No Regrets Read online

  Jamie cringed to think of Aidan in harm's way too.

  “I’ve got to go home to pick up some things. I’ll be back later. Please try and get some rest,” Jamie said. “I’ll make some tea for you.”

  The distraught woman lay back in bed and tears began to stream down her face. “I let him outside to play with the dog. I didn’t know this would happen,” she cried.

  Thorn. Jamie had forgotten Thorn was with Ross. Was he protecting Ross Or was the he taken too? “Where is Thorn, Jo? Where is the puppy?”

  “Gone,” Jo said. “Both of them taken.”

  Jamie’s heart felt heavy with grief as she realized Jo may be right. Conrad was far worse than she had ever imagined him to be.

  ˜

  Conrad stood in Jamie’s cottage and surveyed the empty ruins. He watched her dog run off into some closet to hide, no doubt cowering in a corner by now. He hadn’t been inclined to hurt the dog. Dogs had sharp, dirty teeth. They could fight back.

  Pets are like children, he thought, they should be well trained, silent, and obedient. It was how he was brought up. “Children should be seen and not heard,” his mother used to say. Eventually of course, even being seen was too much for her, and he was shipped off to boarding school.

  There he'd learned discipline at the hands of the Dean. He'd taught him the meaning of pain, running his school more viciously than a prison guard. In some ways, he was a father figure to Conrad. The Dean was the only person who had ever taken any interest in him in his entire life and for that he was forever grateful. He'd wept the day they arrested the man, and sent him off to prison for child abuse.

  Nevertheless, that didn’t concern him now. He had what he'd come for, an ace to make his fortunes turn. He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it sooner. Lauren’s child was a treasure. There was no other word for it. An instrument that would gain him sympathetic votes and revenge all rolled into one nice little package.

  He hadn’t had much chance to look at that package yet. The boy was safely stashed away on his boat. He had to get Jamie there with her lowborn lover, and he would finish it. Soon, very soon. It was almost three o’clock. The tides would change in the evening. He scribbled a note on a scrap of paper from his pocket. He left it on her kitchen table where he knew she would see it.

  He stepped outside into the sweltering heat and wiped his forehead with his handkerchief. The lights blinked on his car as he disengaged the alarm. He slipped into his car and sped off with a feeling of triumph.

  No, it wouldn’t be long now. Revenge at last.

  ˜

  When Jamie stepped into her cottage, she immediately felt something awry. A familiar smell and a sense of foreboding… she couldn’t place it but goose bumps crawled up her arms.

  She wasn’t sure what had made her return to her house. There was nothing she needed, since she had been staying with Aidan all week. Jo’s home was too far from her and Aidan’s neighborhood for Ross and Thorn to have found their way home. Sill, she hoped.

  “Ross? Thorn?” No response.

  A scratching sound filled the silence from one of the bedrooms. She grabbed a piece of lumber that the workmen left laying around and moved silently along the wall of the short hallway. Her breath grew shallow and her heart beat wildly. She slipped quietly through the door of her bedroom and heard a low growl. She raised the board across her shoulder, ready for anything.

  “Ross? Thorn?”

  She stepped aside the closet and peeked inside. Thorn, dirty and frightened lay curled up in the corner shaking. “Thorn” she said as she knelt down to him. His small tail slowly tapped the wood floor in a welcome wag. Still he didn’t move. She put her arms around him and dragged him to her lap. He whined with gratefulness, lapping at her chin. It was clear to her that he had been terrified in some way. A silent anguish filled her.

  She cradled the frightened puppy in her arms. She hugged and kissed him and soothed him with soft, comforting words. She thought of Ross, alone and frightened somewhere. Her worry turned to anger and her anger to rage. She kissed Thorn’s head. “I’ll be back” she told him and went to the kitchen to get him some water. She was beyond rage when she found the note.

  “Meet me at Villa Milagros on my Yacht. 6:30 sharp” the scribble said.

  Conrad. Without a doubt.

  She knew exactly what she had to do.

  Jo was up and sitting on the couch in the living room when Jamie returned to Aidan’s house.

  “I found Thorn,” she called out as she stepped into the foyer, cradling Thorn in her arms.

