Page 7 of Secrets in Calusa Cove

She punched the gas and maneuvered her vehicle toward the last free spot in the parking lot. She slipped from the driver’s side, wearing a pair of jean shorts that hung loosely from her hips, and her shirt didn’t come down to meet the top of her shorts, showing off a taut midriff.

Damn. Dawson swallowed. Hard.

Flipping redheads got him every time.

And she was wearing flip-flops.

“She hasn’t changed one bit, but it’s going to be hard for Baily to see her,” Fletcher said.

“Is that Ken’s Audra?”

“One in the same.”

Dawson lowered his glasses and strolled across the dirt pavement with his buddy. He snagged a water bottle from the cooler and climbed up on the picnic bench, where he could watch the marina and the parking lot. Not much happened in Calusa Cove, making his job as chief of police a relatively easy one. He loved his job. He had three deputies under him, and they were good people. Even Remy Pillar, who had been next in line to be named chief, had Dawson not shown up.

“Why were you staring at her boobs?” Dawson asked as he watched her hips sway back and forth while she marched herself from her car toward the entrance of Mitchell’s Marina. She had a narrow waist, wide hips, and a round ass. “I’m sure Ken did not appreciate that.”

When he’d dared to look at her breasts while chatting by her car, they were not that itty-bitty—as she’d put it. Small? Sure. They might even get lost—oh, for fuck’s sake. Why the hell was Dawson even thinking about them?

She was a redhead, and he didn’t do redheads.

Not to mention, if she wastheAudra he believed her to be, she was even more off-limits.

“Do I need to be worried about you, considering you can’t take your eyes off her?” Fletcher chuckled before taking a long swig of water. He sat on the table, leaned back, and stared at the sky.

“Nope. Not interested,” Dawson said with about as much conviction as a kid in a candy store, dancing on his tippytoes, brimming with excitement. “But you haven’t answered my question, and you know how much that pisses me off.”

“For the record, I wasn’t staring at any part of Audra when she wrestled that gator. That would’ve gotten me in too much trouble with my girlfriend at the time.” Fletcher turned his head and cocked a brow. “Audra was Baily’s best friend, and Ken was mine. I would’ve gotten the shit kicked out of me twice.”

“There are lots of rumors about what happened to her old man. What do you know about that?” Instead of asking questions about the woman, he opted to discuss the mystery.

“Just the rumors.”

“Are there more than the three?”

“Not that I know of.” Fletcher sat tall, resting his forearms on his knees, and fiddled with the water bottle. He’d always been a contemplative man. When it came to serious matters, he took his time before he spoke. He liked to choose his words wisely, especially when dealing with matters that affected others.

Dawson had always appreciated that about Fletcher. It’s one of the many reasons he’d been willing to follow him out of the Navy and to South Florida after Ken had died. But more so because where else was Dawson going to go? He had no home. No blood family. No friends outside of Fletcher, Keaton, and Hayes. They were his brothers. After his nana had died shortly after he joined the Navy, these men had taken him and made him the person he was today.

He owed them his life.

He owed Ken, too. His death was part of the reason they had come to Calusa Cove.

Dawson let out a deep breath. “No one gets into the details with me. It's just that most people believe she killed her dad. I’ve been told it could’ve been some weird witch ritual. That she’s some mystical Owl Witch or some bull. Lots of strange talk, that’s for sure. But what I want to know is if you’ll tell me more, or do I have to start pulling your teeth, one by one?” Dawson said.

“You’ve got the basic idea.” Fletcher nodded. “Occasionally, people wonder if it could’ve been someone other than Audra, and there is that one random person who might consider it an accident.”

“Did you know she was coming back to town? You and Keaton had a list of participants, right?”

“I’ve known about her return for a while. I kept it quiet and asked Baily not to tell anyone because I didn’t want the town buzzing and coming at her before she even set foot in this parking lot.”

“I think you should’ve told me.” Dawson didn’t get pissed at Fletcher often, nor did Fletcher keep things from Dawson or the rest of the team. So, Dawson was willing to reserve judgment until he had the facts.

“I thought about it, but if I had, I know you, and you would’ve gone down the rabbit hole,” Fletcher said. “Baily also told me that Audra was a late registrant. She almost didn’t make the deadline, but because of her press credentials, she would’ve been able to skirt that anyway.”

“How do you think this town will react to her being here?”

“The rumors are already coming out of the woodwork, and it will be all this town will be able to talk about for the next ten days now that Audra is back.” Fletcher jerked his chin toward Silas Monroe and his crew. “It won’t be good.”

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