Page 5 of Secrets in Calusa Cove

“That’s what you heard me say?” Trip shook his head. “No, little girl. That’s not what I want you to do. I need you to let me do my job, but knowing you, you’ll be out there in the middle of the night again. I can’t have that. It’s going to be hard. Damn hard. People will talk and whisper worse than they ever have. But only if you give them something to talk about. I’m a good cop. I know what I’m doing. Let me put this to bed so you don’t have this hanging over your head for the rest of your life.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

Trip nodded.

“Is your goal to prove this was an accident or that my father was murdered by someone other than me?”

Trip drew his lips into a tight line. “Your father was my friend. So was your mother. They’d want me to protect you. That’s my first order of business. So, I want to direct this town into believing it was an accident. I’ll continue to dig. I’ll find out what really happened, but you, little girl, need to keep that big fat mouth closed.”

“Screw that,” Audra muttered. “Someone either took my dad or killed him. That should be your focus. I don’t give a shit what people think of me. Never have. Never will.”

“That’s a mistake.” Trip stood. “That train of thought will land you in prison for murder.”

CHAPTER1

Dawson Ridge allowedanother vehicle into the parking lot of Mitchell’s Marina. He could handle the locals. They were easy. This was just another day in South Florida. However, all it took was one overly excited city slicker waving his registration out the window, yelling yeehaw,to put Dawson in a bad mood. The town hadn’t wanted the challenge, and they’d fought it for two straight years, but they’d lost.

While Dawson understood the need to rid the Everglades of the invasive python, he couldn’t comprehend the amount of excitement bristling in the air regarding hunting and killing massive pythons while trying not to get eaten by alligators.

He shivered while large droplets of sweat dripped from his brow.

For the first time since moving to what felt like a permanent vacation,he wanted to take an actual vacation.

He didn’t care about the heat. Or the humidity. He could even deal with damn alligators swimming in his backyard, taunting him. But he couldn’t tolerate strangers coming into what he now viewed ashistown. Mentally, he laughed at that thought. This wasn’t his town, and every local let him know it. He was the interloper. The guy who’d stolen someone’s job who had lived here their entire life. It didn’t matter that Dawson had more experience. That experience might not have been in law enforcement, but seventeen years in the Navy—ten of them as a SEAL—was worth something.

“Good morning, Officer.” A woman with long red hair stuck her head out the window.

A damn redhead.

“It’s going to be a scorcher today,” she said as she pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head, collecting some of that thick, lush hair and pulling it away from her face to show off her sparkling teal-green eyes.

The last thing he needed today was a distraction wrapped in the form of a sexy woman with fiery hair and freckles set against a slightly darker complexion.

“You can say that again, ma’am.” He lowered his sunglasses just a smidge off the bridge of his nose. His breath caught in the center of his chest, but he told himself it was a thick clump of humidity that got stuck there like a fur ball.

Because he knew what that felt like.

Swallowing became a lesson in futility.

He’d always been a sucker for redheads, and they’d always been more trouble than they were worth.

“It’s your lucky day because we just closed up. Anyone coming in now will have to park down the road.” He pointed to the last spot before waving to Fletcher and Keaton, who were closing off the lot. “You can bring your registration information into Mitchell’s. A woman by the name of Baily will take care of you.”

“I’m surprised she’s got this many boats available. I’m more surprised that Calusa Cove got so many people to sign up for the challenge. This is not the epicenter for python wrangling,” the sexy woman said.

“The damn things have made their way into all sorts of places.” Dawson looped his fingers into his belt. The lady had had his attention the moment she’d stuck her head out the window, but now she had his cop instincts wondering a few things—specifically, who was she, and how did she know anything about Mitchell’s or Calusa Cove? “My deputies and I have been on a few snake calls that turned out to be pythons. It’s not fun,” he said. “Did you rent a boat?”

“No. I did rent a slip, though.” The woman shook her head, leaning over the door. “Some guy named Hayes and a dockhand named Bingo directed me to the launch and said my boat would be in the slip by the time I finished my paperwork. They told me the trailer had to be left in the lot across the street.”

“Hayes Bennett is a local firefighter and is a buddy of mine. Bingo works here at the marina and he’s not a bad kid. You’re in good hands.”

“I hope so. The boat might be a rust bucket and old, but it’s new to me.” She nodded. “I better go?—”

“As I live and breathe,” Fletcher said as he marched across the pavement. “Audra? Is that really you?”

Dawson rolled the name around in his brain. Fletcher had told many stories over the years about his hometown and the crazy people who resided in Calusa Cove.

Everyone was a character. Dawson used to understand why Fletcher and his late buddy, Ken, had wanted to get out—and stay out. That was until Dawson had moved to Calusa Cove. After that happened, he couldn’t wrap his brain around why anyone would ever want to leave. All Dawson had ever wanted was to be part of something. Part of a family. Part of a town. Part of something bigger than himself. However, returning to his hometown in Western, New York when he’d left the Navy hadn’t been an option. There was nothing left for him there except sadness and painful memories.

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