He opened his arms, waving me closer. “Thank you for coming,” he said, hugging me into his broad chest. His scent was distinctly paternal. He didn’t smell like my dad, but he definitely smelled like a dad. Bar soap and grill smoke, reassuring. “I hope to see you back around real soon,” he said with kind eyes.
I glanced at Kai, whose face had softened. “I hope so too,” I said with a smile.
“She’s going to be busy painting!” Corinne chirped. “Five by next Friday, yeah?”
“You got it,” I grinned, until Kai squeezed my hand and I met his worried eyes.
After quick goodbyes all around, Kai walked me to the passenger side of his Jeep. “Sorry, that was harder than I thought it was going to be.”
“What happened?” I asked, confused as I slid into the seat.
“Dad knows us too well. He could tell something was up. He kept on until Coulter started in, saying we were all acting strange. Reef and Spence tried to play it cool. We all did. But it sucked.”
I winced, staring into his tired eyes. “I’m sorry,” I said, a little guilty that I’d had a good time while he was suffering. “Maybe we should consider telling Faith. She might be able to help.” His head swiveled, and a fire burned in his eyes. “We are not telling the cops. We’ve discussed this already,” he said with a finality that washed over me like a cold wave.
I swallowed down the fear that wanted to erupt in protest. The murder of a family friend by someone involved in a narcotics investigation had taken this to a whole new level of danger in my mind. I kept it inside though. He was too tightly wound. Now was not the time to talk about it.
Kai’s gaze shifted toward the bait shop. “Great. Here they come.”
Spence and Reef were crossing the parking lot, silhouetted in the moonlight. Kai shut my door and made his way to the driver’s side before his brothers reached us. He sat behind the wheel and rolled down the window. Reef and Spence’s serious faces made my stomach tighten in a nervous knot. Everything suddenly felt worse than it ever had.
“Dude, you’ve got to chill,” Spence said, his tone a blend of annoyed and concerned.
“I’m chill,” Kai snapped, craning his neck to try to see around them. “Is Dad in the house?”
“Yes. Stop being so paranoid,” Reef said with pure annoyance.
“I have reasons to be paranoid,” Kai snapped. “We all do.”
Spences’ head titled. “What’s going on? Do you have a lead?”
“No, still no sign of them at all.” Kai said, the volume of his voice creeping up. “No sign of their coke either.” He took a deep breath, regaining composure. “I’ve got nothing. Jasmine’s didn’t turn up anything at the bar either.”
Spence seemed to study Kai’s face before he finally nodded. “Between the two of us, Reef and I have asked a slew of folks from Key Largo to Key West. So far, nobody knows anyone trying to unload large quantities. I don’t think it’s in the Keys.”
“I’ll be sure and tell them that if they come back,” Kai quipped. The thought of those goons returning to shake him down gave me goosebumps.
“Just stay calm,” Spence said, squeezing Kai’s forearm.
“Thanks,” Kai said shortly, turning the key.
After we’d pulled onto Overseas Highway, Kai’s eyes darted from the road ahead to the rearview mirror. I reached over to rest my hand on his thigh. “You don’t actually seem very calm. What’s going on?”
“I’m sorry, babe. My head is pounding, has been for over an hour,” he rubbed his forehead, drawing in a slow breath. “Can we talk about this tomorrow?”
“Sure.” I patted his thigh. I had a million questions about the dead friend no one had told me about, and why he was so off kilter all of sudden, but I knew better than to press.
Kai had been so steady, my rock. He couldn’t panic, or I might, too. A chill settled over me like a blanket of dread.
CHAPTER 17
KAI
My morning charter finished early after we hit our limit on yellowtail and one of the guys was looking a little green. Even though seasick clients can make some good chum, I prefer to avoid it. Dad came over as I adjusted the spring lines while Silas washed down the boat. “I’d ask what you did to scare them off so fast, but by the size of their smiles, they didn’t seem disgruntled.”
“One of them was ecstatic to be back on solid ground. All of them were happy with the cooler full of yellowtail.”
“Good job, son,” my father patted my shoulder.
