Twilight at Blueberry Barrens (Sunset Cove #3)(12)

It was going to be hard to dredge up those memories and face the ache of missing his brother, but he had to do it.

A pert young woman dressed like Steve Irwin in khaki shorts and shirt approached with a smile. “I’m Lisa Greenhill, the children’s activity director. We’re about to go on safari and look for wild animals in the area. Would your children like to go along?”

Phoebe pulled away from Dixie. “Can we go, Uncle Drake? I want to find a penguin!”

It was the first thing she’d shown interest in since her parents died. He looked at his aunt.

“Lisa will take good care of them. I’ve known her from church since she was a sprout.”

He grinned and nodded. “I’m not sure you’ll find a penguin, but you can go. Leave your backpacks with me.”

Both girls dropped their packs at his feet and went off with the activity director. He watched them go with a strange sense of déjà vu. A summer of exploration and new beginnings, just like he and Heath had. Please, God, let it be so. The children needed a way to start over after such a horrendous loss.

He looked back at his aunt. “You said all the right things, all the things I can’t seem to figure out how to say.”

“You just have to listen, Drake.” She tapped his chest. “Listen with your heart. They’ve lost their whole world.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Now I want to know exactly what you know. What really happened to Heath and Melissa?”

He glanced around the hotel lobby teeming with people checking in and out. “Let’s go up to our suite, and I’ll tell you everything.”

*

The engagement ring sparkled on Claire’s left hand, and she still wasn’t used to the heavy weight of it. She picked her way over the large rocks along the shore toward Sunset Bay where Luke’s boat was due to dock in about an hour. A tern uttered a sharp kee-arr overhead, and she paused when she saw a pair of puffins in the sea cliff above her.

She’d have to tell Kate. Today would be a great day to be up in her plane, but its engine was being worked on, and she’d be unable to fly for another week or so.

She shaded her eyes and looked down the curve of water to the bay. A Coast Guard cutter could be seen in the distance, so Luke would be here soon. Picking up her pace, she edged so close to the water that the splash from a cold wave hit her sandal, but the terrain was less rocky here. She reached a large, flat rock that protruded into the ocean. She clambered over it, then stopped when she saw what appeared to be a pile of black-and-red rags covered in seaweed and caught in a tide pool.

She gasped. A face was hidden in a tangle of hair.

Claire’s pulse kicked as she leaped the last few feet and reached the woman’s side. She knelt and touched the woman’s shoulder, but before Claire could speak, the sensation of cold, stiff flesh penetrated her consciousness. She stifled a scream and scrabbled back, landing on her rear end in the surf. The cold water instantly soaked through to her skin.

Claire couldn’t look away, and her chest compressed until she couldn’t draw a breath. In an instant she was remembering finding Jenny Bennett’s dead body in that cave. Her hand flew to her throat, and she tried to pull in air. The choking sensation intensified, and she did thirty seconds of belly breathing as her counselor had told her, and the tightness in her lungs began to ebb.

She stumbled to her feet and dug her cell phone out of her pocket. It was a little damp but the screen lit up, so she called 911 and told the dispatcher about the body she’d found.

“I’ll stay here until the sheriff arrives.” Her voice shook. “Please hurry. Sh-should I pull the body farther onto the beach so the tide doesn’t take her out? I think she’s moved a few inches.”

“Game Warden O’Connor is near your location. He’ll likely arrive first, but I’ll get the sheriff on his way too,” the woman said. “I think it’s best if you don’t touch the body. Do you want me to stay on the line with you?”

Claire saw Luke’s boat offshore and waved. “No, that’s fine. My fiancé is nearly here, and he’ll wait with me for Kevin’s arrival.”

“It shouldn’t be long,” the dispatcher assured her.

Claire ended the call and went to stand near the woman’s body. Poor thing. She looked to be in her early twenties with her whole life ahead of her. Seaweed mixed with her long blonde hair, and her jeans and a lacy top lay carefully draped to cover her nude body.

The scene looked staged to her. What if a killer was stalking their area? She swallowed hard and took a step back. She and Kate had watched too many Criminal Minds episodes.

She lifted her head at the crunch of shoes on rocks, then turned and saw Luke heading her way. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she launched herself against his chest. His arms came around her, and he held her close enough that she could hear his heartbeat under her ear.

“What’s wrong, Claire?” He kissed the top of her hair. “You’re trembling.”

“A-a woman. Over there. She’s dead.” She lifted her head and gulped. “I called the dispatcher, and Kevin will be here any minute. I-I was just remembering finding Jenny’s decomposing body in that cave.”

Admitting her feelings made the trembling intensify. She prided herself on being strong and resourceful, but there was something so hateful about a crime like this that made any woman quake in her shoes.