyone who got in front of her or slowed her down was going to wind up on their ass.
A few people began disembarking. Her heart leapt when she spotted Bristol at the top of the gangplank wearing navy blue sweats, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.
As soon as she reached the dock, Cassie caught her in a huge hug and held on tight. Thank God. Now she could finally breathe again.
Bristol smelled like seawater, her dark hair still damp and crusted lightly with salt crystals. “You okay?”
Bristol nodded, hugging her just as hard in return. “You?”
“I’ve aged thirty years since the last time I saw you, but...yeah, now that you’re back safe and sound.” Jesus . The past twenty-four hours had been a complete nightmare. She gave Bristol one last squeeze and eased back, belatedly realized that Tristan was getting soaked, standing there in the pouring rain covering her and Bristol with the umbrella.
“Vehicle’s parked just ahead,” she said to Bristol. “Up to a quick run in the rain?”
“Yes. Hi...Tristan? Or are you Gavin?” she asked him.
His gentle smile turned Cassie’s heart upside down. No man that big and strong and deadly should also be that sweet. “Tristan. Good to see you.”
“You too.”
“Come on. Let’s get outta here,” Cassie said, sliding an arm around Bristol’s shoulders.
The three of them made a dash to the SUV. She put Bristol in the back right passenger seat, started to go around to the driver’s door, and stopped.
Tristan stopped too, watching her with those intense green eyes that made her feel things that scared the shit out of her. “You mind driving this time?”
“Love to drive for a change.” His grin was both endearing and outrageously sexy at the same time.
She rammed that thought into a deep, dark closet at the back of her head, jammed a broom handle under the latch for good measure, and got in the back with Bristol. Her stepsister was huddled beneath the blanket, looking pale and a bit like a lost little girl.
It broke Cassie’s heart to see her like this, to think of all she’d been through.
“Can you tell me what happened?” Cassie asked gently once Tristan was driving for the exit. “Or do you need time before we talk about it?”
“No, I can talk now.” She wrapped the blanket tighter around herself. “I was at the condo waiting for someone from CPS to come—”
“Tristan and me.”
“Oh. Well... A stranger walked in. At first I assumed he must be with CPS, but at the last second, I realized he wasn’t. And by the time I got to my bat—”
“You and that stupid bat.”
“It’s a great bat, but I was too late. He secured my hands behind me, put duct tape over my mouth, and yanked a hood over my head. Next thing I knew, he was practically carrying me down the stairs to a car. He drove for a bit, put me on the boat and then...” She paused, seemed to gather herself before continuing. “I heard another boat approach. Then it left. Soon after that I heard talking. One was the kidnapper, and I’m pretty sure the other was TJ.”
Cassie was still livid that he’d put her in danger.
Bristol pressed her lips together as tears filled her eyes. “Another boat came. It shot at us. I heard the bullets hit the back of the Sea Siren . Then the other one sped away, and it was just quiet. I didn’t hear anything or anyone. When I finally got untied, I could smell and see the smoke. I went up on deck, but there was no one there, just a bloodstain near the bow. The other boat was still racing away. I spotted someone in the waves. I don’t know if it was TJ or not,” she finished hoarsely. She looked down at her hands, twisting them in her lap.
It was clear she felt something for TJ, and it was more than obligation or gratitude for him trying to rescue her. “Then what?” Cassie asked.
“My boat was sinking. I called the Coast Guard.”
“You did?”
She nodded. “Figured out the radio, but the smoke was too thick. I went out on deck, and that’s when the helicopters came. So I found a flare gun—”
Cassie laughed softly. She couldn’t help it. “Look at you, you dark horse little badass.”
Bristol’s lips quirked in an ironic smile. “Took me three tries to figure out how to fire it.”
“But you did it.”
“Yeah. And guess who was on the helicopter?”
“Who?”
“My friends Travis and Brandon, from the hospital. They’re both PJs—”
“I know.” She shook her head. “That’s incredible.”
“Yes.” She twisted her fingers some more. “They got me onto the Coast Guard cutter. Travis and Brandon got called out right away on another mission. There was another helicopter out looking for TJ and...the other guy, but no one would tell me if they’d found them.” She searched Cassie’s eyes anxiously. “Have you heard anything?”
Cassie took a deep breath. “Our information is that they pulled two people from the water.”
Bristol stiffened. “Alive?”
“I don’t know.”
Tears flooded her eyes. She looked away, blinked fast, but tears dripped onto the blanket. “I want TJ to be okay,” she whispered.
“I know. I’m so sorry, babe.” She rubbed Bristol’s back, not knowing what else to do or say. Tristan, thankfully, wasn’t saying a thing, and she trusted that the only other person he would tell about any of this was Gavin.
