The Lost Seal: A Seal Romance

by Bell, Victoria

  “Why so many people on staff?” she asked. The island was only 35 acres and hardly landscaped. She had met Jorge, the boat driver and seen the servants flittering through the house and grounds but even fifteen people seemed excessive when there were two full-time in the house.

  “Mostly naval security,” Hunter explained. “That seems to be our biggest threat.”

  The biggest exterior threat maybe, Dylan thought, but she did not speak her mind.

  “They know why I’m here?” she asked, and Hunter made a gesture which was neither a nod or a shrug.

  “Sort of,” he offered vaguely. “They know you are added security, but I don’t think Garret has told them too much about what’s going on.”

  No one knows about the attempts on his life. No one knows how his brothers died. Why is death such a taboo subject around here? She wondered.

  “He told you what’s going on,” she said, her bright green eyes curious. Hunter was one of the people whom Elgin had listed. The assistant laughed.

  “As much as I hate to admit it, I am like a second skin to Garret. Even if he did not tell me, I would have learned about the attempts on his life whether I liked it or not. But truthfully, there are no secrets between us,” Hunter told her ruefully.

  “How long have you been with Mr. Elgin?”

  “Fourteen years,” he replied.

  That is a long time to be a second skin to someone, she thought. I wonder if Garret Elgin gets under Hunter Burnwich’s skin.

  They continued around the rotunda, toward the back sitting room on the right side of the immaculately kept oasis.

  A dim, light emanated through the house from tracks and shadows danced against lit candles on antique tables.

  The villa was decorated in a Spanish-styled décor, and Dylan imagined she would like to live there if a murderer did not already reside in its walls.

  At the threshold of the back room, Dylan paused to take in the scene.

  The household was sprawled about in various stages of animation, all whom suspended their actions upon seeing Dylan and Hunter.

  Yvette immediately lowered her arms and offered Dylan a quick smile, shutting her mouth simultaneously. Guiltily, Zave turned to shift his eyes downward.

  Ah, were brother and sister having a little discussion about little old me? Don’t let me interrupt. I am going to learn all your secrets sooner or later anyway.

  In opposing corners, Gaspar and Priscilla stood against the same wall as wax statues, and for a moment, Dylan was not sure they were breathing.

  Why must the super rich treat their staff like this? Would it kill Elgin to let them have a seat?

  “Come in,” Garret called from his spot in a wing chair. “I called the household together to introduce you.”

  Dylan nodded, eyeing him cautiously.

  He sounds like he wants a medal or a scratch behind the ears, she thought, trying not to roll her eyes. Maybe I should give him one.

  “Great, thanks,” she replied, taking a seat on the Oxford leather sofa.

  “Drink, miss?” Priscilla mumbled, shuffling forward and turning her chocolate brown eyes on the younger woman.

  “Yes, thanks – Priscilla is it?” The housekeeper looked taken aback that she knew her name and nodded. “Thanks, Priscilla. I’m Dylan. I would love a soda with lime if you have any.”

  Priscilla nodded and scurried toward the bar to fix her drink.

  She’s a nervous thing, she thought, watching the woman idly.

  “These are my children, Yvette and Zave,” Garret announced, shifting Dylan’s focus. “I don’t think you got an opportunity to speak with them at the dock.”

  Zave nodded, again shifting his dark eyes down but Yvette scurried forward to offer her hand which Dylan accepted.

  Quite the opposite from one another, Dylan noted with interest. She wondered what the dynamic was between the siblings.

  “And you already know Hunter,” Garret continued.

  “Yes,” Dylan agreed. “I have had the pleasure.”

  There was an undercurrent which she could not place, a strange, unsettling feeling that there was much more than a cozy family get together happening in the opulent room.

  Am I reading Garret’s nervousness or is there something else happening here?

  “Daddy tells us that you are staying here for a while,” Yvette said, obviously trying to break the tension in the air. “Welcome to Urchin Caye.”

