by Zoe York
His brother gave a stiff nod. “All the same, we’ll need to examine the kit and take statements from all of you.”
“Does that need to be straight away?” Rick demanded. “The team is cold and in shock. At least let us warm up first.”
Seán’s eyes narrowed but he shrugged. “Fair enough. Ballybeg Garda Station is in the process of being rebuilt and we’re in temporary digs. There’s not enough room for all of us to fit in. You’ve rented a conference room at the library, right?”
Rick scratched his head. “Yeah. It’s covered with papers and files, though.”
A wry smile broke through Seán’s stern expression. “I doubt it’s messier than our current accommodation. Let’s meet there in an hour. That’ll give the coast guard a chance to examine Mark’s kit.”
As Seán and the younger policeman were helping the coast guard to pack up Mark’s equipment, Katy grabbed Dex’s arm and squeezed.
“What’s the matter?” he asked and followed the direction of her gaze. Her eyes were fixed on Mark’s rebreather and she was breathing heavily.
“I need to go back on the boat to check something. Go on to the library with the others. I’ll meet you there in fifteen minutes.”
“But Katy—” he began, but she was already sprinting down the pier toward the Neptune.
— TWELVE —
Twenty minutes later, Katy stormed into the library and pounded up the stairs to the room the expedition team had been allocated.
She stopped outside the door, breathing heavily, fists clenched. One of those motherfuckers had tried to kill her. She knew it with every fiber of her being, but hadn’t a shred of proof to back it up. Goddamnit.
She hit the corridor wall with her fist and hot tears of hollow rage coursed down her cheeks. Mark had been wearing the kit intended for her. Her brain had registered his lucky yellow stripe when she’d removed her equipment after the dive, but she’d been too shocked over Mark’s disappearance to process the significance. Amid Rick’s bellowing this morning, they must have gotten their kits mixed up.
A simple mistake and bad luck might be a rational explanation for Mark’s rebreather malfunctioning, but Katy didn’t buy it. Someone had deliberately cut the strap on her own kit to force her to exchange it for a spare.
Back on the Neptune, she’d checked the storeroom below deck. It was tiny and so packed with equipment that Mark would have had to reach in to grab the nearest spare rebreather. Placing the sabotaged one to the front would have been a simple task. Her nails cut into her palms. When she got her hands on whoever did this, she’d draw blood.
Dragging air into her lungs, she willed herself to remain calm. She had to maintain a shocked and shaken appearance when she entered the room. Until she had proof that Mark had been murdered, it wasn’t safe to show the perp she knew the kit had been sabotaged.
Adopting her military poker face, she shoved the door open and stepped into the conference room. The entire team was there, including Jack and Moira. She’d toyed with eliminating them from the list of suspects because they’d spent the day at the museum. However, they could have loosened the strap on her kit the night before, as well as tampered with the spare. Besides, she thought savagely, punching Moira would be fun.
Katy moved around the table and slid into a spare chair at the back of the room. She scanned her colleagues’ faces but could glean nothing of relevance. All she knew was that one of them had tried to kill her and had succeeded in killing Mark. When she found the rat, she’d kick his or her ass before turning them over to law enforcement.
The mood in the room was subdued. Even Moira was too shocked to engage in hysterics. Bill folded his lanky frame into the chair beside Katy’s and clutched his untouched coffee cup so tight his knuckles turned white.
“I don’t understand it,” he said and shook his head. “Of all of us, Mark was the person most familiar with diving equipment. He was thorough about checking everything before a dive.”
Katy glanced down the row at Dex. His eyes met hers and she read sympathy in them. He quirked an eyebrow in question. “Okay, Katy?”
She nodded and began to shake, no longer needing to feign the side effects of shock.
He pulled a hip flask from his backpack and unscrewed the cap. When he brought it to her, he crouched by her chair. “Take a shot of this and tell me what’s the matter,” he said in a low voice. “What was so urgent that you needed to go back to the boat?”
