Rising Tide: Lantern Beach Blackout Read online

  Rising Tide

  Lantern Beach Blackout

  Christy Barritt

  Copyright © 2020 by Christy Barritt

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Complete Book List

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Also by Christy Barritt:

  Other Books in the Lantern Beach Universe:

  You might also enjoy …

  About the Author

  Complete Book List

  Squeaky Clean Mysteries:

  #1 Hazardous Duty

  #2 Suspicious Minds

  #2.5 It Came Upon a Midnight Crime (novella)

  #3 Organized Grime

  #4 Dirty Deeds

  #5 The Scum of All Fears

  #6 To Love, Honor and Perish

  #7 Mucky Streak

  #8 Foul Play

  #9 Broom & Gloom

  #10 Dust and Obey

  #11 Thrill Squeaker

  #11.5 Swept Away (novella)

  #12 Cunning Attractions

  #13 Cold Case: Clean Getaway

  #14 Cold Case: Clean Sweep

  #15 Cold Case: Clean Break

  #16 Cleans to an End (coming soon)

  While You Were Sweeping, A Riley Thomas Spinoff

  The Sierra Files:

  #1 Pounced

  #2 Hunted

  #3 Pranced

  #4 Rattled

  The Gabby St. Claire Diaries (a Tween Mystery series):

  The Curtain Call Caper

  The Disappearing Dog Dilemma

  The Bungled Bike Burglaries

  The Worst Detective Ever

  #1 Ready to Fumble

  #2 Reign of Error

  #3 Safety in Blunders

  #4 Join the Flub

  #5 Blooper Freak

  #6 Flaw Abiding Citizen

  #7 Gaffe Out Loud

  #8 Joke and Dagger

  #9 Wreck the Halls

  #10 Glitch and Famous (coming soon)

  Raven Remington

  Relentless 1

  Relentless 2 (coming soon)

  Holly Anna Paladin Mysteries:

  #1 Random Acts of Murder

  #2 Random Acts of Deceit

  #2.5 Random Acts of Scrooge

  #3 Random Acts of Malice

  #4 Random Acts of Greed

  #5 Random Acts of Fraud

  #6 Random Acts of Outrage

  #7 Random Acts of Iniquity

  Lantern Beach Mysteries

  #1 Hidden Currents

  #2 Flood Watch

  #3 Storm Surge

  #4 Dangerous Waters

  #5 Perilous Riptide

  #6 Deadly Undertow

  Lantern Beach Romantic Suspense

  Tides of Deception

  Shadow of Intrigue

  Storm of Doubt

  Winds of Danger

  Rains of Remorse

  Lantern Beach P.D.

  On the Lookout

  Attempt to Locate

  First Degree Murder

  Dead on Arrival

  Plan of Action

  Lantern Beach Escape

  Afterglow (a novelette)

  Lantern Beach Blackout

  Dark Water

  Safe Harbor

  Ripple Effect

  Rising Tide

  Carolina Moon Series

  Home Before Dark

  Gone By Dark

  Wait Until Dark

  Light the Dark

  Taken By Dark

  Suburban Sleuth Mysteries:

  Death of the Couch Potato’s Wife

  Fog Lake Suspense:

  Edge of Peril

  Margin of Error

  Brink of Danger

  Line of Duty

  Cape Thomas Series:

  Dubiosity

  Disillusioned

  Distorted

  Standalone Romantic Mystery:

  The Good Girl

  Suspense:

  Imperfect

  The Wrecking

  Sweet Christmas Novella:

  Home to Chestnut Grove

  Standalone Romantic-Suspense:

  Keeping Guard

  The Last Target

  Race Against Time

  Ricochet

  Key Witness

  Lifeline

  High-Stakes Holiday Reunion

  Desperate Measures

  Hidden Agenda

  Mountain Hideaway

  Dark Harbor

  Shadow of Suspicion

  The Baby Assignment

  The Cradle Conspiracy

  Trained to Defend

  Nonfiction:

  Characters in the Kitchen

  Changed: True Stories of Finding God through Christian Music (out of print)

  The Novel in Me: The Beginner’s Guide to Writing and Publishing a Novel (out of print)

  Chapter One

  CJ Compton strolled down the boardwalk in Lantern Beach, North Carolina, her hand casually tucked into Benjamin James’s arm. Their target was just ahead of them, but they had to be careful not to be spotted.

