Secrets of His Own

by Amanda Stevens

  Maybe she wanted Tia to be in trouble so that she could ride to the rescue and clear her conscience once and for all.

  Okay, enough with the psychoanalyzing, Carrie chided herself. She’d once paid a therapist a fortune to do exactly that….

  Her thoughts scattered as she caught sight of something in the pool. The water was so dirty she could barely see through it, but something white gleamed on the bottom.

  It was probably nothing more than reflected light, but for a moment it looked as if…

  No! It couldn’t be.

  But it was.

  A body lay on the bottom of the pool. Carrie could just make out the outstretched arms, and her hand flew to her mouth as her heart slammed against her chest in horror.

  Chapter Three

  Tia!

  Without thinking, Carrie kicked off her shoes and prepared to dive into the murky water, but someone grabbed her arm and yanked her back from the edge. She spun in shock, her gaze colliding with her captor’s. She recognized him at once. He was the man she’d seen earlier from Tia’s bedroom.

  Fear shot through her as she tried to tear her arm from his grip. “Let me go! Someone’s in the water!”

  He held her fast. “Take it easy, okay? It’s not a body.”

  “But I saw—”

  “Trust me, you don’t want to jump in that water. Just stand back.”

  Releasing her, he bent to pick up a metal pole that had been discarded near the side of the pool. Plunging it into the filthy water, he dragged the bottom where Carrie had seen the body. As he parted the water and stirred away dead leaves, she caught another glimpse of the outstretched arms.

  Sick with dread and fear, she watched him maneuver the pole beneath the lifeless form and pull it up to the surface.

  He was right. It wasn’t a body. He was able to lift it too easily. But Carrie couldn’t stop shaking even when she saw that what he’d snagged with the pole was an old shirt.

  Stepping back up to the edge, she peered into the water, praying that nothing else was down there. But the flash of white she’d spotted earlier had indeed been nothing more than fabric. Somehow the shirt must have floated open on the bottom of the pool, making her think that she was seeing arms and a torso.

  Behind her, the man tossed the pole out of the way, and the loud clang of metal against stone caused Carrie to jump.

  She turned in embarrassment. “You must think I’m an idiot.”

  “It was an honest mistake.”

  His voice was deep and strangely unsettling. And his eyes…

  My God, Carrie thought. She’d never seen a pair of colder, bleaker eyes.

  Except…

  She blinked away the memory as she found herself at a complete loss for words. She didn’t usually rattle so easily, but after days of worrying about Tia and then spotting what she thought was a dead body in the pool…it was all taking a toll on her poise.

  And now that deadly stare.

  She glanced away. “I’m not usually so excitable. But I came all the way out here to see my friend and no one seems to know where she is.” She paused, then said apologetically, “Not that you have any idea what I’m talking about. Maybe we should start over. I’m Carrie Bishop.”

  She started to extend her hand, then thought better of it. Did she really want to make physical contact with a man whose eyes seemed to pierce right through her soul? “You’re not by chance Ethan Stone?” she asked hopefully.

  His expression remained stoic, but a shadow flickered in his eyes. “Not even close. I’m Nick Draco.”

  Nick Draco. Carrie rolled the name around in her head. It sounded familiar for some reason. Had Tia written about him in her letter? “Do you live on the island, Mr. Draco?”

  “For as long as the job holds out.”

  Ah. Now she knew who he was. He was the carpenter Cochburn had told her about. That would certainly explain his dark suntan and the muscles she could see bulging through his shirtsleeves.

  “Mr. Cochburn mentioned that he’d hired someone to renovate the house.” She glanced up at the crumbling mansion. “You certainly have your work cut out for you. It’s a beautiful place, but it looks as if it could take years to restore.”

  “I’m here to plug a few leaks. I doubt Cochburn has much more than that in mind.”

  His gaze never left Carrie’s face. Tiny shivers raced up and down her spine. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had affected her so strongly. She wanted to look away again, but his eyes were almost hypnotic.

  “Why did you think I was Stone?” he asked suddenly.

  She shrugged. “I was looking for him earlier and when I turned and saw you standing there, I guess I just assumed you were he. Sorry for the confusion.”

  “No harm done.”

  Without another word, he started to turn away, but Carrie said, “No, don’t go. I’d like to ask you something.”

  He waited reluctantly, one brow lifting as his gaze connected with hers again.

  “As I said, I came out here looking for my friend…Tia Falcon. Do you know her?”

  “Brown hair…about your size?” His eyes dropped slowly, then lifted. “I’ve seen her around.”

  Carrie tried to ignore the ripples in the pit of her stomach. “Do you remember the last time you saw her?”

  He thought for a moment. “A few days ago, I guess.”

  “Are you sure it wasn’t more recent?” she asked anxiously.

  He frowned. “Could have been, I guess. I can’t say for sure. I stay pretty busy around here. I don’t keep track of who comes and goes.”

  Somehow Carrie doubted that. She had a feeling Nick Draco missed very little of what went on around him. “But it’s such a small island. If a boat came out here to pick her up, you would have seen it, surely? Or at least heard the engine?”

