Page 42 of Light of Day
She could understand his confusion. Tackling someone to the ground didn’t usually end in a polite introduction. “Gabby is my friend and also my podcast partner. I know that you met her when we came out here in March. Why did you run when Luke showed you that photo?”
“It hurts.” He twisted under her. She allowed him to adjust his position, but hooked one foot under a tree root to make sure he couldn’t dislodge her completely.
“Just answer the question and I’ll get off you.”
The sound of footfalls interrupted them, and a moment later Luke arrived. He crouched next to the two of them. Heather raised her chin to let him know she wasn’t going anywhere, not yet. “Andy was just about to tell me what he knows about Gabby.”
“Good. If you do that, maybe I won’t charge you for assaulting an officer.” Luke growled as he felt his jaw. Blood trickled from a cut on his eyebrow. “I had no idea you could throw a punch like that, Andy. It makes me wonder what else you would do.”
Heather tightened the grip of her thighs around the young man. “If you hurt Gabby?—”
“I didn’t hurt her! She’s okay!”
An electric jolt of relief charged through Heather’s nervous system.She’s okay.After that came a surge of rage. “Where is she, you?—”
Luke cut her off with a quick gesture. “That’s good, Andy,” he said in a soothing voice. Heather wasn’t convinced he deserved such kid-glove treatment, but she decided to trust Luke on this. “That’s good news that she’s okay. But we really need to find her. Can you help us?”
“I just want her to be safe.”
“So do we. That’s exactly what we want. Andy, you do know that keeping all of us island folks safe is my job, right? That’s what people pay me to do, just like Gary pays you to be his deckhand. Do you understand?”
Heather felt his body tremble between her thighs, and his face twisted with confusion. “Yes, but…”
“But what? You can trust me, bud. We’re friends, remember? Weren’t we just feeding the ducks at Mussel Cove the other day? You, me, and Izzy? I know how caring you are, how protective. Are you trying to protect Gabby from something?”
As farfetched as that sounded to Heather, Andy slowly nodded. “People wanted to hurt her.”
“What people?”
“I didn’t see. I just heard them.” His body began to shake more violently. Heather shook her head at Luke, who instantly switched gears.
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about that right now. It sounds like you thought Gabby was in danger, so you took her somewhere to keep her safe. Is that right?”
Andy wrestled with himself, then gave in, like a balloon losing air. “Yes. She’s my friend. If I take you there, will you keep her safe?”
“You have my word.” Luke held up his hand in a Boy Scout gesture.
“I will too. So that’s two of us.” Heather climbed off his body, allowing him to sit up. “Let’s go.”
“Now?” He rubbed the back of his head, where he’d hit the forest floor.
“Yes, now!” Heather wanted to shake him. “Before someone else finds her.”
That lit a fire under him, and he scrambled to his feet, accepting a hand from Luke. “We have to row there.”
Shit. All this time, Gabby had been on a boat? Heather could have kicked herself for not having thought of that.
“We can do that. Lead the way.”
While they followed Andy in the general direction of the shore, Heather put a hand on Luke’s arm. “Are you really okay?”
“Yeah, the cut is from my penlight hitting me in my own fucking face.” He used his sleeve to wipe the blood away. “My jaw hurts like hell, but I can move everything. No real harm done.”
“I can help fix you up if you want. I volunteer at a homeless shelter and they gave me basic EMT training.”
“All I need is a Band-Aid and maybe some Bactine.”
Clearly he wasn’t getting her drift here. “If you need someone to hold your hand while you apply it…”