  Although it was nighttime, crowds swarmed the area. Island visitors enjoyed the small amusement park near the sandy dunes, various restaurants, uncountable stores, and good beach food. Music blared from speakers at a nearby restaurant, the ocean waves crashed across the sand, and an annoying clown sitting atop a dunk tank aggravated everyone as his grating voice repeated, “You’ll never get me, losers.”

  Amidst the scent of popcorn, salty ocean air, and impending rain, the moment seemed idyllic. But both CJ and Benjamin were on the job right now.

  She leaned closer to Benjamin and muttered, “We should slow down.”

  “I thought I was in charge here and you were just helping?” Benjamin cast a side glance at her.

  “You tell me what to do in the kitchen all the time, so I figured it could be reciprocated on the field.” No truer words had ever been spoken.

  “Ha ha. Very funny.”

  “For real. I’m thinking we should switch roles. You can be the residential manager for Hope House, and I’ll be security for Blackout.”

  Benjamin gave her another look, one that dripped with annoyance and hidden amusement—in CJ’s estimation, at least.

  “Has anyone ever told you that you’re impossible?” he muttered.

  “Has anyone ever told you that you’re entirely too easy to annoy?”

  Benjamin narrowed his eyes as they continued to stroll casually behind their target. “We could do this all day, couldn’t we?”

  “I don’t know. You tell me. You seem to know everything.” CJ hid her smile.

  Nothing delighted her more than pushing Benjamin’s buttons. He made it so easy. But the fact of the matter was that, right now, they’d been asked to keep an eye on Alcott Pek.

  Pek was in his fifties, from India, and about fifty pounds too heavy. His thick salt-and-pepper hair appeared to have migrated from its original home on top of his shiny head and set up camp on his chin and cheeks and upper lip.

  The man was developing a new hotel on the island, but the town’s mayor, Mac MacArthur, thought Pek could be paying off members of the county council to ensure that things went in his favor. Mac had hired Blackout, a private security firm, to watch the man.

  As Pek glanced back at them now, CJ stepped closer to Benjamin. They needed to look like they were a couple, to blend in out here among the throngs of vacationers. Pek was already acting paranoid, and they didn’t want to tip him off.

  “Why are you gripping my arm so hard?” Benjamin whispered.

  “Can you please stop complaining?”

  “I’m just saying . . .”

  CJ slowed but only for a step. “Look—Pek’s about to go into a building. Any idea what that place is?”

  “Not yet,” Benjamin said. “We need to get closer.”

  Before opening the door, Pek paused and glanced back. As his gaze went to CJ and Benjamin, CJ made a split-second decision. She turned toward Benjamin and wrapped her arms around his neck, almost as if she was going to give him a big, fat kiss.

  He tensed all over—just as CJ had expected. Despite that, she pu
lled Benjamin closer and kept him there long enough to make Pek feel uncomfortable and look away.

  When a sufficient amount of time had passed, CJ stepped back—though barely.

  “What was that for?” Benjamin whispered, his breath flooding across her cheek.

  “It’s because I have a crush on you.” Amusement tinged her voice.

  His eyes widened, and his voice climbed. “What?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. The best way to get someone to stop staring at you is some PDA. What, they didn’t teach you that in SEAL school?”

  His eyes narrowed again. “No, but I suppose when you learned how to be a bounty hunter this was one of your 101 courses?”

  There Benjamin went, getting all riled up again. It was too easy. But they didn’t have time to go at each other now.

  CJ glanced out the corner of her eye and saw Pek step inside the yellow building. She backed away from Benjamin and ran a hand over her lips. She’d considered kissing him. It wouldn’t have been a bad idea, even if just to annoy him. Part of her was curious about how his lips would feel against hers. But the moment had passed.

  “Since you seem to be calling the shots here, what’s next?” Benjamin stared at her and waited for her response, an almost playful challenge to his voice.

  “We better get closer and see who he’s meeting. Do you agree?”

  “Seems like a good idea to me.”

  Just as the words left CJ’s lips, a cool wind swept across the ocean and over the boardwalk. Thunder cracked then lightning lit the sky. Forecasters had been calling for a major line of thunderstorms to come through this evening. It looked as if, for once, meteorologists had been right. Severe weather was definitely coming their way.

  “We don’t have much time, unless we want to get drenched,” Benjamin said.

  He grabbed her hand—not in a romantic way but in a practical one—and they darted toward the building. They stopped outside the two-story structure.

  This wasn’t one of the normal businesses here on the boardwalk. The space appeared to be an old house that had once been a store but then had been turned back into a house.

  “Let’s move around the side of the building and see what’s inside,” Benjamin said.

  “Let’s go.”

