Page 21 of Light of Day (Sea Smoke Island #1)

She and Luke sat in the stern while Andy rowed them toward the mouth of the cove, although with its narrow shape, it was more of an inlet.

Heather had never been to this part of the shoreline, as this was where the more expensive homes were located.

The only way to access some of these coves and inlets was by crossing private property, or by kayak if you weren’t afraid of the currents.

She did a quick calculation, and realized that Shell Beach wasn’t far from here.

“Andy, you said Gabby was your friend. Did you take her to Shell Beach?” she asked him.

“Yes.” He avoided her gaze as he rowed. “Is that bad?”

“What was she looking for at that beach?”

After a long pause, he said, “Shells. There’s the boat.”

A two-masted sailing yacht emerged into view as they rounded the wooded point that separated the cove from Chandler Sound.

Heather had been around enough sailboats to know this one was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It had to be a hundred feet long, and every fixture gleamed with brass polish.

“It’s the Stollers’ sloop. You won’t tell them, will you?” Andy said pleadingly, when they were about fifty yards away from the sailboat. “They asked me to check on it every week until they get here. I have the key.”

Luke didn’t say anything to that, and Andy didn’t press it. He probably knew he was going to get into trouble no matter what Luke did or didn’t do.

“We came past here on your boat when we went to Shell Beach,” she said to Luke in a low voice. “I can’t believe she was right there that whole time. I was looking at the shoreline, not the boats.”

“I was looking at the boats too. I didn’t see anything unusual.”

“I locked her in the cabin,” said Andy. “It’s really nice in there. I brought her food and stuff.”

“Oh my God. You’d better stay away from Gabby for the rest of your days,” Heather told him. “She’s got to be absolutely furious with you.”

“Maybe I should stay on the dinghy.” His nervous tone had her shaking her head.

“Oh no. You’re going to show us exactly where she is and let us in.” They were close enough to the boat now that Gabby might be able to hear her. “Gabby! Are you in there? It’s Heather!”

The only answer was the clang of rigging against the masts.

“She’s probably asleep. It’s nighttime.” But Andy didn’t sound too sure about that, and worry tugged at Heather’s heart.

Come on, Gabby. Please be okay.

Andy shipped his oars as they reached a ladder hanging over the side of the yacht. He tied the skiff to it, then climbed onboard, with Luke and Heather following close behind.

“Gabby! It’s me, Heather!” Heather called again.

Andy unlocked the cabin door, then led them down a short flight of steps into the mahogany wonderland of the private quarters. At a word from him, soft lighting glowed from brass sconces.

“This boat has Alexa?” Luke murmured to Heather.

“I think this boat has pretty much anything you could dream of.”

But the one thing it didn’t have, as they learned when Andy cautiously unlocked the captain’s suite, was Gabby. The room was empty.

Heather’s heart fell to the pit of her stomach. She felt Luke’s arm come around her as she wheeled on Andy.

“Where is she?”

“I…I don’t know.” From his panicked expression, she believed him. “She must have left.”

“Or she was kidnapped!”

“Oh no!” Andy wailed. He sank onto the bed and dropped his head into his hands. “They got her! I told her to stay where no one could see her. But they got her!”

Heather pulled away from Luke and prowled around the suite.

Someone had been here, that was certain.

The king-size bunk had been slept in. Its many pillows were askew.

She picked one up and sniffed, half-closing her eyes at the familiar fragrance of Gabby’s shea-butter shampoo.

After close inspection of the pillowcase, she found one tightly curled brown hair.

She turned on Andy, who cowered by the door. “Who is ‘they’? Who are you talking about?”

“I don’t know! Ask him!” He pointed at Luke, who was checking the portholes.

“Him? Why him?”

“I can’t…I can’t…” He slumped against the wall and slid to the floor, where he covered his ears with his hands and murmured to himself.

“Shit.” Heather crouched next to him. “I’m sorry, dude. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m just afraid for my friend. Do you understand?”

But Andy was in his own world by now. Everything else was shut out.

Luke got to his feet with a sigh. “Let him be. He just needs some space.”

“We can’t just leave him here, can we? We have to go look for Gabby! Someone might have grabbed her.”

“I don’t think so. I think she found a way out of here.”

“What makes you think that?”

He beckoned her over to one of the portholes.

It was ever so slightly ajar. The only reason it wasn’t swinging open was that a strip of cardboard—it looked like from a roll of toilet paper—was wedged in it.

“I think Gabby managed to climb out of this porthole, and then jammed it shut so no one would notice.”

“That’s impossible. First of all, it’s too small.”

“Want to try? Unless Gabby’s much bigger than you, I bet she could do it.”

Heather pushed it open and thrust one shoulder through it. Maybe she could, she realized. Gabby was taller and slimmer than she was, so she might have managed it.

“But even if she got out, how would she hold onto the porthole and close it at the same…” Peering down the curving fiberglass flank of the sailboat, she saw her answer. This particular porthole was positioned just a few feet under the forward deck. “She went up.”

“Exactly. She pulled herself onto the deck, then reached down to jam the window. She didn’t want anyone suspecting anything.”

Heather’s thoughts were racing. “You know what else that means?”

“What?”

“She knew other people were after her. Gabby is really smart about people. She would have figured out that Andy wasn’t the real threat. She wasn’t trying to hide her escape from him. It was those other people she was afraid of.”