Eyewitness

Chapter Fourteen

Devon sagged to the floor and Kieran scrambled from the dumbwaiter to catch her.

Her knees hit the tiles, and Kieran crouched beside her, his words drowned out by the roaring in her ears.

“No. No, that’s impossible. He was sleeping.”

“Think about it, Devon.” He cupped her face with both of his hands. “Why would Michael be so upset that a neighbor died? Most kids his age don’t even understand the concept of death.”

“They were close. Sh-she…” Oh, God. Devon covered her eyes. Mrs. Del Vecchio was the one who had encouraged Michael to use the dumbwaiter to visit her. Had Michael defied her rule in favor of Granny Del’s much more exciting one?

She repeated. “No. It can’t be.”

Kieran continued in his low voice, which seemed so odd next to the panic sweeping through her body. “The water in the sink. Do you remember how upset he was that day in the kitchen? Our arguing hadn’t upset him. It was the overflowing sink-just like the overflowing sink in Mrs. Del Vecchio’s kitchen when she was being murdered.”

The truth of Kieran’s words hammered at her consciousness. Trying to push it away, she grasped at straws. “I’m not saying it’s true, but if it were, if Michael really did witness the murder, the killer doesn’t know that. The killer’s after me.”

Please, God.

Kieran pulled her against his chest. “I don’t think so, Devon.”

Her body convulsively jerked in his arms, and he wrapped her tighter in his embrace.

“The shot at Columbella House. That was meant for me. Michael wasn’t even there.”

“Maybe the killer figured he could get to Michael better with you out of the way.”

She struggled out of his arms and pummeled his chest. “Stop. It’s not true.”

“Devon.” He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. “And now you’re out of the way. We need to get back to Michael.”

This new realization dropped on her head like an anvil and she gasped for breath. She scrambled to her feet and lunged for her purse on the table in the entryway. She punched in the number for Elena’s cell phone and nearly cried out when she heard Elena’s voice mail message.

She dragged in a breath and huffed it out. “Elena, this is Devon. Michael is in danger. We think he’s the one who witnessed the murder. Take him to the Coral Cove P.D. as soon as you get this message and call me back.”

Kieran smoothed a hand down her back. “That’s the way. He’ll be fine once Elena gets him to the police station. We’ll pick him up there and head out of town.”

Another thought slammed against her brain and she sank to the nearest chair. “Kieran, why does Elena’s new boyfriend look like one of Johnny Del’s gang members?”

Kieran’s face showed no surprise, only a deepening of the lines bracketing his mouth. “Coincidence. You heard Detective Marquette-The Pelican is dead.”

“How did the killer know we were at Elena’s office? How did he know when he texted me that you wouldn’t be there? You know he never would’ve tried anything with you there.”

A muscle twitched in Kieran’s jaw and he rubbed it with his thumb. “I don’t know, Devon.”

She bent forward and leaned her forehead on her knees. “Sam came into Elena’s waiting room that day, remember? He’d forgotten something. That told him Elena was seeing Michael first and you next. He knew I’d be waiting for you with Michael.”

“What did Elena say this morning? Sam was out of town today.”

“Yeah, out of town because he thought we were all going to San Francisco. What do you want to bet he changed his mind after he heard from Elena?”

“Let’s get back.” Kieran grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the chair.

When they got to the car, Devon called the Coral Cove P.D. “Clark, you need to look for Dr. Elena Estrada. My son is with her and he’s in danger.”

“From Dr. Estrada?”

Devon pounded the steering wheel. “No, from Sam…Sam Frost. He’s the financial adviser who just moved into the same building as Dr. Estrada.”

“I don’t think the chief’s going to launch a manhunt on your say-so, Devon. Is there some kind of APB out for Dr. Estrada or a warrant for this Sam?”

“No. I’m telling you. My son is in danger. Elena took him on a picnic to the beach.”

“We have miles of beaches here, Devon.”

“Start searching them!” she screamed into the phone and threw it against the dashboard.

