Jolene nodded. “Okay by me, then.”
“I guess we don’t have much of a choice,” Fiona said. “The sooner we can get this all over with the better.”
“Agreed,” Jake said and Cal nodded.
“Okay then, I better get things going,” Luke said. “I’m going to leave through the side door over by the Cove, I can use the cover of the hedges in case the bad guys are watching … we don’t want to tip them off that we’ve been planning anything.”
“I’ll show you out.” Morgan heard herself say then convinced herself that it wasn’t that she wanted to be alone with him—it was the polite thing to do.
They crossed the hallway and went through the kitchen to the butler’s pantry that led to the side door.
The small area on this side of the house had been one of Morgan’s favorite places since childhood. It was like a secret garden. A rounded trellis covered in pink roses framed the door, colorful flowers sprouted up on either side and two honeysuckle bushes sent a sweet perfume through the air.
The shrubs, about ten feet away, enclosed the area in a private cocoon and a wrought iron bench with a stuffed canvas cushion tucked away under a large oak tree made a perfect place for reading.
Morgan stood on the top step and Luke a step down, his eyes level with hers.
“Are you sure you’re okay doing this?” Luke’s had caught her by the wrist and her heart skipped a beat.
“Yeah, of course. We need to do something, right?” She shrugged.
Luke looked thoughtful for a few seconds and Morgan felt a warm summer breeze flirt with her cheek. It was dusk, that magical moment when the daylight fades and the moonlight takes over. She could smell the flowery perfume of the honeysuckle and hear the summer peepers cheeping away.
How many other nights had she and Luke spent listening to peepers in the dusk?
She could feel the heat where his hand encircled her wrist and was suddenly intensely aware of him. She saw indecision in his eyes and then they turned dark with desire. His hand left her wrist and he wrapped it in her hair as he pulled her toward him.
She didn’t resist.
Even though she knew she should.
Instead she met his lips eagerly, her arms snaking around his neck, her body pressing closer to his.
His lips were warm and tasted sweetly salty. They were familiar, but different somehow. She briefly wondered how many other women had tasted those lips in the past ten years as Luke’s arm encircled her waist pulling her in even closer.
The feel of his hands on her body sent tiny frissons of pleasure shooting through her, reawakening the passion that had lain dormant all these years.
###
Luke curled his hand around Morgan’s soft, silky hair as she responded to his kisses, heating his veins with passion. He let his hand fall to her slim waist, her hips and then down her backside.
He pulled her hard against him and her moan of pleasure almost brought him to the brink of no return.
He shouldn’t be kissing her like this, but he couldn’t help it. In the past ten years he hadn’t met anyone else that could even come close to matching his feelings for Morgan.
He was beginning to question why he ever left here in the first place, and, in the back of his mind, was already coming up with a plan for sticking around after this was all over.
But first, he had to do whatever he could to make sure Morgan was safe tomorrow and that was going to take a lot of thinking and planning. Which meant he better stop kissing her … while he could still think.
Reluctantly, he pulled away.
Looking at her in the twilight, his heart flipped in his chest at how beautiful she was. Her raven colored hair shone in the moonlight. He brushed a silky strand away from her face and gazed into her half closed ice-blue eyes. Desire burned in his veins as his thumb traced the line of her bottom lip, all pouty and swollen from their kiss.
He fought off the urge to pull her close and kiss her again. He knew this time he wouldn’t be able to stop, so he stepped away, plunging his hands into the pockets of his cargo pants.
“You don’t have to do this, you know … the decoy thing tomorrow, I mean. I can figure out another way to get rid of the treasure hunters.”
He hoped she’d change her mind and decide not to, but he knew she wouldn’t. He would have called the whole thing off but he also knew how stubborn she could be and figured she’d do something crazy on her own—especially if it helped prove Celeste wasn’t the killer. It was better to follow through with his plan so he could keep an eye on her.
Luke saw her dreamy half closed eyes snap wide open and her back stiffen. “No, I want to do it. I’m not afraid of some old pirates. Don’t even think about trying to talk me out of it.”
Luke took his hands out of his pockets, spreading them wide. “I wouldn’t dream of it. But I want to make sure you’re comfortable with doing this … and I also want to make sure you don’t get hurt.”
He reached out, running his fingers lightly down her arm. He could see suspicion lurking behind her narrowed eyes.
Better quit while you’re ahead.
He backed away, his heart squeezing tighter with each step. He suddenly felt like a schoolboy after his first kiss, not knowing the right thing to say. He cleared his throat, taking another backwards step.
“I’ll be here first thing tomorrow then … to let you know the exact plan.”
Morgan nodded. “Okay.”
Then he turned his heart pounding as he disappeared through the shrubs. The job he had ahead of him was probably the most important one he’d ever had. He had to make sure the plan was perfect … his whole future depended on it.
###
Morgan stared at Luke’s retreating back and kicked herself for falling under his spell so easily. Her fingers flew to her lips that were still burning from his kiss.
