Everglades Escape

by Kathleen Tailer

  Whitney stopped her woolgathering and returned to the present. Her vacation was over. She had to report this crime and let local law enforcement know what she had learned before the evidence was destroyed and the culprits escaped. “So, what do you do if you have an emergency?”

  Theo shrugged again and finished off the last of the fruit. “I don’t have emergencies. My life is pretty routine.”

  “Do you have a gun, or any other way to protect yourself?”

  He shook his head. “I’ve never had a need before. Like I said, nobody ever comes by.”

  Whitney blew out an exasperated breath. Maybe his life had been simple and mundane, but she had an uneasy feeling that all of that was about to change. Those drug dealers meant business, and she was afraid that it was only a matter of time before they showed up knocking at Theo’s door. She had seen Lopez’s face, and heard details about their operation. These criminals wouldn’t just assume she was dead. They would need proof. This calm, innocent man in front of her had suddenly been thrust into more danger than he could possibly have imagined.

  THREE

  Whitney had been too exhausted to do more talking, so Theo had showed her to his guest bedroom where she had promptly fallen asleep within seconds of her head hitting the pillow. The next morning, he was up early at the usual time and sat at the small kitchen table, a cup of coffee in one hand and a muffin in the other, waiting for her to wake up and see what the day would bring.

  She finally emerged and he found himself ready for the company, which was a strange feeling for him after living such a solitary existence for such a long time. He had also never met anyone like Whitney Johnson before in his entire life. He still had a lot of unanswered questions about her floating around in his mind, but one thing he was sure of—she was the most vivacious person he had ever come across. Her attitude and energy were not just intriguing, they were infectious.

  Once she was in the living room, he motioned to the other chair at the table.

  “Good morning,” he intoned. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

  “Good morning back,” she replied, her voice still raspy from sleep. She shook her head and brushed some of the hair out of her eyes, then started toward him.

  “Coffee?”

  When she nodded, he poured her a cup. “I hope you like bran muffins.” She sat and he pushed a plate of muffins and fruit, then a mug, in her direction. “Sorry. I don’t have cream or sugar, but I do have some honey if you want it.”

  “No thanks. I take my coffee black.” She grabbed a muffin and took a bite then regarded him thoughtfully. “Hey, this is pretty good.”

  He took a sip of his coffee. “Thanks. It’s not much, but I throw a batch together every now and then. I usually add some sort of fruit, if I can. These have cranberries in them.” He raised an eyebrow. “How are you feeling?”

  Whitney swallowed. “I’m a bit stiff from all of that swimming, and my skin is on fire because of the sunburn. I’m happy to be alive, though, and I could sure use a shower this morning, if it’s okay.”

  “Sure thing,” Theo replied. He had offered her a shower a second time last night, but she had been so exhausted from her ocean swim that she’d settled for rinsing off with a washcloth and going straight to bed. “I think I have some aloe around here, too. That will help with the sunburn after the shower.”

  She finished off her muffin, as well as several more pieces of pineapple, then brushed the muffin crumbs into her hand and dumped them into the wastebasket. She was back a moment later. “So, if I remember correctly, today is only the seventeenth. If your supplier doesn’t come until the end of the month, I’m afraid you might be stuck with me for a while, unless you can think of a way for me to get off this island that we haven’t already discussed.”

  Theo took a sip of his coffee and regarded her thoughtfully. “Yes, I’ve considered that. Unless you want to try to kayak to Key West, I think you’re going to be here for a couple of weeks.”

  She looked into his eyes, seeking, and he hoped he was doing an adequate job of masking his frustration. A visitor for a day or two, he could handle. He even found the thought somewhat fascinating since Whitney was such an enigma and so different from his own calm, studious personality.

  As intriguing as he found her, however, her presence did make him somewhat uncomfortable, and the prospect of being with her for a couple of weeks made him downright anxious. She was a lively, beautiful young woman, whereas he was a boring, self-isolated introvert. He didn’t have the slightest idea how to entertain her. Still, he was trying desperately to be polite. It wasn’t her fault she was there. He needed to remember that.

