Chapter Twenty-Five
—NOA
It’s fair to say that Jamie and I equally hate our plan.
First, he’ll have to convince Jordan’s mother to let him back into the resort.
Second, I’m about to ruin Matteo’s life, even if it’s by telling him the truth.
None of us slept well last night, listening for any sounds of danger.
We know it’s only a matter of time before the fake detectives, or even corrupt members of the Collective, come for us—so we have to be ready.
It’s still early as I walk into my living room, Jamie asleep on the couch and curled up with his back to me.
I slip into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee.
I glance out the window, sighing when I see the gathering storm clouds.
It will rain tonight, but at least it won’t be another hurricane. Not yet.
In this weather, the Surf Shack won’t have any customers today.
I pour a cup of coffee and walk outside.
Although on high alert, we were relieved to learn the fake detectives were detained by the coast guard.
Tech sent us all the news alert in the middle of the night.
In addition to possessing an unlawful firearm and over thirty thousand in cash, they had drugs on their boat.
I’m hoping that means we won’t see them again for a while.
At least until Mancini or Jamie’s father gets them freed.
We don’t know how far their influence goes with the coast guard.
As I look toward the dock, I find my father sitting in a folding chair, working on his fishing lures.
We haven’t really talked in a few days, although I did ask him if Jamie could stay with us.
He agreed, although neither of us let him sleep in Ellis’s room.
We’ve left it untouched, in case he ever comes back.
I can’t stand the silence between us anymore. I can’t stand the secrets.
A little hesitant, I head down the dock toward my father. When he sees me, his eyes soften and he murmurs, “Good morning.” I sit cross-legged on the wooden slats of the dock next to his chair, almost like I’m a kid again. He’s leaned forward, tying a fuzzy yellow lure onto a fishing hook.
“Is the boy still asleep?” my father asks, concentrating on his small task.
“He is,” I say. “Figured he had a rough day and might need some sleep.”
“He looks like someone beat the hell out of him,” my dad responds. “He the one that had your uncle up at the resort with the ambulance?” When I nod, he does too, as if saying he already figured as much. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Noa.”
“Of course I don’t,” I say easily, and then smile. He sniffs a laugh.
We sit silently for a moment, the sound of waves lapping against the dock, lulling us into a sort of peace.
“I need to tell you something,” I say. My father’s back stiffens slightly, but he just nods for me to continue. “A lot of things, actually.”
“If this is about those detectives,” he says, “I saw it on the news. Besides, I already knew they weren’t who they said they were. I checked up on them after they left. No record of Detective Dickhead or his pal.”
I’m stunned by this revelation. “You knew they lied?” I say. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Figured they wouldn’t come back,” he replies. “They were looking for your brother, and it was pretty clear he hadn’t been here in a while. I didn’t want you to start digging and end up in their crosshairs.”
I stare at the side of my father’s face, watching him concentrate on the lure. All this time, I thought I was keeping secrets from my father. It never occurred to me that he was keeping some of his own.
“Why were they looking for Ellis?” I ask him, my heart thumping.
My father’s hands pause in their work. He doesn’t answer right away. I clutch my coffee cup tighter, waiting. But first he finishes tying off the lure and drops it into the tacklebox. He snaps the plastic bin shut, and then shifts in his chair to face me.
“Because I’ve been trying to bring him home.”
This admission makes no sense. My father doesn’t even talk about Ellis anymore. How… when was he doing this? “I don’t understand,” I tell him. He holds up his hand to tell me to be patient while he explains.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes,” he starts, his voice heavy. “Right from the start. It’s my fault your brother left in the first place.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“After your mother died, I… I wasn’t holding it together well,” he admits.
“I let the books get behind; I missed payments. Ellis stepped in to help, starting to manage the finances. He was doing his best, working way harder than he should have. I tried to get a loan, but the bank thought we were a bad bet. They feel the same way about all the locals in Cape Hope. Funny, that.”
He closes his eyes for a moment, and when he looks at me again, he’s apologetic.
“I haven’t been completely honest with you, Noa,” he says, spiking my concern. “It’s not just the easements from the city that are putting us out of business. I made a bad decision, one many of us in town ended up making. I got a loan from Alex Mancini to keep the Shack open.”
“You took money from him?” I ask, shocked.
“I told you it was a bad decision, made in a moment of weakness,” he replies. “And your brother, he tried to explain to me that I screwed up. That Alex would use this to take our business. Ellis told me he had a plan, that he and Felix would talk to Alex and work something out. But then…”
“Then what?” I demand.
“Then your brother left town. Of course, I thought something had happened to him, that Alex had…” He pauses. “But Felix came down here to let me know that Ellis had left willingly, a condition set by Alex. Your brother and his friend had tried to… blackmail him.”
My father is terrified by his own words, and now I’m convinced my brother is dead somewhere in the marsh. I can barely catch my breath. There is no way he could take on Mancini by himself.
“Felix said they eventually came to an arrangement,” he continues. “Ellis would leave Cape Hope, never coming back, and in return Alex wouldn’t take the Surf Shack or call in the loan. Your brother took that deal. He did it to save us.”
“How do you know?” I demand. “Mancini might have—”
“Because Ellis met with your uncle a few weeks later,” he says. “He sat down with the sheriff and hashed out a plan.”
I put my hand on my heart, relieved that my brother is okay, angry at the fact that my uncle knew all this time but made me feel crazy for asking about him.
“What kind of plan?” I ask. “And what was so important that you all left me out of it?”
