Protector, Lover...Husband?: In the Dark / Sure Bet / Deadly Exposure
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“I believe you,” Alex said. “Please, get to the point.”
“John said he liked you a lot, but he wasn’t stepping in when there was obviously something still going on between you and David. He was concerned, though, and wished you weren’t still emotionally involved with David. John’s afraid that Alicia Farr has disappeared. And that she’s met with foul play. He was worried about me, and he’s very worried about you, because apparently there’s a nurse in Miami who heard Daniel Fuller talking about you, a treasure and the dolphins. Honestly, Alex, I can see why you had such a crush on John—before David showed up again. John is wonderful. I stayed at his place—just in case anyone knew I’d seen the body you discovered and thought that I might know who it was or talk. That’s why you couldn’t get hold of me. I stayed there even when he was out on David’s boat. And last night…he told me about Seth Granger, and that he didn’t think Granger died by accident. So…he knows I was going to talk to you. Alex…Alex…are you there?”
“Yes, I’m here. Why does he suspect David?”
“Who else was close to Alicia Farr? Who else is famous for his treasure hunting expeditions? Really, you should have gotten off the island. Maybe you still can. Oh, and, Alex…”
Her voice faded, and there was a great deal of static on the line.
“Alex, did you hear me? Watch…” Static. “I know because…” Static.
Then the line went dead completely.
An arm slipped around her shoulders, and she nearly jumped a mile.
“Hey!” It was Jay. He’d actually doffed his suit and was in simple jeans and a red polo shirt so he could help batten things down. “You all right?”
“Yes, of course.” She wasn’t all right at all, but she sure intended to fake it. “Jay, who is still on Moon Bay?”
“There’s Len and me, you, the reporter—Hank Adamson. He’s been incredibly helpful, and he wants to write about the storm. It’s not going to be that big a hurricane, at least.”
“Right. Hopefully, she’ll stay small. But who else is here, Jay? Anyone?”
“John Seymore—and your ex–old man.”
“You let those two stay—and made your staff evacuate?”
“David has hit storms like this at sea, he can surely weather it. And John Seymore was a SEAL. They both wanted to stay. I had the power, and I said yes. Do you have a problem with this?”
Yes.
But she couldn’t explain that she doubted both men—or why. She couldn’t forget her conversation with Laurie. John Seymore claimed to be some sort of agent, but was he really? Had Laurie seen any credentials?
And what about David? David, who kept warning her that she was in danger.
Had he known she had found a body on the beach because he had been the one to murder the woman?
No, surely not. She winced, realizing that she was refusing to believe it because she was in love with him. She had been since she had met him. The divorce hadn’t really meant anything, and she would probably be in love with him the rest of her life.
However long, or short, a time that might be.
Where the hell was Alex? John Seymore wondered. Jay Galway had said that he’d sent her and Gil out to check the trails, but they should have been back long ago.
He went out in search of them himself.
For a small island, there were an awful lot of trails. He began to understand what had taken them so long.
As he walked, he was easily able to assure himself that everyone else had gotten off the island. He called out now and then, looked everywhere and didn’t find a soul.
But, returning, he smelled a foul odor on the air and instantly recognized it. The smell of death.
As he hurried forward, his heart shuddered hard against his chest. He stood still, looking around for any sign of company.
After a moment, convinced he was alone, he stepped forward to examine the source of the odor.
A moment later, he stepped back, relieved to have discovered only a dead possum, then hurried along the rest of the trails. When he reached the Tiki Hut, it was empty. Walking around to the docks, he saw no one, and far out to sea, the last ferry was just visible.
He turned, hesitating for a moment. Alex might have gone to the lodge. But though the winds had picked up a great deal, growing stronger by the minute now, so it seemed, they were still hardly in serious weather.
He heard a distant splash.
The dolphin lagoons.
With quick steps, he hurried toward them. He arrived in time to see Alex on the second platform, talking to her charges and handing out fish. He started along the path to the platforms. Halfway there, she met him, empty fish bucket in her hand. She stopped short, staring at him.
“Alex.” He said her name with relief.
She still looked at him suspiciously.
“Alex, you…you have to be careful.”
“Yes, I know,” she said, sounding wary. Then she stiffened. “I hear you’re an agent.”
“You hear I’m what?”
