Page 98 of Shattering Dawn
“The authorities simply made it clear they didn’t want to hear about your conspiracy theories,” Gideon said, “and let’s be honest. There was no need to go down that road.”
She glared and pushed one of the coffees across the counter. “They aren’t conspiracy theories. They are the true facts of the case. We both know that. And by the way, thanks for not backing me up when I tried to explain things to the cops.”
“It was for your own good.”
“Nobody likes to hear those words,” she warned.
“You know as well as I do that law enforcement doesn’t take crimes involving the paranormal seriously.”
She groaned. “Yeah, I know.”
“The cops were happy to go with my version of events, and that was all we needed to wrap up the case. In my own defense, I would like to point out that I did back you up. I just left out the paranormal elements.”
She drank some coffee while she thought about that. His version of events was thatThe Lost Night Fileshad inadvertently stumbled into an investigation that had drawn the attention of a violent drug-smuggling ring. The kingpin had decided to make the entire podcast crew disappear, starting with her.
She had to admit it was the truth, as far as it went. The discoveryof a large stash of illegal narcotics hidden in a locker at the concealed boat dock had cemented Gideon’s story.
“Admit it,” he urged. “There was no need for an explanation involving bizarre serums that enhance the paranormal senses. The cops were satisfied with the fact that a serious amount of old-school street dope was involved.”
“I’ll bet Irene Morgan or Irene Steen, or whatever her real name is, hid the drugs the cops found at that boat dock. Got to hand it to her, she planned and executed a very complex scheme to get rid of her father.”
“Executedbeing the operative word,” Gideon said.
“Yes.” Amelia shivered at the memory of the spectacular explosion. “If you had followed him down those steps. Jumped into the boat—”
“I didn’t follow him down those steps, thanks to you. And even in a worst-case scenario, I doubt if I would have jumped into the boat, not with this leg.”
“He had a gun. You would have been a sitting duck in that stairwell.”
“Any resemblance between me and a duck is strictly in your imagination.”
“You’re not taking this seriously, are you?”
“I don’t have time to listen to your catastrophizing, because I’m too busy with my own. How do you think I felt when I realized Irene had managed to grab you?”
“Fair point.” Amelia unwrapped the breakfast sandwiches and set them on plates. “I’m sorry your uncle got drugged.”
“Not as sorry as he is. Shelton feels like an idiot. And he’s fine, so you don’t need to worry about him.”
Amelia put Gideon’s plate in front of him and carried her ownaround the end of the island. She sat down on one of the stools. “Do you think those two guards at Steen’s house and the one you took down at Falcon’s rental will talk?”
“Maybe,” Gideon said around a mouthful of sandwich. “But I doubt if they’ll be able to give the authorities any useful information. You saw the two at the cove house. They woke up but they were hallucinating. They may not survive, not if you’re right about their auras looking bad.”
“They were using the same contaminated version of the drug that Cutler Steen was using.”
“Pretty sure the directors of the Aurora Islands Pharmaceuticals operation wanted Steen dead.”
“Because Steen made them nervous?” Amelia asked.
“He was a ruthless man. They had been working with him for over a year. They knew what he was capable of. They probably remembered that old advice about dining with the devil.”
“Bring a very long spoon.” Amelia drank some coffee.
“I doubt if they objected to Steen’s methods—they went into business with him because of those methods. But at some point they must have started to worry, not just about his intentions toward them, but because he was attracting some unwanted attention.”
Amelia smiled, grimly satisfied. “Because theLost Night Filespodcast was getting traction. Closing in on the whole operation.”
“Yep.”