to meeting his new wife, Shelby, but Kayla hadn’t. So even though he knew he should stay far away from Kayla and her adorable daughter, he found himself wanting to help in any way he could.
Was it God’s intent that he help show Kayla the way? Maybe. At the very least, they could be friends.
“Actually, I had just finished with my meeting when Alex called,” he corrected smoothly. “And pizza sounds great. My treat.”
Kayla bit her lip and glanced away. He sensed she wasn’t thrilled with the idea of him coming along, but he had no idea why. It was just a simple meal.
“Yay!” Brianna shouted happily. He grinned, glancing at her in the rearview mirror. At least one female didn’t mind sharing dinner with him.
He ignored the pang of loneliness. The coast guard was his life; he wasn’t interested in anything more. His family had been gone for almost five years now. Stranded in the middle of the snowstorm, waiting for the ambulance to arrive, he’d ended up holding his pregnant wife, Angela, in his arms while she and their baby both died from a rare complication during labor.
No, a family wasn’t for him. He shook off the sad thoughts as he pulled up in front of Kayla’s SUV. “Which pizza place?” he asked.
“DiVinci’s,” she answered. The restaurant was located in the small town of Bear Lake, not far from where her bed-and-breakfast was located. He didn’t doubt she’d chosen the place closest to her house to dissuade him from going.
Ha. Fat chance. He could be stubborn, too. Besides, he couldn’t shake the protectiveness he felt toward her. Going to DiVinci’s would provide a good excuse for him to make sure she made it home without incident. “Sounds good. I’ll follow you there.”
Brianna jumped out of the backseat. Kayla leaned on the open passenger door. “Really, Rafe, I can explain to Brianna. I know you have much better things to do with your free time.”
He raised his eyebrows. Did she imagine he had some sort of active social life? If so, nothing could be farther from the truth. “Kayla, relax. I’m hungry and DiVinci’s has great pizza. It’s just a friendly dinner.”
“Okay, suit yourself,” she muttered before shutting the door behind her. He watched as she helped Brianna into her child safety seat, before sliding in behind the wheel. He pulled out behind her, following her to the highway.
As he drove, he mulled over the threads of his case. With Bill Schroeder’s death, their investigation would halt in a dead end. Schroeder had been their best chance at breaking the criminal trafficking ring. They’d focused their attention on Bill Schroeder in the first place because one of the local police officers had spotted Bruce Pappas, a well-known criminal awaiting trial, down at the lakeshore getting into one of Bill Schroeder’s boats. After that, Bruce Pappas had suddenly vanished. Never showed up for his court date. And had never been seen again.
At the time, Schroeder had insisted he’d returned Pappas back to shore, and the authorities had never been able to prove otherwise.
So they’d begun keeping Schroeder under surveillance. They’d noticed he took trips at odd times during the day and night. But while his actions were suspicious, they needed hard, irrefutable proof. They’d been hoping to catch him in the act of actually transporting a criminal, but so far they’d had no luck.
So much for that plan.
He called his young partner, Evan Marshall, and his commanding officer Luke Sanders, to give them the news. Sure, they’d have to wait for a positive ID, but clearly it looked as if Schroeder’s disappearance had been the result of foul play.
Neither man answered their phones, so he left messages and then snapped his phone shut with a sense of frustration. Not that it really mattered that Evan and Luke didn’t answer, there was nothing more they could do tonight anyway. They’d need to regroup and find another thread to follow in the investigation.
He pushed thoughts of work aside with an effort. He needed to focus on relaxing and enjoying himself for once. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had dinner with an attractive woman.
Of course this wasn’t a date, he hastily assured himself. Just a nice dinner with a friend and her daughter.
When Kayla turned into DiVinci’s parking lot, he pulled in right beside her. As they walked inside, he caught a whiff of her strawberry shampoo and had to stop himself from actually leaning closer to breathe deeply, filling his head with her wholesome scent.
He pulled his scattered thoughts away from dangerous territory. He’d promised her a friendly meal, nothing more.
Brianna chatted throughout dinner, which was nice since Kayla was unusually quiet. Brianna explained all about her school Christmas party and the shopping they’d done earlier that day before going off to visit her dad’s memorial.
Her last comment piqued his interest. This was the first he’d heard of a memorial. He glanced at Kayla, oddly disappointed. He’d heard from Alex how she’d taken Jeremy’s death very hard. She obviously still carried strong feelings for her dead husband even though he’d been gone for two years. He’d been a part of the team that had searched for Jeremy Wilson when his boat hadn’t returned to shore. They’d found him, but too late. “That was a really nice idea, putting up a memorial in your husband’s memory.”
Kayla’s smile was strained. “Actually the memorial was Bill Schroeder’s idea, not mine.”
A prickle of fear raised the hairs on the back of his neck. Bill Schroeder? Had she kept in touch with him over the years? In the months they’d been watching Schroeder, they’d never seen Kayla down by the lakefront near his business. And according to Alex, Kayla hadn’t stayed on close, friendly terms with the guy, either.
But she had been at Pelican Point today. On the same day Bill Schroeder washed up along the lakeshore. Not that he believed she had anything remotely to do with his death.
Still, he didn’t like the strange coincidence. Didn’t like it at all.
Ice formed along the length of his spine. Was it possible Kayla was more closely involved with Bill Schroeder than he’d realized?
TWO
“Did you know him?” Kayla asked abruptly, when Brianna left them alone to greet one of her friends from school dining at a nearby table.
“Who?” he asked, reigning in his chaotic thoughts. “The guy in the water?”
She frowned and nodded. “Yes. I figured you went back to talk to the police because you knew him.”
He hesitated, not sure what to tell her. He wouldn’t lie to her, but at the same time, he wasn’t at liberty to discuss his case. Especially when Kayla happened to know his key suspect on a first name basis. “It’s possible the dead guy could be involved in one of our investigations, but we won’t know for sure until we have positive ID.”
“I see,” she murmured, idly toying with the paper sheath from her straw.
He leaned forward, capturing her gaze with his. “Kayla, I need to ask you something. Just how well do you know Bill Schroeder? I mean, I know he was your husband’s partner in the charter fishing business, but do you still see him? Talk to him?”
She
