His heart was still pumping madly as he landed next to Whitney and motioned with his hands for her to stay quiet.
A minute passed.
Then another.
He glanced into her eyes and was once again bolstered by the confidence he saw mirrored back at him. What possible reason could she have for giving him such unconditional support? Didn’t she know that he didn’t deserve her admiration? There were water droplets on his glasses and he took them off and looked away as he dried them, glad for something to do that would distract him from the beautiful woman beside him. He put them back on and was surprised when she reached out and took his hand, then squeezed it.
And she didn’t let go.
In fact, she squeezed it harder as the rumble from the boat motor grew louder and louder as it approached. Her skin was soft like satin, and he reveled in the wonderful texture. He hadn’t touched a woman in over four years, and the contact made him nervous yet delighted at the same time. How could a woman who’d bested and trussed up a large, burly drug dealer have hands as soft as rose petals? It didn’t make sense.
They sat silently side by side, holding hands, waiting for the boat to pass. He sensed a vulnerability in her that he didn’t expect. Whitney was so tough, so capable and so sure of herself. Here was yet another contradiction. Despite her abilities, she had sought comfort when he least expected it. He wasn’t sure, but he almost felt like she was holding her breath. Or maybe that was him? Either way, the last thing he wanted to do was to pull away from her. He held her hand gently, glad to be able to lend her his strength.
The motor grumbled and seemed louder and louder with each passing second, and Theo closed his eyes and said another prayer. Were their pursuers going to notice them in the boathouse or pass them by?
SEVEN
The large Coast Guard boat motor seemed incredibly loud, and the sound rattled throughout Whitney’s body. Her jaw started to ache from the way she was clenching her teeth, and she made a conscious effort to relax her facial muscles. She had a problem with dirty cops. Not long ago, her team of Marshals had worked with a man named Cassidy from the FBI. He had been on the take due to gambling debts. As a result, he had put all of their lives in danger, and one of the witnesses they were protecting had been shot and nearly killed.
To Whitney, being dirty on the job was the ultimate betrayal. There was a code the men and women who worked in law enforcement chose to live by and it included a large measure of trust and support, regardless of the patch worn on the officer’s sleeve. Dirty cops violated that code. She didn’t relish the idea of confronting Captain Baker without proof, but she would do so if she had to, even if it cost her dearly.
The last thing she wanted, though, was to drag Theo Roberts into the brawl. By all appearances, he was a handsome, well-educated and thoughtful scientist who cared deeply about the world around him. And Whitney could tell there was even more to this wonderful man bubbling just below the surface of his calm veneer, waiting to be discovered.
Theo had been hurt. By something or someone. He was an introvert, that was obvious, but his behavior went beyond that endearing personality trait. Apparently the scars ran so deep that his answer had been to seclude himself on a deserted island, and to inundate himself with the kind of work that kept his mind occupied and prevented him from dwelling on whatever had happened. He had been a doctor, sworn to help others, yet he had turned his back on that profession. What could possibly have happened to make him choose such a drastic life change?
She had no clue what hurt Theo was hiding from, but she was an expert at reading people, and his pain was nearly palpable. She did not want him mixed up in this huge mess that she currently found herself in. It wasn’t fair to him. She also didn’t want to add to the misery he was already experiencing. So she sat there, holding on for dear life, hoping that the Coast Guard boat would pass them by without Theo suffering any further because of her.
A moment passed.
Then another.
The Coast Guard’s boat passed them by and she blew out a relieved breath as the sound of the motor grew more and more distant. They were safe for now, but what she really needed was a place to hide where she could contact her team and get their assistance without endangering anybody else. She knew she could trust her team, but she couldn’t say the same for the local law-enforcement crew. Surely most of them were dedicated officers who took their oaths seriously. But she didn’t have any way to distinguish between those officers and the ones influenced by Captain Baker. Nor did she have the time to figure it out before the drug dealers were once again breathing down their necks.
Once she no longer heard the boat motor, she gave Theo’s hand a final squeeze and stood, pushing aside the tarp as she did so. “Ready to head for the Everglades?”
“Still seems like the safest plan to me,” he agreed as he helped her to fold and stow the tarp back where he’d found it.
They waited a few more minutes, just to make sure their pursuers were truly gone, then Theo steered the boat out of the slip and in the direction of the way they’d come. A short time later, they were on the open ocean, once again headed for the Everglades. The Coast Guard boat was nowhere in sight.
“Ready for something to eat?” Theo asked once it was clear that nobody was following them.
“Sure,” Whitney responded. “What have you got to offer?”
“There’s some fruit and other goodies in my backpack. I grabbed a few things before we left the island this morning.”
She found his backpack and pulled out the bag of fruit as they headed north. “So what’s your plan after we arrive at the Everglades?”
Theo smiled as he took a piece of mango that she offered. Had he noticed that she had homed in again on the pineapple? She truly loved the fresh taste, and was devouring piece after piece that had been in the bag.
