Page 62 of Secrets Beneath the Waves (Beach Read Thrillers #2)

CHAPTER

SIXTEEN

Although her nose was pink from the sun, Jules’ cheeks paled as she thrust the bouquet away from herself and into the trees as though it were a hissing, venomous snake.

Dante strode toward her. “Jules? What is it?”

She looked up as he approached, horror swirling in her eyes. “You didn’t give me those?”

“No, I…” A sick feeling struck him as he reached for her hand and glanced around. “We need to get out of here.”

She nodded, woodenly, clinging to his hand as they started along the pathway.

When they reached the opening in the trees, Dante stopped and scanned the pool area and the lawns around the house.

Nothing moving that he could see. Was that psychopath in the cottage?

Whether or not he was, Dante needed to get inside to grab his car keys and his gun, if nothing else.

Should he take Jules with him? Either way, she would be in danger but maybe slightly less if she were with him. “I have to get my keys.”

Jules nodded. “I’m going with you.”

“All right, but stay behind me, okay?” He kept his grip on her cold fingers as he started toward the building.

Jules nodded and crept after him as they reached the patio and crossed it to the sliding doors.

Still clutching the hatchet, Dante let go of Jules’ hand and held his arm out to keep her from walking in front of the glass as he pressed a shoulder to the wall and peered around the frame.

No movement in the living room or kitchen areas.

God, help us. Please. Keep us safe. Especially Jules.

Giving her a slight nod, he passed in front of the doors and grasped the handle to slide one open.

Upon entering, he took a closer look around, straining to catch any noise or movement before motioning her in and closing and locking the door behind her.

Thankfully, his bedroom was on the main floor, off the living room.

Dante tiptoed across the area rug, Jules at his heels.

He pushed open the door and took stock of the room before grabbing his keys, weapon, and wallet from the bedside table drawer.

The fact that all three were still there was a good sign, although he and Jules were far from out of the woods.

He wouldn’t let his guard down until they were safely in his car and on the way to Calgary and the police station there. Maybe not even then.

As they stole through the living room toward the front door, Jules snatched the brown leather bag she’d set on a chair and slung it over her shoulder.

Any other belongings could be collected later, once the perp was rotting in prison.

With that pleasant thought driving him forward, Dante led the way to his car.

No one made any attempt to stop them as they jumped in, and he tossed the hatchet onto the floor behind Jules and accelerated out of his spot and down the lane.

Neither spoke as he wheeled onto the road and pressed harder on the gas, his gaze shifting from the road to the rearview mirror.

After a minute of driving, he tugged the work phone from his shirt pocket and called 911, filling the dispatcher in quickly on the situation and requesting that as many officers as possible be sent to his parents’ property and the surrounding area in an attempt to catch this guy before he disappeared.

He also asked for heat-seeking drones to fly over the trees.

When he finished with that call, he phoned his superintendent and updated her on what was going on.

As soon as he returned the device to his pocket, he checked the rearview mirror again.

Nothing suspicious on the road behind them.

From the corner of his eye, Dante caught Jules staring into her side mirror.

When they’d driven for twenty minutes without seeing a single car following them, his muscles relaxed slightly. “I think we’re good.”

“How on earth could he have found us up here?”

“I have no idea. That address wouldn’t have been on your phone. The only way he could have known where we were was if…”

As loathe as he was to allow the guy, if there was any chance he was following them, to catch up, Dante stepped on the brakes and eased the car to the shoulder.

Jules stared at him. “What are you doing?”

“I need to check something. Keep your eyes on the road behind us, okay? If you see anyone coming, let me know and we’ll take off.”

She nodded.

Dante jumped out, rounded the hood, and crouched to feel beneath the front bumper.

Although he searched from one end to the other, he found nothing.

He straightened and strode to the back of the vehicle to do the same.

He’d covered the length of the bumper and was about to give up when he found what he was searching for, tucked deep into the corner on the driver’s side.

Yanking out the three-inch-long, black, magnetized box with two small antenna, he bit back a curse word and carried it to Jules’ window to show her.

She rolled down the glass. “Is that a tracker?”

“Yeah.”

“So, he’s known where we were all along.” Jules’ voice shook slightly.

“Looks like it.” Dante dropped the box to the ground and stomped on it with his heel until it was ground it into tiny pieces. “Well, we’re off his radar now.”

After kicking the plastic bits into the ditch, he slid behind the wheel again and squealed away from the shoulder.

Jules was right. That psycho had known where they were from the moment they left Calgary.

Why had he held out so long before making his move?

Had he been watching them? Waiting for an opportunity to torment Jules further?

All those sweet moments he and Jules had spent together passed through his mind.

The thought of an evil, demented madman bearing witness to all of them made Dante’s stomach churn.

Jules slumped against the seat and covered her eyes with her arm. “He stood there watching me while I slept on that floatie. Like he probably did that night in my room. Why? What is he getting out of this?”

“Some sick pleasure I can’t begin to comprehend.

” Dante struggled to keep the fury out of his voice.

Maybe, instead of the retribution he’d planned for the man making Jules’ life so unbearable, he’d settle for simply gouging his eyes out.

See how well the freak made out behind bars when he couldn’t see any faces in real life any more than she could see his in her mind.

She lowered her arm and shifted slightly to face him.

“No. You wouldn’t.” With her thumbnail, she scratched at a tiny speck of something, dried ketchup maybe, on the console between them.

“As creepy as it is, this feels like a de-escalation. I mean, the last time he confronted me, in the burning building, he was clearly attempting to kill me. Why would he only leave me flowers today?”