  Jo jumped up excitedly. “Ross?”

  Jamie shook her head slowly. “I think I know where he is. I need you to take care of Thorn for me. Can you do this?”

  In emergencies always give people something to do. It makes them feel less helpless and Jo definitely needed a lift. Poor Thorn needed immediate attention too.

  “I’ve got to go out for a while. I’ll be back soon,” Jamie said, pouring Thorn into Jo's arms.

  Jo frowned. “You’re going to meet that weasel, aren’t you?”

  “I’m going to get Ross back. Conrad left a note to meet him.”

  “Where?”

  Jamie was hesitant. “I don’t want Aidan putting himself in danger” she said.

  “What about you?” Jo asked.

  “I’ll be fine. I can handle him.”

  Jo grabbed Jamie by the arm. “You’ll end up like Lauren,” she cried.

  Jamie shrugged out of Jo's grasp. “I am not Lauren.”

  “You should tell the police, if he has Ross they should know.”

  “I don’t know if he has Ross, but I imagine someone in the police department is on his payroll otherwise he never would have gotten away with all he has,” she said.

  Jo was speechless. Apparently, this had never occurred to someone like Jo who had lived in the slow, comfort of Seabrook her entire life.

  “I’ll be fine, Jo.”

  “Aidan called. He’s meeting up with Travis.”

  She turned toward the door. "Then tell him Conrad's docked at Villa Milagros. But I doubt he'll stay there long."

  "You should let them handle it. Travis is a Coastguard. He knows how to-"

  “I know Travis. But I know Conrad better,” Jamie said. "He's psychotic. If he has Ross… I can't waste one minute. It's my fault… if I hadn't humiliated Conrad, if I had-"

  "Married him? No. That man was criminal long before you met him. I'll call them," she turned to retrieve her cell phone from her purse. "And you stay here with-"

  Jamie was gone before Jo could finish speaking.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Aidan met Travis down at the pier. He looked at Travis’s boat and exhaled. He hadn't been on a boat since the day Danni had died. Conrad was out there with his son and he'd do anything to get him back.

  “I’m going with you,” Aidan said.

  Ross was his main concern now. The system had let him down and now he had no choice but to ignore the law. If he wanted justice, he'd have to find it himself. He pushed aside all memories, all sadness, and all the past tragedy in his life. Nothing mattered but finding his son.

  He stepped in the Coastguard boat and started the engines as Travis un-secured the boat from the dock.

  “I’m ending this tonight. Ross is out there and I intend to find him,” Aidan said. He pulled away from the dock before Travis had a chance to board. "Don't want to get you fired, Buddy."

  "Aidan, you SOB! It's a serious crime to steal a Coast Guard boat!" Travis yelled.

  Aidan saluted him from the boat. "Sorry," he muttered under his breath. "Sometimes vigilantism is the only option."

  ˜

  Ross peered through the crack in the doorway and tried to see out. Nothing. No one. It was starting to get dark and he was scared. There was nothing in the dark to be afraid of, but even Jamie was afraid of the dark so if adults could be scared he guessed it was okay for a kid to be too.

  The door was stuck, and
he couldn’t get out. It was the smallest bathroom he had ever seen. It had a tiny sink and toilet, one that came in handy during the long hours he'd been stuck here. He brushed the sweat from his face and put his head against the crack again, trying to catch a breeze from the adjoining cabin. It was hot.

  He was on a boat that much he knew. A man had brought him here. A man he didn’t know and didn’t like. He was sure he wasn’t Daddy’s friend. He wasn’t friendly at all. He was mean.

  He wanted to go home. He missed Daddy and Thorn. He missed Jamie too. He sat on the floor, leaned against the cracked door, and quietly cried himself to sleep.

  A slight rocking of the boat woke him. The small room was dark and he stood up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Maybe there was a light. He stood atop the toilet and ran his hands along the wall. He found a switch and flipped it up. A light and a humming sound came on. He didn’t like that sound. He switched it back off. He heard voices.