Damn. Why did he have to mention her trip back to the Neptune? She took a swig of whiskey and considered how to play the situation. If she pretended she hadn’t gone back to the boat, the killer would get suspicious. As one of her trainers in the Navy had always said, the most effective lies are the ones that stick closely to the truth.
“It should have been me,” she said softly, not needing to feign the strain in her voice.
Dex dropped a kiss onto her trembling hand. “Don’t be daft, Katy. It could have happened to any of us. It should have happened to none of us.”
She grabbed his wrist with fingers ice cold from shock. “You don’t understand. Mark was wearing my rebreather.”
This statement drew startled stares from the entire company.
An expression of unease flickered across Dex’s handsome features. “I don’t understand. Your rebreather was broken. Mark gave you one of the spares.”
“He went below deck and brought up his rebreather and a spare one for me. I remember him telling me that the one with the yellow stripe was his lucky pack.” She gave a bitter laugh. “As it happens, the luck was all mine. The spare rebreather, the one I was supposed to wear, had a small orange stripe on the side. When I took off my equipment, I registered a yellow stripe on the rebreather I’d been wearing, but I was in shock. The significance didn’t sink in until I saw your brother and the others with Mark’s kit. I went back to the boat to check the kit I’d been wearing to make sure I wasn’t imagining things.”
Dex’s face turned chalky white. “Jaysus. It might have been your body we brought to the surface.
“So you see what I mean? I was supposed to die, not Mark.”
“No, sweetheart.” He cradled her in his arms and stroked the nape of her neck. “You got the packs mixed up when Rick was yelling his head off about the day’s plan. What happened today was a tragic accident.”
“It was no accident.” Seán’s voice boomed from the doorway, making everyone swing round. The policeman’s face was hard as granite and his eyes burned with steely determination. Beside him stood the young policeman, equally rigid and suspicious.
“What do you mean it wasn’t an accident?” Rick demanded. “Of course it was. Fatal mistakes can happen on dives.”
Seán looked around the room, focusing on each of them in turn. “This wasn’t a mistake. Mark’s rebreather was deliberately sabotaged. He was murdered.”
— THIRTEEN —
Stunned silence descended over the room. With a pounding heart, Dex looked at each of the expedition team members in turn. One of them had killed Mark.
Then Moira began to wail. “Murdered? Who killed him?”
“That’s what I intend to find out,” Seán said in a grim tone.
“Wait a minute.” Rick’s laugh rang hollow. “You can’t think we had anything to do with it.”
Seán fixed him in place with a hard stare. “You all had ample opportunity to tamper with the equipment. What we need to find out is who had a motive to kill Mark.”
Dex looked at Katy and their gazes locked for a beat, unspoken words passing between them.
“Sergeant Glenn and I will take statements from all of you,” Seán continued. “Because Dex is my brother, I’ll have to hand the case over to the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation if he emerges as a suspect.”
“Thanks, bro,” Dex said dryly, but Seán’s expression remained grim.
“It shouldn’t take too long, provided everyone cooperates.” Seán’s gaze moved around the room again, making the e
xpedition team squirm. “Unless there’s something one of you would like to tell me?”
“I do,” Katy said with quiet determination. “I received an anonymous note telling me to watch my back. I’ve been trying to figure out if it was meant as a warning or as a threat. Given today’s events, I’m inclined to think it was a threat.”
Seán’s expression hardened. “Any idea who sent it?”
Katy shook her head and extracted the note from her trouser pocket. “Here you go. Maybe there’s a fingerprint on it. I doubt it, though. Someone who went to the trouble of typing a note probably had the sense to wear gloves.”
“Thanks, Katy.” Seán slipped the note into an evidence bag. “Now does anyone else have something they need to get off their chest?”
A silence coiled with tension descended over the conference room. With every taut second that passed, the weight of unspoken words strained Dex’s self-control.
Finally, Seán’s lips parted in a grimace. “I doubted it would prove that simple to get a confession.”