He’d sure kissed her like he meant it, but what Morgan couldn’t figure out was why? The past ten years had made it perfectly clear that he didn’t have room for her in his life and she certainly had no intention of being just a passing dalliance.
Her hand closed around the cold metal of the doorknob. Better to get on with the task at hand than to stand there wondering. The sooner all this pirate stuff was over with, the sooner Luke Hunter would be gone from her life—hopefully this time for good.
But right now she had something more important to do.
She slipped inside to the butler’s pantry and made her way to the informal living room. She was glad to find it empty—she didn’t want to answer any embarrassing questions about her and Luke tonight.
The map was still laid out on the table. She sat down on the couch to study it. Celeste’s parting words echoed in her head and she was learning that it was smart to follow Celeste’s advice.
Staring down at the lines in the map, she realized something wasn’t quite right. The map was a series of markers with lines leading from one to the next and some sparse instructions. Presumably you would follow the lines and find the treasure at the end.
But, something about the lines wasn’t right—she could feel it in her gut. Morgan closed her eyes and pictured the map in her mind. It seemed to float, almost three dimensionally as if the map was drawn for terrain that was at different elevations instead of a straight line on flat ground.
A sudden sound in front of her made her heart lurched. Her eyes flew open, her body tensing.
She relaxed when she saw it was only Belladonna. The cat had hopped up on the table and sat on the map, her tail swishing over the corner of it, blue eyes staring intently at Morgan.
Morgan remembered how the cat threw herself at Luke earlier.
“Traitor.”
Belladonna simply blinked at Morgan, licked her paw, washed her ear a couple of times then continued staring.
Morgan returned her attention to the map, studying it as she was instructed. Belladonna sat patiently on the table and Morgan couldn’t help but wonder if the cat knew something
she didn’t.
Morgan could feel her eyes growing heavy. It had been a long day and an even longer one was in store tomorrow. Her chest constricted at the thought of being a decoy, but she had to do it—her family was being threatened and if she could make it go away then it was worth the risk.
She wandered into the kitchen and made a cup of chamomile tea to help her sleep.
Where was everyone?
A quick glance at the clock told her it was late—they were probably in bed. And that’s exactly where she should be, trying to get a good night’s sleep. She’d need her wits about her tomorrow to deal with the bad guys … and Luke Hunter.
Chapter Twenty Two
Morgan was up early the next day, anxiety seeping into her every pore, making her jumpy and jittery. She hadn’t slept well, but figured coffee was a bad idea so she padded down to the kitchen in her bare feet, black tank top and favorite pair of faded jeans for some tea.
Fiona, Cal, Jake and Jolene were quietly sitting at the kitchen island staring into steaming mugs of coffee.
“I guess I’m not the only one up early,” Morgan said as she hunted in the cabinet for her favorite mug.
“Yeah who can sleep with Celeste in jail and you acting as some sort of decoy?” Fiona raised a sleepy eyebrow.
Morgan shrugged. “I’m sure I’ll be fine, and Delphine will get Celeste out today.”
“Yeah, we’re going to meet her in a little bit,” Cal said looking at his watch.
Morgan’s heart thumped. They were all going off to get Celeste out of jail and she’d be going off to get captured by pirates.
“Morgan will be perfectly safe and under our watchful eye with these gadgets,” Luke said from the kitchen doorway as if reading her mind.
Everyone swiveled in his direction. He was dressed in a black tee-shirt that somehow managed to show off every muscle in his chest and arms along with black cargo pants and big steel toed boots, also in black.
Morgan’s heart thumped even harder. “How did you get in here?”
“Oh, sorry, I snuck in. Didn’t want to come to the front door in case anyone was watching.” Luke shrugged. “I wasn’t kidding when I said you guys should get an alarm system.”
Morgan narrowed her eyes at him, taking in the three small items he was holding in his hand.
“What are those?”
“These are your lifeline. This will allow us to see everything going on around you.” He held up what looked like a barrette in his right hand.
“And these will let us hear everything.” He held up a pair of earrings in his left.
Jolene went over to inspect the items. “These are pretty cool. Unobtrusive. Do they really work?”
“Like a charm. You wanna try them out?”
“I’d love to. Actually I was hoping I could kind of tag along and see how the whole process works.”
Luke frowned at her.
“I’m taking some private investigator courses and a computer forensics course. It would be really helpful for me to see some real life stuff.” Morgan noticed that she was giving Luke that wide-eyed look she always gave Morgan whenever she wanted to talk her into something. Apparently it worked on Luke too.
Luke pursed his lips. “Okay, but don’t be alarmed by my men—they can be kind of gruff. And don’t get in the way.”
“I won’t. I’ve seen gruff guys before.” Jolene winked at him.
Morgan realized there was a whole bunch she didn’t know about her little sister.
Luke crossed the room and leaned against the counter next to Morgan who focused on sipping her tea while trying not to notice how good he smelled … or looked.
“Okay, so here’s how we’re going to do this. We’ll set Morgan up with the camera and audio. I have several guys in strategic locations and we can monitor her on these.” He reached into his cargo pants and pulled out a small tablet.
