Page 67 of Wild Tides
Rae, Zach, Anya, and Drew arrived together, and Lucy repeated her fierce hugs. “You all are like family to me. I’m so glad everyone’s okay.”
“Guys… I think we broke Lucy,” Zach said in a mock whisper.
Lucy sniffed. “I love you, okay? Don’t make me say it again.” The last part came out like a threat.
Clay’s lip twitched. “There’s my Lucifer.”
We ordered massive amounts of food and spent the time waiting for our dinner regaling our friends with the tale of our late-night adventure at sea.
“What I don’t understand iswhy?” Rae asked as we finished walking them through the basic sketch of our boat chase and float plane showdown. “Why take Anya? She wasn’t involved with the Underwoods. And what was Owen doing with them in the first place?”
Drew reached for Anya’s delicate hand, his big paw engulfing hers where it lay on top of the table. “Owen wasn’t originally affiliated with the Underwoods, but apparently they have some contacts in common,” she said.
“Yeah, shady ones, obviously,” Lucy groused, frowning. “So what – they joined forces for evil and picked you up for funsies?”
Anya’s chuckle was a little raspy, but I was glad she could find humor in the whole thing. “No, everything is much more screwed up than that. The Underwoods needed a way off the island. Dr. Underwood was served with a warrant earlier today.She got in touch with her shadowy contacts, and they came up with Owen as their exit strategy.”
“Then how are you involved?” Lucy asked Anya. “If the Underwoods were looking for revenge, you’d think they’d start with us.” She waggled her thumb between herself and Clay.
Anya grimaced. “That was Owen all on his own. Or rather, at my parents’ direction.” Drew squeezed her hand on the table, silently offering his strength. “My dead-drop to the FBI had more of an impact than I realized. The feds launched an investigation, slowly tightening the screws. They picked up a few low-level folks, but no one with any actual knowledge of my parents’ operation. Apparently, it was enough to put strain on their business. That’s why they sent Owen here in the first place, scoping out alternative routes. Confirming my whereabouts was only a bonus.”
She shook her head. “As the noose tightened, they started planning their exit. Picking me up was supposed to be insurance. I guess Owen had someone watching the town, looking for an opportunity.”
My arm tightened around Vi, and we exchanged glances. I regretted not making a bigger deal of Vi’s watcher at the store. Maybe we could have kept Anya from ever being taken.
“That’s so messed up,” Lucy said. “I hope they get what’s coming to them.”
Anya’s smile was rueful. “Feels weird to say about my parents, but me too.” She shuddered. Drew squeezed her tight. You could practically see it giving her strength. She straightened, meeting my gaze head-on. “I can’t thank you and Vi enough.”
“We’re just glad this sorry tale has a happy ending.” I leaned in. “When I gave my statement this morning, an agent asked if I’d noticed anything strange at Megan Underwood’s office. Those colored files on her shelves? They weren’t patient charts.They were records of who was getting counterfeit meds through her practice.”
The table went still.
“Jesus,” Zach muttered. “That’s beyond shady. People could’ve died.”
“They definitely targeted locals, didn’t just facilitate off-island shipments,” I said grimly. “It only looked like insurance paperwork to me, but now it’s evidence that’ll bury the Underwoods.”
Rae wrinkled her nose. “That’s awful. But Istilldon’t get it—why go after you, Anya? Is it even still kidnapping if it’s your own kid?”
“With me out of play, Mom and Dad thought the case would wobble.”
Drew tensed, wrapping his arm around Anya’s shoulders like he needed a physical barrier between her and the reason her parents and ex moved against her.
“They figured I had to be the leak. By then the damage was done. The feds issued warrants for them a few days ago. I had no idea.” Anya frowned. “I guess that’s the price I pay for keeping my distance, though I would have appreciated a heads-up from Agent Harris if he was in the loop. He’s DEA, not FBI, so maybe he didn’t know about the Bureau warrants. My parents slipped away before they could be arrested, but for any hope of beating the charges, they needed my cooperation. Or my incapacitation.”
“As lovely as you are, cooperating wouldn’t be your style. So what, they thought they could hold you prisoner and keep you from testifying?” Lucy didn’t speak the other possibility: that her family planned to kill her and dump her body somewhere.
Anya grimaced again, her face a rictus of distaste. “According to Owen, the plan was to drug me and commit me to a psychiatric facility where my parents have influence.”
“That’s fucking evil,” Lucy whispered.
Drew clenched, as if even hearing the story physically pained him.
Anya scrubbed her palms across her face. “In the end, I don’t think it would have worked. They might have been able to discredit me, but I doubt the FBI took this long to issue warrants because the evidence I gave them was enough to make charges stick. They’ve taken years to build this case. Pulling me from the equation wouldn’t save my parents, but I guess I’m easy to blame.”
Lucy shook her head. “Still evil.” She grimaced. “Have they been caught yet?”
“Not yet,” Anya whispered.
