Page 66 of Secrets in Calusa Cove

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Benson strutting along the path with the two men who’d been arrested the first day she’d arrived—the two men who had brought the dynamite. A tinge of fear prickled the back of her neck. The timing of their arrival couldn’t have been worse. It made her wonder if it had been planned. As if they had been watching and waiting for the right moment to make their move.

She shivered. She should go inside and lock the door, but she was like a deer in headlights.

“I hear you’re some kind of Owl Witch,” Eliot said. He shook his head, laughing. “Too bad because you’re damned hot.”

“Yeah, I’d tap that,” James said.

Don’t engage.

She stared into her drink, swirling it. A million retorts raced through her brain. One of them included speaking in tongues. Not that she knew any, but faking them had always worked when she’d been a kid.

“Let her be,” Benson said. “Old wives’ tales, and trust me, she’s not worth the energy.”

Benson had been mostly a squeaky-clean kid with a holier-than-thou attitude. He’d gotten good grades, and most of the adults around here had liked him. He hadn’t been a brownnoser. He hadn’t been a loud kid and had kind of flown under the radar, working for his dad.

Her heart lurched to the back of her throat.

Ken had worked for Paul at his lawyer's office and loved it at first. Well, he’d loved the money. He’d even talked about becoming an attorney, and Audra had dreamed of him staying in Calusa Cove.

The job hadn’t lasted long because Ken had gotten into a big fight with Benson. After that, he’d joined the Navy with Fletcher.

The trio paused in front of Dawson’s cabin.

She swallowed hard. She wanted to confront them, but she’d promised Dawson. While she’d never been very good at keeping her word, Dawson was, and she felt as though she owed it to him to keep her big fat mouth shut.

“I’ll catch up,” Benson said as he waved his hand, encouraging Frick and Frack to continue down the path.

The other two men turned their heads. One smiled—well, more like curved his lips into a sinister sneer. The other waved and snickered.

Assholes.

Her pulse lurched to her throat and got stuck there. She froze, holding her breath, hoping Benson would keep walking. He marched himself right up the porch steps as if they were old friends.

“I heard you had a little bit of excitement today,” Benson said with a grin plastered on his face. “Showing off your snake-taming skills again, were you?” He made atsk-tsknoise, shaking his head. “Only feeding the rumors about your swamp monster life.”

She brought her index and middle finger toward her face, narrowed her eyes, and waved her hand between herself and Benson. “Better watch out, or I’ll cast an evil spell on you.” She lifted her cocktail and sipped. It was only her second one of the day, and she wanted to down it but decided that wasn’t a good idea.

“You’re one lucky young lady.” Benson leaned against the railing. “That snake could’ve bitten you right in the face. It would’ve sucked if he’d taken out one of your eyes or attacked you while you were driving and caused an accident.”

“What do you want?” She swirled her glass, staring at the melting ice cubes.

“I came to say hello. To check on you. It’s been a long time,” Benson said, leaning a little closer. “I’m shocked to see youslitherback to these parts.”

“Interesting word choice.” She glanced up, meeting his gaze head-on. “And I’m here for the same reason you are.”

He tossed his head back and laughed. Hard. “Right. Because you have family or anyone here who cares about you.” He rested his hand on his knee. His face turned serious. “You were always a misfit in this town. You thought you belonged, but you never did fit in. Not even Ken wanted you. Hell, I remember one time he came back here with his wife. He was so proud of her and never even thought twice about you.”

“You don’t know anything about Ken.” She gripped her glass so tightly that she worried she might break it, but even she could admit that Ken had wanted—needed—her to be different. He’d begged her to comb her hair and wear shoes, even if they were only flip-flops. He’d even bought her nice clothes. It wasn’t until she’d left town that she’d realized Ken had cared more about appearances than he had about her, but she wasn’t about to admit that to Benson. “And you don’t know anything about our relationship. So, why don’t you go back to your bottom-dwelling friends?” She leaned forward. “You know, the ones who put dynamite on my vessel.” She arched an eyebrow. “I bet one of them shot down my drone, crawled onto my boat, sliced a hole in the gas line, and?—”

“You really do have quite the vivid imagination.” Benson chuckled. “Or perhaps you’re losing your mind just like your daddy.”

She recoiled, sloshing a bit of her drink over the rim of her glass.

“And Dawson’s a small-minded cop whose days are numbered.” Benson inched so close she smelled the beer on his breath. “Go back to whatever rock you crawled out from under. If you don’t, someone will find the evidence they need that proves you killed your father and Tim. A cop other than Dawson will be tossing your pretty little ass in the slammer. Mark my words.”

She drew in a deep breath and leveled a hard stare at Benson. “Is that a threat?”

Benson shook his head. “Just stating facts.” He stood and descended the porch step. Then he turned on his heel, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and strolled down the path like he didn’t have a care in the world.

---