Kieran scooped up the phone from the floor. “I’m calling Detective Marquette.”

He left a message for the detective and then placed the phone in the console. “Elena will protect Michael from Sam.”

Devon shot a sideways glance at Kieran, his face dark and menacing. She’d put her money on Kieran over Elena, Chief Evans and the entire CCPD and SFPD wrapped together.

She maneuvered through the streets toward Fisherman’s Wharf and then hit The Embarcadero. The tension in her shoulders didn’t abate until she accelerated onto the freeway.

“Try Elena again.”

Kieran shook his head as he held the phone to his ear. “Not picking up.”

Devon said a silent prayer for the safety of her son as she raced up the freeway. God, keep my son safe until his father can rescue him.

DEVON BLEW INTO CORAL COVE and raced up the back way to the center of town. They planned to drop by her mom’s house first and then check Elena’s office before hitting the beaches.

Devon’s stomach dropped when she didn’t spot Elena’s car out front. “She’s not here.”

“Let’s check inside in case she left some indication where they were going.”

“She texted me over three hours ago that they were picnicking at the beach. They wouldn’t still be there. Look at the weather.” She waved her arm at the overcast skies.

“Maybe she went to her office for something.”

Devon glanced at her cell phone on the way back to the car. “Still no call from Detective Marquette.”

“They’re busy at those big city departments. Give him time.”

She choked. “We don’t have time, Kieran. We need the police out looking for this guy, and Chief Evans isn’t going to do anything without the go-ahead from Marquette.”

The five-minute drive to the center of town took two minutes and she and Kieran took the stairs two at a time. Kieran banged on Elena’s locked office door.

“She’s not here, Kieran.”

“Then we hit the beaches. She said she wouldn’t take him to a swimming beach. Where would she go?”

“Hold on.” Devon crept down the hallway to Sam’s office. She tried the handle, but he’d locked up for the day, too. Had he followed them to San Francisco thinking they had Michael with them? Or did he already know Michael was right here with Elena, the woman he’d charmed to get close to her son?

She shivered and hugged herself.

Kieran curled his arm around her shoulder. “Let’s go. Give it your best guess. Where would Elena take Michael?”

“The beach at Columbella. You can’t swim there. It has plenty of tidepools. The cave…and it’s pretty deserted.”

“What are we waiting for?”

They hopped back in the car and drove through town toward the beach at Columbella House.

“Look.” Devon pointed to Elena’s sedan parked in the turnout. “It’s Elena’s car.”

Devon wheeled her car into the lookout area, her wheels crunching the gravel. They exited the car without taking in the view since an observer from this point couldn’t see the beach below the house. That’s why nobody but the locals came here. And if the locals planned to boogie board, surf or swim, they wouldn’t come to Columbella Beach, which offered none of those activities.

They headed down the path on the side of the house and edged onto the rocks-the place where Devon had first laid eyes on her dead fiancé.

Cupping her hand over her eyes, she surveyed the narrow beach where the sun streaked through the encroaching fog. “They’re not here.”

“Maybe they went into the cave like you and Michael did that day.”

Devon’s cell phone rang and she tripped to a stop. “Hold on, Kieran. It’s my phone.”

Before answering, she glanced at the display and said to Kieran, “It’s Detective Marquette.”

“Put it on speaker and let’s keep moving.”

“Hello?”

“Ms. Reese, it’s Detective Marquette. I did some investigating after you left.”

She ignored his words and blurted out, “We think Michael witnessed the murder.”

“What?”

“It was the dumbwaiter. It raised Kieran’s suspicions when he saw it. He thinks Michael was in the dumbwaiter when Mrs. Del Vecchio was murdered.”

“Are you with Michael now?”

“No.” She licked her lips, salty from the ocean air and scanned the beach again. “He’s supposed to be with his therapist, Elena Estrada, but she won’t answer my calls and we don’t know where they are.”

Kieran nudged her forward, gripping her elbow as he pulled her back toward the path down to the beach.

