“I will not allow you to leave.” He stomped his foot, as if that would somehow seal the deal. “This is my dream and you’re not going to ruin it.”
Rowan opened her mouth to tell him exactly where he could stuff it, but the sound of scuffling feet on the floor caught her attention. She swiveled quickly, expecting to find Quinn and the rest of her backup making their way inside. Instead, she was absolutely flabbergasted when Darcy strolled through the door. She wasn’t alone, though. She had a man with her ... and his face was one she recognized.
“You?” Rowan furrowed her brow in confusion as she met the steady gaze of the man from the deck, the one she felt as if she should recognize even though she was certain she’d never seen him before. Bill Hill. That was the name she internally laughed over. “What are you doing here?”
“Ah, Bill,” Spencer enthused, clapping his hands. “You’re right on time. I’ve been expecting you. Although, our cargo arrived extremely early.” He cast a chiding look in Darcy’s direction. “You were early delivering the note, my dear. I told you it had to be done at a specific time. Obviously you jumped the gun.”
Instead of apologizing, Darcy made a face. “No, I did things exactly as I meant to do them. I used the keycard I took from Sally, put the note under the door … and then this happened. This … idiot … came alone.” She jerked her thumb in Rowan’s direction. “What were you thinking? I delivered the note early so there would be no one to tip him off that you had the cavalry with you.”
Rowan felt vindicated. “I knew you were working with us. Quinn didn’t believe me, but I knew it.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t know that I would say I was working with you,” Darcy countered. “I was most definitely working against him, though. I always wanted to run but didn’t have the strength until he killed that poor woman on the deck the other night. That was what sealed it for me.”
Rowan’s heart gave a little jolt even though she knew it to be true. “Why kill her if he thought she was me?”
“He confronted her,” Darcy replied. “She denied being you, of course, and he lost his temper. By the time he realized the truth it was too late. He’s not exactly a good guy. He strangled her … and fast. I didn’t even realize it was happening until I showed up after the fact. She was already gone. I tried to help but … she was already gone.”
The news was sobering, and it would be some time before Rowan could move completely past it. She kept reminding herself he was to blame.
“What about your friend?” The man from the deck was the wildcard, Rowan realized. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
“He’s in charge of transportation,” Spencer volunteered. “He’ll be getting us off this island in due haste. I don’t want to delay, Bill. You made a promise to me and I expect you to deliver.” He extended his finger in Rowan’s direction. “Tie her up and let’s get moving.”
“You want me to kidnap her?” Bill challenged, his voice shifting from the folksy tone Rowan remembered from their initial interaction. Now she was definitely convinced she knew him ... but still couldn’t peg from where.
“I want you to kidnap her,” Spencer confirmed. “Good grief. We’ve been over this a million times. I need her. She has something I want.”
“I just needed you to repeat it.” The man reached into his back pocket and came back with a pair of restraints. They looked official, which caused Rowan’s blood to turn to ice as she took a deliberate step away from him.
“Don’t even think about it,” she warned. “I’ll hurt you if you try to put your hands on me.”
“I have no intention of putting my hands on you,” he replied. “I’m well aware of what your boyfriend would do to me if I tried. I mean ... I still think I might be a better match — we have horror movies in common, after all — but I’ve resigned myself to the fact that you two belong together. These are for him.” He gestured toward Spencer, whose expression was turning dark.
That’s when things slipped into place for Rowan. “Brimstone?”
He chuckled at her bewildered expression. “That’s not my name and you know it.”
“Alex Masters.” Now she understood exactly what was going on. “You’ve been undercover on the ship this entire time.”
“I don’t understand.” Sally jerked her head from side to side. “What’s happening? Who is he?”
“He’s an FBI agent,” Rowan replied. “He was on the horror cruise.”
“Oh.” Realization dawned on Sally’s face. “I remember you ... although you were much hotter with the long hair.”