He took a bite and turned his attention back to expertly maneuvering the boat. “There are some chickees in the backcountry that are used by scientists doing extended research in the area. They apply and get permits issued by the government, and then they can stay for a small fee and use the facilities while they work. The huts are pretty rustic, but not very many people know about them. I’m hoping we can head in that direction and find someone staying there that has a phone. Then we can stay with them until your team arrives.” He glanced at her. “That is your plan, right? Call your Marshals, so you’ll be able to get help from the people you trust?”
She nodded. “I definitely want to call my team, but if we can’t, I’m hoping we run across some of those Fish and Wildlife folks you mentioned. Maybe they’re far enough removed from the Coast Guard crew to be safe. You said they patrol the park regularly. If that’s the case, they can probably help us sooner than the Marshals can get here, if we think we can trust them. I’m just nervous about working with anyone locally in the Keys. I don’t know how long Captain Baker’s reach might be.”
Theo finished off the first mango chunk and she handed him another. He raised his eyebrow when he noticed she wasn’t sharing the pineapple, but gave her a smile. She reluctantly handed him a piece of the yellow fruit when she noticed his expression, and he laughed outright. “And what if the FWC folks do have ties to Baker and his drug-dealing friends?”
She ate her piece of fruit, thinking through the possibilities. “You make a valid point. It’s a risk, and I am out of my element here. I don’t know who I can trust and who I can’t. The safest thing to do is to contact my team first and let them take the lead, but we might not have that option. If we’re able to reach them, though, they can contact the Miami office and start the investigation from there.” She looked him in the eye. “Still, our first priority is getting you to safety.”
Theo frowned. “Me? What do you mean? Why not the both of us?”
Whitney shrugged. “Look, this kind of life is what I signed up for. You didn’t. In law enforcement,
our primary objective is keeping civilians safe. The last thing I want is for you to get hurt because of me, especially after you’ve done so much to help me.”
“Just because I’m not law enforcement, doesn’t mean I’m going to abandon you the first chance I get.” A muscle ticked in his jaw. “If that were the case, we could have left the boat in that neighborhood in Plantation Key and gone our separate ways. I’m in this for the duration until we are both safe.”
Whitney looked into his sea-blue eyes and saw the truth behind his words. A warm feeling invaded her chest and seeped all the way down to her toes. They both knew instinctively that abandoning the boat in that neighborhood would have been a mistake. It would only have been a matter of time before the Coast Guard or the local police would have found them, and neither one of them knew how much influence Baker had over the locals.
Still, Theo would have had a better chance of blending into the woodwork and returning to his own life if he’d left her to survive on her own. And she would have struggled. Even she had to admit that. Whitney sighed. She had no idea how to drive a boat, even though she was willing to learn, and she wasn’t familiar with this area where everyone seemed to know everyone. She was a city girl from a totally different part of the state, and was happier behind a computer or on the shooting range than she was skimming over the ocean.
“Thank you for staying.” The words were hard for her to say on a couple of different levels. She was a very capable woman and didn’t like to depend on anyone else outside of her team of US Marshals. Especially when being threatened. She also had come to the Keys for solitude so she could ponder her choices and determine her next course since the life she had previously planned was no longer an option.
Still, the words were heartfelt. Whitney was glad Theo was with her. She didn’t quite understand him, and he was not the usual type of man that she found attractive, yet there was something that drew her to him all the same. She liked his strong yet gentle demeanor and the sweetness in his smile. He was like a harbor in a storm—safe, secure and rock-solid. Even though she had only known him a short time, she knew for a fact that he would do anything he could to protect her. He was just that kind of man.
She offered him the last piece of mango and he grinned in return and accepted it. “You’re welcome. You’ve definitely added some spice to my life.” He gave her a playful nudge and she nudged him back, enjoying the camaraderie and peaceful moment, unsure if they would find the safety they were seeking in the day ahead. She didn’t know much about the area, but everything she’d heard about the Everglades made her think of alligators, swamps and twenty-foot snakes. None of that sounded any good to her.
* * *
Theo continued to drive the boat, lost in thought as Whitney made herself comfortable in the seat next to him. He watched as she fished the bottle of aloe out of the backpack and started applying it to her skin.
Try as he might, he couldn’t explain the emotions he was experiencing. His life had been in constant peril since he’d met Whitney, yet he was feeling more alive than he had since he had moved onto his quiet little island. And when he’d had the opportunity to let her go—he had held on fast. Why? He didn’t want a relationship. Hadn’t he already determined that?
Theo wanted to go back and continue his life as before—without the threat of drug dealers trying to kill him. He had his experiments and the journal article he was in the middle of writing that still needed some work. Yet the thought of returning right now was unappealing, and it was all due to this woman sitting beside him.
He wanted to know more. Who was Whitney Johnson? Maybe that was it. After his curiosity was satisfied—and once he knew she was safe—then he could go back.
