Mattie followed uneasily. “Hugh, I really don't understand.” She frowned as she watched him step into the huge white tub and push at a section of wall behind the taps. “What in the world—?”
“Cormier built a lot of ways out of this place. He was a born strategist.”
“I see. He was expecting trouble, then?”
“Not specifically. Not here on Purgatory.” Hugh watched as the wall panel slid aside to reveal a dark corridor. “But like I say, he was always prepared.”
“Oh, my goodness.” Mattie shivered as she stared into the darkness. The old uneasiness she always felt in confined places stirred in the pit of her stomach. “Uh, Hugh, maybe I should warn you, I'm not very good in—”
“Not now, Mattie.” His tone was impatient as he stepped into the black corridor and turned around to reach for her hand.
“Do we have to go this way?” Mattie asked helplessly.
“Stop whining, babe. I don't have time to listen to it.”
Thoroughly humiliated now, Mattie found the strength to step into the corridor. Hugh pushed a button and the panel slid shut behind her. She held her breath but discovered she did not have to stand long in the darkness. Hugh switched on a flashlight he'd taken from one of the string bags.
“Thank God you found a flashlight,” Mattie said.
“No problem. Cormier kept a couple in every room of the house. I picked this one up in the kitchen, but there's probably one in here, too. Electricity is always a little erratic on an island like this. Come on, babe.”
The hallway was narrow but mercifully short. With the assistance of the light and several deep breaths, Mattie was able to control her claustrophobia just as she did in elevators. Hugh was pushing another button and opening an exit in the side of the house before her own personal walls had begun to close in to any great extent.
Mattie stepped outside with a sense of relief and found herself in the middle of a leafy green jungle bower that grew right up to the side of the mansion. She batted at a huge, broad leaf that was directly in front of her. “Well, that wasn't so bad, but I really don't see why we had to leave that way. It seems to me it would have been simpler to walk straight to the car.”
Hugh was moving forward into what looked to Mattie like a wall of thick foliage. Once again he ignored her comment. “Stay close, Mattie. I don't want to lose you in the jungle.”
“I'm not going into any jungle.”
“Yes, you are. You and I are going to do the only smart thing we can do under these circumstances. We're going to stay out of sight until we can get hold of transportation.”
“Hugh, this is crazy. I'm not traipsing off into that jungle. In fact, I'm not going anywhere at all until I've had a chance to think.”
“You can think later. Right now you're just going to move.” He was already vanishing into the greenery.
Aunt Charlotte's pet wolf was apparently accustomed to giving orders and having them followed. He had been known to give orders to Charlotte, herself.
Mattie stood irresolute near the wall of the mansion, the string bag dangling from her fingers. Common sense told her she should be running after Hugh. He was, after all, the expert on this kind of thing. But a sickening combination of disbelief, shock, and an old irrational anger held her frozen for an instant.
Hugh glanced back over his shoulder, eyes narrowing. “Get moving, Mattie. Now.”
He did not raise his voice, but the words were a whiplash that broke through Mattie's uncertainty. She hurried forward, fighting with her purse and the string bag.
Two steps past the barrier of broad leaves, Mattie found herself completely enveloped in an eerie green world. Her senses were overwhelmed by the rich, humid scent. The ground beneath her shoes was soft and springy and nearly black in color; a giant compost pile that had been simmering for eons. It sucked at her two-hundred-dollar Italian shoes as if it were a living thing that feasted on fancy leather.
Massive ferns that would have won first place in any garden show back in Seattle hovered in Mattie's path like plump green ghosts. Long, meandering vines studded with exotic orchids billowed around her. It was like swimming beneath the surface of a primeval sea. A couple of fat raindrops landed on her head.
“Hugh, where are we going? We'll get lost in here.”
“We're not going far. And we won't get lost. All we have to do is keep the house to our backs and the sound of the ocean to our left. Cormier was a wily old fox. He always made certain he had a bolt hole, and he kept the escape plans simple.”
