Page 22 of Spotted at Lighthouse Bay (Spotted Cottage #4)

Whatever the reason Flex Knock had for letting Marilyn and Lawrence back into that house, Rick didn’t care.

It was a stroke of good luck, and none of them should question it.

IronClad Elite was giving him the runaround about getting more resources for Addy, so the further he could get her away from this whole thing, the better.

Naturally, Addy disagreed. The night after Marilyn gave them the good news, she emerged from her bedroom dressed in pajamas and walked into his room, quiet as shadow.

Rick sat on the bed, looking at the new comments from townspeople keeping an eye out for Julian and Sebastian. No one had seen them. He sighed. How had they managed to disappear? And why?

“Is everything okay?” Addy asked.

He jumped. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“I know.” She grinned. “All this time I thought you had super hearing.”

“Unfortunately not.” If only his eardrums still didn’t ring with gunfire. “Is everything okay with you?”

“I don’t know. I guess so. I can’t stop thinking about my mom getting back in the house.”

“Because you’re so grateful?” he suggested, a half smile tugging at his mouth.

“No, because it doesn’t make any sense. Clearly they’re giving in to her, which means whatever we’re doing is working.”

He shut his laptop. “Not necessarily. You’re letting yourself be influenced by what you want to be true.”

Addy crossed her arms. “It’s not that simple and you know it, Rick.”

“I didn’t say it was simple, I –”

“Let me finish,” she said, holding up a finger.

He sat back. He was not winning this one.

She went on. “Flex Knock had already gotten them out of the house. Why would they let them move back in, unless they felt threatened in some way? It’s no benefit to them.”

He sighed. “It could be any of a number of reasons.”

“Yeah, but you know it isn’t. You have to trust me sometimes, you know. Just because you’re the bodyguard and I’m the client doesn’t mean I don’t know anything.”

The client. He hadn’t thought of her as “the client” in ages. “I’m sorry. I don’t think of you as not knowing anything. I never meant to treat you that way, and I’m really sorry.”

Her lips twisted into a frown. “You don’t have to apologize, I just – I want you to take me seriously.”

Rick was taking her seriously. He knew she wouldn’t give this up, and he desperately needed her to.

“My first priority is to protect you, always.” He paused.

There was no need to reiterate that he didn’t want to lose her; no reason for her to know she was becoming less “the client” and more the focus of his every thought.

“You have a different first priority, which puts us at odds.”

“True.” She dropped her arms. “There has to be more to it, though. How do we know they won’t throw them out of the house again in six months? Then we’re back where we started.”

“You’re right. I’m still working on getting the guys to talk, and my contacts are looking for ways in,” he said. “I haven’t given up.”

A smile curled her lips and she took a step toward him. “Oh. I didn’t know that.”

His heart danced against his ribs, distinct from the feeling of a panic attack. Far more pleasant, like the fluttering of a dove’s wings.

He cleared his throat. “I don’t want you putting yourself in harm’s way to figure this out. It’s too personal. They can come after you, but they can’t come after a nameless, faceless investigator. Or the cops.”

“Specifically Chief Hank.”

He smiled. “Yeah. He’s on it.”

“All right. Well, I’m glad we talked it through.”

“Me too.”

The lighting softly lit her eyes, her nose, her lips…

Addy nodded, then turned on her heel. “Sleep tight, Rick!”

He watched her disappear behind her door. “Thanks. You too.”

If only she knew how well he slept when she was near.

There was nothing from Marilyn for the next week, and Addy was distracted by the chaos in the house. Lottie the orca was finally coming home.

Rick had never seen Sheila in such a state.

“Eliza!” she barked on the morning of transport. “Can you add four people to the afterparty?”

“No problem,” Eliza said. “I made extra of everything.”

“We need to make sure everyone who comes and who volunteers has something to eat and a hot drink –”

Patty cut her off. “Don’t worry. We’ve got it under control.”

Sheila’s eldest daughter, Mackenzie, arrived that morning, along with her boyfriend, Liam. Mackenzie was even more frightening than Sheila.

“Joey!” Mackenzie called across the kitchen. “I’ve got press pickups in Bellingham, Seattle, and Tacoma.”

“Got it,” he said.

“Listen, if you can’t fit Tacoma in, that’s fine, but the one in Seattle is from a national news network and we need them at the sea pen.”

Joey nodded, chewing on a cookie. “They’ll be there, boss.”

Russell was already at the sea pen site, drumming up interest. Chief Hank was coming to give them a boat ride any minute. He was also providing security for the event and making sure no unwanted visitors caused trouble.

He pulled up in the police boat and welcomed them. Rick shook his hand. “Nice to see you again.”

“You too, Rick.” He hopped onto the dock to help Patty carefully step onboard. “How goes the bodyguard business?”

“It’s been quiet recently. Still no sign of my guys?”

Hank shook his head. “I’m keen to get my hands on them. If I could get them in for questioning, I could get at least one of them to squeal. “

Rick grinned. “I believe it.”

He stepped to the back, taking his place next to Addy.

“I don’t know if Hank looks as tough as he talks.” Addy tilted her head, squinting behind her sunglasses. “From what Patty tells me, he’s a softie.”

“Who says a softie can’t be tough?”

She laughed. “I guess you’re right. You’re a softie, and you’re pretty tough.”

“There’s your mistake.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back on the boat’s railing. “I’m just tough.”

“Ha! Yeah, sure.”

Once they were loaded onto the boat, Hank skillfully maneuvered away from the dock, past the rows of boats in Friday Harbor and on to Stuart Island.

It was Rick’s first time seeing the sea pen site. It was as breathtaking as the rest of the islands, with the addition of a quaint fisherman’s village built at the shore.

