~ Deception Cove ~

by

Deena Lindstedt

A very wet and bedraggled young woman stood alongside of the highway when Steve pulled his police car onto the shoulder. She had climbed over a large metal gate that blocked the logging road she had hiked down. Tired and cold, she hugged her arms around herself. Steve jumped from the car and would have grabbed her in his arms, but changed his mind when he saw her muddy clothes. A huge smile lit up his face.

“Are you smiling because you’re glad to see me or do I look that bad?” Her teeth chattered.

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“Doesn’t work. I either broke it when I fell, or it got wet.” She looked at Steve’s sympathetic face. “Don’t look at me, I know I’m a sight, and I’m freezing.”

“Come on, I’ll take you home so you can clean up.” He put his arm gingerly around her shoulders and led her to the car. “I was about ready to call in a search and rescue team,” he said as he opened the car door.

“Do you have something to put on the seat? I’ll get it all muddy.”

“Yeah, I think so. Just a sec.” He went to the trunk and brought back a gray wool blanket that had probably seen service covering a jail cot. Wrapping the blanket around her, he helped her get in the car and then came around and slid in beside her. Starting the car, he turned the heater on full blast. Meredith tightened the blanket around her shivering body.

Instead of driving away, he gazed at her for a few seconds. “I don’t care how you look, come here.” He reached for her and pulled her into his arms; his kiss long and probing. “I was so worried.” He held her tightly their cheeks pressed together. She turned her face to his for another lingering kiss. His mouth moved across hers searching for a deeper response. If her arms had not been pinned under the blanket, she would have returned his embrace. She slowly pulled her mouth away. “You aren’t taking advantage of a bruised and battered broad, are you?” She whispered, snuggling her head into his neck.

“I guess I am. You’re not sorry are you?”

“Not really. Can’t you tell?” When a car slowly passed by loaded with teenagers, Meredith pulled from his arms. Heads could be seen hanging out the car windows, the driver honking his horn as they sped down the highway. “I think we’re putting on a show for the passing traffic.”

“Who cares,” he said looking around, “but I should get you home so you can get cleaned up.” He released the hand brake.

“Steve… I can’t go back.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t go back to the motel.” Meredith didn’t know what to tell him. How could she tell him his deputy was trying to kill her? Or about Leon Bledsoe?

“What’s going on? What is it you’re not telling me? Just how did you happen to get lost?”

“You have a right to know, but not yet. Can you take me somewhere else? I can book a room at a different motel.” Meredith started to shiver again.

“Meredith, you’re either being foolish or… You’re scared, aren’t you?”

“Yes, and very cold.”

“You can come to my house.” On the way, he radioed his office telling Martha he was taking the rest of the day off.

“Did you tell anyone about me being lost?”

Steve glanced her way. “No. When I got your call, I was alone in the office. I had to wait for Martha to return from lunch. I’ve been driving up and down 101 since then.”

“Gus wasn’t available?”

“No. He’s on vacation. Hunting season opened today. My other deputies are all out on patrol. It’s a busy time of the year.”

When Steve pulled the car onto a narrow paved roadway, Meredith recognized this was the entry into Columbia Electronics’ R & D Center. They passed by the parking lot where she had waited for Geoff Nylander. The paved road gave way to a shaded gravel lane. They drove until the road dead-ended.

Steve pulled into a driveway leading to a garage and stopped the car. The one-story house blended into the natural landscape of Oregon grape, salal and ferns. She admired a giant clump of brilliant orange flowers Steve called montbretia. A rhododendron bush the size of a small tree stood off to the side. Along the edge of the rocky crest, she noticed several Sitka spruce trees bent into arthritic shapes by the ocean wind and salt spray. Gray cedar shakes covered one half of the house with other half covered by black building paper. They walked over a rocky path that led to a narrow wooden porch. Steve unlocked the door and Meredith took off her muddy shoes and left them on the step.

He led her past a counter that separated the kitchen from the living room and a maple dining room table. A large rack of elk antlers held a prominent place over a huge river rock fireplace. The furnishings were sparse but did include a blue and mauve plaid sectional sofa and an overstuffed brown leather chair and hassock positioned to take advantage of the ocean view and the fireplace. All the walls had been newly sheet-rocked and appeared ready for painting. To her left, the house expansion extended beyond a blue tarp.

