to come out here and throw some muscle around? Just until I get a new security system in here?”
“On it.” Sheri unclipped the radio from her belt and called in to the dispatcher with what she wanted.
Devon managed a weak smile. “Thanks.”
“Oh, and before I forget…” Sheri reached into her pants pocket and brought out a key ring. “To the house and both boats. The Coast Guard gave them to me for safekeeping. They were still in Princess Devon’s ignition.”
Devon wrinkled her forehead. “So isn’t that a sign he was on the boat and fell overboard?”
“Honey, right now it’s a sign of nothing. Let’s wait until we have more information.”
“Waiting. Right. Something I’ve never been very good at.”
“Once Logan gets here,” Avery added, “we’ll talk about a new sophisticated alarm system. Plus, Logan won’t hesitate to throw some muscle around if need be.” She blew out a breath. “Let me fix myself some of the good-smelling coffee and we can talk.”
She had just finished filling her mug when the landline rang. Devon got up and reached for the instrument, a reflex, but Avery grabbed her arm.
“You don’t know who that is. You wouldn’t be getting calls for yourself at this house, right?”
Devon shook her head.
“So it’s either the thugs Logan ran off, or others like them, or a reporter.”
Devon jerked her hand back. “What should I do?”
“Answer it, but hold the receiver so we can both hear.”
She nodded. “Hello?” She frowned when no one answered. “Hello? Is anyone there?”
Avery grabbed the phone from her, still holding it so they both could hear. “Who is this?” Silence greeted them. Finally whoever was on the other end hung up. Avery looked at Devon. “Is that like the call you got this morning?”
She nodded. “Same thing.”
“One thing it tells us,” Shari told her. “Whoever this is, they don’t have your father. Otherwise they wouldn’t be looking for him. And they want him pretty damn bad.”
“Or more than one group is after him,” Avery added, “and these people are pissed. And we still don’t know how the death of Vincent Pellegrino factors into this. It’s too damn coincidental for it not to.”
Devon’s throat was so dry she had to swallow twice before she could get the next question out. “More than one group?”
“Anything is possible,” Sheri reminded her. “If we had some idea what the hell this is all about we might have better answers. And this house is so immaculate there isn’t a sniff of a clue. I hope to hell we can get something off that cell phone.”
“Do you think they’ll come up here looking for him again?” Devon was almost afraid to ask the question.
“That’s always a possibility.” She gave Devon a reassuring smile. “But that’s why you’ll have Logan, plus a lot of other safeguards.”
“If these guys are the same two who were at the marina,” Avery commented, “they sure don’t seem like the kind of friends Graham Cole would have. Apparently Gary didn’t see anything out of the ordinary in two dirtbags asking about one of the town’s leading citizens. Asshole.”
Sheri made a rude noise. “I’m sure Gary didn’t even process that. He’s so clueless he didn’t even know Princess Devon wasn’t in its slip. I don’t know why the owners even keep him on.”
“My question would be how did they know to ask at the marina and what time of day were they there?”
Sheri leaned back in her chair. “Dev, you think you can go ahead now and tell us what happened? I want to know everything, from the minute you got to the house, the calls, whatever you remember.”
Devon did the best she could, trying to remember every detail.
“They scared me shitless,” she said, “but I did the best I could not to let them see it.”
“Smart and with guts.” Sheri squeezed her hand. “We’ll see what we can find when we put out a description. Also, I’ll be checking around town to see if they’ve been asking about Graham. And do it without raising everyone’s curiosity more than it already is.”
“I suspect those two have been keeping a profile so low it’s practically nonexistent, though,” Avery told her. She looked at Devon. “The first thing I want Logan to do when he gets here is a complete security assessment, so he can call me with what we need for your new system. We’ll monitor it from the office. A breech will also send an alarm to Logan’s watch.”
“His watch?” Devon blinked. “It must be some watch.”
Avery smiled at her. “It is. Believe me.”
“This is just a nightmare.” Devon rubbed her forehead. “You talked to my dad’s friends, right? What did they have to say? They might know something, especially Cash Breeland. He was pretty tight with him.” She thought for a second. “Also Earl Flannery. And Roy Parker. He was pretty tight with all of them. I can’t think who else.”
“Spoke to all three,” Sheri assured her. “They were all just as shocked as you are.”
“God. You’d think someone would have a clue.”
“Roy said he seemed a little distracted at their card game last week, but other than that, nothing.”
Devon rubbed her face. She’d been fighting off reactions to everything, but her body was losing the battle. She ached as if she’d been in battle and her insides felt like jelly. She had to pull herself together.
Sheri touched her hand. “It’s okay to fall apart. Anyone who had a day like this would be hanging on by a thread.”
“I guess. It’s just not who I am.” Nor had it ever been. Not even when her mother died, or when her father backed away from their relationship for more than a year. She’d allowed herself the moment of grief, then pulled up her big girl pants and moved forward. She’d always been like that.
“Maybe, but right now you have to give yourself permission to let go.”
Easier said than done.
“If we just had some idea of the what and why here.” Devon braced her elbows on the table and rubbed her temples with her fingertips. “Nothing seems to fit. An experienced sailor just doesn’t fall overboard. A high-profile business executive doesn’t just disappear. Men like my father don’t hang out with the kind of people who would run me off the road. God! I just wish I knew what the hell was going on.”
“And we’re going to find out,” Sheri promised her. “We don’t have to rely on just my small department, either. I can hit up the sheriff’s department for additional manpower. But Avery has offered to do anything we need, and I think for this I’m taking her up