Alex shrugged in amusement. “I have to follow the whims of the job.” His eyes briefly locked with Rowan’s. “We have some things to discuss. It will have to be after I take this idiot into custody, though.”
Rowan nodded dumbly. “Okay.”
“Oh, and by the way, your boyfriend is on his way inside. I had to cuff him to a light post to keep him from ruining my sting operation. He’s going to be spitting mad.”
“At both of us,” Rowan noted. “He’s going to ground me to my quarters for weeks for taking off without him.”
“And rightfully so.”
“Yeah, well ... .” Rowan turned at the sound of raised voices, her heart leaping when she caught sight of Quinn. He was the first one through the door. He wasn’t alone, though. He had an army with him ... and they were all armed.
He exhaled heavily when he saw her, slowing his pace. His chest heaved as their hearts and gazes connected. “You have no idea how much trouble you’re in,” he complained as he started moving. “I mean ... you’re going to be buried under a mountain of it.”
Rowan was so happy to see him all she could do was let out a strangled sob.
“So much trouble,” Quinn muttered as he caught her in his arms and wrapped himself around her, burying his face in her hair. “I mean ... so much.” He burst into tears as he stroked her hair. “As soon as I’m done petting you, we’re going to have a really long talk about what’s appropriate in a situation like this. It’s going to take hours.”
“I think you’re going to have to get in line. It seems everyone wants to talk to me.”
“I can wait.” He pressed his lips to hers, sinking into a kiss that felt as if it had been years in the making rather than months.
They were alive.
They were together.
They were finally free.
20
Twenty
Cleanup was easy.
Alex had five men with him, and they took Spencer and Julia into custody. Darcy was another story. Apparently she contacted the FBI before setting sail on the cruise, informed them Spencer planned to kidnap his niece, and they opted for a sting operation. Spencer was wanted for more than one crime. A murder charge would be additional icing on the cake. When Alex found out that Rowan was the niece in question, he volunteered for the job.
“You could’ve told me who you were,” Rowan complained, her tone accusatory, as Quinn rubbed her back in front of the warehouse. The police activity had garnered a lot of attention, enough that most of the people on the street fled when the lights started flashing. Now only law enforcement and Nick’s merry band of mercenaries remained.
Alex merely shrugged as he pulled off his fake nose. Rowan took it from him, curious, and made a face when she felt the modeling clay give.
“That’s gross.” She handed it back, her expression remaining dark. “Seriously, though, why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve felt better knowing you were watching the situation.”
Alex tilted his head to the side, considering. “That’s why I didn’t tell you,” he said finally, rubbing his hand over a towel and pressing the towel to his face so he could remove the rest of his disguise. “You were acting squirrelly, nervous. I needed you to keep acting that way so it wouldn’t tip off Spencer. He knew you were aware of his identity. He was getting off on messing with you. You’re not a very good actress. You would’ve given it away.”
“What
about me?” Quinn challenged, his hand steady on Rowan’s back as he attacked the kinks in her shoulders. He felt the need to touch her, constantly, and the massage would be less frowned upon than carrying her around like a baby. “You could’ve told me.”
“You would’ve told her.”
“I ... no ... not necessarily.”
Alex snorted. “Whatever. You can’t lie to her. You can barely pretend you can lie to her to save face with me. You would’ve told her to make her feel better. I needed things to play out exactly as they did ... other than the boneheaded move she made to go to the warehouse to save Sally on her own. What was up with that?”
“Yeah, what was up with that?” Sally echoed, sitting on the back of an ambulance as a paramedic worked on her. “I wanted to kill you myself for that.”
Rowan was sheepish. “I was trying to save my friend.”
“And you put yourself in danger in the process,” Alex countered, making a tsking sound with his tongue. “I don’t know what you were thinking, but that was an absolutely asinine thing to do. I thought for sure you would show up with Captain Crabbypants here.” He jerked his thumb at Quinn. “I didn’t think for a second you would go alone.”
