Chapter 13

The water was surprisingly cold. Even with the life jacket on, she'd gone well below the surface before the vest buoyed her up to the surface. Eve gasped and choked, flailing her arms in an attempt to swim. Waves splashed water into her mouth, making her gag.

She wouldn't die here. The life jacket would keep her head above water. But the waves that kept splashing her in the face were difficult to handle. Every time she got a mouth full of water she coughed and nearly sank below the surface again.

Instinctively, she knew she had to calm down. Panic was making things worse.

"Eve!" Grayson was swimming toward her with strong swimming strokes. For the first time in her life, she thought it might be time to join a gym. Never had she felt more like a weakling than in these past few days. "You're okay. Just tip your head back and look up at the sky."

She did so, wondering why she hadn't thought of that herself. The waves still splashed into her face, but she didn't swallow nearly as much water this way. Finally, she stopped fighting and let herself drift in the water.

Then Grayson's arms came around her, lifting her up and out of the water. "You're safe now. I've got you."

She nodded, unable to speak, grateful for his reassuring presence.

"Roscoe! Over here!" Grayson held her with one arm, using the other to wave at Roscoe in the boat. She felt like an idiot that she'd fallen out of the stupid thing. She hadn't been prepared for the way the boat listed to one side during the sharp turns.

One minute she was hanging on to the edge, the next she'd been catapulted into the water.

She clung to Grayson as Roscoe brought the boat over. Roscoe didn't get too close but threw out a line for Grayson to grab onto. Grayson caught the rope and allowed Roscoe to tow them in.

Grayson lifted her up so that Roscoe could slide his hands beneath her armpits, pulling her up and into the boat. She slumped in the seat, her stomach rolling with nausea from swallowing so much lake water.

Moments later, as Grayson was climbing into the boat, she threw up.

"Sorry, I'm sorry." She battled tears. "I didn't mean to mess up the boat."

"Hey, it's fine." Grayson found a towel and sopped up the mess. "Don't worry about anything. The important thing is that you're safe."

"I lost sight of the red-and-white boat," Roscoe said with a sigh. He pushed the throttle forward, picking up speed. "I called Flynn and Cassidy, let them know we lost Abbott. They're going to drive around the lake to see if they can spot anything suspicious. We can continue to search for them on the water too. I'm sure the driver of the boat has pulled up to one of the piers."

"We could, but that will take time. The lake is over 2,400 acres, the likelihood of finding them is slim to none," Grayson said. "I think we're better off heading back to shore. It seems logical the ball-cap driver was taking Abbott to meet someone who owns property here. We'll ask Gabe to run a search."

Not only had she done the amateur move of falling out of the boat, but she'd also caused them to lose their quarry. She wished more than anything she could have done better, but there was no point in dwelling on her failures.

Lifting a hand to her drenched hair, she winced as she pulled a string of seaweed from the wet strands. She shivered as the wind struck her soaking-wet clothes as Roscoe sped toward shore.

"The place they were heading toward could be a rental," Roscoe pointed out. The two men were still discussing their options. Time for her to focus on what was important rather than her physical discomfort.

"Maybe, but based on how huge these mansions are, I'm going with an owner. Not a rental," Grayson said. She watched as he took his phone from a cupholder and thumbed the screen. Then he set it back down, as his clothes were as soaked as hers. "People who own these homes don't need rental income."

"You could be right about that, and it's a place to start," Roscoe agreed. He slowed the boat as they approached the restaurant. It was easy to pick out the well-dressed women who were seated at a table frankly watching their approach. Eve reminded herself that looks didn't matter, as she stood, water running in rivers from her soaked clothing. Grayson's clothes were just as wet, which made her feel worse that he'd had to rescue her. Although he still looked handsome, while she resembled a drowned rat.

"Take my hand." Grayson smiled reassuringly.

She allowed him to help her out of the boat and onto the pier. Then she unzipped her life vest and shrugged it off. He took a moment to store it on the boat, then grabbed his phone from a cupholder before jumping back onto the pier.

