Page 14 of Shallow Remains

“I just got a message from the shop that my boat’s ready to be picked up. They fixed up the bit of damage it sustained on the rescue op. I’m gonna take her up the west side of the island tomorrow to make sure everything’s good. Wanna come with me? Forecast is calling for showers but light winds in the morning.”

Maddy stared at him. Just the two of them, alone on the boat. That could be awkward. She would feel obligated to make conversation, and what happened when they ran out of things to talk about? It would be a long ride back to the marina.

“I…” She glanced back at the others, who were watching them with open curiosity.

Xanthe arched a dark eyebrow at her. “What’s up?”

“I asked Maddy if she wanted to go out with me for an hour or two tomorrow morning,” Lachlan said before Maddy could utter a word. “I’m doing a quick run to test the boat out.”

“Where to?”

“Up the west side of the island.”

She looked at Maddy. “We could go check out the area north of Cedar Point.”

They could.

Bronwyn’s face lit up. “Oh, can we come too? Willow’s been promising to take me out to see some whales.”

“Sure, the more the merrier,” Lachlan said, then his gaze locked with Maddy’s, and she found herself caught in the green depths of his eyes. She had the feeling that she was falling into them, even though she was looking up at him. “Meet you at the dock, say, seven-thirty?”

“Maybe, I’ll see,” she heard herself say. Because how could she flat out say no when he’d originally invited just her and now everyone else wanted to go? He seemed to genuinely want her to come along. “I’ll think about it. See you later.”

Or not.

She went to step past him.

“You’re leaving already?”

“Yes. I’ve got some work I want to finish up.” Not a complete lie. Mostly she just wanted the excuse to get some distance from him.

He studied her a moment, as if trying to figure her out.

Good luck with that. A lot of the time, she didn’t understand herself.

“Want me to walk you out?” he asked.

“No, I’m fine. Thanks anyway.” She threw a parting smile at Xanthe and the others, then slid past Lachlan and hurried across the room to make her escape.

But she felt his stare following her until she stepped out the door.

SIX

“You’re sure it’s her?” the accented male voice on the other end of the burner phone asked.

Working with him on this was a necessary evil, and not a decision I’d made lightly.

“Positive.” It had taken months of searching to find our target again after she’d essentially disappeared, leaving Edinburgh for the States. But it was definitely Maddy in the picture, from a news story on a tiny island in the Pacific Northwest I was headed for now.

“When was this taken?”

“A few weeks ago. Float plane went down on a research flight during a storm. Both passengers survived, but the pilot died. The investigation showed the plane was sabotaged.” That was interesting.

“Was she one of the passengers?”

“No, but Slater was.”

“Blaine Slater?”