“Yeah, well ... .” Rowan pursed her lips as she looked at Quinn. “Don’t worry. I think I’m going to be hearing about it for a very long time.”
“Most definitely,” Quinn agreed without hesitation. “You’re going to be hearing about it for the rest of our lives.”
Rowan wasn’t surprised by the threat. She also knew he would only hold strong on the promise for a few days. Then he would let it go. She could deal with it until then. “I guess that’s it then, huh? You’re going to lock him up, right?”
“I am,” Alex confirmed, bobbing his head. “His father is on the way. We’ve been in contact with him. He was aware of the operation and wants to arrange for a high-security hospital. I believe he’s worried about an escape attempt and I don’t blame him. We’ll figure it out, though.”
Rowan frowned. “You don’t think he’ll go to prison?”
“Do you? You talked to him. Is that a sane man? I mean ... he thinks you’re psychic.”
Rowan wasn’t sure how to respond. She risked a glance at Darcy, who had been largely silent since the takedown of her boss, and the woman slowly shook her head. Rowan understood the warning. Darcy helped her and she wanted Rowan to return the favor. The ship photographer had no problem with that. From where she was standing, Darcy deserved the right to disappear.
“I know. Totally weird,” Rowan agreed, holding Alex’s gaze for an extended period of time. Something passed between them. He understood about her ability. He didn’t want to talk about it, though. Whether it was for her or Darcy, she couldn’t say. Perhaps it was for both of them.
“Am I going to have to testify?” Rowan asked after a beat, something occurring to her. “I mean ... is this going in front of a judge?”
Alex shrugged. “Actually, I don’t know the answer to that. Spencer will spend months getting evaluated by doctors. If there is a trial, it will be far down the line. I’ll keep you informed when I know more.”
“Yeah, well ... .” She blew out a sigh and rested her head on Quinn’s chest as he slid his arms around her back and held her tight. “I can’t believe it’s over. What happens to the Phoenix Society now?”
“I believe the IRS will take care of dismantling the company. It was basically a front to hide what Spencer was doing. His father is owed a bunch of money, so he could liquidate the assets. I’m guessing he’ll go that route.”
His father. Her grandfather. Rowan ran the notion through her head. Her father’s parents had died long ago. She hadn’t had a grandparent in a long time. Now she had this one ... and she had no idea what to do about it.
As if reading her mind, Quinn stirred. “I talked to him on the phone before we made it down here. It was a very brief conversation. He let me know about Alex being on the case, which I had no idea about until then. He did mention he would like a chance to meet you. He didn’t know about your mother being dead. I told him I would broach the subject, but you needed a few days to think about it and decompress. He was open to waiting.”
“Yeah?” Rowan cocked her head. “I really do need to think about it. I’m not sure how I feel.”
“That’s fine.” Quinn pressed his lips to Rowan’s head. “I don’t want to leave you, but I need to head to the hospital and check on Fred. Do you think you’ll be okay getting back to the ship on your own? I mean ... you’re not in danger any longer so it should be fine.” He knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt because he made her take a selfie with her phone and show it to him. The omen was gone.
“She won’t be alone,” Paul called out, catching Quinn’s eye. “She’ll be with us.”
“Fair enough.” Quinn gave her another kiss and stood. “I won’t be gone long. I need to check on him, though.”
Rowan nodded in understanding. “It’s okay.”
“I’ve already placed a call,” Alex offered. “He’s out of surgery and breathing on his own. They tentatively think he’ll make a full recovery.”
“That’s a load off,” Quinn noted. “I still need to see him for myself.”
“I’ll be waiting for you on the ship,” Rowan supplied. “I suppose my punishment will begin then, huh?”
Quinn looked more amused than angry, although he adopted a stern expression. “You have no idea what I’m going to do to you.”
“And yet it sounds hot when he says it,” Sally teased.