  “Not necessarily. Depends on where I happened to be at the time.” He studied her for a moment. “You seem pretty worried about your friend. Was she expecting you?”

  “No. I didn’t have any way to let her know that I was coming.”

  “Then maybe she went back to the mainland for a few days.”

  “That’s what Mr. Cochburn said.” Carrie wrapped her arms around her middle. “But I just can’t help feeling that something is wrong.”

  His gray-blue eyes watched her intently. “Are you suggesting she met with foul play?”

  The blunt query took Carrie aback even though she’d been dancing around the same question in her own mind for days. She’d had a premonition that Tia was in trouble ever since she’d received that strange phone call in the middle of the night. No, before that even. The uneasiness had started when Tia had fled her own wedding.

  Up until that point Carrie hadn’t wanted to give credence to her doubts about Trey Hollinger, but when she thought back to the way his temper had exploded after learning he’d been left at the altar, she was hard-pressed to believe he hadn’t played some role in Tia’s running away.

  His anger had been over the top that day, and Carrie suspected that if she’d been alone with him, his rage might even have escalated into violence. She hated to admit it, but he’d frightened her. And she didn’t frighten easily these days. Or at least, she rarely let herself succumb to her fears.

  She couldn’t help wondering if Tia had witnessed that side of Trey, too. Had she glimpsed something in her handsome fiancé that had scared her so badly she hadn’t dared face him on their wedding day? Had she been running from Trey when she came out here?

  Was she still running from him?

  Carrie had a vision of Tia’s battered body lying in the bushes somewhere. Or underwater, her wrists and ankles tied to weights.

  After everything she’d been through to come to that fate…

  A fist of fear closed around Carrie’s heart. For one split second, she thought she might actually be sick.

  “Are you okay?”

  She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I’m just worried about Tia. Mr. Cochburn
thought that she might have gotten a ride back to the mainland with Carlos Lazario. Have you seen him today?”

  “No, but Carlos couldn’t have taken her back. His boat has a broken fuel pump. He’s waiting on a part from the mainland.”

  “I…see.” Until that moment, Carrie hadn’t realized how desperately she’d been hoping for a logical explanation for Tia’s absence. Now the last door had been slammed in her face, and she didn’t know what to do.

  “Has it ever occurred to you that your friend might not want to be found?” Nick Draco asked quietly.

  Carrie glanced up. “Why would you say that?”

  He shrugged. “People usually come to a place like this for one of two reasons. They’re either running away or they’re hiding from something.”

  Or someone.

  Carrie wanted to ask which category he fit into, but she held her tongue.

  “Maybe she knew you’d come here looking for her so she left.”

  “She couldn’t have known I was coming. I didn’t tell anyone.” Too late, Carrie realized her mistake. She was miles from civilization and she’d just admitted to a stranger that no one knew where she was. She’d said nothing of her plans to anyone at the magazine and her parents were in Europe for a month. And her friends…Carrie hated to admit it, but they probably wouldn’t miss her, either. They were accustomed to her sometimes eccentric behavior.

  Her gaze shot to Nick’s and she saw something flash in his eyes. Something that made the chill inside her deepen.

  “What about Cochburn?” he said. “You must have said something to him.”

  “I talked to him yesterday on the phone. He agreed to meet me in Everglades City. But…you don’t think he would have warned Tia that I was coming, do you?”

  “I wouldn’t put it past him.”

  Carrie bit her lip. “But that still doesn’t explain why no one here saw her leave.”

  “Maybe she planned that, too.” He paused, then shrugged. “Sorry I can’t be of more help.”

  He turned to walk away and Carrie let him go this time. But his final words echoed in her ears. Maybe she planned that, too.

  Carrie wanted to call after him that he didn’t know what he was talking about. Tia wouldn’t worry her like that, but how well did she know Tia these days? They hadn’t communicated in years until she’d called out of the blue about her engagement. And then she’d skipped out on her wedding leaving Carrie to clean up the mess with Trey.

  Maybe Nick Draco was right. Maybe she should just accept the fact that Tia had left Cape Diablo without a word to anyone, because she’d done it before.

  After all, running away was what they both did best.

  “DID I SEE YOU OUT HERE with Nick Draco?” Robert Cochburn hurried across the courtyard toward Carrie. “He wasn’t bothering you, was he? What did he want?”

  His anxious tone took Carrie by surprise. “Bothering me? Why would you think that?”

  He glanced over his shoulder at the gate through which Nick had disappeared a few minutes earlier. “He’s only been here a couple of weeks. I don’t know that much about him, but he can be a bit intimidating. I hope he didn’t frighten you.”

  “You sound as if you don’t trust him,” Carrie said uneasily.

  Cochburn rubbed the back of his neck. “I hired him to do odd jobs around this place. You don’t exactly get the cream of the crop for that kind of work.”

  “I thought you said you hired him to renovate the house.” His tone worried Carrie. What was he not telling her about Nick Draco?

  “I hired him to do what he can as long as the money holds out. And there isn’t much of that,” Cochburn added with a grimace.

  Carrie hesitated. “Did you know that he carries a gun?”

  “A gun?” Alarm flashed in Cochburn’s eyes. “How would you know that?”