  As if she could read his mind, she touched his hand lightly, then withdrew. “I’m really sorry I’ve invaded your privacy and inconvenienced you. I’ll do my best to stay out of your way until the end of the month.”

  He swallowed. “I appreciate that. I have plenty of food and water and some clothes you can borrow. We’ll make it work until the supplier comes.”

  “Well, in the meantime, those drug dealers could show up at any minute. We need to do something to prepare for their arrival.”

  He set down his mug. Having even more visitors was not something he had contemplated. “Really? Why?”

  “They haven’t found my body, so until they do, I’m a loose end. They seemed like a pretty professional organization. My survival was a mistake, and they’ll want to remedy that fact as soon as possible. They’re probably searching for me as we speak, and I’d guess they won’t give up until they finish the job.”

  Theo really didn’t like the idea of criminals running around on his island. “Well, what would you suggest we do to prepare? I already told you, I don’t have a gun, a phone or a boat.” He’d never needed to defend himself in the past, but now he was starting to think about it on a regular basis.

  “Do you have any sort of surveillance system?”

  His brow furrowed at her question and she laughed at his expression. “No, I suppose not.”

  Theo stood and motioned for her to follow him. “I’ll have to think about all of this. In the meantime, let’s get you a shower and take care of your sunburn. I’ll get something rigged up for you, and then I promise to stay on the other side of the house to give you some privacy.”

  She followed him outside and down the stairs to ground level. At first, he worried a bit about her wounded knee and managing the stairs, but she seemed to do okay, and he decided to address it with her after she’d had a chance to clean up. He pointed to a smaller building, also on stilts, and connected by decking. “Well, you’ve seen the house, such that it is. That smaller building over there is my lab. There aren’t any other structures on the island besides a dock down at the south end.” Then he motioned to the space under the two buildings. “I have some fishing and diving equipment down here, as well as the aforementioned kayak, and some exercise machines. Feel free to sort through them if you want to see if there is anything there you can use while you’re here to pass the time.” He directed her to a small shower area that was rigged against the pilings. “Here we go.”

  Theo could see her surprise, but was pleased that she took it in stride. This woman definitely seemed out of her element, but she was doing her best to be as flexible as possible. He appreciated her efforts. He also acknowledged that there wasn’t much to the accommodations he was offering—just some wooden slats to stand on, and a pipe running up the wall to a rusted silver showerhead. A lever with a short rope attached to the pipe completed the setup.

  Strangely, he almost wished he had more to offer. “I have limited water, and it isn’t heated,” he told her apologetically. “You’ll have to rinse, turn the water off while you wash, and then rinse again.” He raised his hands. “And don’t worry. I’ll rig up something to give you some privacy. Like I said before, I’m the only one living on this island, so I never worried about an enclosu
re, but I’ll be sure not to bother you. You’ll have this all to yourself.”

  He opened a medium-size bin next to the shower area and pulled out a towel and a faded navy T-shirt. Then he opened a second box and pulled out a pair of slip-on soft rubber clogs. “You can use these while you rinse out your clothes. There is also shampoo and soap you can use.”

  He reached back into the bin and withdrew a clothesline and a tarp. In a few short minutes, he had rigged up a shower stall that he hoped would give his guest some measure of comfort. He threaded the line through the loops in the tarp and secured it to a bolt attached to his stairway. “There you go. Enjoy your shower.”

  * * *

  She watched him go back up the stairs, then limped over and stepped into the makeshift shower. Giving the rope on the lever a trial tug, she watched as water started to gurgle out of the showerhead. Okay, maybe this was going to work, after all. The water was cool, but it was already so hot outside that it felt refreshing, especially with her sunburn.