But there was more to the story than Bristol knew. “The boat you heard? We think the guy driving it took TJ out to you initially, then left him there. But when he got back to the harbor, someone shot him dead just after Tristan and I got there. Then the shooters took off back after you.”
Bristol frowned. “Do you know who it was?”
“The victim? We’re not sure yet, the cops and DEA are dealing with it now, but he died a few minutes later at the scene. And from what I’ve heard, one of the guys who attacked you might be a cartel lieutenant he was working for.”
Her eyes widened. “What? And who was the guy who kidnapped me?”
“One of his enforcers.”
Bristol paled.
Cassie took her hands in hers. “That’s all I know right now. But you’re safe now, and that’s all that matters. We’ll get you home—unless you want to come to my place?”
“No. I want to go home.”
“Okay. Once we get you there, I’ll start making calls and get an update.” She hesitated before saying more. She didn’t like the guy, would give half her salary for the chance to kick him in the nuts for what he’d done to Bristol, but it was clear her stepsister felt deeply for him. Whether it was gratitude, Stockholm syndrome, or something else, she wasn’t sure.
“It’s the middle of summer. The waters here don’t get much warmer than this. So if TJ was a decent swimmer, there’s a good chance the other crew found him and got him out in time.”
“Unless he’d been shot.”
Yeah. There was that.
Cassie squeezed Bristol’s hand in silent support, then fished her phone out of her pocket, switched it on and shot off a quick text.
“Who you talking to?”
“Just reassuring our parental unit that I’ve got you safe and sound.”
She groaned. “You told them?”
“Had to. But don’t worry, I’ll handle everything for tonight. If we’re lucky, they’ll wait until tomorrow before they descend on you. They were scared as hell for you, Bris. We all were.”
She nodded. “Me too.”
In Crimson Point, Tristan pulled up in front of the walkway leading to Bristol’s townhouse. Cassie got her safely inside, then carried the umbrella back to the SUV where he waited. He rolled down the front passenger window.
“I’m gonna stay with her,” she said.
“Then I’ll just park this for you and catch a ride home.”
“No, you keep it for tonight.” She reached through the window to set the dripping umbrella down on the floorboard. When she straightened, her eyes locked with his. “Thank you. For...today.”
She had a disturbingly strong urge to get in the car and curl up in his lap, bury her face in the side of his neck and absorb all that quiet, controlled strength he radiated. But that was as forbidden as all the other illicit things she’d imagined doing with him—she shoved those into the rapidly-filling closet in the back of her mind too—and would lead to guaranteed disaster.
She’d worked her ass off to get this job and the reputation she was proud of. She wanted to be seen as equals with the guys, had something to prove to the firm, and wouldn’t risk it all by getting involved with a coworker.
Not even a green-eyed, six-foot-something redhead who made her ache with the loss of everything she could never have.
“Don’t thank me. Just glad she’s okay. Hey, before I forget.” He reached into his inside jacket pocket, pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to her. “This is for you.”
She unfolded it, saw it was two tickets to the concert she’d mentioned a while ago. “What did you do?” She couldn’t believe he’d done this, let alone remembered about the concert.
He frowned slightly. “I told you I would.” He shrugged. “It’s not a big deal, a friend comped them.”
She wasn’t sure she believed that. Was he for real? He couldn’t be. There had to be some fatal flaw in him she was missing. Like maybe he was actually a serial killer. Shit, what was he trying to do to her?
“One thing you should know about me?”
It wasn’t lost on her that he was echoing the exact same wording she’d used with him this past spring when they’d headed to Portland before the riots had broken out. “What’s that?” she made herself ask.
“If I say I’m going to do something, I do it.” His green stare was so direct. Unflinching. Cutting through all the protective layers she had purposely wrapped herself in. “Text or call if you need anything.”
“Will do.” She wouldn’t, because he was now the last person she trusted herself with for anything outside of professional reasons. “Thanks again.”
The hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. And God help her, all she could think about was tracing that spot with her tongue before delving inside to taste him.
“You’re welcome.”
She spun around and rushed through the rain for the door, heart tripping all over itself. This was a work-life complication she didn’t need. She’d sworn off men for damned good reasons, was still trying to pick up the pieces of her life and build a new one she could feel proud of.
Tristan Abrams tempted her in too many ways to count. Worse, from everything she’d seen and heard, he seemed like a genuinely good guy. Which practically made him a damned unicorn.
She didn’t trust it. That saying about if something seemed too good to be true, it probably was? One-hundred-and-fifty percent true in her experience.
Given her history and shitty judgment when it came to men, it pretty much guaranteed that Tristan was probably also a raging narcissist.