“So, what drew you into law enforcement?” Theo asked, taking a drink from his water bottle. He might as well learn more about her if they were going to be spending time together. Or at least, he tried to convince himself that was his only motivation as he piloted the boat toward the Everglades.
She got her own water bottle and unscrewed the cap. “Family history. I have three brothers who are all in various law-enforcement agencies, and my dad was a cop, so that’s pretty much all we talked about growing up. I’m the youngest of the bunch, and my brothers tried to point me in a different direction, but how could I let them have all the fun?”
“Fun?” Surprised, he hoped he successfully kept the incredulous tone out of his voice. “You call this fun?”
She smiled and it made his chest tighten. She sure had a beautiful smile. “No, I don’t like it when I’m the prey, but I get a great deal of satisfaction out of catching a criminal and putting him or her away so they can’t go on hurting other people. I like helping folks.”
“Marshals have to watch over witnesses that are in protective custody, right? Don’t you have to protect the bad guy? Isn’t that part of your job?”
She shrugged. “It’s a part of it, yes, and some of those witnesses are guilty of crimes, but I try to see the bigger picture. If a witness is needed to secure a conviction, then I make sure that witness survives to testify. It’s as simple as that. The end result is the same. A person who has been hurting people ends up behind bars.”
“Yes, but others who are guilty get away scot-free and get a new life in the bargain.”
“It’s not all roses and rainbows,” she said with an air of authority. “They have to give up everything they’ve known. Every personal relationship. Every comfortable routine. That’s no small thing.”
Theo took another drink and mulled over her answer. He could see her point. “What did your mother think about her household full of cops?”
Whitney laughed. “She didn’t like all the roughhousing—I can tell you that. My brothers all liked to wrestle, so I had to keep strong so I could compete. My mom kept a water pistol in nearly every room of the house. If we got too rambunctious, she’d spray us with water. She claimed it was the only way she could separate us and protect her furniture at the same time.”
He smiled at the image. “Where do your parents live now?”
“They live up in Thomasville, Georgia, but I grew up in Atlanta. Thomasville is a small town about forty-five minutes north of Tallahassee. It has a lot of boutique shops and good restaurants, and they like the way everybody knows everybody else. Also, my brothers are scattered around Georgia, so my parents can visit any of us whenever they get the urge after only a couple of hours in the car.” She dug around in the backpack and came up with a muffin. “Want one?”
“Sure.”
She handed him one, took out one for herself, then sealed the bag and stowed it back in the backpack. “So what about you?”
“What about me?”
She nudged him good-naturedly. “Come on. What made you go decide to study coral on a deserted island?”
His playfulness suddenly dissipated. He didn’t want to talk about his past. He never talked about it. Still, he had just asked her to open up. It wasn’t really fair to expect her to share about her family while he was unwilling to do the same.
“I was an ER doctor in Tampa, but I...had some setbacks and decided to go a different direction.” Had some setbacks? The words seemed frozen on his tongue. His wife and daughter had died, and he had just minimized the entire accident by calling it a setback. He tried again, but couldn’t seem to form the words. The past was the past. He didn’t want to discuss it ever again. It was too painful. Just thinking about it brought up his own feelings of failure and inadequacy. “I’d rather not talk about it. The work I’m doing now with the coral is important. The coral reefs are dying, and they’re vital to the ecosystem here. I’m trying to figure out what is harming the staghorn coral in particular, and how to regenerate it so we can rebuild the reefs.”
Whitney seemed to take his comments and attitude in stride. Theo was grateful she didn’t press. “So is your work associated with one of the state universities?�
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“I’m coordinating my efforts with a team from Florida State University, but my work is funded by a federal grant.”
Whitney motioned with her arm and did the Seminole chop. “Ah, so you are a Florida State Seminole. I can spot a fellow Seminole a mile away.”
Theo laughed. The in-state rivalry was fierce between the two top state universities—Florida State and the University of Florida. Both schools inspired a great deal of loyalty. “So what was your major at FSU—criminal justice?”
“Actually, that was my minor—my major was computer science.”
“So, when my computer crashes, you’re the one to call?”
“Absolutely.” Whitney grinned.
Her gentle good humor started to creep back into the conversation, and Theo knew that he couldn’t stay dwelling on the past. Not only couldn’t—he found that he didn’t want to stay in the past. What he wanted and needed was to be in the here and now so he could help Whitney survive this challenge. This trial was testing him, as well, and his heart was beating with renewed vigor as he navigated the crystal blue water that surrounded them. All they had to do now was to survive and escape into the Everglades. How hard could that be?
EIGHT
“Hello! Anyone home?”
Theo idled the motor and slowly approached the chickees. There was a large, two-person kayak tied to the metal ladder that led to the sheltered platform, which was surrounded by water, and there was a standalone tent set up in the middle of the platform. A wooden deck led from the chickee to the beach, and another deck walkway led to a small bathroom off to the left. Another empty chickee was also a stone’s throw away and connected by yet another wooden walkway.
Everglades Escape Page 6