  Whitney’s shower was quick since she wanted to be as mindful as she could of the limited water supply Theo had mentioned. She could tell that her presence was bothering him, and she didn’t want to outstay her welcome or to use up all of his supplies during her first few hours on the island. His words had been friendly enough, but she was an expert on reading people. Theo was like a closed book tucked away high on a bookshelf where no one could touch or open it. He wanted to be by himself, and while he was making an amazing effort to make her feel welcome, she was sure he would rejoice as soon as she was gone. Hopefully, she could get a ride off of this island as soon as his supplier showed up with his monthly deliveries.

  It bothered her that the delay would possibly hinder the investigation into the crimes that had occurred on the tour boat, but she hoped that law enforcement had already become involved in the murder and robbery. She said a quick prayer, asking God to be with the victims and to help the police make the appropriate arrests. Drug rings operating in Florida were all too common, and this one was particularly dangerous due to the heroin and fentanyl they were bringing into the state.

  Having finished her shower, she felt amazingly refreshed, even though her newly cleaned bathing suit and shorts were still a bit damp. She was immensely thankful for Theo’s dry T-shirt which was a welcome addition to her wardrobe. It was too big for her, but it felt good to be wearing at least one piece of clothing that wasn’t wet, especially after her long stint in the ocean. It felt so good to be clean! For a while there, she’d thought she was going to end up like a giant salty prune.

  Suddenly she heard a faint noise outside of the shower. A jolt of adrenaline swept up her spine and she froze, listening carefully. A moment passed. Then another. It might have only been a bird roosting nearby, but in her current circumstances, it paid to be careful. She waited another second or two, and then, hearing nothing further, she screwed the cap back on the shampoo and put it back on the shelf.

  She stepped out of the shower enclosure and found herself staring right into the barrel of a 9mm handgun.

  “That’s far enough, lady.”

  Whitney raised her hands in a motion of surrender and whimpered to make the gunman think she was weak and powerless. The man was taller than she was, outweighing her by a good seventy pounds. He had an evil smile on his face, as if he enjoyed his work a little too much. He was also young and overconfident. He clearly didn’t see her as a threat, which was exactly what she wanted.

  “Move slowly, lady. Step over here.” He motioned with the gun he held in his right hand toward the stairway leading to the house and then whistled. “Lopez is going to be so happy that I found you. He’s got people looking everywhere.”

  Whitney raised an eyebrow. “Lopez? Who’s that?” She limped to where he motioned, making exaggerated movements, as if she was in a great deal of pain. Then she swiveled back around to face him. Suddenly she grabbed the gun barrel with her left hand and moved her head and torso out of the line of fire. Then her right hand instantly shot out and chopped the man’s wrist, loosening his grip and forcing the gun back around to face her aggressor.

  She’d acted based upon all of her law-enforcement training and experience, knowing that the element of surprise would only work in her favor for a few seconds at best. Because of her actions, he had no choice but to suffer a broken wrist or release the gun. She took it from him, just as her left hand fisted and caught him in the throat. The entire set of motions took about three seconds.

  He gurgled in shock and fell back a step as she verified that the safety was off and the weapon was ready to fire if needed. The man’s eyes widened when he realized his gun was now in his victim’s hands and pointed directly at his head. Any amusement he had showed before had now turned to anger. But he was helpless to do anything but glare at the woman before him.

  “On the ground now!” she ordered.

  He shook his head. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with. You’ll be dead within twenty-four hours.” His tone was hoarse as he tried to breathe despite the blow to his neck, but he was putting as much bravado as he could into the threat.

  “Not likely. Get down on the ground.” Her voice was firm and left no room for argument. Still, she could see in the man’s eyes that he was considering making a grab for the weapon.

  “Try it and I’ll put a bullet between your eyes,” she stated in a matter-of-fact tone. “In case you’re wondering—I’m an expert shot.”

  He must have believed her because he nodded slightly then slowly got down on his knees and intertwined his fingers behind his head. His embarrassment and loathing were palpable.

  “All the way down. On your stomach. Now.”