  They ducked away from the crowd and into the dark alley between this house and the building next to it. Lights from two windows shone overhead. If CJ and Benjamin worked this right, they could remain unseen in the shadows.

  As they crouched beneath an open window, voices floated out.

  “I heard somebody filed another petition to stop the build.” The voice clearly belonged to Pek. The man’s tone was just as abrasive as his personality.

  “I’ll take care of it,” the man he spoke with said.

  “You were supposed to take care of all this before we sank money into the project.” Accusation laced each word—accusation cut with anger.

  “Like I said, I’ll take care of it. No one foresaw this happening.”

  CJ raised her phone. She needed to snap a picture of the man Pek had this conversation with. Because of the angle, she couldn’t see anything inside. The window of the elevated house was too high. She needed to know who Pek was meeting with.

  As she raised her phone, Benjamin gave her a look.

  He didn’t trust her, did he? He thought CJ was going to give away their presence. The man had absolutely no faith in her.

  “Don’t let them see you,” he whispered.

  “Good advice, Benny-o.”

  “I hate that nickname.”

  “I know.” She flashed a smile at him.

  CJ raised her phone again, ready to snap a picture. But, before she could, the yellow glow coming from the window turned black. The conversation abruptly ended.

  She and Benjamin glanced at each other.

  That had been unexpected.

  Something had happened, she realized. They needed to figure out what. Because they’d been too close to finding answers to let this drop.

  * * *

  Something was wrong. Benjamin James felt it in his gut.

  Not only had the lights in this building gone off, but, based on the murmurings of the crowd on the boardwalk, there was more to this.

  The men’s conversation inside turned from commentary on the hotel to the electricity.

  Benjamin and CJ most likely wouldn’t be getting any more information for their mission tonight. Maybe it was better that way. If he had to work with CJ much longer, he might lose his mind.

  The woman was infuriating at best. Unbearable at the worst. Either way, she tested his patience every time they were around each other. He had a feeling she liked it that way.

  He nodded toward the boardwalk, silently communicating he thought they should go. CJ nodded in agreement. They abandoned their post by the window to join the rest of the crowd.

  They emerged from the alley and paused.

  The boardwalk was pitch black.

  People at the top of the Ferris wheel shouted, yelling for help. Families held their children closer as the darkness around them seemed to grow deeper. The music had disappeared, leaving an almost awkward emptiness.

  The outage seemed to take people’s breath away.

  With clouds covering the moon and stars, a deep shadow covered this little island on the fringe of the mighty Atlantic Ocean.

  Benjamin James may be a former Navy SEAL, but, even for him, the utter darkness felt somehow unnerving, like a thief that lingered close in the middle of the night.

  “I’ve always hated the dark.” CJ shivered beside him as she squinted into the blackness. “The only thing I hate more than the dark? Storms.”

  “Sounds like you’re going to be in for one interesting night then.”

  She frowned, her earlier playfulness gone. She wasn’t kidding. “What do you think happened?”

  “Maybe it has to do with the hotel construction. Maybe a powerline was hit while they were pile driving. That happened on Hatteras a couple years ago. When the bridge was being built, the crew accidentally hit a main line. Power was out on the island for almost a week.”

  “But would they be working at this time of the night?” She lifted an eyebrow.

  “I heard they’re working right up until nine in the evening every day, trying to get this done. Apparently, Mr. Pek is upset because the crew is behind schedule.”

  As soon as Benjamin said the words, the door to the building opened, and Pek stepped out.

  By himself.

  CJ and Benjamin still had no idea who had been inside that house with him.

  The man glanced around before stepping on the sidewalk and hurrying back in the direction he’d come from earlier, most likely to where he’d left his SUV.

  Benjamin and CJ followed behind him.

  But, as they walked past the oceanside amusement park, Benjamin paused. Cries for help came from the top of the Ferris wheel.

  He glanced at Pek and then back at the Ferris wheel. He didn’t want to lose him but . . .

  CJ nudged him. “They need help, Benny-O.”

  He lifted his head to peer up at the forty-foot-high structure. “I don’t think we’re equipped to be the ones to help. We need the fire department or the police.”

  “I know.” A determined look filled her gaze. “But maybe there’s something we can do.”

  Benjamin wanted to argue, but he knew that CJ was right. People around them were beginning to panic. He could feel the energy—and fear—in the air.

  As if right on cue, lightning flashed around them again. Several people screamed. The people trapped on the Ferris wheel yelled louder.

  Those riders needed to get down before the storm hit the area. It was coming fast.

  Benjamin knew without a doubt that he and CJ needed to spring into action.