  He peered through the crack from his stance on the toilet. He could still see almost nothing. He heard a man’s voice and a lady’s voice. Her voice sounded familiar. They were moving above him, and he could hear their footsteps. Sounded like arguing. The lady spoke again, loudly. It was Jamie!

  “Jamie! Jamie! I’m in here, Jamie!” he cried.

  The loud noise of the motor churning filled the air with gasoline fumes. It drowned out his voice as he called to her, so he yelled harder and louder.

  “Jamie, Jamie, please come get me!”

  She didn’t hear him over the roaring motor. The boat lunged suddenly, moving now and as Ross fell from the toilet top, one of his feet crashed into the toilet. He climbed out, now feeling sick as the boat sped bumpily over the waters. He slipped to the floor and curled up, content. Jamie was here. He knew she would take care of him.

  He was safe.

  ˜

  Jamie surveyed the boat as they sped over the turbulent waters. She heard the boom of thunder and surveyed the gray horizon. A storm was either ahead of them or behind them. She wasn't sure which.

  Conrad’s cruiser was big, sleek, and expensive. Several coolers lined the deck, an oddity since she'd never known Conrad to have any interest in fishing or sport of any kind. He was all about luxury and show.

  She wanted to get inside the cabin and see if Ross was hidden somewhere on the boat. Even if Conrad was capable, and she was beginning to think he was, why would he risk his career, imprisonment, and shame by kidnapping a child? He couldn’t be that crazy.

  The boat came to a slow and steady pace as they neared shallow waters. Conrad cut the engine. They drifted up and down, rocking in a steady rhythm with the waves. The seas were getting rough as the tide came in. It was good thing she never got seasick. He let the anchor out over board. She looked at Conrad as he turned to her with an eerie smile.

  “Are you going to tell me what this is all about?” She leaned against the cabin door and cracked it open with her fingers.

  “In good time, my dear,” his voice was smooth and careless.

  “Jamie!” a small voice cried out.

  A jolt of happiness shook Jamie as she heard Ross’s voice. He's alive! She lunged to fully open the cabin door but Conrad’s cold hands reached out like a tiger’s claw and snatched her away.

  “Jamie, Jamie! Come and get me, I’m here!”

  “I’m coming, sweetie,” she called out to Ross.

  She glared at Conrad, “Are you mad? Kidnapping is a federal crime, not to mention cruel to an innocent child. You will lose your law license and get a load of jail time too.”

  "I am the law," Conrad snarled, shoving her against the seat.

  Jamie sprang back, shoving against Conrad to get to the cabin door. "Get out of my way, or I swear to you I will throw you overboard and leave you to the sharks.”

  He laughed. “Sorry darling, I’m afraid that will be your fate today.”

  He opened the door, shoved her down into the cabin and threw the door shut. She heard a lock click in place as she fell down the steps to the floor of the cabin. She rubbed the side of her hip where she had landed against a stair. The stark blackness of the cabin paralyzed her. She gasped for breath, trying to slow the rapid beating of her heart, the sick nausea that struck her gut like a lightening rod.

  "Jamie!"

  She shook off her anxiety and scrambled in the shadows of the small cabin. "Ross? Where are you sweet heart?" she whispered.

  A light switched on, casting a sliver of light across the room. "Here Jamie! I'm here!"

  She scrambled toward the door through which Ross’s tiny fingers desperately wiggled. She untied a mass of cords that kept the door from opening. She loosened it enough to open the door so that Ross could fit through it. He jumped up into her arms so forcefully she lost her balance. They fell to the floor laughing and crying, hugging each other as if they would never let go.

  Jamie kissed the top of his head and cried. “Thank God, you’re safe,” she said as tears rolled down her cheeks.

  An uneasy feeling swept over her, despite her joy. Jo was right, she thought as she looked to the door that had locked them inside this cavernous cabin.

  She should have told the police.

  ˜

  Conrad was not a man accustomed to physical labor. However, in life, there were sometimes exceptions and today was such a day. He was expecting company. He didn’t want to disappoint them.

  He dragged the coolers to the back of the boat slowly, careful not to spill out any of its gruesome contents. He had wanted chum, but chum would have linked him to the murders. He couldn’t afford to be linked to anything remotely unsavory.