“An agent. A government agent. An FBI man—or so Laurie assumes.”
“I’m not on the payroll, but yes, I work with the FBI.”
“If you’re working for the government, then why not just announce it?”
“Because there are those who shouldn’t know—just yet. Because I don’t know what has really happened—or might happen.”
“So you’re accusing David of being willing to kill to get what he wants?”
John Seymore sized her up quickly and shook his head. “I’m not accusing anyone of anything. Not yet. But Alicia Farr has disappeared. And a man died under mysterious circumstances yesterday. Your name was mentioned by a dying man who supposedly held a secret worth millions.”
“I see…So I shouldn’t trust David, and your only interest in me was because a dying man kept saying my name?” she asked skeptically.
He sighed, feeling his shoulders slump. “I want to protect you.”
“Gee, everybody wants to protect me.”
“Alex, you know that my interest in you was real.”
“What I know is that there are six of us together here for a storm. Together. I won’t be alone. And by the way, I don’t know a damn thing about the treasure, where it is, or what it has to do with dolphins, so you don’t need to draw me into casual conversation about it.”
“Alex, I really am with the authorities.”
“Want to show me some credentials?”
He pulled out his wallet, keeping his distance, showing her his identification.
“Consultant, right,” she said with polite skepticism.
“I’m a civilian employee, working special cases.”
“This is a special case?”
“I was a navy SEAL. This is a sea-related investigation.”
“Well, as we both know, IDs can be easily faked.”
“I’m telling the truth,” he said.
“So you went after Laurie?” she said, still polite, but her tone conveying that she didn’t believe a word.
“I didn’t go after Laurie. There was nothing personal between us. Besides, you were back with your ex-husband,” he said flatly, then added a careful, “And far too trusting of him, far too quickly.”
“Well, rest assured, I’m not sure if I trust anyone anymore. And now I see Jay. I have to lock up a few things and get up to the lodge. Excuse me, please.”
She walked by him as if she had all the confidence in the world. His eyes followed her, and he could see that she hadn’t been lying. Jay Galway was there.
Was he to be trusted?
There was little else he could do but hurry back for his own things and get to the storm room to join the others.
He looked at the sky just as the rain began.
Chapter Ten
As soon as David got back to Moon Bay, he raced to look for Alex at the dolphin lagoons. The dolphins were swimming around in an erratic manner, but there was no sign of Alex.
He decided that she might have gone to her cottage. Jay had ordered that the six of them remaining on the island had to gather in the storm room by ten that night, when the worst was due to hit, but it was nowhere near that late, and she might well have gone to her cottage for a bath, clothing and necessities.
But she wasn’t at the cottage when he arrived. Running his fingers through his hair and taking long, jerky strides, he went through the little place, room by room.
Then he heard the door open and close. He hurried from her bedroom, relief filling him.
“Alex!”
“Hey,” she murmured. She didn’t sound hostile, just tense—and wary.
“Are you all right?” he demanded.
She frowned. “Of course.” She eyed him up and down. “You don’t look too good.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve been worried about you. I told you to stay in a crowd.”
“I was with someone all day,” she said, still watching him carefully. “I’ve been busy…just opened the lagoon gates. Uh, I think I need a shower. So if you’ll excuse me…”
Was she suggesting that he leave her? Not on her life. Maybe literally.
“I’ll be right here. Hey, want coffee? Tea? The electricity will probably go out soon. Of course, there’s a generator in the storm room. I guess it’s not like you can’t have tea later, if you want. But I think I’ll make some coffee, anyway.” He turned his back on her, walking to the kitchen area, reaching into the cupboard. He could feel her watching him. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling.
After a minute, he heard her walk to the bedroom. Her behavior was disturbing. She wasn’t fighting him or arguing with him—it was almost as if she were afraid to.
She reappeared just a minute later, obviously perplexed.
“When did you get here?” she asked him.
“About two minutes before you walked in. Why?”
“Did you…move things around in here today?”
“No, why?”
“Oh, nothing. The maids seem to be getting a little strange, that’s all. The maid’s been in, right? Bed is made, towels are all fresh,” she said.
“Then the maid must have been in. I didn’t clean up,” he said without apology.
She shrugged and stared at him. Studied him. As if she could find what she was looking for if she just kept at it long enough.
