17
“Cocoa is being as stubborn as all get-out,” Adrianna said, aggravated. “I could leave her back here overnight, which I may have to do, but Tampa, Luke and Bartholomew are already here. She’ll want to play as rough as they do, and I’m worried she’ll get hurt.”
Lara hadn’t told them that Myles had been taken down to FBI headquarters. For one thing, at her request, no one at Sea Life, except for Grady, knew about the doll, so there was no easy way to explain that Myles was gone and why. Anyway, it didn’t really matter. The day was over, and she would worry about tomorrow when it arrived.
Adrianna’s attention was all for the dolphin.
“She’s not listening to me, either,” Lara told Adrianna after ten minutes of fruitlessly trying to coax Cocoa back into her own lagoon. “I’m sorry. Can Rick help?”
“He’s with the last of our sponsors,” Adrianna said, shaking her head. “He likes to pull the ‘head trainer’ card when the big money is around. Besides...” she murmured, then hesitated. “The truth is, he doesn’t work as well with Cocoa as you do. Want to swim with her, see if that works?”
“I guess, but you’ll have to open the gates so I can go from lagoon to lagoon.”
“I’m worried the others might get in the way, so we’ll go around the long way. Through the bay,” Adrianna said.
“You really think she’ll follow me?” Lara asked.
“She followed you all over the bay the other day,” Adrianna reminded her.
Dr. Amory was still standing on the platform, so Lara turned to him. “What do you think?”
“I think you’re the most interesting research opportunity I’ve seen in ages,” he told her, grinning. “I think you need to give it a try so I can observe.”
“All right, I’ll grab my suit and be right back.”
When Lara turned to go, Meg followed. “I’m not letting you go anywhere alone,” she said.
“I’ll change in the office,” Lara said. “Nice and safe.”
“We’ll have to find an opportunity for you to wear that suit Sonia gave you,” Meg told her.
“Sounds great,” Lara said. “Meg, what do you think about Myles Dawson? Is he just a nasty jerk, or is he part of this?”
“Hopefully the guys are finding that out right now.”
Back at the office, Meg waited while Lara changed. When they left, Lara noticed that there was still a group gathered near the exit by the gift shop, talking with Rick and Grady. She wondered how they could hear each other over the anthems and military songs that had been playing all day but seemed really loud now that the crowd had thinned out to almost nothing.
She and Meg made their way to the sandbar that led to the farthest platform.
Dr. Amory was nowhere in sight, and Adrianna was standing on the platform as if frozen, staring out at the water.
“Hey, Adrianna!” Lara called. “I’m back!”
Without saying a word, Adrianna fell face forward into the water, as if she’d been pushed by an invisible hand.
“What the hell?” Lara said.
“Get behind me,” Meg ordered, forging her way around a tangle of sea grape trees and ragged brush that had taken hold on the sandy spit. Her Glock was in her hand, and Lara followed her as the path curved toward the dock.
“We have to go help Adrianna!” Lara said.
And then she tripped over something.
A body.
*
“So you just don’t like Lara, is that it?” Brett asked, sitting across the table from Myles Dawson.
Dawson looked at the small digital recorder sitting between them. “I like her fine,” he said.
“Then, why would you play a trick like that on her?” Brett asked.
Myles slumped back and sighed. He lifted his hands. “You don’t understand. I’ve worked there for three years now. I’m still an intern. I teach classes. I play with kids. I smile and haul fish for the trainers. Hell, I get people coffee when they ask. It was past time for them to hire me and bring on some other sucker as an intern. Instead, they paid a fortune to hire Lara.”
“So you just wanted to scare her away? Why? Your job is nothing like hers.”
“Really? She was hired to do media. Next thing you know, she’s a star trainer and consultant for the FBI. She’ll be running Education soon enough. Dr. Amory thinks she’s the best thing we’ve seen since he doesn’t know when. He wants to work with her and Cocoa. If she starts working with Amory, I’ll never be full-time.”
“And you’re sure—you’re absolutely sure—that no one put you up to your ‘prank’?”
Myles looked back at Brett, baffled. He lifted his hands again. “What? I’m so stupid I can’t even have an original idea?”
Brett leaned forward. “People have died, Myles. Do you want to be convicted for being an accessory to murder?”
“Me? Murder? Good God, it was a prank!” Myles protested.
“You ever have a drug habit?” Brett asked him.
“What? No!”
“Were you ever caught stealing? Doing anything you shouldn’t have done?”