“I can’t take this,” Paul complained. “I seriously can’t take this.”
“I want to talk to you on the way back to the mainland, too,” Alex called out to the griping man. “I’m dying to know how a dead man is walking around.”
Paul sighed, the sound long and drawn out. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know where to find me.”
“I certainly do.”
QUINN WAS GONE FOR HOURS. He texted Rowan that Fred was awake and asking questions, promising he would return in time for dinner. He asked that she not eat without him, even though she was starving, and she figured she owed him after what she pulled.
She spent the afternoon listening to Michael profusely apologize for frightening her. It turned out he’d been in the basement because one of the female passengers was being overly aggressive – sexually – and she was too old for him. Those were his words, not Rowan’s, and he thought Quinn could help him gracefully point her toward someone else. The realization that he was still Michael – goofy and ridiculous Michael – made Rowan feel markedly better.
She was, however, still worried about Quinn. He’d yet to yell, but it was coming.
Shortly before seven, he texted and asked her to meet him on deck so they could head straight to dinner. She was relieved because he wouldn’t yell in front of people. Even though she knew she was only delaying the inevitable, she was willing to put off the “very serious” conversation he’d promised for as long as possible.
She dressed in a simple floral frock, her shoulders on display thanks to the thin spaghetti straps. She wore comfortable sandals and her hair was freshly washed and flowing around her shoulders.
The sun was setting, creating a beautiful and fiery vista when she emerged from inside. That was the first thing she noticed. The second was Quinn. He was on one knee in the middle of the deck, everyone they loved surrounding him. Paul, Sally, Demarcus, Nick, Michael, and a bevy of other workers stood at the sidelines as Quinn opened a jewelry box and held it in front of her.
She lost her breath at the sight of the diamond, her mind going in a million different directions all at once ... the same as the shimmering light fractures shining from the ring. “What is this?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
Quinn wore a suit, his hair washed, his smile wide. “What do you think it is?”
“It looks like a—” She couldn’t finish the sentence. What if she was wrong? Of course, there was no rational explanation for w
hat was happening if she was wrong.
“Proposal?” Quinn’s grin widened. “Well, that’s what it is.” He sucked in a breath as she made a strangled sound deep in her throat. “I’ve wanted to be with you since the moment I saw you. Oh, I fought it ... and I won that battle for all of five minutes.
“I never believed in love at first sight, or destiny, until I met you,” he continued, his voice becoming thick. “I never thought I was meant to be with one person. Now I know the reason I felt that way is because I hadn’t yet met you. Now that I have, I know you’re it for me. You’re the one.”
He exhaled heavily to collect his nerves. “I don’t ever want to be without you. I don’t ever want you to be without me. I want us to be together forever. So, Rowan Gray, will you marry me?”
Rowan’s eyes burned with tears and she felt as if she had too much oxygen in her lungs. Briefly, she pressed her eyes shut. And then she nodded. Finding her voice was difficult, but her answer came out on a squeak. “Yes.”
Absolute pandemonium broke out over the deck as those assembled burst into spontaneous applause. Rowan couldn’t stop the tears as she dropped to her knees next to him and watched as he slipped the ring on her finger. His arms were around her in a matter of seconds.
“I love you more than anything. That’s never going to change.”
“I love you, too,” she choked out, her eyes landing on her father. He, too, was crying. He looked obscenely happy for her. “How long have you been planning this?”
“Since the moment we met.”
“How long really?”
“It feels like forever.” He cupped her face and stared into her eyes. “We were always meant to get here. I’ve known that for a very long time. The rest is just ... details.”
“Yeah.” She leaned forward and kissed him, long and deep. When they parted, they were both a little breathless. “Does this mean I’m not in trouble?”
He chuckled. “Oh, you’re still in trouble. I’m just going to fill you full of crab legs before that discussion.”
Raging Seas (A Rowan Gray Mystery Book 9) Page 19