***
Three agonizing hours later, Katy and Dex emerged from the library. Rick was waiting for them by the entrance, leaning against the wall and sucking on a cigarette. Katy suppressed a groan. The last thing she wanted to do right now was chew the fat with that dickhead.
When Rick saw them, he straightened. “We need to talk,” he said in a rough voice. “I’ll walk you back to your apartment.”
“Actually,” said Dex, “we’re spending the night at Clonmore Castle Hotel.”
“We are?” Katy stared at him in surprise. “Since when?”
“Last-minute cancellation. It’s only for one night, but I thought you’d be pleased. That was before…all this happened.”
Before Mark was murdered. Katy shivered and wrapped her arms around herself to ward off the evening chill.
“How romantic,” Rick drawled.
“It’s your fault,” she said. “You were the one who put us in the same apartment.”
“You can invite me to the wedding,” Rick replied with an edge of acidity. “Now let’s focus on the finding the Fire and Ice Necklaces.”
Katy’s step faltered. Dex squeezed her arm and sent her a warning look. “What are you talking about?”
Rick sneered. “Cut the bollocks, Katy. I didn’t want you on this expedition. One of the backers—a guy called Trevor Masterson—insisted I hire you. The only reason I can think of for Masterson being so keen for you to be part of the team is that you’re looking for the Fire and Ice Necklaces on his behalf.”
“As are you and Dex.” Katy folded her arms across her chest. “Why bring this up now?”
“Because the police want us all to stay in Ballybeg for the foreseeable. No sailing off in boats permitted.”
“What about the expedition?” Katy asked. “Will it be cancelled?”
“I don’t know. At the very least, we’ll lose a couple of days. Looking for that bloody jewel case is the proverbial needle in a haystack. I figure we should team up and split the proceeds if one of us finds it.”
“How can we team up if we’re not allowed to dive?”
Rick squinted at her through a haze of cigarette smoke. “Detective Inspector Mackey wants to see us again after lunch tomorrow. I’ve arranged for Con to take us out in the early hours of the morning. With a bit of luck, we’ll be back on shore before the police notice we’ve gone.”
Dex and Katy looked at one another. “What do we say if they do catch us?”
“That we’re over-zealous academics in pursuit of valuable artifacts.” Rick’s hard stare gave Katy the creeps. “What do you say, Dr. Ryan? One last dive to try to find the jewels?”
A vision of the metal box played in Katy’s mind like a jerky film reel. If it did contain the jewels, her mother’s medical bills would be covered for the rest of her life. “I’m in.”
— FOURTEEN —
The room Dex had booked at the Clonmore House Hotel turned out to be a junior suite complete with a hot tub and a bottle of champagne on ice. After a day of tension and tragedy, unwinding in warm water was exactly what Katy needed.
Dex poured bubbly liquid into two glasses and handed one to her. “I bought the bath bombs from the Cottage Café. The woman who runs it said they’re made by a local company.”
“Mmm,” Katy inhaled deeply, identifying ylang ylang and jasmine. “You chose well.”
“They’re from a range called sex bomb. I thought they’d suit you.” He laughed against her ear and clinked his glass against hers. “Sláinte.”
“Cheers.” She took a sip from the glass, enjoying the tart taste and the bubbles popping on her tongue. “It seems wrong to be sitting in a hot tub sipping champagne while Mark is lying in the morgue.”
His expression turned serious, a frown marring his usually smooth forehead. “Don’t think about it, Katy. This evening is supposed to help us relax, remember? We’ll need to have our wits about us for tomorrow’s dive.”
She leaned into him and ran a hand over his muscular torso, relishing the feel of his strong muscles underneath her palm. “I’m sorry this expedition ended in tragedy but I’m glad it brought us back together.”
Dex nipped her ear, making her squirm with pleasure. “So am I, cupcake. Whatever the future throws at us, we’ll face it as a couple. Speaking of which: do you want to join me for dinner on Saturday with my brother and his girlfriend?”
