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She wearily pushed the button on her answering machine, mentally noting that a realtor’s work was never truly done. There were always clients looking to make contact with her it seemed, no matter what time of the day or night. She chuckled out loud as she recalled the time an anxious buyer had contacted her in the middle of the night to make an offer on a house. She couldn’t help but shake her head as she listened to a message from her ex-boyfriend, Christopher, who happened to be in town and was wondering if they could “get together.”
“Not in a million years,” she said in a snide voice as she recalled all the drama Christopher had put her through during their year long relationship. There were also a half dozen messages from her brother, who’d apparently been trying to reach her all day on her landline prior to his contacting her via cell phone. There was a heartwarming message from Mama requesting her presence tomorrow at Sunday dinner and a separate message from Daddy telling her he was worried about Tony.
“So what else is new?” she muttered, wishing her parents didn’t have to worry about her brother. She was beginning to think nothing would ever change with him.
She closed her eyes and prayed. Lord, please show Tony the way. I’m scared for my brother. He needs to grow up and embrace a new path. He needs You in his life. He needs to change before everything catches up to him. I pray he finds You.
After checking her messages, Marissa glanced at her watch, letting out a loud groan as she realized that she had approximately three hours to unwind and take a cat nap. She treated herself to a warm bubble bath and then dressed in her most comfortable sweats and t-shirt, settling into a deep sleep on her Queen sized mahogany sleigh bed. All too soon her alarm went off and by force of habit she hit the snooze button. Ten minutes later she was out the door with a wad of cash from her emergency fund neatly tucked in her front pocket.
Although she had no intention of getting out of her car once she arrived at the The Limelight, Marissa intended to deliver a scathing message to Ronnie when she hand-delivered the cash. She’d practiced her speech in her head at least half a dozen times. She was going to tell Ronnie Devlin that if he ever so much as looked Tony’s way she was prepared to alert the authorities to the fact that he was running an illegal enterprise. “No one messes with my family, Ronnie,” she murmured as she drove the deserted back roads towards the center of town. Ronnie Devlin. She’d known him since she was in kindergarten, and he’d always been trouble, in and out of wayward youth programs since he was a young teen. Ronnie had been in trouble with the law more times than Marissa could count. His future didn’t look bright.
The Limelight was a deserted two story building that most people in town wanted to see condemned and demolished. When she was in high school it was a popular hangout for the over twenty-one crowd, who gathered at the club to listen to music and learn the latest dance steps. A firestorm had erupted when a sixteen-year-old girl was assaulted at the club after being drugged in one of the back rooms. The Limelight had never recovered from all the bad publicity and the torrent of negative public opinion. Located at the Wharf, the Limelight was now a local hangout for criminal minded individuals looking for nothing but trouble. At the moment it seemed deserted.
Impatiently, she drummed her nails on the steering wheel. It was already ten past one. She had no intention of sitting around all night waiting for a no good bum like Ronnie. Where was he anyway? No doubt he was somewhere up to no good. There were two other cars parked in the far corner of the lot, she realized, so it was possible that he was inside the building. Matter of fact, the yellow Hummer with the gaudy rims looked familiar. She could’ve sworn she’d seen Ronnie riding around in it a few months ago. Figures he’d buy the flashiest car on the lot.
She had a good idea that he was inside the building, but there was no way she was getting out of the car to find out where he was. Mama hadn’t raised a fool...or had she? She was stuck down here at the wharf at one-thirty in the morning doing a fool’s errand while Tony was getting his beauty rest. That fact alone had to make her some kind of fool.
Her love for her brother had landed her in this predicament! She found herself getting drowsy and her eyelids began to close against her will. I’ll just rest my eyes for a minute, she thought, as she drifted off to sleep. Just a few minutes of rest and then I’ll be all ready to deal with Ronnie.
A loud popping noise rang out in the stillness of the early morning. Her eyes swung open and she looked around the car in a panic, searching for signs of an intruder. What was that noise? She looked outside the car as another loud popping sound went off. Her heart began to thud with dread as the realization hit her that the noise sounded like a gunshot. She’d watched enough Law and Order to know the sound by heart. Although the night was pitch dark, a florescent street lamp illuminated two figures, both male, standing in the back entrance of the building. She leaned forward in her seat so she was pressed against the steering wheel and squinting out the window.
One of the men was Ronnie! She would know that egg-shaped, bald head anywhere. She watched in horror as Ronnie clutched his chest as a crimson stain began to spread across his bright orange shirt. He staggered briefly, then fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.