  Dylan watched the lovely blonde, marveling at the resemblance between her and her father.

  “Thank you. I – “Dylan started to say.

  “Yes,” Garret interrupted. “Miss McMaster is staying here for added security.”

  “No offense, Miss McMaster but I would better picture you on the cover of a fashion magazine than carrying a gun,” Zave piped up. Dylan turned her attention to the pale, emaciated man. He was not leering at her and Dylan realized that he meant it as a compliment, not an insult.

  He’s socially awkward. Doesn’t fit in well with others, she realized.

  “Thank you,” she replied, offering him a tight smile. “But Vogue seems to have a waiting list, so I do this until my casting call comes in.”

  Zave grinned genuinely and immediately Dylan liked the young man. He did not have any air of pretentiousness about him.

  “Why don’t you tell us about yourself, Miss McMaster,” Yvette said cordially. “Where are you from?”

  “Virginia,” Dylan answered quickly. She did not want to disclose too much about herself. She did not know for certain what Garret had told his household.

  It’s not my job to find out who’s trying to off him but it will look good on my resume if I manage to figure it out. If they consider me a threat, they will shut down. We should have devised a better cover story. Too late now.

  “I was in the army before that,” she finished with finality. Yvette nodded appreciatively. She elbowed her brother.

  “You should join the army,” she told him earnestly, and Garret laughed cruelly.

  “Zave has no stomach for anything like that,” he snapped. “He can’t even spend time outside without lapsing into an allergic reaction.”

  Dylan glanced at Zave who shrugged and nodded in agreement feeling her eyes narrow.

  He has lived his whole life being ridiculed by his father, she determined. She is spoiled rotten. Yvette calls Garret “daddy” like a small girl. Zave is compliant in his own berating. Both are a recipe for patricide. Especially if an inheritance is involved.

  “Dinner is almost ready,” Gaspar announced suddenly and Dylan realized that she had not bothered to pay the butler any mind.

  “Thank you, Gaspar,” Yvette chirped. “I’m starving.”

  The family, the staff, and Dylan started toward the adjoining dining room, and the security officer strayed back.

  Step back and evaluate the dynamic, she coached herself. You won’t get a good handle on what is happening if you put yourself in the middle of them.

  She reminded herself that while there was a good chance that Garret’s stalker was likely someone close to him, she could not rule out the possibility that it was one of the staff members who lived in the nearby staffing quarters.

  As they sat down to dinner, Gaspar and Priscilla busying themselves with serving, Dylan was suddenly overcome with a sense of unmistakable panic.

  You are on a secluded island in the Caribbean with a man who has a target on his back. There are dozens of potential suspects here and more than likely you are sitting down to dinner with the perp. And you are currently unarmed.

  She wondered how she could have been so stupid.

  I’ll go back upstairs and get my sidearm -

  “Are you alright, Miss McMaster?” Yvette called from the far end of the table. “You seem a little pale.”

  “Yes,” she answered quickly. “Fine.”

  There was no room to do that now. If anyone made their move at the table, she would have to use her fists. And her brains.

&n
bsp; She glanced at Garret Elgin, her heart pounding.

  Why did I think I could do this? She asked herself. I should not have come here alone.

  Yet as Garret’s vivid blue eyes met hers, a sudden calm overcame her followed by a sudden pang of melancholy.

  He has the same eyes as Ollie.

  At that moment, a strong sense of determination overcame her, and she recognized the fear in his irises.

  He is acting brave, but deep down, he is worried. He would have to be to keep me here. I am going to find out who is terrorizing Garret Elgin. I may not have been able to save Ollie, but I will save Garret.

  Chapter Five

  The insomnia had almost developed a life of its own since the attempts on his life had started. Garret had long forsaken the idea of sleep, taking to walking about his private paradise during the blackest, wee hours of the morning where the nocturnal animals made eerie sounds in the trees. There had been a rumor of a mountain lion prowling the caye but he had yet to see anything remotely more dangerous than a snake or raccoon.