“All you really all right?” he asked her.
“I’m fine. But you really look like hell.”
“I need a shower, too. I took Zach and Ally out on the Icarus. Then I took her around to the dry dock on the Gulf side and had to get back here.”
“You didn’t have to get back here,” she corrected him. “You don’t work here.”
“I knew you’d be staying with your dolphins, and I wasn’t about to leave you here alone with…Alone.”
She nodded. Suddenly, to his surprise, she walked up to him, put her arms around him and pressed against him. Instinctively, he embraced her, smoothing back her wet hair. “What is it?” he asked, at a loss.
“I do know you, don’t I?” she whispered.
“Better than anyone else,” he said. “Alex, what is this?”
She pulled away slightly, a strange smile on her lips. “You’re not good husband material, you know.”
That hurt. “You were the best wife any man could have,” he told her.
“You do love me, in your way, don’t you?”
“In my way?” he said, finding it his turn to seek an explanation in her eyes. “In every way,” he said, passion reverberating in his tone, his words vehement. “I swear, I never stopped loving you, Alex. Never. I would die for you in a heartbeat.”
She slipped from his arms. “I have to shower,” she murmured. “Get a few things together.”
She walked into the bedroom. Five minutes later, he couldn’t stand it anymore and followed.
The water was streaming down on her. Here, as in the other bath, the glass doors were clear. He should give her space, so that she wouldn’t decide to send him away. Now, when he needed so desperately to be with her.
You look like hell, she had told him.
Hell yes. Because I found your disappearing body, and it is Alicia Farr, and, oh God, what the sea can do to human flesh…
There was no way he would tell her about his discovery now. Not until the storm had abated and the sheriff had come. They were all alone here now, at the mercy of the storm. And maybe of a murderer.
Her head was cast back as she rinsed shampoo from her hair. Back arched, limbs long, torso compelling in its clean-lined arc. He felt the sudden shudder of his heart and the iron tug on his muscles.
Taking a step forward, he opened the glass door. She looked at him and waited.
“I told you, I need to shower, too.”
“There is another shower.”
“But you’re not in it.”
He was startled to see her smile. Then her smile faded and a little shudder rippled through her. She backed up, inviting him in. He stripped in seconds and followed her.
“Shampoo?” she offered.
“That would be good.”
“On your head?” she asked.
“Where else?”
“Should I show you?”
Her tone was absolutely innocent, and still strange.
And then he realized that she wanted him—and was afraid of him.
He set the shampoo down on a tile shelf and took her into his arms, ignoring the blast of the hot water on his shoulders. “Alex, what’s wrong?”
“I’m in danger. You told me so yourself,” she assured him, eyes amazingly green in the steamy closeness of the shower.
“But not from me,” he whispered.
She stared back at him. Then, suddenly, she shuddered once again, moving into his arms. He held her there while the water poured over them. He felt the delicious surge of heat sluicing over his body, felt himself becoming molten steel, abs bunching, sex rising, limbs feeling like iron, but vital, movable…
She knew his arousal. Knew it, sensed it, touched it. Her fingers slid erotically down the wet length of his chest and curled around his sex. She ran her fingers up and down the length of him, creating an abundance of slick, sensual suds. Spasms of arousal shuddered through him, and he lowered his lips to her shoulder, her throat, then caught her mouth with his own, tongue delving with sheer erotic intent. He ran his hands down her back, massaged his fingers over the base of her spine, cupped them around her buttocks and drew her hard against him. He was only vaguely aware of the pounding of the water. He was keenly cognizant of the feel of her flesh against his, and the heat rising between them. Catching her around the midriff, he lifted her, met her eyes and slowly brought her down, sheathing himself inside her, and finally, when her limbs were wrapped around him and they were completely locked together, he pressed her back against the tile and began to move. She buried her head against his neck, rocking, riding, moving with his every thrust, her teeth grazing his shoulders, the water careening over them both. It wasn’t enough.
