Page 2 of Beneath the Dawn

She stopped pacing. She was just making herself crazy. So she decided to be proactive and call her former PI, Warren Overstreet. It had been his investigative report that had exposed what Malcolm and his friends had been doing. And since he was well-versed with the case, she thought he’d be in the best position to find out who’d sent her the obituary.

After a short conversation, Mr. Overstreet told her it wasn’t surprising someone found out her current address. These days, people could find out practically anything, especially if they ventured on the dark web. But he offered her his services, if she felt she needed them, though he believed it wasn’t likely that she’d be bothered again.

Too soon, Marti discovered that would not be the case. A week later, a small hawthorn tree, often called unlucky, was delivered to her place. And she knew what that meant. She’d grown up in San Francisco, where one of her aunts had owned a florist shop. Aunt Gilley would say that although the hawthorn was a beautiful shrub, it was considered to be a sign of death and misfortune.

A shudder of dread raced down her spine as she opened the card that accompanied the shrub. It read…You are responsible for Larry Upshaw’s death, and your life will become a living hell.

You couldn’t get any unluckier than that…

CHAPTER 1

A month later

Dante eased from the depths of the waters, feeling calmer than he’d been in a long time. His father had always said that he must have been a fish in another life, because he always had a hard time getting Dante out of the water. Shaking his head to shed some water from his hair, he smiled. With his personality, it was more likely he’d been a shark rather than a fish. A great white shark. Fish were easy prey for all kinds of creatures, whereas the only predator a shark had to avoid was the killer whale. And although orcas were known to roam the beaches along the Oregon Coast, none ever came this close to shore. So Dante was safe.

He glanced up at the sky and saw the first sign of dawn as he began doing a number of free-style strokes, followed by breast strokes, backstrokes, and butterflies. Swimming was the most vigorous form of exercise, and there were so many benefits to doing it every day. He swam most mornings as a rule, but while he was here in Wild Rose Point, he took a dive in the water whenever he felt like it. The Pacific Ocean was known for being cold, even during the hottest summer months. But that didn’t bother him. He went swimming, regardless of what time of day or night.

A short while later, an hour longer than he would usually remain on the beach once the sun came up, Dante swam toward the shoreline. When he arrived a month ago, the two homes next to his had been vacant. Now it seemed someone was occupying the one right next door, where Ms. Della used to live. He had seen the lights on two nights ago while sitting outside on his screened-in patio and figured the occupants must have arrived when he’d been paying a visit to the Seaglass Saloon.

He hadn’t seen anyone--not even a glimpse. He figured there had to be a reason the people staying next door hadn’t ventured to the beach yet. Maybe they were newlyweds, who had their own reasons for staying inside. Still, he couldn’t understand why someone would rent a place on the scenic Oregon coast, with the ocean practically in their backyard, and not enjoy it.

But he wouldn’t complain. Until someone emerged, he had this entire stretch of beach to himself.

Only it looked like he’d spoken too soon. When he got out of the water, wrapped the towel around his waist, and began heading back to his place, he saw the door to the house next to his open, and a woman with a big floppy straw hat on her head, a huge tote bag flung over her shoulder, and a huge beach towel under her arm stepped out. She was wearing a flower-printed cover-up that stopped mid-thigh, and from the way it fit, he could tell she was blessed with natural curves.

She detected his presence and, when she saw him, went still. Their gazes met, and he was taken aback by her beauty. She had a perfect set of full lips, high cheekbones, and a contoured chin in an almond- colored face. And her eyes… Those silver-gray eyes.

He remembered meeting someone with the same eye color on this beach many summers ago. She had been visiting Ms. Della. Could it be the same person? Deciding to find out, he called the name, “Martina?”

The woman took a step back and looked as if she’d take off running if he came any closer. He could understand her surprise that a stranger would know her name. Only it wasn’t surprise in her eyes—it was stark terror.

“Am I supposed to know you?” she asked in a shaky voice, taking another step back as she squinted at him against the sun, studying his features.

He took a step back to put her at ease. “You did at one time, although it’s been years. We met one summer, when we were just kids here on this beach. I was thirteen, and you were around seven or eight.”

He paused as memories of that summer came back to him. “And if I recall right,” he added, “you had a younger sister; however, I don’t remember her name.” But he did recall that both sisters had silver gray eyes, and Martina was the one with the dimples.

From the movement of her chest, he could tell she’d released a relieved breath. He couldn’t help wondering what had her so spooked in broad daylight. Then that question dissolved from his thoughts when she smiled, and he saw those dimples.

“My sister’s name is Kara and you’re right, I was eight that summer. I remember you now. You’re Dante.”

“Yes, I’m Dante Avera.”

“Dante, that was close to twenty-nine years ago. You saved my life that summer,” she said.

He nodded and couldn’t resist moving a few steps closer. Whatever perfume she was wearing was definitely enticing. “And after that, my father had to save mine,” he said.

On that day, so long ago, she had swum out too far, trying to retrieve her sister’s floating toy. When she had suffered a leg cramp before reaching it, and called out for help, he had jumped into the ocean to save her. Once he’d brought her back to shore, he had swum out to get the toy himself when suddenly, he had become caught in a riptide.

Luckily for Dante, his father had glanced out the kitchen window and had seen what was happening. Refusing to lose his only son less than three years after losing his wife, Mario raced toward the beach and dived into the ocean. Displaying the skills that had earned him the captaincy of the Harvard Swim Team, Mario saved his son’s life.

“Promise you won’t be swimming too far out this time. I’m not sure I’d have the stamina to save you now,” Dante said, smiling.

***

Marti wasn’t so sure about that. The last time she saw him, he had been a lanky boy in braces. But that had definitely changed. Standing before her was a tall, well-built, handsome man with a body that looked like he had the stamina for anything.

For the past two mornings, she had watched him through her bedroom window, and the sight of him─ with his near-perfect physique─ rising from beneath the waters at dawn, with rugged sea stacks lining the ocean as picturesque backdrops, had made her very glad she was a woman.