“That looks like an iPad.” Jolene craned her neck to check out the device.
“It’s very similar but specialized for surveillance work.”
“Cool.”
“I’ll also be watching Morgan directly with high powered binoculars as will a couple of my associates. We should be able to see and hear everything and rush in as soon as the other guys try to grab her.”
Morgan took a deep breath, setting down her mug. “Well, it all sounds very simple and easy. When do we get started?”
Luke looked at his watch. “What time do you usually open the shop?”
“Around eight.”
“You should go there like normal. Open the shop and then walk around out back in the woods like you are looking for something. Maybe it would be a good idea to take a piece of paper, like you are following a map. Bring a shovel like you did the other day and start digging.” Luke shrugged. “Then just let things happen.”
“We better run.” Fiona got up from her chair and hugged Morgan. “Good luck.”
Morgan’s heart squeezed and her stomach felt heavy with dread. She shook off the brief thought that this could be the last time she talked to her sisters.
“Thanks. Say hi to Celeste for me.”
Cal and Jake hugged Morgan, then slapped Luke on the back and filed out.
Luke looked at Jolene. “You can come with me. But you need to change into all black so you’ll be less noticeable.”
Jolene’s eye lit up and she jumped off her chair.
“I have just the outfit.” She raced out of the room leaving Morgan and Luke alone.
Morgan feigned interest in her mug of tea, her heart racing like an overwound toy.
Luke moved closer to her, holding the earrings and barrette. “Let me help you get these on.”
“I can do it.” She grabbed the items, accidentally brushing his hand with hers, sending sparks running up her arm.
Her hands were shaking as she stabbed the earrings at the holes in her ears.
Luke leaned back, hands crossed over his chest with an amused look on his face as she rammed the barrette into her hair.
“It’s crooked,” he said, reaching over to straighten it. He let his hand linger, then ran his fingers down the length of her hair all the while moving closer and looking at her with those damn sea green eyes.
He leaned in. Was he going to kiss her? Did she want him to?
Morgan’s heart jerked in her chest, either from the task ahead of her or the closeness of Luke. She didn’t know which. But either way, kissing him wasn’t on her agenda this morning.
She backed away, ignoring the look of disappointment and confusion in his eyes.
“Let’s get this over with.” She grabbed her purse and headed for the door.
###
Morgan’s pulse raced as she punched in the security code at Sticks and Stones. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled. She knew Luke and his men were watching … but who else was?
Inside the shop seemed unusually quiet. Every creak and groan of the old floorboards set Morgan’s heart skittering. She wasn’t used to being alone in the shop and she felt a heavy weight in the pit of her stomach wishing Fiona was there with her.
She puffed her cheeks and blew out a long breath of air.
Better get to it.
Digging in her purse, she pulled out a piece of paper that would serve as her fake map and made her way to the back door. The trowel she used the day before was still leaning against the cottage and she grabbed it then headed off into the woods.
Morgan’s heart raced as she wound her way through the trees, pretending like she was following instructions on the map. She clutched at the pendant Fiona had given her the day before. It felt warm, pulsating with energy.
Holding the paper in front of her, she walked east a few paces, then turned and walked north. The woods that always seemed so friendly and inviting took on a dark and foreboding air. Every noise set her nerves on edge.
A movement to her left set her heart jerking wildly. She whipped her head around and sighed when she realized it was only a squirrel
scurrying up a tree.
She stopped at a giant pine that looked like it had been there for centuries. Squatting down, she placed the map on the ground next to her and cleared away the leaves and pine needles before shoving the trowel into the dirt.
Her heart was beating so loudly she wondered if Luke could hear it in the audio. Surely he could hear her raspy breath and see her shaky hands as she dug.
She tried to push away the heavy feeling of doom that was growing in the pit of her stomach. The bad guys would come then Luke would rush in and capture them and it would all be over. At least that was what was supposed to happen. But why did she feel like there wasn’t going to be a happy ending?
A movement to her right caught her attention.
Another squirrel?
Then a movement behind her caused her to jerk her head in that direction. Her heart exploded in her chest when she saw them rushing at her from all directions. She bolted up and tried to run but strong, hairy arms grabbed her.
Morgan struggled, kicking out, trying to wriggle out of his grasp. Her eyes darted around frantically.
Where was Luke?
Her nose twitched as it was struck by a cloyingly sweet smell. She saw a red bandana rushing up to her face. She tried to jerk her head away, but the hairy paw held it in place as the bandana covered her nose and mouth.
Morgan’s eyes bulged, her lungs gasped for fresh air.
Her struggles grew weaker.
And then, everything went black.
###
Luke jabbed at the buttons on the tablet in frustration.
Why wasn’t this thing working?
He’d seen Morgan go into the shop, but once she was inside, the video feed had turned to static. He couldn’t hear the audio either, but that was probably because she wasn’t saying anything.
“Is something wrong?” Jolene peered over his shoulder.
“This feed isn’t working right.” Luke turned the display on the tablet toward her.
2 Dead & Buried Page 12