  The assailant grimaced but did as he was told. She kept the gun trained on him with one hand, but used the other hand to pull at the knot in the clothesline that Theo had used to make her shower enclosure. She didn’t have any handcuffs with her, so she didn’t have much choice but to tie the man up with whatever she could find. Thankfully, she knew quite a bit about tying knots in such a way that the guy would not be escaping anytime soon.

  She used one end of the cord to tie his hands together and secure them to the bottom of the handrail of the stairs. The other end, she used to secure his feet and then tied them to the nearby trunk of a small palm tree. He was still facedown on the ground, stretched firmly between the bindings, which made it impossible for him to do more than roll a few inches in either direction.

  Once she was finished, Whitney turned her attention to the house. “Theo?” she called. There was no answer. She tried again. “Theo?”

  There was still no answer and a sense of dread swept over her. Had they killed the handsome scientist who had pulled her from the ocean?

  FOUR

  Whitney quickly inspected the drug dealer’s trusses one last time, then immediately started up the steps to the house, still armed with the guy’s weapon. It was slow going with her injured knee, but she moved as rapidly as possible, her heart pounding with the fear of what she might find.

  She owed a lot to Theo Roberts, and she didn’t think she was overstating it by saying that he had saved her life. She had gotten dehydrated during her swim, and might have died as a result if he hadn’t found her on the beach and taken care of her. Now, to thank him, she had brought drug dealers to his door, and for all she knew, he was bleeding out from a bullet wound while she had been washing her hair. A wave of crushing guilt swept over her, and she said a quick prayer for Theo’s safety.

  Searching swiftly, she found him in the room where she had slept, lying on the floor. She stowed the gun in her waistband and rushed to his side. “Theo! Are you okay?”

  He moaned at her voice and rubbed his head. He had apparently been knocked out, and was just now coming out of it. She helped him to a sitting position and gently examined his head. There was a large bump on the back of his skull, but thankfully no blood.


  “I will be. Somebody hit me. I’ve got quite a headache.” He quickly met her eyes. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Did you see who did it?”

  “No. I was putting some things away, and the next thing I know, I’m waking up with a knot on my head.”

  “Well, I caught a guy by the shower and have him tied up outside. He’s one of the drug dealers. Hopefully, he’s the only one on the island, but I can’t be sure. I didn’t recognize him, but he mentioned that Lopez was looking for me, which is the name of the leader I met on the boat.” She glanced around the sparsely furnished room. “Can I help you to a chair? I want to search the perimeter and make sure he doesn’t have a friend out there somewhere, but I don’t want to leave you on the floor.”

  “Sure.” He stretched out his hand. She took it and pulled him to a standing position, but he didn’t take a seat after, as she’d expected. “I’m okay. Really. I’ll help you search. I know your knee is hurting.”

  “Probably not any worse than your head.” Instead of rubbing her leg, she rubbed her arm absently, her hand still tingling from the contact with the dashing marine scientist. In fact, at the moment, she barely noticed her knee. The feelings surprised her. Why was she so affected by Theo Roberts? But right now she didn’t have time to think about this strange attraction that was suddenly popping up at the worst possible moment. She needed to be engrossed in ensuring their safety.

  Whitney pushed the uncomfortable thoughts aside and focused on the issue at hand. Was there another perp, or had the guy she had tied up outside come alone? And how had someone from Lopez’s organization found her so quickly? She imagined they had several people out searching, but she was truly surprised at the speed of their success.

  Regardless, she needed to contact law enforcement immediately. But there was no way to do so with Theo’s current setup. However, the drug dealer’s presence wasn’t all bad news. Maybe the perp could actually help her get off this island. She’d frisked him when she’d tied him up and hadn’t found a phone. Yet he must have arrived by boat, so maybe he had left it behind when he had made his way to the house. With or without a phone, having a boat at her disposal was indeed a gift from God. Whitney had never driven one before, but how hard could it be?