  It did not alleviate his sense of unease.

  That evening, after his family and Hunter had retired for the evening, Garret had tried to respond to attend to some paperwork in his office, but as the moon rose fuller above the calm, lapping waters, he found himself drawn outside into the salty air. It was why he had purchased the sanctuary; it was supposed to be his utopia, not his grave.

  I made a mistake calling Dylan here, he thought. Of course, he reasoned that if he had known who she was, he never would have brought her to Urchin Caye.

  Her presence isn’t going to discourage anyone from trying again. If anything, they will consider me more of a target. She barks well but does she have a bite.

  Garret could not help but think that she might hide beneath that stunningly lovely but cold exterior.

  If something happens, if someone comes after me again, will she truly be able to protect me?

  He did not want to think about how or when the next attempt would happen. It was clear whomever was after him wanted him to know he was a target but there had been little else to learn.

  What does he want? Money? Is he just a crackpot?

  There was no way of knowing. No demands had been met, not notes, no email. There was nothing but the umbra of being murdered which shadowed him everywhere he went.

  What’s worse is that I do not know if I am waiting for another poisoning or accident. I could meet my fate anywhere, anytime.

  Garret would never admit it, but he was experiencing fear. There was nothing worse than not being able to predict the next move of his opponents. He was up for the ruthless game of chess provided he could see his partner.

  He stopped at the edge of the house suddenly, listening. He could hear movement in just beyond the yard, but he could not make out what it was over the soft tinkle of the sea.

  Is someone out there? Is someone here to try again? He wondered, padding around the back of the sandy lawn, keeping himself in the shadows of the stunning Spanish themed villa. His heart was hammering so loudly; he was certain whomever was beyond the bushes would hear him and find him hiding.

  Immediately, his breath caught as he saw what was making the noise. Dylan McMaster was swimming in the Olympic sized pool making smooth, graceful strokes, her arms slicing almost silently through the water. If not for the odd splash, Garret might have missed her altogether as she slipped seamlessly beneath the water. He stood momentarily mesmerized by her lithe, muscular body.

  She is beautiful, he realized with shock. Until that moment, he had not noticed how truly sensual was the woman assigned to protect him. Perhaps it was the knowledge that she had the propensity to kill which he found undeniably alluring or maybe it was simply her primal sexuality, but for whatever reason, Garret could not pull his bright eyes away from her.

  She stopped her laps finally, pausing to stand in the shallow end of the huge body of water, squeezing droplets from her long, wild mane of hair.

  “Are you going to stand there staring at me all night?” she asked conversationally, slipping onto the cement edge at her waist. “It went from flattering to disturbing about five minutes ago.”

  Garret was instantly embarrassed at being discovered, and he stepped out of the cover of the bushes to show himself.

  “I didn’t want to interrupt you,” he replied, trying to sound irritated but as the words left his lips, he heard the plaintiveness in his tone.

  Why are you explaining yourself to her? This is your house. You can be anywhere you damn well, please.

  The thought did not diminish his humiliation.

  To his relief, Dylan offered him a brief smile.

  “I can multitask,” she answered. “I thought you had seen that on my resume. I hope I wasn’t making too much noise.”

  Garret smirked slightly.

  “I thought you were an intruder,” he confessed, walking around the house and joining her at the side of the pool. “I think my nerves are tauter than I care to accept.”

  Dylan cocked her head to the side and peered at him, her damp strands grazing the tops of her small but firm breasts atop her sports bikini.

  “Do you believe that someone has been intruding on the island?” she asked curiously. Garret sighed and sat at her side.

  “I don’t know what to believe anymore. I obviously have a hard time accepting that anyone close to me is trying to kill me, but the chances of it being a scuba diver seems a little farfetched, doesn’t it?”

  Dylan shrugged and shook her head.

  “You told me that there was no driver to the ski doo who crashed into your boat,” she said. “That could imply the work of someone outside the house.”

  “You don’t believe that, do you?”

