Terri Blackstock - Breakers Reef

C A P E R E F U G E S E R I E S

BREAKERS
REEF

BOOK FOUR

Terri Blackstock

ZONDERVAN

Breakers Reef
Copyright 2005 by Terri Blackstock

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EPub Edition 2005 ISBN: 978-0-310-57084-4

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Blackstock, Terri, 1957
Breakers reef / Terri Blackstock.
p. cm.(Cape Refuge series; bk. 4)
ISBN 978-0-310-23595-8
1. Bed and breakfast accommodationsFiction. 2. Detective and mystery stories
AuthorshipFiction. 3. Teenage girlsCrimes againstFiction.
4. Novelists-Fiction. 5. GeorgiaFiction. I. Title.

PS3552.L34285B74 2005
813.54dc22

2004025174

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published in association with the literary agency of Alive Communications, Inc., 7680 Goddard Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80920. www.alivecommunications.com

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This book is lovingly dedicated to the Nazarene.

C hief Matthew Cade rarely considered another line of work, but the 4:30 a.m. phone call about the dead teenage girl made him long for a job as an accountant or electriciansome benign vocation that didnt require him to look into the eyes of grieving parents. He sat on the side of his bed, rubbing his eyes as he clutched the phone to his ear.

Shes from Cape Refuge, Chief. Myrtle, his night shift dispatcher, sounded shaken. That new guy, Scott Crown, just found her floating in a boat on the Tybee side of the river. Looks like a homicide.

Cade braced himself. Who is it, Myrtle?

Didnt give me a name yet. If they know it, theyre keeping it off the radio for now. But Chief Grant from Tybee is hot about how Crown handled things, and he wanted you to come to the scene as soon as you can.

All right, give me the address. Oswald, Cades cat, jumped onto his lap, purring for attention as Cade fumbled for a pen and jotted the address down. The cat stepped onto the bed table and plopped down on the notepad. So what is it Crown did?

Im not clear on that, Chief. But hes young. Go easy on him.

He clicked the phone off and thought about the nineteen-year-old rookie. Crown had joined the force straight out of the academy; he hadnt even been in Cades department a week. His zeal to be the best cop in the department had led to a few mishaps already, but nothing serious. Cade knew he just needed to give the kid some time to grow into his position. But what had he done to aggravate the neighboring chief?

He got up, wincing at the arthritic ache he always felt in his leg first thing in the morning. It had healed from the multiple fractures hed sustained in an injury a year agoand hed overcome his limp for the most partbut the mornings always reminded him how far hed come.

He got dressed and hurried out to his truck. It was cool for May, but he knew it would warm up to the upper eighties by the end of the day. Life would go on as it always didmurder or not. As he drove across the bridge that connected Cape Refuge to Tybee Island, his mind raced with the faces of teenage girls whod grown up here. Whoever this girl was, the murder would have a rippling effect, shattering her family and shaking her friends. There would be a life-size hole in the heart of the small town.

He found the site and pulled up to the squad cars parked there. One of the Tybee officers met him as he got out. Oh, its you, Chief Cade. I didnt recognize you in your truck.

Wheres Chief Grant? he asked.

The man pointed to the riverbank, and Cade saw him with the medical examiner looking over the body.

As he approached, Cade saw the girl lying on the grass. She was small, maybe a hundred pounds, and looked as if someone had carefully laid her down there, her arms out from her body, her knees together and bent to the side. In the flickering blue light, he couldnt yet see her face, and her hair was wet, long He walked closer, and Keith Parker, the medical examiner, looked up at him. Hey, Cade. You recognize her?

Chief Grant handed him a flashlight, and Cade stooped down and illuminated her face. His heart plunged. She was Alan Lawrences girl, Emily. She couldnt be more than sixteen. Cade didnt think shed even gotten her license yet.

Anger stung his eyes, and he rubbed his jaw. His throat was tight as he swallowed. Who could have done this? Who would have wanted to end the life of an innocent, sweet girl whose parents loved her?

He cleared his throat. Yeah, her names Emily Lawrence. Her parents are Alan and Marie. He paused, trying to steady his voice. You know the cause of death?

Gunshot, Grant said. Looks like she was shot in another location, then apparently brought here and put into that boat. Your man found her.

Cade stood and looked in the direction Grant nodded. Scott Crown stood with the other cops, answering questions. His uniform was wet, and he looked shaken and nervous. Cade felt sorry for the kid. Odds were he hadnt expected to find a dead girl his first week on the job.

Unfortunately, the Tybee chief went on, your man compromised the evidence. Moved the body out of the boat before he called us. Got her wet trying to get her onto the shore. Who knows what evidence might have been washed off? I would think youd train your people better than that.

Cades anger shifted from the faceless killer to the rookie. What was he even doing over here? He was supposed to be patrolling Cape Refuge.

He saw the boat floating in the river between the two islands, saw that someone was in it. Right then he should have called my department instead of coming onto my turf and handling the matter himself.

Cade sighed and looked toward the kid again. Hed had reservations about hiring someone so young right out of the academy, but Crown was Joe McCormicks nephew. When his detective vouched for the kid, Cade decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. But hed recognized Crowns hero complex his first day on the job. He was something of a loose cannon, and Cade had wondered if he could trust him to follow the rules.

Apparently, he couldnt.

He crossed the grass toward Crown. The kid turned, saw him, and burst into his explanation. Chief, I know I did wrong. It was stupid. I dont even know what I was thinking. But there were vultures, and I thought there must be a dead animal in the boat I crossed the bridge and came over here

Your first mistake, Cade said.

But if I hadnt, they might not have found her!