Chapter 16
And I like you too. He couldn’t have been more relieved when the waitress suddenly appeared to take their plates and ask if they wanted dessert. Or more relieved they had somewhere to be immediately after dinner. Dessert would have to wait.
A text dinged, and he would normally have ignored it, but he glanced at his smartwatch.
Octavia.
He was thankful his sleeve covered it from Cressida’s view. He’d gotten himself into this.
He wanted to respond to Cressida’s statement.
Say the words out loud. But he would just dig a deeper hole, and the fall into that hole was already going to be painful.
He might have secrets that he couldn’t share, but he couldn’t speak bold lies to her face.
Some believed an omission counted as a lie.
But a life depended on those secrets, a life was on the line.
Cressida waited for his reaction to her statement.
“I like you.”
This one was strong and determined. She might be a force to be reckoned with.
With those striking light-green eyes alone, she held power over him that he couldn’t understand.
Her crazy red curls and all those freckles.
Appearance and allure aside, she was a fighter on the inside.
A survivor. And that stirred him all the more.
He wished he could tell her that he had liked her the first time he’d seen her in a photograph.
“I think you know the feeling is mutual,” he finally said, “but you don’t know me. Not really.” He didn’t back off when her expression shifted, her chin lifted. “And by the time you get to know me, you won’t like me anymore.”
There. He’d told the truth.
Now was the moment to steer this back to where it belonged.
Octavia’s text had been perfect timing, as if she had been reading his mind.
The woman reminded him of his digital life—Alexa and Siri and social media.
He could have a thought, and the next thing he knew, an advertisement appeared like someone had read his mind.
Though it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that Octavia could be—somehow—watching him, he didn’t think that likely.
“You sound sure about that.”
What? That she didn’t know him? Or that she wouldn’t like him when she got to know him? “Oh, I’m pretty sure.” He grinned. “And you’re leaving Hidden Bay when you’re done.”
His statement could have been taken in a couple of ways. He demanded it of her. Or he was simply making an observation and offering his strong assumption of her plans.
“I don’t know how long the research is going to take. This is the first vessel for which I’ve had to do all the research. If my father knew anything, he left nothing for me. All the others, Dad had stayed the course and recorded the details.”
She crunched on the ice left in her glass. Dinner was over. They’d declined dessert. And yet they were still here.
“Let’s make a deal,” she said, “you and I.”
Those words hit him wrong. They were the exact words her mother spoke to him. He tried to hide how much he disliked them, and yet coming from Cressida, the words were much more palatable.
“You’re some kind of negotiator.” He hadn’t even heard her terms.
“It comes naturally.”
“Let’s hear it.” He leaned back in his seat.
“You do your job as a detective and focus on finding the guy who attacked me. I’ll continue to research, interview people about the Specter’s Bounty, do what I do, and you can accompany me if you believe it’s relevant to your investigation.”
She’d turned things away from their “liking” each other.
He opened his mouth to speak.
“I’m not done.” She cut him off. “And we’ll just be natural with each other. I don’t want things to be awkward between us.”
“That’s why it surprises me you even brought it up.” The liking each other part.
“Well, no point in dancing around what’s obviously between us.” Her grin was a spin on incredulity and flirting.
He’d never seen anyone do that.
“And what’s between us?” He unwrapped the complimentary mint and popped it in his mouth.
“You know. It’s there,” she said. “Now it’s on the table.”
“Honestly, I kind of liked the dance.”
She smiled. “Oh, we can keep dancing. Don’t worry.”
Then her gaze drifted up and zeroed in on something over his shoulder. Nothing was behind him except a mirror.
“What?” He stared out the window to see what the mirror reflected.
“That’s the guy who followed me. He was at the store where I bought my laptop.”
“I see him.” Hackles raised, Braden watched the man. What was he up to? If he was following Cressida, he might not have realized that Braden was law enforcement, or else why tail her so closely, even wait for her in a small parking lot?
The guy was six foot tall, which Braden had guessed from the image she’d sent him.
Dressed in jeans and a brown jacket, the man leaned against a silver crossover SUV and talked on his cell.
The region had a small population but lots of tourists.
Could be coincidental, though Cressida sounded convinced he’d followed her, and now there was the fact that he was here at this strip mall.
And so was Cressida.
“Aren’t you going to do something?” she asked. “Question him?”
“I’m going to watch him and see what he does.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“I absolutely believe you.” She believed he was following her. And likely he was.
“You work for the county sheriff. You could ask him for ID. Something.”
“And if he gives me a reason, I will.”
“What? I gave you a reason.”
“Which he could brush off.”
She pushed the chair back to stand. Remaining seated, he caught her wrist and stared at her. “I want to know why he’s following you and who he’s working for. Let me handle it my way.”
“Well, you’d better make it quick because we have to get to the marina. I’m meeting Diggins.”
“I’ll get the check.” He still wasn’t sure if this was a date, and at the look on her face, he added, “It’s part of the investigation. I can write it off.”
Right. Okay. He paid, then at the door, turned to her. “Maybe head into the ladies’ room. Let me check him out. I don’t want you to be in danger.”
She frowned. “I’d love to watch and listen in on the interaction.”
“Fine. I’ll record it for you.”
“This isn’t how I like to work.”
“You usually walk up to possible danger and face it?”
“Every situation is different. If he was going to hurt me, he would have already. So, yeah, I want to face him. Ask him if he’s following me and why. Come on, you’d be standing right there.”
He lowered his voice. “You’ll get your chance. But you were attacked. Someone tried to kill you.”
“Fine.” She turned on her heel and headed to the ladies’ room while he strolled to the front of the restaurant.
Braden stepped outside and casually walked over to his motorcycle.
The guy was leaning against his vehicle, cell phone to his ear?
—pretending to be on his cell?—right next to Braden’s ride.
Braden stood next to the Ducati, waiting for Cressida to come out.
Washington wasn’t a “stop and ID” state, and he needed reasonable suspicion.
Right now, her claims simply weren’t quite enough.
He needed more. Only a little more, but more.
The guy put his cell down and looked at Braden, giving Braden the opportunity to memorize his face, though he already had an image.
“Great day for a ride,” the guy said, all friendly like.
“It is. But this time of year, it’s hard to enjoy the roads. Too many tourists.”
The man shrugged. “I’m one of those tourists, I’m afraid.”
He turned and got in his vehicle.
Braden let him. He got zero weird vibes about the guy, and he usually trusted his instincts. He got the license plate, and he’d run it based on reasonable suspicion. He sent the image to the support staff at the office.
Cressida stepped outside, the expression on her face plain. She was furious. But she said nothing, walked up to his bike, and put on her helmet he’d released from the locking clip. He could have said something. Should have . . .
But then she sent him what he suspected was her best if-looks-could-kill stare. “You can tell me later. I got another text from Diggins. Says he can’t make it.”
“Then where are we going?”
“To the marina. You’re taking me to the Sea Reaper. Nobody stands me up.”