“I think I told you I’m having the house remodeled.” Meredith nodded, trying not to let her teeth chatter. “I’m having this room enlarged, plus a new master bedroom and bath. Both rooms will have an ocean view. I think it’ll be nice when I can afford to get it finished. I’ll show you around, but first we have to get you warmed up.” He walked to the fireplace.

A calico cat came mewing from a hallway and Meredith bent over to scratch its head. “What’s your name?”

“That’s Mrs. Murphy,” Steve said as he crouched in front of the fireplace wadding up newspapers. “I’ll have a fire going in a minute.”

Meredith hugged the blanket around her and walked to a large bay window overlooking the ocean. “What a fabulous view.” The sky had become completely overcast and it looked like a rainstorm was building on the horizon. A trail and a long flight of wooden steps led to a sandy beach below. Giant waves washed against the shore. The house was isolated with no neighbors within view. “How did you manage to find this place?”

“My dad bought fifty acres, including this cabin, thirty or so years ago; mostly as an investment. Later he decided to construct the company’s research center here. I talked him into selling me the house a couple of years ago.”

“Edie said you lived with her while you were growing up.” She watched as Steve set fire to the paper and kindling.

“That’s right. Dad built his retirement house on the other end of the property, about a half-mile south of here. We’re lucky to have this stretch of beach to ourselves.” Meredith looked down the coastline to where she thought Sam Lowery’s house could be. Drug smuggling crossed her mind again.

“The fire’s going good now. Come and get warm.”

Meredith walked to the fireplace and when she reached her hands toward the blaze, the blanket fell from her shoulders. Steve reached down for it at the same time as she, their hands meeting; their eyes just inches apart. Steve’s voice was husky as he replaced the blanket, keeping his arms around her as she faced the fire. He put his chin on top of her head.

“You need to get out of those wet clothes.” The air between them seemed charged and Meredith forgot about her disheveled appearance, nearly unable to breathe, wanting him to keep his body close to hers. As she felt him move away, he cleared his throat.

“I’ll fill the tub and find something for you to wear.” She turned around as Steve walked across the living room heading for the hallway.

“Steve?” He stopped and looked at her. “I appreciate you looking out for me, pulling you from your job and everything.”

“That’s okay,” he said as he disappeared down a hall. She sank to a hand-woven rag rug and held her wet socks and icy feet toward the flame. The smell of wood smoke was somehow comforting. The cat crawled onto her lap and she softly scratched its head. She leaned back against the large hassock and closed her eyes.

“Meri. He gently shook her shoulder. “Honey, you need to get out of those wet clothes. Go away, Murph,” he said as he pushed the cat off her lap. Meredith opened her eyes. Steve was crouched along side of her.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“Shh, it’s okay. I’ll take care of you,” he said as he put his arms under her knees and around her back. He easily lifted her into his arms. “The bathtub’s full of nice warm water.”

Meredith felt herself carried down the hallway, past a bedroom door and into a bathroom. Setting her down on the toilet seat, he let the blanket drop behind her.

“Here, I’ll help you get this muddy shirt off.”

As he pulled the sweatshirt sleeve away from her hand, she winced in pain. Holding it up, she showed him the ruffled skin on the heel of her hand, caked with mud and pitch from the tree branch.

“Ooh, ouch. You’ve hurt your hand.”

“This one too,” she said as she held up the other one. Her blue eyes danced as she tried not to smile.

“I’ll take care of you,” he said, over-emphasizing the baby talk. They both started to laugh which eased the tension between them considerably. Steve retrieved a bottle of rubbing alcohol and cotton balls from the medicine cabinet.

“This’ll sting but there’s no other way to clean off the pitch.”

While he was working over her hands, she told him of her harrowing experience coming down the mountain. They were both laughing when she told about falling backward into the creek. When he finished cleaning her hands, he helped her pull off the sweatshirt. Hard pink nipples pushed against the lace of her bra. Steve stared at her breasts as he held the sweatshirt loosely in his hand. When he started to reach for her, she held up her hands to hold him off.

“I can manage from here.”

Steve seemed to catch himself and backed away. “You’re sure you don’t need my help.”

Meredith smiled in return and shook her head.

“Wash your back; anything at all?”

“You’d better leave.”

“If you insist, but…”