Avoiding the curious gazes, she tried to wring water from her shirt and capri pants. Her efforts were useless. She had one change of clothes in her suitcase, but that was back in the Timberland Falls hotel.

"Come with me," Grayson said, urging her away from the restaurant. She noticed Roscoe had gone over to the table to speak to the boat owners. "Roscoe will handle the boat issues. We'll head to the closest store to get us each a change of clothes."

"Thank you." She was glad he'd offered. "I feel bad for how things turned out."

"Don't," Grayson said with a frown. "I'm the one who should apologize to you. I shouldn't have brought you out here in the first place."

"It was important to follow Geoff," she said with a shrug. "I still can't believe he was on that boat. If you'd have asked me if Geoff had ever been out on a speedboat cruising Peabody Lake, I'd have laughed."

"I didn't get the impression he went willingly," Grayson said.

She thought about the brief glances she'd gotten of her colleague on the boat. Maybe Grayson was right about that. "Geoff is a nice guy. I can't imagine he'd willingly go along with some plan to sabotage my research."

"It's more than that," Grayson pointed out. "They've been trying to kill you, Eve. Destroying your research is just an added bonus."

"Yeah." She still had trouble believing it. "We can try calling Geoff, see if he'll answer."

"He won't if he's in the middle of a meeting with the guy in charge." Grayson shook his head. "Besides, the boat fiasco has let them know we're getting close. Best thing we can do is find out who owns property on the lake."

She shivered, her shoes making squishing sounds as she walked. When they reached the rental SUV, Grayson opened the passenger door for her. "We're going to get the interior all wet."

"Yep." Grayson didn't look concerned. "Good thing it's a rental, huh?"

For the first time since she'd gotten on the boat, she smiled. She slid into the seat, wishing they had towels to soak up the water.

Grayson dropped his phone in the center console, likely to keep it dry. It rang as he was pulling out of the parking lot. Seeing Roscoe's name on the screen, he quickly answered. "How did it go with the boat owner?"

"They're fine," Roscoe drawled. "I made it clear they helped us with our investigation and thanked them profusely. I also paid them extra for the mess. Where are you heading?"

"The closest discount store." Grayson smiled at her. "We need to change, remember?"

"I can meet you there," Roscoe offered.

"No need. It's better if we can dig into the property owners on Peabody Lake," Grayson said. "Not to mention we still need to call rental agencies to see if any vehicles were returned with bullet-hole damage. Those are two items that are on the top of the list as far as getting another clue as to who is behind this."

"Understood. I'll check in at the safe house with you later. Meanwhile, I'll fill Rhy in on the Geoff Abbott angle and see if he has any other ideas."

"Thanks." He glanced at her questioningly. "Anything to add, Eve?"

"No, but thanks for everything, Roscoe."

Grayson ended the call, then gestured to the right side of the interstate. "There's a discount store over there, does that work?"

"Yes, I'm not picky." She glanced down at herself. "We're going to look silly walking through the store in wet clothes."

"That's okay. It won't take too long." He took the exit and drove straight to the store.

She did her best to ignore the curious stares as they grabbed a cart and hit the clothing section, then the shoe department. She added a few toiletries too. As did Grayson.

The entire shopping expedition took longer than she'd expected since they had to replace everything they wore including their undergarments, plus other essentials. Grayson also swung through the grocery aisle, picking up a few things for them to eat over the next few days. The result was that their cart was loaded by the time they were finished.

After checking out, Grayson hauled the groceries to the car first, then they each carried their respective bags into the public restrooms to change into dry clothing. She felt much better wearing dry clothes and running a brush through her damp hair. A shower would be nice, but she told herself not to worry about it and to count her blessings.

Being wet and drenched wasn't a crisis. Thanks to Grayson's quick response, she'd survived when their boating mission could have ended much worse.

A wave of emotion hit hard, a hard lump forming in her throat. It wasn't good for her to be so dependent on Grayson Clark.

She cared about him, more deeply than she had ever cared for Andrew. He was sweet, smart, strong, and incredibly supportive.

And she had no idea how she'd move on with her life without him once the danger was over.