Addy had told him all about how Russell had set this into motion – not that he would take any credit for it. He seemed to be an effective fundraiser and point of contact, however.

They’d taken over an old fisherman’s lodge and converted the buildings into veterinarians’ quarters, a dining hall, and guest rooms. In the open water offshore, the edges of a three hundred by two hundred foot sea pen bobbed in the waves.

The scale of it was incredible. Rick gaped, mouth open, shutting it only when he realized Liam was recording all of them on camera.

“Sorry, mate,” Liam said, patting him on the shoulder.

“No, it’s me.” Rick shook his head. “I can’t believe this is all for a whale.”

“Is it, though?” Liam squinted, wiping drops of water from his sunglasses before replacing them. “It’s not just for Lottie. It’s for all the whales pulled from these waters and slaughtered. The ripple through the generations of these families.”

“What do you mean?”

“The whales. They live with their families their entire lives. Eighty, a hundred years. Like people.” Liam shook his head.

“Honestly, I’m starting to sound like Russell.

But taking Lottie away devastated her mother and her sisters.

They’re in for the shock of their lives when they hear her calls again. ”

Rick could only offer a nod and a grunt. Behind his black sunglasses, his eyes were strangely reacting to the wind.

The dock was crowded with boats, but Hank found a spot. Russell rushed to meet them.

“Don’t worry, Mackenzie,” he said quickly when he caught her scowl. “Everyone who’s here is allowed to be here.”

“Good, because I will kick out any party crashers.”

He laughed. His face was lit with a smile. “I can’t believe it’s finally here.”

“How’s Lottie doing?” Sheila asked. “When did you last hear from the vets?”

“Half an hour ago. She’s doing well,” Russell said. “Getting her into the sling was a bit stressful. She was calling out a lot when they lifted her into the air, but once they got her into the portable tank, she calmed down.”

They walked along the shore and to the lodge. There was a gaggle of people, talking and laughing, and a woman was spooning out hot cider.

“Hello, hello!” she called out.

Rick didn’t realize he was getting a mug until she was standing in front of him, shoving it into his hands.

“You must be Rick!” She grinned, hands on her hips. “I’m Margie, Hank’s wife.”

“Hello. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“You have to have the cider,” she said. “It’s from a fantastic farm on Orcas Island. A friend of mine has a hotel there. Have you been?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“I’ll have to take you on a field trip,” Addy said with a smile. “Hi, Margie.”

“Addy! I can’t believe that business with your car. Do you have pepper spray? I can get you some pepper spray—it’s very effective if you just aim and shoot.”

“I don’t need pepper spray.” She clapped a hand to Rick’s shoulder. “I’ve got a personal bodyguard.”

Rick laughed. “Pepper spray is still a good idea.”

Patty stole Margie away, and he was left sipping hot cider with Addy.

“I heard you sent Mia pepper spray,” she said.

“Yeah?” He stared off into the distance, pretending to think. “Nah. That must’ve been another Rick.”

“No, pretty sure it was you. That was nice. It almost makes up for you fleeing the car in terror when she burst into tears.”

He laughed. Not his proudest moment. He wouldn’t do the same now. “That was a different Rick, too.”

“There they are!” Eliza yelled, pointing.

The crowd hushed, searching the sea. A boat bumbled toward them, the hum of its engine slow and steady.

“How’s this going to work?” Rick asked.

“Well, Lottie is in a little tank on that barge. See that other boat, here?”

He nodded. He’d seen it when they arrived, a crane sitting stationary.

“They have her in a sling. The crane will lift her up and into the pen.”

“What? That’s insane.”

She shrugged. “That’s what they have to do. She weighs eight thousand pounds.”

Within minutes, the barge with Lottie arrived. Rick couldn’t see her – she was surrounded by people dumping ice and clipping straps. A few were inside the tank with her.

The barge maneuvered as close to the crane as possible, and the long arm dropped. Two people leapt into action, securing hooks. Then the crane started moving.

Lottie emerged from the little container, her tail hanging limp from the sling, two wetsuit-clad women on either side. Her black skin was dull.

“Why does she look like that? Is she sick?”

“No, they put ointment on her skin,” Addy said. “To keep her from drying out.”

Whale problems.

They rose twenty feet up and everyone stood, silent, watching.

Whistles and clicks rang through the air.

“Is that her?” Rick asked.

Addy nodded, grinning. “Yeah, she’s a talker.”

He wondered what she was saying. Probably something like “Put me down!”

The crane slowly lowered Lottie into the pen. Another team swarmed the sling, blocking it from view and working as efficiently as an F1 pit stop team.

It took half an hour to remove the sling, but as soon as it was done, all the helpers parted and scattered. Lottie lifted her head from the water, let out a blow, and disappeared beneath the surface.

Everyone stood on the edge of the shore, watching breathlessly. Twenty feet away, Lottie emerged, blowing a great breath. They cheered.

She popped her body above the water, splashing down onto her side.

Rick felt a pair of arms around him. It was Sheila, tears streaming down her face. “She made it!”

He squeezed her back. “It’s amazing.”

A guy he didn’t know grabbed him next. Rick laughed, returning the hug and patting him on the back. “Great work, whoever you are.”

He stepped back. Addy stood in front of him. She put her arms up. Her eyes were red with tears, and her face was wide with a grin.

Until now, he’d held it together, but looking at her, a ball tightened in his throat. He bit his lip and leaned in, wrapping his arms around her body.

Addy tightened her grip. Her hair smelled of flowers. He closed his eyes.

“I’ll admit it. She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Rick said in her ear.

“Softie,” she muttered.