“If he was so clever, why is he dead back there inside that mansion?”
“Even smart old foxes eventually slow down and make mistakes.” Hugh pushed past a bank of massive leaves that blocked the way.
The leaves promptly sprang back into position. A mass of beautiful white lilies slapped Mattie right in the face. “Ariel was right,” she muttered under her breath at Hugh's disappearing back, “you really aren't much of a gentleman, are you?” She pushed at the lilies, the string bag and her purse banging wildly about her sides.
“Watch out for these leaves,” Hugh advised over his shoulder. “They're real springy.”
“I noticed.” Mattie ducked to avoid the next swinging mass of greenery. She was grateful for the aerobic exercise program she had begun nearly a year ago on her thirty-first birthday. She had taken it up as one of many antidotes to the stress that seemed to press down on her from all directions these days. Without that regular exercise, she never would have had the physical stamina to keep up with Hugh Abbott as they raced through a jungle.
Not that it was ever easy for a woman such as herself to keep up with Hugh under the best of circumstances. As he had once made very clear, she was not his type. Mattie winced at the memory of that old humiliation.
“Not much farther now. How you doing, babe?” Hugh vaulted lightly over a fallen log and reached back to give Mattie a hand.
“I'm still here, aren't I?” Mattie asked between her teeth. The rain was getting heavier. The canopy of green overhead began to drip like a leaky ceiling. Mattie heard something tear as she scrambled over the log. She thought at first it was the seat of her beautifully tailored olive green trousers but realized it was the sleeve of her cream-colored silk shirt instead. It had gotten caught on a vine.
“Damn.” Mattie glanced down at the rip and sighed. “Why would Cormier show you his escape route?” she asked, raising her eyes to Hugh's back. “I didn't know you even knew him.”
He didn't turn or even slow his pace as he answered. “You'd have found out I knew him if you'd stuck to your original schedule and been on the plane to St. Gabe this morning the way you were supposed to be. Didn't Charlotte's travel department make the reservations for you?”
“They made them. I altered my plans at the last minute when I saw the itinerary. I recognized St. Gabriel Island and realized I was being set up. I decided I didn't need you for a tour guide.”
“Even though you were going straight into Purgatory?” he asked dryly. “Come on, now, Mattie. You know what they say. Better the devil you know. Look what happened when you decided to go your own way.”
“I suppose you would have realized instantly that there was a military coup going on here?”
“Long before you did, babe. As soon as I contacted the tower, I knew something was wrong. If you'd been with me, we wouldn't have even touched down. I'd have turned and headed for Hades or Brimstone and tried to contact Cormier by phone to see what was happening.”
“Hugh, please. I realize that you are ever vigilant and always prepared when it comes to this sort of thing and I'm not. But I really don't need any of your lectures right now.”
To Mattie's astonishment, his voice gentled. “I know, babe, I know. I'm still a little shook, myself, that's all.”
She stared at his broad-shouldered back, not believing her ears. “You? Shook?”
“Hell, yes. I was afraid I was going to walk in and find you dead in that hall along with Cormier.”
“Oh.”
“Is that all you can say?” The gentleness had already vanished from his rough voice.
“Well, I can see where it would have been a bit awkward explaining things to Aunt Charlotte.”
“Christ. There is that, isn't there? She'd have had my head.” Hugh came to an abrupt halt. He was looking at a small, fern-choked stream flowing past his boots. “Okay, here we go.”
Mattie peered at the twisting ribbon of water. “Now what?”
“We turn left and follow this stream.” Hugh glanced back the way they had come. “I think we've got the place to ourselves. Everybody's busy with the revolution. Let's go.”
The rain was coming down harder now, battering at the leaves so violently that it created a dull roar. Mattie followed Hugh in silence, her whole attention focused on keeping up with him while she juggled the string bag and her purse.
The black earth was turning to mud. Her shoes were caked with it. Her hair had long since come free of its neat coil and hung in limp tendrils around her shoulders. Her silk shirt was soaked. The rain had cooled things down a little, but not much. The whole jungle seemed to be steaming like a thick, green stew.