“Listen to me carefully, Ms. Reese. I looked into Pelicano’s background. He has a son-a son who’s forty-five years old and who looks like his old man. Sammy Pelicano visited his father regularly and was with him at the end.”

Devon tripped and crashed against Kieran’s shoulder. “Sammy? Sam? Oh, dear God. It’s him. It’s him and he’s with Elena and my son.”

“I’m going to put in a call to the Coral Cove P.D. We don’t have any evidence against him. I’m putting him out there as a person of interest.”

“Person of interest?” She gritted her teeth and picked her way along the path. “That’s not going to get Chief Evans moving.”

“I’m sorry. It’s the best I can do right now. Michael’s not even officially a missing person. We can’t go in with guns blazing, Ms. Reese. It could compromise the case. We don’t want to use illegal methods to bring this guy in and then have to let him out two hours after he gets his slick lawyer on the phone.”

Kieran snatched the phone from her hand and hung up. “He can’t go in with guns blazing, but I sure as hell can.”

He charged ahead and Devon scrambled to keep up. Her breath came out in short spurts, more from fear than exertion.

“They’re not here, Kieran. He must’ve taken them somewhere else. Maybe he met them here and sweet-talked Elena into going with him.”

Kieran squinted his eye against the glare of the sun as it filtered through the haze. He turned his head from side to side, sweeping the empty beach. “Maybe they’re in the cave.”

“How could they be in the cave? The tide’s coming in. If they had gone into the cave, they would’ve come out by now. Elena’s a local. She knows how fast the tide can come in.” Devon cupped her hands around her mouth. “Elena! Michael!”

Kieran pointed to the rocks stationed around the cave entrance, water sluicing over their smooth surfaces. “I’m going to check out the cave.”

“I-if they’re in the cave and not answering…” She clapped a hand over her mouth, preventing the rest of her horrible thought from finding words.

“It’s a cave. Waves are crashing all around it. I don’t think they’d hear you shouting.”

“Okay. I’m coming with you.”

Kieran stuck out his hand behind him and she grabbed on for dear life. It was a lot easier clambering over these rocks without water rushing over your feet.

She slipped and banged her knee, almost dragging Kieran down with her into the salty foam.

He turned, and hooking his arms beneath hers, hoisted her up. “Be careful and keep hold of my hand.”

She had no intention of letting go. Her contact with Kieran’s strong, capable hand was the only thing keeping her away from an abyss of panic and fear.

When he got to the cave entrance, Kieran poked his head inside and blocked Devon’s way. He whispered, “I don’t hear anything.”

Devon stifled a sob. If Elena and Michael weren’t on the beach where Elena had left her car, where had Sam taken them? They could be anywhere.

Kieran balanced a foot on a boulder. “I’m going inside. Something’s not right.”

Devon’s heart galloped. She grabbed his back pocket. “I’m coming with you.”

She scrambled onto the rock next to him and dropped to the sandy floor of the cave. “It’s not flooded in here yet, but we don’t have much time.”

With one hand inching across the slippery, wet sea-cave wall, Devon crept into the cave, the fingers of her other hand tucked into Kieran’s back pocket.

Her nostrils twitched at the briny smell and as the waves crashed on the outside walls, the noise created a rumbling in her chest.

Kieran stopped and her nose plowed into his back. “Devon, turn around and walk out.”

His tight voice cut across the thundering waves and sliced into her gut. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Go. Get out of here.”

Bile rose from her belly, the sour taste flooding her mouth. Fear beat wings against her temples, and then adrenaline coursed through her system. If there was a choice between fight or flight, she’d learned to choose fight every time.

She shoved against Kieran’s broad back. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Kieran stepped aside, curling one arm around her waist and pulling her against him as if he feared she’d topple over if left on her own.

Her eyes adjusted to the gloom of the cave and her gaze dropped to the sandy floor.

A scream barreled up from her very depths as she stared into the lifeless eyes of Elena Estrada.