Without letting her go, he used one hand to reach for the door. Opening it, he exited the slick shower with her still enfolding him and staggered to the bedroom, then fell down on the bed with her, drenching the neat spread and not caring in the least. They rocked together in a desperate rhythm that seemed to be echoed by the rise of the wind and spatter of the rain beyond the confines of the cottage. He moved, and his lips found her throat, her breasts, her mouth, once again. He brought them both to a near frenzy, withdrew, and then, despite her fingers in his hair and her urgency to bring him back, he kissed the length of her soap-slicked body, burying himself between her thighs, relishing her words of both ecstasy and urgency, at last rejoining her once again, his force rising with his shuddering thrust, until they climaxed in a sweet and shattering explosion.
They lay together afterward, damp and panting. His arm remained around her, but strangely, she suddenly seemed detached. So passionate, so incredible…
And then…
“It’s getting late. I’ve got to get dressed. Grab a few things…did you want to go to your cottage? You could do that while I pack a few things.”
He stared down at her, definitely taken aback. “Wham, bang, thank you, sir?” he inquired politely.
She flushed. “There’s a storm on the way.”
“Of course, excuse me, let me just get out of the way.”
He rose, baffled, heading for his clothes. Then he stopped, turning back to her. “Alex, there’s always a storm on the way.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You—there’s always something. You won’t talk.”
“There is a storm out there!” she exclaimed.
“If you’d ever called me, ever talked about the thoughts going through your mind—”
“I called you a number of times, David. There was always someone there to say that you’d get back to me, you were in the water, you were working with a submersible…you were…well, God knows what you were doing,” she told him.
He started to walk back toward her. Strangely, she backed away from him.
“David, there is a storm out there. And worse,” she added softly.
“We both should have gotten off the island,” he said angrily, and started to leave again. Then he spun back on her, letting her edge away from him until she came flat against the bedroom wall. Then he pinned her there.
“Get this straight. Whatever you’re feeling, whatever I did, whatever you think I did, I would defend you with my last breath, I would die to keep you safe, and I will love you the rest of my life. Turn your back on me and never see me again when this is over, hell, don’t even send a Christmas card, but for the love of God, trust me now!”
He didn’t wait for a reply. She had been too passionate, then too stubborn and distant, for him to expect a response that made sense. It was as if she had suddenly decided that she didn’t trust him.
He was dressed before she was, wearing the swim trunks and T-shirt he’d had on all day. In a few minutes she was dressed as well, a small duffel bag thrown over her shoulder. “I thought you were getting your things?” she said.
“I’m not leaving you,” he told her. “Come on; we’ve got to stop by my place.”
The wind had really picked up, and rain was pelting down. Alex started out, then stepped back, telling him she had macs in the cabinet. They were bright yellow. They certainly wouldn’t be hiding in those, David thought grimly.
When he opened the door again, the wind nearly ripped it from its hinges. “Let’s go!” he shouted. “This thing is coming in really fast.”
They ran along the path. Thankfully, David’s cottage was close. Inside, he didn’t bother dressing, just grabbed fresh clothing and toiletries, then joined Alex again in minutes. They started along the trail toward the lodge. Just as they neared the Tiki Hut and the lagoons, a flash of lightning tore across the sky, almost directly in front of them.
They heard a thunderous boom. Sparks seemed to explode in the sky.
The island went dark, except for the generator-run lights from the lodge.
In the dark, David took her arm. Together, they began to hurry carefully across the lawn to the main lobby, where Jay was waiting for them impatiently.
He led the way through the reception area, the back office and through a door that led down several steps. It wasn’t a storm cellar, since it would be impossible to dig on an island that had been enhanced by man to begin with. Rather, the ground had been built up, so they were actually on a man-made hill.
The storm room was just that—one big room. There were ten cots set up in it, others folded and lined up against a wall, and doors that were labeled “Men” and “Women.” There was a large dining table, surrounded by a number of upholstered chairs, and a counter that separated a kitchen area from the rest of the room. A battery-operated radio sat on the counter.
“Nice,” David commented.
“Very nice,” Hank Adamson said, rising from where he’d been sitting at the foot of one of the cots. “It’s great, actually.”
“If you like being closed in,” Len said, shrugging. It was clear that he had remained only out of deference to Jay. But he offered a weak grin.
“The kitchen is stocked, we’ve got plenty of water, and as you can see, the generator has already kicked in,” Jay said. “The brunt of the storm is due at about 4 or 5 a.m. She’s still moving quickly, which is good. And her winds are at a shade less than a hundred miles an hour, so she’s not a category four or five.”
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