Chapter 15
OLIVIA
“ I feel like we’re in a different world altogether,” I tell Dax as we sit down at one of the picnic tables closest to the pool.
“Why do you say that?” he asks.
We’re sharing cheesy fries and washing them down with ice-cold lemonades from a nearby food cart. There’s a little bit of everything for every taste just within our reach—a plethora of smells and flavors that makes me feel like a little kid again, back when life was pure and easy.
“I don’t know. There is no trouble out here. No Marcus, no Jocelyn,” I tell him and take a sip of my lemonade, eager to keep the nausea at a manageable level.
“Well, I hate to disappoint you,” Dax chuckles. “But I’m pretty sure I saw Jocelyn around earlier.”
“Shit,” I groan and roll my eyes in a dramatic fashion, “are you serious? ”
It makes him laugh, and I love the sound of it. “It’s fine, babe. In the summer, almost everyone from Ember Ridge comes here to cool down. But this is a big place. The chances of running into one another are pretty slim.”
“But not impossible,” I shoot back.
Carlos’s voice cuts through the background noise. “At least you don’t have to worry about being arrested again.”
I gasp as I see him walk over, but he’s not in uniform. In fact, he’s wearing a rather eye-catching pair of orange shorts, his dark tan deepening under the powerful noon sun. We seek shade beneath one of several large umbrellas stationed around the pool.
“Deputy,” I manage, giving him a strained smile.
“Relax, Olivia. We’re all friends here,” he says as he joins our table.
Dax scoots over to make some room for him while I give Beck a nervous glance.
He replies with a smile and a soft nod. It’s his quiet way of calming my nervous system, I suppose.
Just then, I hear Luke screaming as he and Leo burst out of the water slide, flying for a few feet before they land with a messy splash in the water. Beck decides to join them.
They’re having the time of their life.
I should be, too, so I allow myself a smile and a chuckle at their expense.
“Carlos is off duty today,” Dax tells me.
“I can see that,” I reply.
Carlos smiles with a hint of irony. “I called Devon PD and told them we haven’t seen you anywhere in the area.
They sent a direct request for information the other day after they learned about Chloe Jackson’s grandmother owning property here,” he says.
“They’re digging deep into your life and your friends’ lives to try and track you down, Olivia. ”
“Did they mention that Chloe is probably dead?” I mutter, my heart aching all over again. It’s been almost two weeks now, and I still haven’t been able to reach her.
“I wanted to talk to you about that very issue, in fact,” Carlos says. “Dax and the guys gave me the Cliff’s Notes version of what happened. I need you to rest assured that if Devon PD does come into Ember Ridge, it won’t be because of me.”
“You didn’t file that arrest report. Thank you.”
“I’ve had my fair share of encounters with corrupt law enforcement officials, Olivia. And I would hate to see you suffer any more at their hands. It’s why I’m here today, actually. I was hoping we could talk.”
“About what?”
“Carlos could be a good ally in our fight against Marcus Bennett,” Dax says, carefully awaiting my reaction.
I find myself torn between excitement and concern. Carlos’s involvement makes a battle I’ve been dreading feel realer than ever, and I don’t know how to deal with that. Of course, I feel safe with my men so close to me, but even so, the monster we’re going up against is a capable, deadly foe.
“How would you be able to help me?” I ask Carlos.
“I’ve got friends in the NYPD, for starters.
A lieutenant and a sergeant, though they’re at different precincts.
But they’re both well connected to internal affairs.
And if there’s any entity within our government that’s capable of running a covert investigation into an officer of the law, it’s IA,” he says.
“You want to get the police involved then.”
“I have to. But I promise you, there will be a thorough investigation without Marcus even knowing that it’s happening,” he says.
I nod slowly, trying to imagine what that might look like. “What do you need from me?” I ask him.
Almost instantly, a smile blooms across Dax’s handsome face, and I know that I’m doing the right thing. His quiet approval fills me with glowing pride, and I realize I want to see him like this more often. I want him to always be proud of me.
“I need you to tell me everything you know about Marcus and the people you think he’s hurt or killed, starting with your friend Chloe.
If her body shows up anywhere, I should be able to trace it through the nationwide system.
The same if she ends up in a hospital or on a gas station camera, if she’s alive and moving.