“Ellis told the sheriff that he had something on Alex Mancini—something big. He told him that he needed time to put it all together, but in the meantime, he asked your uncle to keep you safe. Keep you out of it.”
I sit a moment with that thought. It sounds exactly like something my brother would do. I think back to the time before he left, how I would notice him and Felix taking out The Tarpon, gone until late at night. I look at my father again.
“He was looking for the Starline Hotel,” I say, and my father nods. “He wanted to find out what really happened and expose the lie.”
“Yeah,” my father says with a nod. “While your uncle and I waited for the proof, we tried to figure out the best way to break a story while protecting Ellis and allowing him to come home. Then last week, just before the hurricane, Felix reached out to the sheriff. He said he had everything and would meet us the next day. Only… he never showed up.”
I am brokenhearted. Felix was trying to help our family. The family he was truly part of. “But they killed him,” I say, fighting back tears.
“We thought silence was protecting them,” my father whispers. He starts to cry. “But… it has never protected anyone.”
I watch as my father breaks down, blaming himself for Felix’s death, for my brother leaving—for so many things, I’m sure.
Although I’m angry with him for not doing more, there is one man pulling the strings.
There is one person who has to be taken down if any of us on Cape Hope are ever going to be free.
“When’s the last time you or the sheriff spoke to Ellis?” I ask.
“Your brother hasn’t contacted me since the day he left.
As for your uncle, it was a while ago. Ellis had been doing everything through Felix, mostly.
We have no idea where your brother is right now, Noa.
It’s why we’re still holding on to the secret of the Starline, at least until we know that he’s okay. ”
“The Mancinis don’t have him,” I say, sure of it.
My father turns to me, tears still wet on his cheeks.
“Think about it,” I say. “They sent fake detectives looking for him, probably trying to figure out what you know. So Mancini’s scared,” I say, nodding.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s coming after the business again to draw Ellis out, going back on their deal. ”
As my father sits in his chair, he seems relieved as he considers my suggestion.
I know that me and the other Chasers are going to be the ones to finish this.
Right now, Mancini is wholly fixated on my brother.
Even if Jamie’s father knows we’ve been to the Starline Hotel, he’s not threatened by us. That’s his miscalculation.
“I have to go,” I tell my father, standing up. He turns to me, still wanting to apologize, but I quickly stop him. “You and the sheriff need to find Ellis,” I say. “Find him before anyone else does.”
“We will,” he says. He studies me a moment. “Noa, do I want to know what you’re about to do?” he asks.
I shrug. “I’m going to save Cape Hope,” I say, backing up.
My father’s face contorts in confusion, but I turn and walk back to the Surf Shack to wake up Jamie.
Tech and Shawn are stunned silent as I tell them everything. Jamie listens quietly, his eyes fixed on the pavement as we stand outside the work truck in the parking lot. Shawn is in the front seat while Tech leans against the door.
“Ellis was blackmailing the Mancinis,” Tech says. “What the fuck was he thinking?”
“He was trying to help my father,” I say. “And I think both he and Felix wanted to end this war with the Collective. They just… they didn’t know how bad it would turn out.”
“So they found Rum Runner Island first,” Tech replies, “but… they didn’t get the chance to tell anyone. And the sheriff knew about this?”
“I don’t know how much my uncle knew,” I point out. “He did seem genuinely surprised when I told him we’d found the Starline Hotel. He was expecting it from Ellis and Felix, but not us. But yeah, he’s involved pretty deeply.”
Tech rubs his chin while he thinks. “Does your father have any idea where Ellis is now?” he asks.
“No,” I say. “Which is why they haven’t gone public about finding the Starline, just in case… in case Mancini has Ellis stashed away somewhere.”
“My father runs security for the Augustus Resort,” Jamie points out. “But specifically, he seems to be working closely with Mancini. Or at least, covering for him. I imagine that he’s the client my father was cleaning up after.” He winces, not wanting to downplay Felix’s death.
“We need Ellis,” Shawn calls out. “He’s the one tying it all together.”
“My dad and uncle will find him,” I say, although I wish I felt more confident about that.
But there is so much new information swirling around in my head.
I’m overwhelmed—at the same time, the picture is starting to make sense.
All the pieces of the puzzle are there and just waiting to be clicked together.
I look at Shawn. “Did Nina confirm about tonight?” I ask.
When she nods, I blow out a cleansing breath, trying to get focused.
“Good,” I say. “You get me onto the terrace and lure Matteo outside so I can talk with him. Jamie”—I turn to him, and he’s already grimacing—“you need to call Cecelia Miles and ask for permission to take her daughter to the gala.”
“Jordan says to be extra charming,” Shawn adds. “Tell her you know you messed up, but that you were jealous of Matteo and Jordan’s friendship, or something equally cringy. She thinks her mom will like that angle.”
“Do I have to?” Jamie asks, looking miserable. “Can’t Jordan just ask her mom herself?”
“No,” Shawn says simply. “Now, go be a man and take my girlfriend to the gala.”
“Fine,” he says, grabbing his phone and wandering away for more privacy. When he’s gone, both Shawn and Tech are watching me.
“I’m so sorry about Ellis,” Shawn says quietly.
It’s a heavy story—knowing that my father kept this all from me, same with my uncle. In a way, they feel responsible for Felix’s death, and I’m sure that is something they will never get over. And I can only imagine what my brother is going through right now. Alone. Scared.
“I just want Ellis to come home,” I murmur, and Tech pulls me into a hug and promises he’ll make it happen.