Chapter 25
The sun sat low on the horizon as the cab pulled up to the beach. Sam’s heart sunk as he looked out at the beach goers.
What had he been thinking? There were too many people enjoying the warm water for some kind of satanic ritual to be done out here.
He lifted his head and scowled. This was what made sense. More important, it felt right in his gut. He pushed the enormity of the task aside and took his first step. Trying to free the Middle East from tyranny and terrorism was a massive task but people way above his pay grade knew it was done one step at a time. Just like storming the beach that lay before him. He barely even noticed Subie and Brock getting out behind him as he rushed down the beach. One of them would pay the cabbie.
Sam refused to give up hope. Perhaps the site was secluded, just like the one that Subie and Brock had discovered. Whoever had done it last time had gotten away with it. It had been night then, but Sam wouldn’t give up on finding Tamara.
Yellow tape still surrounded the area. The blood, bones, and candles had all been cleared away, but there was still a sense of menace to the air.
“We’ll find her,” Brock offered as he came up behind him. Sam felt Brock’s hand on his shoulder. He jerked away. He didn’t need to be comforted by some kid who didn’t even appreciate what he had. Subie was safe and back with him. What did Sam have?
“Let’s give him some space,” Subie whispered. He sensed more than heard the two leave.
Sam looked out at the setting sun. Waves crashed against the beach, setting a slow rhythm to his pained thoughts. Tamara had depended on him to keep her safe and he had failed her.
“I wouldn’t recommend trying to drown yourself.”
Sam spun around at the sound of the snide voice right behind him. Jenkins was standing with his hands on his hips, smirking at Sam. He was in civilian clothes.
“You mother fucker!” Sam screamed. This bastard picked the wrong time to show up. All of Sam’s rage that he’d had to keep bottled up over the last couple days exploded from him. Sam’s fist connected with the other man’s jaw. The pain in his knuckle as it split was delicious compared to the agony in his heart. Seeing Jenkins on his back, Sam crowed with glee. “About time you got what you deserve!”
“You fu’er,” Jenkins tried to say around his hurt jaw. “I’m a cop. You’ll pay for ‘at.”
“You’re in civilian clothes,” Sam reminded him as the pieces of the puzzle snapped together in his head. “You snuck up on a man with a record of suffering from PTSD. Captain Gomez knows you’ve been harassing me. Who do you really think will be in trouble?” Every fiber in Sam’s body demanded that he kick the man for good measure. He had more than earned the reprisal after so many years.
Sam took a careful step back with his good leg. He wasn’t the type of man to beat someone when they were down, but it was better removing the temptation than trusting his willpower.
Jenkins didn’t say anything. He stayed down, probably a good thing, and held his jaw. Sam saw Brock and Subie coming back towards him.
“What happened?” Brock asked.
“Hey, isn’t that the cop that treated you like shit after our first car was destroyed?” Subie asked before Sam could answer Brock.
“He was just leaving,” Sam told them. His voice was hard as he returned Jenkins’s glare.
“Your wife was worried about you,” Jenkins said.
“Ex-wife,” Sam emphasized. “And how the hell would you know?”
“She called me a little bit ago, and asked me to check up on you,” Jenkins said. Sam could see the other man shaking. “I guess when you called her, you said some things that made her think you were going to commit suicide.”
“What the fuck?” Sam yelled at him. “I’m not going to commit suicide! Why the hell does she have your number?”
Jenkins’s eyes grew large as he looked around him. Sam had been right about this part of the beach being secluded. Sam, Brock and Subie were the only ones looking down at him.
“Because we were sleeping together, before she finally left your ass,” the disgraced officer said in one breath. “It’s your fault she left me and went west.”
Sam was speechless for a moment. His ex and Jenkins had been sleeping together? Sam knew they’d been having problems, but he never suspected she’d been cheating on him. And with Jenkins? He took another step back, reeling from the revelation.
“I gave her my number after the first time my partner and I showed up at you place. You’d put a hole in the wall with your fist, and she was worried you might hurt her next.” Jenkins continued to speak, laying out a history Sam had been completely unaware of. “At first I was just a sympathetic ear. You scared her, Sam. She told me you never laid a hand on her or the kids, but you scared her.”
Jenkins was holding something at his chest as he spoke. His words painted a picture in Sam’s mind, and he could see how it all fit. He remembered the look in her eyes when he’d break something in their home. He could never hurt her or the kids, but objects were fair game to his anger. The worst part was, most of that anger hadn’t been her fault. Sam was angry with himself. Angry at his failures overseas, at the loss of his friends, and mostly at the way he could no longer treat his wife the way she deserved.
Or maybe she didn’t deserve it, if she’d been cheating on him. Sam didn’t care that it had happened after he’d changed from his deployment to Afghanistan.
“I kept telling her she should leave you. That she needed to get away from you and deserved better,” Jenkins continued. “Well I guess she listened better than I thought. She left us both.”
Sam finally understood Jenkins’s continued hatred of him.
“Is that why you cut my brake lines and tried to have me killed?” His voice came out flat. Sam was surprised at how emotionless he sounded. Perhaps after the way today had gone, he just didn’t have anything left inside him.