* * *

Grayson waitedfor Eve near the women's restroom. His wallet had been soaked, but at least his credit cards had worked.

No more delays or excuses, he silently lectured himself. Time to take Eve directly to the Ravenswood safe house. Where she belonged.

Every time she thanked him for keeping her safe, a new wave of guilt swamped him. Half the time, he was the one who'd placed her in the line of fire. And that had to stop.

No more taking her along on wild-goose chases.

When Eve finally emerged from the restroom, he could tell she was upset. "What's wrong?" He took the bag of wet clothing from her fingers. The good thing about the safe house was that there was a washer and dryer.

"Nothing." Her attempt to smile was pathetic. "I guess it's all catching up with me."

He slipped his arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry for everything you've been through. You'll feel better once we get to the safe house."

"Yeah." She nodded half-heartedly. "I keep seeing Geoff getting into that boat and wondering why he would do something like this."

He'd thought of that too. As much as he wanted to offer comfort, he knew they should get out of the store. It was, after all, a public place. And they'd spent more time there than he'd intended.

All because he'd wanted her to be comfortable.

"Let's go. We'll discuss various options of what Abbott has gotten mixed up in on the way."

"Sure." She rested her head against his chest for a moment, then straightened. "I'm ready."

"Good." He did his best to offer a reassuring smile. "Because I think the ice cream is melting out there."

That made her chuckle, as he'd hoped. He hugged her again and then bent his head to kiss her.

She turned into his arms, kissing him back with a level of intensity he hadn't anticipated. His heart swelled with love, but all too soon, she broke off from the kiss.

"Thank you," she whispered, and this time, he didn't feel any guilt at all.

"Any time," he managed, unable to hide a grin. They needed to hit the road, but he wouldn't have traded those past few minutes for anything. Having Eve in his arms after all these years was a gift he would cherish.

He told himself this was different from his relationship with Monica. It felt different, and while Eve had lived a protected life, she was stronger than she gave herself credit for.

After stowing their bags in the back seat, they climbed in. He started the engine and headed back to the interstate. The city of Peabody was farther from Milwaukee, which meant they had a good forty minutes of driving to reach the safe house.

"If these attacks are really about my research, I don't see why Geoff Abbott is involved," she said after a long moment. "His research is very different from mine."

"The only way it makes sense is if someone paid Geoff a significant amount of money." He glanced at her. "You saw those houses on Peabody Lake. The smallest one is bigger than two of mine."

She frowned. "But that's just it. Why pay money to get rid of me? What's the point?"

As she voiced her frustration, he noticed a gunmetal-gray SUV two cars behind him. They were too far away for him to see if there were any bullet holes or other damage to the vehicle. "Hold that thought. We may have company."

"Not again?" She twisted in her seat.

"Yes. Sit tight, I'm going to lose him." With that, he punched the gas and abruptly changed lanes, darting around two other vehicles to put distance between their rental and the gunmetal-gray SUV. There may be no point in checking with rental companies. If this was the same car, the driver of the vehicle hadn't returned it yet.

The gunmetal-gray SUV kept pace, also changing lanes, but surprisingly didn't try to close the gap. Was he wrong about the car? The color was right, but that didn't mean much. There was more than one gunmetal-gray SUV out there. Still, he couldn't afford to take a chance.

Maybe the ball-cap driver of the boat had seen Eve go into the water and figured they'd go to the closest department store to buy replacements.

He should have stopped at a place closer to the safe house, but it was too late to turn the clock back now. He sped up again, changed lanes, then swerved to cross three lanes of traffic to reach the closest exit.

As they left the freeway, he tried to get a glimpse of the gunmetal-gray SUV. He thought he saw it drive past, not going fast or slow but keeping pace with the rest of the traffic. It was odd the driver didn't at least try to follow.

"We lost him?" Eve asked, glancing over her shoulder as if to make sure.

"For now." He honestly wasn't sure what to think. Had the vehicle been following them or not? If so, their rental was likely compromised, but they didn't have time to waste. They needed to get to Ravenswood ASAP, preferably without using the interstate.

