Page 74 of Betrayal In Calusa Cove
“Of course, they did,” Trinity muttered.
“The Feds believe they had outside help,” Chloe added. “Which means they could be anywhere. But they’ll surface. People like that always do.”
Baily rubbed her hands together. Panic gripped her heart. “What about Chad and Todd? Where are they? What happened to them? They’re just little boys, only eight and six.”
Fletcher came to her side, taking her hand. “They were found safe. The Barbaros had a house in Naples. The boys were there with a nanny. CPS has them now, but I made it clear that you want to file for temporary custody.”
Baily’s eyes filled. “Thank God they’re safe.”
“It’ll take a little time,” Fletcher said gently. “But we’ll bring them home—to us. It’s where they belong.”
“They’re going to hate?—”
Fletcher pressed his finger over her lips. “We’ll deal with that one day at a time. For now, we need to focus on preparing to fight for them, for their arrival, and staying safe until the cops can find the Barbaros.”
Audra stood, walking to the window. “So, what now? We just wait for the Barbaros to make their next move? To show up and start slinging bullets at us?” She turned. “They had pictures of me.” She pounded her chest. “Dawson showed me, and I know exactly when they were taken. They’ve been watching me, which means they’ve been watching all of you.” Her chest rose and fell, hard, with every breath. “I had no idea I wasn’t safe all these years, but I’ll be damned if I’m gonna sit around and wait for someone to start taking pot shots at me or anyone I love.”
“And that’s my wife,” Dawson said with a sarcastic tone as he stepped beside her, wrapping his arm around her waist. “We kinda have no choice but to wait this out. However, we’re not alone in this. Logan and Dylan Sarich are sticking around. They’ll watch the town and keep their ears to the ground. Their organization is searching for them. So are the feds. It’s an all-out manhunt. Not to mention that every news station is plastering their faces on the screen across the country. They won’t be able to hide.”
“We’re not taking any chances,” Hayes added. “Everyone needs to stay alert. Don’t go anywhere alone. Check locks. Carry protection. Whatever it takes.”
Trinity sighed. “Just once, I’d like to be part of a girls' night that doesn’t end with a safety briefing—unless I can have a tequila shot.”
Baily managed a small laugh, but her heart was still heavy. As everyone began to scatter—Hayes pulling Chloe into the den, Keaton checking Trinity’s blood pressure, Dawson raiding the fridge like nothing had changed—Fletcher leaned close and whispered, “You ready to head out?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go home.”
Because whatever came next, they were facing it together.
Chapter 19
The sheets were tangled around Baily’s legs like seaweed, damp with sweat and the weight of another dream that slipped through her fingers the moment her eyes opened. Her heart raced. The dark pressed in thick around her, and for a moment, she thought she was still trapped in a nightmare—until she realized the bed beside her was empty.
“Fletcher?” she whispered, voice raw from sleep.
No answer.
She sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest. Moonlight streamed through the open curtains, casting silver patterns on the hardwood floor. She spotted him, a silhouette by the window, one shoulder propped against the frame, arms crossed as he stared out at the Everglades, like he was trying to read a message written in the stars.
“Fletcher,” she called again.
“Hey,” he whispered, glancing over his shoulder, his expression shadowed but soft. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“You didn’t.” She stood and padded across the room, wrapping her arms around his middle and resting her cheek against his bare back. His skin was cool, the tension in his body unmistakable. “What’s got you up?” she murmured. “Another nightmare?”
“Not this time. But there are too many ghosts out there,” he said. “Too many what-ifs. I keep thinking about the boys. About what kind of life they’ve had. I wonder what they know. Or don’t know. I worry about all the questions they’re going to have and how we’re going to answer them. When I got out of bed and looked out this window, I was reminded of all the times Ken and I played out in that yard as kids. How we’d catch snakes, and frogs, and torment you and Audra.”
“There was a lot of tormenting going on.” Baily smiled against his skin.
“I loved my childhood here and even when you and I were at our worst, I still thought…believed…I’d always end up back here someday, in this house, with you, and that we’d be sitting on that porch watching a couple of kids do all the dumb things we did. But now, I’m trying to envision what kind of life we can give Todd and Chad because it’ll be so very different from what they’ve known. Neither of us has seen them since they were three and five. A lot can change in three years.”
“That’s some deep midnight thinking.” Baily kissed his shoulder and stared out at the ripples on the water. The swamp shimmered in the moonlight, beautiful and unknowable. Inviting and dangerous. The Everglades were both heaven and hell. And this was the only place she ever wanted to be. “We’ve made calls. We’ve done everything we can. Enzo said the lawyer’s solid. But I just... I don’t know if that’s enough. I don’t have anything, Fletcher. No money, no fancy legacy. Just a crumbling marina that, even after all this, might not still make it. Even if all that money Ken stuffed away manages to be legal, it should go to his boys for their future.”
He didn’t say anything right away. He just kissed her temple, then reached into the drawer of the nightstand, pulled something out, and then turned back to her. “We have everything because we have each other.”
“You sound like your grandma.” Baily smiled.
“She was a smart woman, and she always told me that people are more important than things. That the right partner in life mattered more than anything else because if you had that, you’d be able to make things happen. Look at our friends. Dawson and Audra, they’re pure gold together, like two sides to a coin. And Keaton and Trinity are the poster children for why opposites attract.”