Dante stared out the front window, at the rock face on either side of the road, scraggly trees clinging to cracks in the stone, and the majestic, mist-strewn, blue-gray mountains surrounding them. “Is there any way he could know that you leave daisies on your sister’s grave?”

Jules bit her lip before moaning. “I was there a couple of weeks ago and took a picture of her headstone with the flowers. I never posted it anywhere, but the photo would be in the gallery on my phone.”

The horror he’d seen in her eyes when she realized Dante wasn’t the one who had left the daisies by the pool filled them again. “So, not a de-escalation. He was leaving flowers at my grave. As though I was already dead.”

Dante let go of the wheel to grasp her forearm. “We won’t let that happen, Jules. I promise.”

“Can you, though?”

The question hung in the air between them, along with the faint, lingering aromas of French fries and stale coffee.

Finally, she rested ice-cold fingers on his hand.

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful.

I know you’re doing everything you can and that you’ve sacrificed a lot to try and keep me safe. I appreciate it. Truly.”

Dante turned his hand over to wrap his fingers around hers. “I’m not about to stop. Not until this guy is behind bars or dead. No way we are letting this monster win.”

She managed a tremulous smile. “Got it.”

When she turned to watch the breathtaking scenery they were passing by, he continued to hold her hand, offering silent comfort.

Jules made no effort to pull away. Not until his work phone vibrated in his shirt pocket did he release her to tug it free.

Glancing from the road to the screen, he read the short message his boss had sent.

Relief flowed through him. “They got him.”

She straightened abruptly. “They did?”

“Yep. A heat-seeking drone picked him up in the woods. He’s in custody and being transported to Calgary now.”

Jules clasped his arm. “I can’t believe it.”

As she had done earlier with him, Dante covered her hand with his. “Believe it, Jules. You’re safe. Your family is safe. Your friends are safe. That vermin will never again see the light of day. That, I can promise you.”

She glanced upwards. “Thank you, Lord.”

“Amen.” He had never said a word more fervently in his life.

That was one good thing that had come out of this horrific situation.

One incredible thing, actually. He and Jules both appeared to be making their way back onto the pathway they had veered off.

The pathway of a deepening faith in the God who was good, all the time, even if their definition of good was different than his.

They could trust him. Maybe that realization, that divine course correction, was worth everything they had gone through?

Jules pulled her hand out from under his. “Would you mind if we made a quick stop?”

His skin suddenly cold where it had been touching hers, Dante returned his hand to the wheel. “Sure. What do you need?”

“I want to pick up a new phone. I have to get back into my group chat with Brie and Kelli and set up my social media accounts again. I can do it later if you don’t want to take the time, though.”

“No, it’s fine. There’s a mall coming up. We can pop in for a few minutes. Maybe treat ourselves to a milkshake or something to celebrate.”

“Sounds good.” The smile she flashed him made everything he might have gone through the last few days worth it.

A few exits later, Dante pulled off the highway and into a mall parking lot.

After Jules had picked out her new phone, they grabbed milkshakes and giant, still-warm chocolate chip cookies and sat at a table in the food court.

She took out the burner phone he had given her, called up her contact list, and deleted her friends’ and her mother’s numbers.

Then she did the same with a text conversation that he would have given an awful lot of money to read, given how pink her cheeks were when she sent him a furtive look before erasing it.

When she finished, she slid the phone across the table to him.

Dante picked up the device, warm from her touch, and dropped it into his shirt pocket. Jules unpacked her new phone and programmed in her mother’s, Kelli’s, and Brie’s phone numbers before messaging her friends the good news.

Dante swiped cookie crumbs from his fingers and then held out his hand. “Here.” Jules handed over the phone, and he entered in his personal number. “In case you ever need a sketch artist to help you visualize anything. Or, you know, a friend.”

Her eyes probed his a moment before a smile crossed her lips. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

They finished their celebratory snacks and then took their time wandering along the mall, laughing as they tried on hats and sunglasses and took advantage of the sketchy massage chairs in the wide hallway running between stores.

Jules was practically giddy. Clearly, a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and Dante could barely tear his eyes from her.

Finally, they returned to the car and hit the road again, heading for the city.

As there was no reason for her to go to the station now, Dante took her home.

A wave of sadness hit him when he signaled and pulled his vehicle into her driveway.

As happy as he was that her ordeal was over, it did mean that he had no more excuse to see her.

Her hand on the door latch, Jules turned a little to face him. “Thank you, Dante. For everything. I mean it.”

A bit numbly, he nodded. “I was happy to do it, Jules. Honestly. And hey”—summoning all his courage, he reached for her hand—“I mean it. Call me anytime if you need anything or for… any reason.”

Jules squeezed his fingers. “I will.” After a brief hesitation, she added, “Take care, Frat Boy.”

He snorted a laugh before letting her go. “You too.”

Jules shouldered open the door and climbed out. Although he tried not to, even though he knew her neighbor was likely watching him do it, Dante kept his gaze fixed on her as she made her way up the walk, unlocked her door, and disappeared inside without a backward glance.

Well, that’s that. The uneasiness in his gut, the one he’d wrestled with as she had walked out of the interrogation room the night of the murder, didn’t make any sense. The guy was in custody, which meant that she was safe. Right?

Drawing in a slow, deep breath, he backed out of the driveway and lifted a hand in the direction of the house across the street.

Then he headed to the station to see the cold-blooded murderer for himself and ensure that he could keep his promise to Jules that the man would never again see the light of day.