  Dylan seemed to contemplate her next sentence for a moment before speaking.

  “In my experience, you can’t rule out anybody. Why don’t you tell me more about the people you want me to watch out for. Clearly, I know Hunter and your children. Your ex-wives are Lisbeth and Sonia from what I have read about you, but I don’t know Paul. Who is Paul?”

  Garret stared at her incredulously, recalling how annoyed he was that she wasn’t taking notes when they spoke.

  “You remembered everyone I mentioned to you in passing one time?” he asked dubiously. “How could you possibly?”

  Dylan smiled, falling back on her hands, her arms extended.

  “I have an identic memory,” she told him. “It’s only one of my many talents and why you are paying me the big bucks, Mr. Elgin.”

  Garret was impressed. He felt a foreign spark of shame as he recalled his reaction to her when she had docked.

  I should not underestimate her.

  “Paul Anderville is – was a very important investor in Elgin Inc,” Garret told her.

  “Was? He was bought out?”

  “Yes…” Garret was reluctant to provide more details, but he knew that he needed to be forthcoming with this woman if they were going to get to the bottom of what was happening. “He did not leave happily.”

  In truth, Garret would have considered Paul Anderville to be the prime suspect, but the man would have no way of making his way to Urchin Caye undetected.

  He is half the reason I came to Urchin Caye – I suspected reprisal from him. Could he have foreseen that and acted knowing I would be here? He could have paid off one of the local staff to kill me.

  It seemed farfetched. One attempt, perhaps but two seemed wild.

  Even Lisbeth was a farfetched suspect, but he could not eliminate any of the players from his list, not yet.

  The mother of your children would not have you murdered even if you did leave her for a younger woman; he tried to convince himself.

  A bizarre sense of shame sorted through Garret’s body.

  Is there anyone whom I haven’t screwed over in some way? How did you get to be like this?

  “I can see that this is not easy for you, Mr. Elgin,” Dylan told him gently. “It is difficu
lt for a man who has never depended on anyone to ask for help. I can appreciate that.”

  Garret eyed her, a grudging respect beginning to form for the almost unnervingly beautiful woman sitting beside him.

  “I just don’t know where to put my guard,” he told her gruffly. “If I knew where they were attacking, I could be prepared for it.”

  “That’s what I am here for,” Dylan replied softly, catching his gaze. “This is not a business deal or chess game. This is the work of someone who is not rationally minded.”

  The blue light of the pool reflected off her fair skin while the moon seemed to cast a halo around her fiery hair.

  She looks half-angelic, half nymph sitting there in this lighting, he thought, his breath catching. The desire to kiss her was overwhelming, but for the first time in his life, he hesitated.

  With any other woman, he would have dived in, certain that she would eagerly respond but Dylan McMaster was not any other woman. In the short time he had known her, he knew there was something incredibly special about her.

  Special and lethal perhaps, he thought, watching her with baited breath. If I kiss her, will she snap my neck?

  His indecision was short lived as Dylan leaned in, pressing her mouth to his. Garret’s eyes widened at the bold move, but he seized the moment, placing his hands on either side of her face, touching her upper lip with his lower one.

  Their gazes locked and as their kiss intensified, Garret found himself losing himself in the gold flecks dancing in Dylan’s eyes. He had never seen eyes so green.

  His hand slipped around the back of her neck, exposing her creamy throat to his lips, while the other palm slipped slowly down her toned back and around her ribcage, cupping her gooseflesh breast over the top of her bikini.

  She let out a small sigh of contentment when his hot breath sucked around the still wet skin, his hands making their way lower.

  Without warning, he slipped into the pool, his hands seizing her rear, so her six pack of abs were lined with his face.

  Gently, he pushed her arms back, so she maintained a horizontal float while holding herself against the wall and slipped off his Bermuda shorts. He was already engorged, despite the slight shock of the water. The heat was pulsating through his veins, his desire to take her, unlike anything he had ever experienced.