“I didn’t do that,” Jenkins denied. “I hate you for driving her away, but I'm a cop. I wouldn’t try to kill you. Besides, you had that who—“ Jenkins cut himself short seeing the glare in Sam’s eyes. He swallowed, and tried again. “You had someone else with you. I’ve tried to find some way to arrest you, but I’ve never tried to kill you.”
Sam wanted to scream that Jenkins was lying. He had to be. But why would he admit to sleeping with his ex, and lie about this?
Because there are witnesses, Sam thought, looking at Brock and Subie. They had remained silent while Jenkins talked. Brock had his arm around his woman. The two held each other tight.
“I was hoping to get my chance to arrest you when the aquarium had been vandalized. Your boss kept going on and on about how you would never hurt the dolphins, and there wasn’t enough evidence for the captain to even bring you in.”
“Dolphins?” Subie asked. She looked up at Brock, then turned to Sam. “They said something about dolphins while they were putting those marks on me.” Sam didn’t have to ask who ‘they’ were. “I don’t remember exactly what they said. I’m sorry Sam.”
Brock pulled her tighter to him. Sam had to look away. He would do anything to be able to hold Tamara like that again.
They were probably just bragging about what they’d done to my dolphins, Sam thought. Something bothered him though. Sam struggled to figure out why the thought didn’t fit.
Latoya had tried calling him.
Sam yanked the phone out and looked at it. He had a voicemail. Sam’s heart thundered in his ears as he dialed his voicemail.
“S-Sam, I-I need you in here t-today. Something came up.”
Sam had never heard his confident boss sound so uncertain. No, not uncertain, she was afraid.
“I know where she is,” Sam said. He cursed himself soundly. Had he just answered the call earlier, he would already be there.
“What do you mean?” Jenkins asked. He’d gotten to his feet while Sam was on the phone.
“What do you care?” Sam spat. “Tamara means nothing to y
ou.”
“I’m still a cop,” Jenkins stated. “If someone’s in trouble, then—“
“Then nothing!” Sam interrupted.
“It might be a good idea to have someone else at our backs,” Brock offered.
Sam opened his mouth to argue. Jenkins was the last person he wanted watching his back. Brock had a point, though. Despite his countless flaws, Jenkins was trained to handle himself in a bad situation. It was a lot more than could be said about Brock.
“We’re not done talking about my ex,” Sam growled. “I don’t trust you but Brock’s right. We could use another set of eyes.” Sam still wasn’t convinced that Jenkins hadn’t tried to kill him and Tamara.
“Shouldn’t we call this in?” Jenkins asked.
“If we show up with a bunch of cops, they’ll kill Tamara and Latoya,” Sam informed him. He started heading back up the beach.
“They wouldn’t kill their hostages,” Jenkins argued behind him. “It would leave them without any bargaining chips.”
“They’re not bargaining chips! They’re people,” Sam wanted to turn and punch the man again, but getting to the aquarium was more important. “The people who have her aren’t natural. They won’t do as we expect.”
Jenkins remained silent until they reached the parking lot. “We’ll take my car. It’ll be faster.”
Sam didn’t like it, but he had to admit the police cruiser would be faster than waiting for another cab. He slipped into the passenger seat, with Brock and Tamara in the back.
The sun slipped behind the horizon as they pulled out.
“Never thought I’d be in the back of one of these,” Brock said as Jenkins flipped his lights on.
“At least the company is agreeable,” Subie replied. Sam heard them kiss.
If they said anything else, Sam ignored it. His chest ached to hear them being sweet with one another, while his woman was in trouble.
“How did you know where I was?” Sam asked to take his mind off the other two.
Jenkins glanced at him before answering. “Like I said before, I’ve been trying to catch you at something I could arrest you for.”
Sam snorted. This asshole had been doing everything he could to put Sam behind bars, all thanks to his ex-wife. And now Sam was supposed to trust him at his back. Sam couldn’t imagine his life any more screwed up.
The parking lot at the aquarium was empty except for Latoya’s car and another grey sedan. Lights shown down on the empty spots giving the place an eerie feel. The moon looked too large set against the black sky as it sat behind the building where he worked.
“Brock, Subie, you two stay out here,” Sam told them. “Jenkins, I want you with me.”
“You’re not leaving us behind,” Brock protested. “Remember what happened to Alex?”
Sam groaned, but knew Brock was right. He couldn’t leave them behind and defenseless. How much safer would they be with him?
“Like I was going to let you out of my sight,” Jenkins sneered. Sam ignored the comment. He pulled the pistol from the back of his pants. “You know I can arrest you just for having that,” Jenkins added.
“Help me save Tamara, and you can take me in after,” Sam stated.
“I’ll go in first, and you can follow,” Jenkins said.
“Like hell you will,” Sam stated. They locked eyes. There was no way Sam was going to let this prick go in first. Tamara and Latoya were his responsibility.
Jenkins looked away first. “First one in usually gets killed anyway,” Sam heard him mutter.
Sam almost regretted his decision. Jenkins was right about the point man, but he couldn’t let Jenkins be the first one in.
Sam unlocked the door, then counted to three before opening it and stepping through. His pistol was held up, finger ready on the trigger.