The only good thing was that no one outside the police department and the few people who had used it in the past knew the location of the safe house. It would be impossible for anyone to find them there.

He tapped the screen of the computer system, bringing up the map app. He inputted their destination and waited for the app to provide him several ways to get there. He took a right-hand turn and headed southwest to a lesser-traveled highway. This route would take them much longer, but that was fine.

No more mistakes, he thought grimly. Maybe the gunmetal-gray SUV wasn't the same one who'd tailed them in the past. He may have overreacted over nothing.

Still, he kept a wary eye on the rearview mirror as he took the back roads to Ravenswood. He glanced at Eve to see she was watching traffic around them, too, turning occasionally in her seat to look behind them.

He was frustrated knowing how much danger she was in. And with that, his thoughts went right back to the incident on Peabody Lake. He didn't know the Peabody area well enough to guess at the addresses of the homes in the section they'd been in, but he made a mental note to pull up a map as soon as they were settled in the safe house.

The way the red-and-white boat had slowed down made him think they were about to pull into a specific place. He placed a call to Roscoe.

"Yo, what's up?" Roscoe asked.

"We're still en route to the safe house," he explained. "We're taking the long way after I caught a glimpse of a gunmetal-gray SUV on the interstate."

"Wow, I thought you would have been in Ravenswood by now," Roscoe said. "I'm at the precinct with Joe. He has Gabe Melrose tracking down a list of Peabody Lake property owners."

"Good. I have a feeling knowing who lives there will blow this case wide open."

"I hear you," Roscoe agreed. "Are you okay? Any other problems?"

"We're good. Just wanted to check in." He felt better knowing Roscoe, Joe, and the others would be working the case. Maybe it was time he left them to it and stayed focused on protecting Eve.

Not kissing her, he reminded himself sternly. Protecting her.

Two completely different things.

"It's really rural out here, isn't it?" Eve gestured to her window. "That must be a dairy farm."

"Yes." He arched a brow. "You do know that Wisconsin is known as the dairy state, right?"

"Well, yes, but I figured those farms were far away." She frowned. "I really need to get out more."

And wasn't that the understatement of the year? Somehow, he refrained from saying the words out loud. "When was the last time you took a vacation?" he asked instead.

She shrugged. "I attend research conferences. I've been to Seattle, Chicago, New York, and Atlanta."

"Okay, what sorts of tourist things did you do there? Go up in the Space Needle in Seattle? See the Statue of Liberty or a Broadway show in New York?"

"None of those things." She grimaced. "I took the subway—they call it the Marta—in Atlanta. That was interesting."

"That doesn't count." He found it incredibly sad that her idea of a vacation was a research conference. Especially since she hadn't done anything fun while spending time in some of the biggest cities in the country.

"I know you think I'm lame," she said in a low voice. "But I plan to make some changes to my life once things get back to normal."

He reached over to take her hand. "I'm glad to hear it. There's more to living than work. You deserve to have fun too."

"Yes, well, I guess I've let my work overtake my life." She squeezed his hand. "Other than attending church services, I don't socialize much. Well, I did with Andrew, but that was about it."

He was secretly glad she wasn't pining for the guy. Any man that would chase a woman like Bambi, rather than Eve, needed his head examined.

"Why aren't you seeing anyone, Grayson?"

Her question surprised him, although it shouldn't have. He hesitated, then decided it was time for her to know the truth. "I haven't dated anyone since Monica Wright. She—well, didn't take it well when I called things off."

She glanced at him with concern. "Did she stalk you?"

"No, that would have been better." He swallowed hard, then added, "She overdosed on her prescription medication."

Eve sucked in a harsh breath. "Oh, Grayson, I'm so sorry. But you must know that's not your fault."

"I'm not so sure." He'd tried to get past the guilt.

"She must have had some emotional issues prior to dating you to do something that drastic," Eve insisted.

"She was on antidepressants." He shrugged. "The point is that I haven't dated anyone in a long time."

"You just need to find the right woman," she insisted.

Was she referring to herself? And why did that thought give him hope?