  Instead, he'd ordered a few hundred pounds of raw meat under the pretense of giving a party and had let them soak out their blood in coolers half full of water. The Kobe beef had cost him much more than chum, but it would be well worth it in the long run.

  He couldn’t wait to hear Jamie’s terrified screams as she came face to face with a hungry bull shark or two. Aidan would stand by and watch helplessly as he once again outlived his true love. He would watch his son be whisked away to be raised by his mortal enemy. And, Aidan Brice would die knowing it.

  Conrad smiled at that thought.

  He uncovered the first cooler and winced as the smell of rotting meat and blood caught in his nostrils. He pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket and brought it to his nose, taking in a deep breath as he did. He dumped the contents of the cooler into the water and did the same with the remaining coolers until they were all empty of the putrid contents.

  He washed his hands with the hose, sat down, and lit a cigar. He knew Aidan would be here soon. He had made sure of it. It would all be finished today. Conrad leaned back in the teak deck chair and inhaled the ocean air, watching the tide roll in and the sandbar slowly shrink in size. Soon it would be completely under water. He took another puff from his cigar and waited for the first dorsal fin to arrive.

  ˜

  Aidan stood at the helm, his gaze darting across the white caps, searching for some shred of evidence regarding his son and Jamie. He fiddled with Travis's fancy GPS system. Coast Guard boats were state of the art. The computer navigating system could find anything from the fish thirty feet below the surface to all boats in the surrounding area. He used the radio to identify as many as the boats on radar as possible. Only one did not answer the call. He had a strong hunch that boat belonged to Conrad Malcolm.

  The tide was coming in and rough seas were in the forecast, so there weren't many brave enough, or dumb enough to venture out. A thunderstorm was due to hit sometime this evening. It was exactly like the night Danni had died.

  He studied the layout on the computer screen. Malcolm was anchored at the sandbar. Aidan cursed. He's waiting for high tide to come in. That can't bode well for Ross and Jamie. He kicked the boat to high gear. Its bow rose high in the air as it banged against the high waves.

  White noise rose above the winds as the radio went off. Aidan picked it up.

 
"Where are you headed?" Travis's voice cut through the high static.

  "Sandbar, near the Cut."

  "There's no way to disguise your arrival. I'll call for backup," Travis said.

  "No. Malcolm might freak and do something desperate. He's got my son, Trav. He's got Jamie too. We have to play this calm, smart."

  "I don't like it."

  "I don' twant them near that boat," Aidan muttered.

  "You know they'll throw the book at you for this…" Travis swore. "Stealing a Coastguard vessel? Even I can't get you off this time."

  Aidan snorted. "As long as Ross and Jamie are safe, I'll do the time."

  Travis was quiet. "Yeah, I know buddy," he finally said.

  Aidan put the radio back in its cradle. No time for regrets anymore.

  ˜

  Ross clung to Jamie as they stood on the deck of the cruiser after Conrad had dragged them out of the cabin. Conrad Malcolm's vile gaze fell over them from his relaxed stance on his recliner.

  "It's going to be all right," Jamie whispered. "I'm sure your father will find us. Try not to cry, Ross." She knew a crying child would set Conrad off into a rage.

  "I'll be brave," Ross said, his voice quivering.

  Jamie glanced at the ocean surrounding them. The waters surrounding them were growing deeper in color, the waves thrashing higher against the hull of the cruiser. The tide was coming in. Soon the sand bar that rose like a small island in an endless sea would disappear under the rising water. A sickening feeling hit her gut. Warily, she stared at Conrad.

  "Do you really think I'll agree to marry you now?"

  Conrad's laugh was chilling. "I have no intention of marrying you. I've already tried to kill you once. Yes, I cut that beam in your poor excuse of a house. Left a bit of a bump, didn't it?"

  "You tried to kill me? I thought you wanted to get married?"

  "Don't worry that little head of yours about your wedding night. You are never going to have one."

  Jamie tensed. Not good. "Take your anger out on me and leave the child out of it. He's done nothing to you."

  "He will be of great use to me. An orphaned boy taken in by the rich, doting Conrad Malcolm. My senator's seat is practically guaranteed."