Page 11 of Lethal Bodyguard Summer

The Bluefin Marina wasn’t what I expected. I’d seen marinas before, but this…this was next level. There were yachts. Lots and lots of yachts. I could see the draw of Sunbreak Harbor, but until now, I hadn’t realized it drew so many of the elite. Of course, I’d only seen one side of the island.

We walked down the stairs and past the empty security booth. I glanced at Brooks, and he just shrugged and gave me a half smile. I followed him down the main pier to the large building in the middle of all these impressive boats.

Inside, we found two men in maroon suit jackets and khaki pants. I moved around Brooks and held out my hand. One of the men looked at it and then awkwardly shook it. “Hi. I’m wondering if you’ve seen my sister? Her name is Allie Andrews. She worked around here.”

The one guy, his head shaved short like he’d been in the military, gave a pointed look to the younger guy I’d approached. The younger guy’s face reddened. “Um, we’re not really supposed to give information out—”

“I appreciate that,” I said. “I really do. But I’m just trying to find out if she’s been here recently.”

The older guy cleared his throat. “I’m afraid you’ll have to leave. Now.”

Before I could say anything else, Brooks took hold of my upper arm and turned me away. In my ear, he whispered, “We’re not going to get anything out of them. Making a scene right now will just get us tossed out of here.”

I wanted to argue. I hated being shut out. Worse, I knew he was right. I bit my lip and walked away, following his lead. For the next hour, we stopped at a dozen boats. A few only had the crew present, others were deserted, and others had guests in attendance and no desire to speak to us. Finally we walked down another pier. A sole woman was lying out, her forearm across her eyes to block the sun.

“Excuse me,” I called. At first, she didn’t move. “Hello,” I called again. The woman stirred but still didn’t get up. I whistled loudly like I had the other night at the Sandbar & Sip. The woman groaned, moved her arm, and lifted her head, blinking over at us.

“What do you want?” she snapped.

Brooks slid up next to me. “We’re just looking for a friend. Think you can help us?”

The woman eyed him up and down. I rolled my eyes. She was practically drooling. “I don’t know. Will any friend do?”

Brooks laughed and leaned closer. “Aww, I think you might be more than I can handle. Besides, wouldn’t want your husband to catch us, now would we?”

The lady narrowed her eyes. “It’d serve him right. Might not hurt for him to know he’s got competition.”

“Well now, you can definitely tell him I was sniffing around. How’s that?”

She eyed him up and down. “What do you want to know?”

“Have you seen another woman that looks like my friend here? Her sister is missing, and we heard she’d been pet-sitting for some people down here.”

The lady’s bloodshot eyes landed on me. She squinted and tilted her head to the left and then the right. “Hmmm.” Then she snapped her fingers. “Yes. She was down by the Salinas boat about four days or so ago. They were complaining the other day that she didn’t show up and their dog didn’t get fed for two days.”

“Can you tell us where they are docked?”

“Right over there.” She waved a thin arm in the direction of the last pier we’d walked down.

“Great. Thank you for your help.”

“Sure you won’t plant one on me? Just, you know, so I’ll know what I’m missing?”

Brooks took her hand and planted a kiss on the back of it. “Maybe next time.”

“I’ll hold you to it!” she shouted as we walked toward the boat she’d pointed out.

“I’ll bet you will,” I muttered under my breath as we walked.

Brooks heard me and smirked. “Don’t be upset, sweetheart. You get first dibs.”

I smacked him in the ribs, and he doubled over with anoof. “Ha-ha aren’t you funny.”

The owners were just leaving when we got to the yacht called the Breakneck. “Do you have a minute? I heard you hired my sister, Allie?”

The woman turned red. “Yeah. She came recommended. Highly. And then she didn’t show up. Our dog almost starved to death.”

“When was that?” I asked.