Until we have a body, we can’t rule anything out for sure. ”
Dax goes back to the food truck and returns with a round of fresh lemonade for everyone while I tell Carlos the full story, from the moment I met Marcus up to the moment I arrived in Ember Ridge.
Once in a while, I steal glances at Leo, Beck, and Luke.
At one point, Dax joins them, and they frolic about in the water before getting something to eat.
I’d like nothing more than to be with them, but what Carlos and I are doing is important.
Beck returns to the table, eagerly listening to our exchange.
“And in all your time working for Marcus, did you make backups of any files, anything at all that IA might use against him?” Carlos asks eagerly.
Beck’s eyes light up, and I know he’s wondering why they didn’t think about asking me that when I first told them my story. But he says nothing, swirling the paper straw through his lemonade, ice cubes crinkling in the mild vortex.
“I did,” I say to Carlos. “But I don’t think it’s enough to immediately throw Marcus in jail. Maybe in the right hands, it could fuel an investigation.”
“I’m going to need everything you have.”
“First, I need proof that someone is investigating the man. I need some assurances,” I reply.
Carlos looks befuddled. Beck can’t believe his ears.
“Wait, what?”
“I mean it, Beck. The last time I went to somebody on the police force about this, I was run out of town,” I say, remembering my first day on the road after I left Devon.
“I made it to New Jersey, and I went into the first precinct I could find to tell them about what I had just escaped. The detective there sat me down, listened, and then he told me to wait in the interview room. He left his phone on the table while he went out to do whatever, and it rang. Who do you think was calling him?”
“Marcus.”
“I got out of there so fast, driving like there was an asteroid about to touch down in Jersey. So forgive me if I don’t have blind faith in the police right now,” I scoff.
“I’ll need something solid before I give you everything I have on that man.
In the right hands, it could take him down. But in the wrong hands?—”
Carlos picks up on my concern. “It could be buried or even used against you.”
I give him a firm nod. “Precisely.”
“Alright. I’ll start making some calls, arrange a meeting with my NYPD buddies first and foremost. It will take me a few days,” he says.
“That’s okay. I’m not going anywhere,” I tell him and reach across the table for Beck’s hand. He takes mine and gives it a good squeeze, his thumb massaging the soft spot between my thumb and index finger.
It sends a wave of tingling sensations up my arm.
“Oh, look at that,” a familiar yet grating voice reaches my ears.
It draws an immediate scowl from Beck as he follows my gaze, and I hear an exasperated groan leave Carlos’s throat as he, too, sees her coming. Jocelyn, wearing a beaded sarong over her turquoise bikini, casually strolls over.
Her eyes are hidden beneath large, gold-rimmed sunglasses, her long hair pulled back with a clip at the base of her neck. She looks casually fabulous and unbothered, drawing attention from most of those around her while I suddenly feel queasy and big, not unlike a beached whale.
Fortunately, my self-esteem has a way of smacking me across the face whenever I slip into one of these states, and I shake the insecure thoughts away.
“It would be wise if you walked in the other direction,” Carlos politely warns her .
She smiles in response, and I don’t like it one bit.
“Why? I’m not causing anybody any trouble. You forget, Carlos, darling, I’m still the ADA of this district, and you and I will have a lot of cases to prosecute in the future,” she says, then looks at me. “I figured you’d have scrammed out of Ember Ridge by now.”
“I figured you’d remember what I last told you, Jocelyn,” Beck cuts in.
“Oh, you must mean those thinly veiled threats you gave if I were to speak my mind freely,” Jocelyn retorts, brimming with a newfound confidence that frankly unsettles me. “Last time I checked, this was a free country, Beck. You’re not the thought police.”
“I’m all for civilized discourse, Jocelyn.”
“Speaking of civilized, why are you hanging out with a criminal? Consorting with felons is beneath you,” she says.
My blood boils as I look at her. My nausea has subsided, making room for what seems to be quite a lot of pent-up rage. “You’re punching way above your category here,” I tell her.
“I can see that. Way too many pounds for me to handle,” she shoots back.
“Wow, you’re really reaching for a triple trophy,” I say, genuinely stunned by the gratuitous garbage she keeps throwing my way. “For someone claiming to be a part of a civilized society, someone in a noble position such as yours, Miss ADA, you sure fling shit around like a circus monkey.”