Free Dangerous Depths by Colleen Coble Page A

newlyweds. I thought maybe you’d checked on her.”
    “Tony’s parents are in town. I didn’t want to intrude. Besides, I thought I’d be able to help more by keeping things running smoothly at the shop. I’ll do all I can to help, of course.”
    “I’m sure she’s thankful you’re doing that.” Her gaze wandered to Bane again as he moved past Candace and turned to go. Her gaze met his, and he half raised his hand, then came toward her.
    “I suppose you’ve all gotten calls from Ono?” Bane’s gaze swept the group again as everyone nodded. “You realize we’re all going to be under suspicion if Tony’s death is deemed a murder, don’t you?”
    Shaina straightened, and her bushy hair bounced as she shook her finger at him. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Tony was our friend. None of us would hurt him.”
    “I wish I’d been down there,” Dirk said. “Maybe I could have saved him.”
    Bane colored slightly. “It all happened so fast. You know how it is underwater. None of us saw anything suspicious.”
    Leia examined the faces of the other divers. Could one of them be a murderer? “The police have to know it couldn’t have been one of us,” she said. “Anyone could have seen the dive boat out there and realized he was down. Another diver could have attacked him.”
    “Who was his buddy?” Jermaine demanded.
    “I was,” Leia said. “But I was looking at the coral, and he signaled that he’d be right back, then he swam into the cave.”
    “He knew better than to go into a cave alone,” Rae said.
    “Apparently not,” Dirk said. “Then what happened, Leia?”
    “I don’t know. I just remember Bane pointing to Tony shooting to the surface. We all swam up and found out what happened. I never saw a thing.”
    “No divers you didn’t recognize or any other kind of disturbance?” Bane asked.
    She shook her head. “Nothing. This isn’t your problem, Bane,” Leia told him. “You always think it’s your job to take care of every-thing. Let the police handle it.”
    “Tony was my best friend. He gave me a job when I needed to help support my family, he pulled me from the waves when I got knocked from the boat and hit my head on the side—he would expect me to be there for his family. I’m not going to turn my back on him now.”
    “I’m not asking you to. But let Ono handle it.”
    “He can use all the help he can get. I know Tony better than he does. He won’t turn down any leads I can come up with.”
    Leia knew he was right about that. Murder wasn’t an everyday occurrence on the tiny island. “I’ll see what Dr. Kapuy has to say. He would have looked at Tony’s body before it was sent to Honolulu for the autopsy.” She was next in line to talk to Candace. The person ahead of her stepped away, and Leia moved up to face the young widow. “I’m so sorry,” she murmured. She embraced Candace, and the other woman clung to her.
    “I don’t know what I’m going to do without him,” Candace whispered in her ear.
    “Are you doing okay? Any cramps or anything?”
    Candace wiped her eyes. Her eyes were so red and swollen they looked painful. “I’m fine physically. I have to tell his parents about the baby.”
    “They’ll be thrilled.” Leia’s gaze went down the line to where Alfredo and Carlotta Romero stood. Carlotta had wailed her misery at the funeral, and Alfredo had taken her from the church. She stood sobbing against her husband’s shoulder and kept mopping at her face with a soggy handkerchief.
    “I don’t think so. They never thought I was good enough for Tony. Working in Hollywood tainted me in their eyes. They’ll probably wonder if the baby is even Tony’s.” Tears welled in Candace’s eyes again. Tony always bragged that she could have made it big in the movies if she hadn’t married him, but Leia didn’t think Candace had enough drive or a hard enough edge to get to the big time. She’d done a few commercials, most notably