Mattie eyed the ground, watching each step she took so that she did not stumble in the tangle of mud and vines. She took a closer look at the vines when she caught her toe on one.
“Hugh,” she asked wearily, “what about snakes?”
“What about 'em?”
“Do they come out in the rain?”
“Not if they've got any sense.”
“Damn it, Hugh.”
He chuckled. “Forget about snakes. There aren't any on these islands.”
“Are you sure?”
“I'm sure.”
“I hope you're right.” She dragged the string bag over another fallen log. Something small and green came alive under the hand she had used to brace herself. “Hugh.”
He glanced back. “Just a little lizard. He's more scared than you are.”
“That's a matter of opinion.” Mattie forced herself to take several deep breaths as the small creature scuttled quickly out of sight. “Hugh, this really isn't my kind of thing, you know?”
“I know it's a little outside your field of expertise, babe, but you'll get the hang of it. Your problem is you've spent too much of your time with those namby-pamby art collectors whose idea of living dangerously is investing in an unknown artist.”
Mattie bristled at this echo of their old argument. “You're quite right, of course.”
He didn't seem to notice her sarcastic tone. “Sure, I'm right. You ought to get out of Seattle more often. Go places. Do things. Charlotte says this is your first vacation in two years. When was the last time you did something really exciting?”
Mattie shoved wet hair out of her eyes and set her back teeth. “About a year ago when I seduced you and asked you to marry me and take me back to St. Gabriel with you. You may recall the occasion. And we both know where that bit of excitement got me.”
Hugh was silent for an embarrassing amount of time before he said, “Yeah, well, that wasn't quite what I meant.”
“Really?” Mattie smiled grimly to herself and pulled a shoe out of the mud. “I assure you, that was adventurous enough for me. I've been thoroughly enjoying the quiet life ever since. Until now, that is.”
“Babe, about last year—”
“I don't want to discuss it.”
“Well, we're going to discuss it.” Hugh slashed at an orchid-covered vine with his hand. “Damn it, Mattie, I've been trying to talk to you about that for months. If you hadn't been avoiding me, we could have had it all worked out by now.”
“There is nothing to work out. You were quite right when you told me I was not your type.” She pushed wearily at more vines. “Believe me, I couldn't agree with you more.”
“You're just a little upset,” he said soothingly.
“You could say that.”
“We'll talk about it later.” Hugh came to an abrupt halt.
Mattie promptly collided with him.
“Oooph.” She staggered backward a step and caught her balance. It was like running into a rock wall, she thought resentfully. No give in the man at all.
“Here we go,” Hugh said, apparently oblivious to the collision. He was looking up.
Mattie followed his gaze, aware that the roar of water had grown considerably louder during the past few minutes. She realized why when she peered around Hugh's broad shoulders and saw twin waterfalls cascading out of the old lava cliffs in front of her.
The two torrents plunged fifty feet or more into a fern-shrouded grotto. The pool at the base of the falls was nearly hidden by masses of huge, exotic blooms and the twisted rock formations typical of long-cooled lava.
Mattie frowned. “This is Cormier's escape route?”
“The escape route is behind the falls. There's a network of old lava caves in this mountain. One of the tunnels leads to a cavern that opens in the middle of a sheer rock cliff that faces the sea. The cavern is partially flooded. Cormier always kept a boat in there.”
“Caves?” The sense of uneasiness that had been bothering Mattie since they had entered the dense jungle crowded closer. “We have to go through a bunch of caves?”
“Yeah. Don't worry. Nothing tricky. Cormier marked the route so we won't get lost. Ready?”
“I don't think so, Hugh.” Her voice was high and thin.
Hugh shot her an impatient glance as he started toward the grotto. “Don't dawdle, babe. I want you off this damned island as soon as possible.”
He was right, of course. They could hardly hang around here. There was too much chance of running into the same people Paul Cormier had recently encountered. But oh, God, caves. Her worst nightmare made real.