She let out a scream and her horn began blaring as her body pressed against the steering wheel.
A man stepped from the doorway and turned towards her, his gun raised and pointed directly at her. Marissa screamed as a bullet shattered the windshield of the Hummer parked next to her. She revved the engine of her car and reversed it at break-neck speed down the pebbled road, her tires whirring with activity. A pinging sound hit the front of her car and she kept her foot on the gas, gunning it till she hit the street.
She barreled down the road for a half mile, letting out a frightened scream when she saw headlights in her rear view mirror. Marissa kept h
er foot on the gas pedal, increasing her speed by the second. She was pushing eighty mph, crying and praying at the same time, desperate to make it to the main road and stay a safe distance from the car behind her.
A sense of relief flooded through her when she saw the flashing red and blue lights behind her. She pulled her car over to the shoulder and let out a ragged sigh. As she let out an “Hallelujah!” she watched in her rear view mirror as a familiar figure got out of the squad car and headed in her direction. There was no mistaking the jet black hair, the massive build and the deep scowl that had settled in on his face. Once again she was plunged into a nightmare. Rescue had come by way of Sheriff Matt Cruz
Chapter Two
It was three in the morning, and by all logic he should be asleep in his bed at this hour, Sheriff Matt Cruz reasoned. Instead, he was in the squad room, trying to figure out how Marissa Santana had gotten herself involved in the town’s first murder in over sixty years. After stopping her doing eighty miles an hour in a forty-mile zone, he’d been shocked to hear she’d witnessed a shooting at the Wharf. From the moment the story tumbled off her lips, he’d never doubted for a second her version of events. He’d immediately called for backup at the The Limelight, dropped Marissa off at the station and then headed back to the crime scene to meet the medical examiner. And now he was back at the station questioning his star witness about what had transpired this evening.
He stood with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes focused on Marissa’s wild-eyed appearance. Despite the fact she’d been at the scene of a shooting and chased by a killer, the woman looked pretty pleasing to the eye. He hated to admit it, but she was attractive. Beautiful, actually. Her chocolate brown hair was styled in a riot of long, beautiful waves that looked natural rather than processed. Her almond shaped eyes were a light brown color – caramel, perhaps. Her skin was an olive color, and it was flawless and smooth. Although she was a tiny thing she was definitely curvy, he noticed. Yes, she was definitely a looker. He let out a snort. Not that he would ever be interested in a woman who spread lies all over town and couldn’t stop gossiping. Not in a million years.
“So what exactly were you doing in that part of town?” he asked, wanting to cut to the chase.
Cruz watched as her face began to flush varying shades of red. His lawman antenna went up as she stammered her response, all the while avoiding eye contact with him and his deputy.
“A-An errand. I was running an errand for a friend.”
“An errand?” Cruz asked, his voice laced with skepticism. “On the wharf in the wee hours of the morning? At The Limelight? Try again, Miss Santana. And this time, stick to the truth.”
“Easy, Sheriff,” caution Cruz’s deputy, Beau Weathers. “She’s not looking so good.” Beau reached out and patted Marissa reassuringly on the back, a look of concern deeply etched on his handsome face. With his tousled blonde hair, dimples and ice blue eyes, Beau possessed an easy, boy- next-door charm that gave him an appealing air. According to the ladies in town, Beau was husband material. Beau was a solid guy, which was one of the reasons Matt had asked him to be a member of the group he and Caleb had formed along with their friend, Tanner Hawkins—Guardians, Inc. They had formed the enterprise to give protection to anyone who required their services. Both Matt and Beau were already employed in law enforcement, while Caleb and Tanner were devoted to the idea of protecting citizens who found themselves defenseless.
Marissa smiled weakly in response to Beau’s kindness. “I’m okay, Beau. Much as I hate to admit it, the Sheriff’s right. I had no business being in that area of town, specially not at one in the morning. I-I was doing a favor for my brother, Tony-.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Cruz spit out the words. “What kind of brother...excuse me, but what kind of man asks a woman to risk her life doing his dirty work?”
“It wasn’t his idea, it was mine,” Marissa said in a firm voice.
“Your’s?” Cruz asked with a raised eyebrow. “Who were you meeting? Spit it out.”
“His bookie,” she whispered, looking as if she wanted to pull back the words once she’d spoken them. “The deceased.” Marissa continued, “He-we were afraid that if Tony showed up himself to make the payment he would get hurt, possibly even killed. So, I went instead.”