Time to change the subject. "Interesting that Nick Strong never called you back."

"You think he was the driver of the boat." It wasn't a question.

"I don't know what to think." And that much was true. It felt like the investigation was stymied at every turn.

They drove in silence for a while. The nice thing about taking back highways was that it was easy to verify they weren't being followed. Oh there was some traffic, but not many vehicles and the driver almost always turned to head in another direction.

When he pulled up to the safe house, Eve looked at the building with frank curiosity. "It doesn't look like a safe house."

"What's a safe house supposed to look like?" He teased, putting the gear shift into park. "Trust me, the windows are bulletproof. That's the best part of the place."

"I'm not sure what I expected. It looks like any other neighborhood house." She pushed her door open and slid out. "I trust it's safe."

He opened the back hatch, then headed up to use the passcode on the door. Once he had it open, he returned for the groceries. The ice-cream container was on top, and he winced at how soft it was. Bummer. He had a weakness for ice cream.

Oh well, he shouldn't have indulged in something so juvenile anyway. They had bigger things to worry about.

It took three trips to get everything from the SUV into the safe house. Then, just to be extra cautious, he checked the vehicle for a tracking device. Finding nothing, he headed back inside to discover Eve had already started putting everything away. In moments, she had the kitchen neat as a pin, with the ingredients for their spaghetti dinner set aside on the counter. She glanced at him as he opened the bags of their wet clothes.

"What are you doing with those?"

"Washing them." He carried them into the small laundry room located down the hall near the bathroom. He took a moment to check the labels, then tossed them inside and added detergent.

When that task was finished, he returned to the kitchen to set up the computer. The first thing he did was pull up a map of Peabody Lake.

"That's where we were?" Eve leaned over his shoulder to peer at the screen. "It didn't look so long and narrow when we were on it."

"Lakes can be deceiving, especially since this one is rather large." Doing his best to ignore her nearness, he opened another window and typed in the name and address of the restaurant where they'd gotten the boat. Then he plotted it on the map, trying to imagine the route Roscoe had taken as they'd followed the red-and-white boat.

It was nearly impossible because he didn't have any other landmarks to go by. He thought it was generally in a diagonal direction, heading northwest. Using the restaurant address as a starting point, he mapped out the potential addresses of the homes where they'd caught up to the speedboat.

His phone rang, and seeing Roscoe's name on the screen, he quickly grabbed it. "Please tell me you have something to go on."

"We've got something, but it's not good," Roscoe said in a serious tone. "Geoff Abbott was pulled out of Lake Peabody in an apparent drowning. There's been no sign of the red-and-white boat either."

"A drowning." He caught Eve's anguished expression. "No way did he drown by accident."

"I agree with you there, the Peabody Police Department isn't convinced either, although they apparently see many drownings with people overindulging in alcoholic beverages. There was a bruise on the back of his head, which could mean he hit his head on the edge of the boat as he fell, or someone smacked him in the head before pushing him in." Roscoe sighed. "I just thought you should know. Whatever connection Geoff Abbott had in this has been effectively eliminated."

Just like Andrew Thomas, he thought. Although, they still had no evidence Andrew's murder was related to the attacks on Eve. While it was clear to him, Abbott's untimely demise was. Why else would ball-cap guy try to avoid them out on the lake? "What does Joe think?"

"He agrees with us that the timing is fishy, haha," Roscoe added.

Normally, he'd have chuckled at the lame joke. But things were going from bad to worse. "I don't suppose Gabe has found anything yet."

"He's still working on it. Oh wait." There was a pause as Roscoe spoke to someone. "Melrose came through big time. Guess who owns a house on Peabody Lake?"

"Don't keep me in suspense, Roscoe. Who?"

"Do you know a guy by the name of Dennis Powers? Apparently, he's one of the owners of a pharmaceutical company in Illinois."

"Owens and Powers Pharmaceuticals," he said in a dazed tone. "That's the company Bambi works for."

He turned to see Eve's gaze widen in horror as one big piece of the puzzle fell into place. This was the connection they'd needed between the attacks on Eve and Andrew Thomas's murder.