  “I saw him earlier coming up the path to the garden. He had the gun tucked into his jeans and I got the impression that he was trying to conceal it with his shirt.”

  “A gun, you say.” Cochburn grabbed his handkerchief and mopped his forehead.

  “I take it you didn’t know he was armed,” Carrie said.

  “No, but I’m sure it’s just a precautionary measure. After all, Cape Diablo is a long way from civilization. No phones. No communication with the outside world. In many ways, this area is like the last frontier. It pays to be on guard.”

  The last frontier.

  An apt description, Carrie thought worriedly. Cape Diablo was even more primitive and remote than she’d pictured. She couldn’t imagine what Tia had been thinking. Obviously, she’d wanted a place where she could get away from it all.

  And Nick Draco? What had brought him to the island?

  It was pretty apparent that Cochburn didn’t trust the man, and after staring into those cold eyes, Carrie could see why. But she decided to let the matter drop for the moment. “Were you able to talk to Alma Garcia?”

  “Yes, but I didn’t get much out of her. Her lucid days are getting fewer and farther between, I’m afraid.”

  “She didn’t say anything about Tia?” Carrie asked in disappointment.

  “No, nothing. What about Ethan Stone? Was he any help?”

  Carrie sighed. “He’s not home. Or at least, he didn’t answer my knock.”

  “Hmm.” Cochburn’s expression turned pensive as he gazed up at the second-floor apartment. “Kind of a coincidence that both he and your friend are away at the same time. You don’t suppose they could have gone off somewhere together, do you?”

  “I don’t think so. You said he’d just moved in a few days ago, and Tia hasn’t been here much longer. I don’t see her going off with someone she just met.” Trust issues aside, Tia had never made friends that easily. Even before the abduction she’d been painfully shy and reserved, always content to let someone else make the first move.

  Carrie suddenly remembered the way that Tia had described the two Santiago children in her letter. Reyna, so quiet and shy, and Pilar, too adventurous for her own good. They remind me of the way you and I once were.

  Yes, Carrie had been the adventurer, the instigator, the one who had always prodded Tia out of her comfort zone.

  If she hadn’t encouraged her to leave the campgrounds that day…

  If she hadn’t stopped to flirt with the young man in the van…

  Carrie blinked away the memory and tried to focus on the here and now. She’d learned a long time ago not to dwell in the past. All it did was keep you trapped in fear.

  “What about Draco?” Cochburn was saying. “Did you ask him about your friend?”

  “Yes, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her. He also told me that Carlos couldn’t have given her a ride back to the mainland because his boat has a broken fuel pump.”

  “Well, that’s that then.” Cochburn took a final swipe at his forehead, then stuffed his handkerchief back into his pocket. “I really don’t know what more you can do here. I think your best bet is to go back to the mainland and wait until she contacts you again.”

  “And if she doesn’t?”

  “Then you can charter a boat and come back out here.” He glanced at his watch. “Right now, though, we should probably get down to the dock. As soon as Trawick gets the supplies unloaded, he’ll want to head back to Everglades City.”

  “But I thought you said he could navigate these islands blindfolded,” Carrie protested. “Surely a few more minutes won’t make a difference.”

  Cochburn gave her a troubled glance. “Navigation has nothing to do with it. I told you earlier, there are a lot of rumors about Cape Diablo. Trawick won’t want to be anywhere near the island come nightfall. And if we let him take off without us, we’ll be stranded here until he comes back on Friday. I don’t know about you, but I don’t relish the prospect of being stuck here for the next three days.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Carrie murmured although she hated the idea of leaving without seeing Tia. What if she was still o
n the island? What if she was lying hurt somewhere? What if she needed Carrie to come and find her?

  But Cochburn had a point. It would be dark soon, and she didn’t know the terrain well enough to go out searching on her own. There really wasn’t anything more she could do here on the island tonight.

  She sighed in defeat. “I left my bag in Tia’s apartment. As soon as I get it, I’ll be ready to leave.”

  Cochburn nodded. “Good. I’ll head on down to the boat and make sure Trawick doesn’t leave without you.”

  “Thanks.”

  Carrie hurried across the courtyard and let herself into Tia’s apartment. When she didn’t see her bag in the living area, she realized that she must have left it in the bedroom.

  As she started down the hallway, she noticed that the smell from earlier had disappeared. She paused as the back of her neck prickled in warning.

  Something was different. It wasn’t just that the odor had faded. She could feel a draft coming from the bedroom as if a window had been opened to allow the place to air out. But she’d closed the garden door earlier. She was sure of it.

  Carrie took a cautious step inside the bedroom, then stopped cold. For one heart-stopping moment, she thought someone stood just inside the French door. She had a sudden image of the woman she’d seen earlier on the balcony staring down at her. The evil she’d sensed then crept back over her, but she realized that it was only the curtain blowing in the breeze.

  But someone had been in Tia’s bedroom. What if the intruder was still there?

  Carrie’s gaze shot to the closet. The door was shut. Had she closed it earlier? She didn’t think that she had. Ever since she was little, she’d had a thing about leaving closet doors open so that she could see if anyone—or anything—was hiding inside.