Mattie was already damp from the rain and her own perspiration. Now she felt icy sweat trickle down her sides and between her breasts. She took a few deep breaths and chanted the mantra she had learned when she had taken lessons in stress-relieving meditation techniques.
Hugh was already moving along a rocky ledge that vanished into inky darkness behind one of the falls. He balanced easily on the slippery, moss-covered boulders, his movements unconsciously graceful. He looked back once more to make certain Mattie was following, and then he disappeared behind a thundering cascade of water.
Mattie took one more deep breath and prepared to follow. She reminded herself grimly that she had once vowed to follow this man anywhere.
What a fool she had been.
The mist off the falls looked like smoke as she passed through it. If she had not already been soaked by the rain and her own sweat, she would have been drenched by the spray. As it was, she barely noticed the additional moisture.
But her Italian leather shoes had not been designed to undergo this sort of abuse. Mattie clung to her purse and string bag and struggled desperately to balance on the uneven surface. She felt her left foot slide across a slick patch of moss, and everything started to tilt.
“Oh, no. Oh. no.” Wide-eyed and helpless to save herself, she started to topple backward into the pool at the base of the falls.
“Watch your step, babe.” Hugh's hand shot out of the darkness and clamped around her wrist to steady her. With effortless ease he yanked her to safety behind the falls.
“There you go, babe. No sweat.”
“Tell me something, Hugh,” she asked acidly. “Were you always this fast on your feet? You move like a cat.”
“Hell, no. I used to be a lot faster. I'm forty now, you know. I've slowed down some. Happens to everyone, I guess.”
“Amazing.” Her voice was drier than ever, but Hugh didn't seem to notice.
He was busy rummaging around in the string bag. “And I'll tell you something else, babe,” he added, “No matter how fast you are, there's always someone faster. That's one of the reasons I finally got smart and took that nice cushy job with your aunt.”
“I see.” His answer surprised her. It also made
her curious. She really did not know all that much about Hugh Abbott. “Have you ever actually met someone faster than yourself?”
Hugh was silent for a heartbeat. “Yeah.”
“What happened to him?”
“He's dead.”
“So he wasn't quite fast enough.”
“I guess not.”
But their conversation couldn't distract Mattie from the horrible darkness that loomed ahead. A cave. She would never be able to handle this, she thought. Never in a million years. This was far worse than any elevator or dark hall or jungle. This was the real thing, straight out of one of her childhood nightmares.
Mattie's stomach twisted.
She started to tell Hugh she could not go another step when something went crunch under the toe of her expensive, ruined shoe. Automatically Mattie looked down and saw the flattened body of the biggest cockroach she had ever seen in her life.
“That does it,” Mattie announced. “You'd better get out of the way, Hugh. I'm going to be very sick.”
CHAPTER
Two
“You are not going to be sick,” Hugh said with implacable certainty. “Not here, at any rate. Not now. We don't have time for that kind of nonsense. Put down those bags and come here.”
Automatically she obeyed, dropping the string bag and her purse to the ground. Her stomach churned. The memory of the blood in the white room mingled with the image of the dead insect at her feet. The gloom of the cavern threatened to swallow her alive.
“Damn it, Mattie, get a hold of yourself.”
She felt Hugh's hand close around her arm. She was vaguely aware that he was leading her back toward the entrance of the cavern. But she was totally unprepared for the shock of having her head thrust under one of the waterfalls.
“Hugh, for heaven's sake, I'm going to drown!” But the water was refreshingly cool. Her nausea receded. Mattie started to struggle, and Hugh dragged her back into the cavern. She turned to confront him, sputtering. She felt like a drowned rat and knew she probably looked like one.
“Better?” Hugh asked, not unkindly.
“Yes, thank you,” she whispered, her tone very formal. She stared straight ahead and realized she could see nothing. “Hugh, I'm not very good in confined spaces.”
Silver Linings Page 2
