Page 85 of Rogue Wave

My dad lunged, and Samson turned to him. My father reached for the gun but wasn’t quick enough.

The gun went off with a deafening sound that reverberated through the kitchen. My ears rang as the sharp crack echoed.

I watched as my dad’s body jerked back and fell to the ground.

Through squinted eyes, Samson turned again and aimed his gun directly at me.

24

“I don’t rise and shine. I rumble and drizzle.”

—It’s science

Dougie

My leg was killing me. I’d gone for a run this morning and then had physical therapy afterward, and I was paying for it now. My prosthetic socket was digging into my nub of a knee, and the pain had gone from dull to pinching to stabbing in the last hour.

I was standing in my kitchen, arms stretched out on either side of my sink, willing the pain to stop long enough for my medicine to kick in and for me to walk to my bedroom and get into my wheelchair.

Movement outside my window caught my eye. Two men, dressed in all black, crept from the forest beyond my property, heading in the direction of Hazel’s house. You didn’t dress in all black—complete with hoods—unless you were up to no good.

I knew Hazel was over at Hank’s house, so I wasn’t concerned about her safety at the moment, but I was curious as to who was headed there—and why. I had my suspicions, but I wanted to get some more intel before I alerted Hank.

I watched as they snuck to the back door and then disappeared from my line of sight. Unless that was to walk around the other side—which I highly doubted—it meant they were now inside her house.

I grabbed my phone and shot off a quick text to Hank, letting him know what was going on.

Thanks to a boost of adrenaline, I powered through with my prosthetic still on, grabbing my handgun and small pistol just in case. Stealthily, I made my way out my back door and over to the side of her house. I knew she didn’t lock her bedroom window because she often left it cracked open for some fresh air. Sliding it open just enough for me to hear inside, I gazed around and then climbed through.

I may be retired now, but my years in the Navy had taught me the necessary skills to slip in and out of places unseen and unheard. The prosthetic may have complicated that a bit, but I was still better than most.

I heard rustling and quiet murmurs from down the hall, so I positioned myself behind her door to listen in and get some background before I texted Hank again. He still hadn’t responded to my first one. My guess was he was either showering or he and Hazel were doing the naked tango.

“We can’t be here long or someone might see us,” a male voice sounded from the other side of the door.

“Then hurry the fuck up, Carson,” another voice sounded, confirming at least one of the suspects’ identities.

I couldn’t see them well, but from my brief glimpse of them through my kitchen window, and based on what my gut was telling me, the other man was his colleague, Samson Huxley. The two men I’d done a hell of a lot of digging into the past few weeks.

“We don’t know for sure that something is in here,” Carson said.

“That ex of hers told you she took a bunch of shells from the beach, and that’s exactly what we need,” Huxley explained. “He said the bitch wouldn’t know what she had, so it’s here. We just need to find it before she figures out what she has.”

Seashells?

What the fuck was in the seashells?

And how did they know Hazel’s ex?

I needed to text Hank again and tell him to call in the troops. This was getting too deep for me.

Unfortunately, before I could pull out my phone, the front door opened, and I heard a man’s voice.

“Look who it is,” Huxley said with a snarl.

“Wh…what are you doing here?” Hazel replied.

Fuck.