“What happened to no-strings until after the expedition?” She stuck her tongue out at him. “Did we both forget?”
“Oh, I haven’t. I’m just ignoring the no-strings part of the arrangement and hoping my seductive charm and sexual prowess will convince you to keep me.”
She threw her head back and laughed. “You are outrageous, Dex Fitzgerald. But the answer is yes. I’d love to get to know your brother and meet his family.”
“Excellent. Now why don’t I show you exactly how outrageous I can be?” He ran his free hand down her side and skimmed her lower back. “I want to make the most of tonight.”
“Hot tub sex, hmm?”
“Oh, yeah.” He placed his champagne glass at the side of the hot tub and slipped both hands into the water to massage her buttocks. The sensation of him kneading her flesh sent a shiver of anticipation through Katy’s body. She arched her back, making her nipples peek out of the water.
Taking the hint, Dex slid a hand upward and tweaked her nipples.
“Harder,” she murmured, “make it hurt.”
He pulled them with more force this time, rolling the pebbled flesh in his fingertips. “Is this hard enough?”
“Mmm…oh, yeah.”
Using her thighs, she angled his knee between her legs and rode it, rubbing her clit against hard bone. The tip of Dex’s erection bumped against her belly. He was rock hard and ready. Her skin burned with need and her body felt hot and wet and achy.
Reaching into the water, she ran a finger down his silky smooth length. He grunted when she took the tip of his erection into her palm and rolled it back and forth. When she switched the movement to up and down, he let out a groan. “You’re killing me, Katy. I want you so damn much.”
“So take me,” she whispered. “Take me now.”
He nuzzled her neck, grazing her skin with rough evening stubble. “You sure about this Katy?”
“Now, Dex. That’s an order.”
He nibbled her ear lobe. “Aye aye, captain. For such a little person, you’re one bossy lady.”
Dex turned her around and pressed her stomach against the edge of the hot tub. His erection pressed into the small of her back. He traced the line of her pelvic bone and slipped a finger between her buttocks.
She gasped when he drew the finger back and forth between her legs, and cried out when he inserted a fingertip between her silky folds.
“You’re wet,” he murmured.
“After what we’ve been doing, does this come as a surprise to you?”
“Cheeky.” He pushed her up a
gainst the edge of the tub and slapped the exposed part of her ass just hard enough to sting. “Keep that up and I’ll torture you all night.”
“That’s kind of what I was aiming for,” she gasped, “although the odd orgasm break here and there wouldn’t be unwelcome.”
He slapped her ass again, making her cry out, and pushed two fingers inside of her. “Oh, no. You haven’t done nearly enough to deserve an orgasm.”
She arched her back and bit her lip. “What do I need to do?”
He laughed. “Let me show you.”
In one fluid movement, he pressed her into the side of the tub and parted her legs. Her breasts rubbed against the tiles, the sensation massaging her already tingling nipples.
Dex stroked her tender flesh and parted her lips. The tip of his penis at her entrance was undiluted torture. Finally, he pushed inside her. She gasped and he waited a moment for her to adjust to his size. Then he began to thrust. Where he’d been tender and gentle the night in the shower, he was rough and ready tonight.
Katy leaned forward to allow him deeper penetration. He pounded into her, massaging her clit with one finger. The pressure inside her mounted until she could bear it no more.
When she came, she cried out, one wave of pleasure rolling into another. And after he came a moment later, they collapsed together against the side of the tub, gasping.
“You are a remarkable woman.” Dex turned her to face him and caught her mouth in a kiss.
She put her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. He tasted of champagne and chocolate—two of her favorite flavors rolled into one.
When they broke the kiss, Dex stared into her eyes, melting her from the inside out. His look was intense, the levity of earlier put on hold. “So, Miss Katy. Can we give our relationship another go?”
Katy bit her lip. “I’d like to try.”
“I don’t want to jump the gun and send you running into the sunset, but there’s something I want you to have.”
