by Elle James
“Let me get it.” Dave dug around in the pile of equipment and pulled out Creed’s BCD.
With his good hand, Creed removed the velvet bag from the Velcro pocket. “Thanks.”
“What’s in the bag?”
“A whole lot of trouble.”
“Those the diamonds?” Dave scratched his beard-stubbled jaw and blew out a stream of air. “I threw diamonds in the back of my pickup?” He shook his head and climbed into the driver’s seat. “I gotta hear this story.”
Creed returned to the Jeep a little steadier on his feet, but Emma wasn’t going to let him off the hook easily. He needed stitches and antibiotics to ward off infection. Then they were going to put those diamonds somewhere safe, where terrorists couldn’t use them to buy bombs. This whole nightmare would be over, and then maybe the day would turn out as good as it had started.
Her body warmed at the image of Creed lying naked beside her after making love to her. Oh, yeah. The day was going to end better than it started, if she had anything to say about it. She could work around Creed’s injury, if he was up to it.
* * *
Creed held tight to the bag of diamonds as Emma pulled onto the highway. Dave was already out of sight around a bend in the road.
Now that he had the cargo Macias had been after, he’d revealed only half of the terrorist’s story. The other half remained a mystery. Who had Phillip made a deal with? Diamonds for enriched uranium? Obviously someone who didn’t plan on sticking around to witness the amount of damage.
Without the diamonds, Phillip wouldn’t meet with his contact. Which meant he had to give the diamonds to Phillip, or they’d never discover who had access to the uranium needed to build a bomb powerful enough to put a big hurt on the western coast of the U.S.
When the rest of his team arrived, they’d have to come up with a plan to turn over the diamonds and follow Macias to his rendezvous.
Emma slowed at a stop sign at a junction on the old road and waited for a four-door sedan to pass through the intersection.
The vehicle pulled to the middle of the junction and stopped.
“What are they doing?” Emma grumbled. “I’ve got a bleeding man in the car. Move!”
Creed’s hackles rose as the windows on the sedan lowered. “Punch it, Emma!” He leaned over, grabbed the steering wheel and jammed his foot on top of hers over the accelerator. The Jeep careened sideways and Creed straightened the wheel, swerving around the sedan as the barrels of two semiautomatic rifles poked out of the windows and the shooters opened fire.
Emma struggled to keep the Jeep from running off the road, while Creed fought to zigzag, refusing to give the shooters a steady target to aim at. “Go! Go! Go!”
He dove for the backseat, reached into the duffel bag he’d brought with him and yanked out his HK40 handgun, wincing as he bumped his wounded arm.
Emma glanced over her shoulder. “Damn it, Creed, you’re bleeding again.”
“Send me the bill for the upholstery, if we live through this.”
“Damn the upholstery!” Emma shouted. “What do I do?”
“Drive into town as fast as you can.”
A bullet pierced the plastic of the back window on the ragtop Jeep, winged past Creed’s ear and shattered the passenger side of the front windshield. If Creed had been in the passenger seat, he well could have taken that bullet in the head. He had to believe it wasn’t his day to die. Nor was it Emma’s, if he could help it. He pointed the HK40 out the hole in the back and fired on the car speeding to catch up to them. “Faster, Emma,” he said, his voice steady and urgent. “They’re catching up. Make it to town and they’ll have to split off.”
“That’s three miles!”
“You can do it. You’ve made a habit of saving my butt. Don’t stop now.”
“Don’t think you’re getting out of going to the hospital, just because some jerk is trying to kill us,” she cried out, then squealed when another bullet took out the driver’s side mirror. “We’re not going to make it.”
“The hell we aren’t.” Creed took aim and fired at the driver’s window of the other car.
The vehicle swerved and ran halfway into the ditch before it straightened and sped to catch up to them again.
“Do you have the accelerator all the way to the floor?” he called out.
“All the way, frogman. As fast as it’ll go.”
When they hit a curve in the road, the Jeep tipped up on two wheels, throwing Creed to one side, slamming his wounded arm against the roll bar. He bit down hard on his tongue to keep from yelling. Emma had her hands full, trying to keep from flipping the Jeep while staying ahead of the other car. She didn’t need to worry about him.
He pulled himself upright and fired on the car behind them, creating another hole in the windshield but barely slowing the vehicle this time.
“Creed, are you okay?”
He glanced over his shoulder and caught Emma’s gaze as she risked looking in the rearview mirror, however brief the moment, before she returned her attention to the road in front of her.
“I’m good,” he assured her.
She laughed, the sound bordering on hysteria. “I know you’re good, but are you okay?”
“Yes, damn it. Just drive!”
“My dad didn’t cover this in driver’s ed.”
“He’d be proud.”
“Damn right, he would.” When she took the next curve, Creed braced for it, holding on to the roll bar.
“Town’s coming up!” The relief in Emma’s voice was palpable.
They weren’t home free yet. The long straight stretch into town gave the other car the opportunity to gun it and pull alongside them, their weapons poking out of the open window.
Emma gripped the steering wheel, her knuckles white. Then she jerked it toward the car, slamming into the side of the car before they could fire off a round.
“That’s for messing up my Jeep,” she yelled and planted her foot on the accelerator, shooting into town at eighty miles an hour.
The trailing car dropped back and did a one-eighty, hurrying off in the opposite direction.
Emma huffed. “Showed them.”
Creed grinned. “You sure did.”
“Now let’s get you to the hospital before you bleed out.”
Still traveling a little too fast, Emma blew by the police department and skidded to a stop in front of the emergency entrance to Cape Churn Memorial. Orderlies rushed out to greet them.
“I brought you some business. Knife wound,” she said, her voice calm, capable and completely void of any residual effects of the suicidal race into town.
His arm aching, his body bruised and tired, Creed couldn’t help but grin. Emma Jenkins had guts and took care of business. His only regret was that Phillip Macias had her in his crosshairs now.
* * *
While the staff on duty in the emergency room prepped Creed’s wound and the doctor stitched him up, Emma went back out to her Jeep, stripped out of the wet suit she was still wearing and threw her sundress over her damp bikini. She finger-combed her hair and looked at her face in the rearview mirror. Pale skin, dark circles and lines at the sides of her eyes. What did she expect after being attacked underwater, nearly run off the road and shot at? For a moment, she leaned against the side of the Jeep and allowed herself to inhale several long, calming breaths of fresh sea-salted air.
It did little to settle her shattered nerves, and she couldn’t help darting glances in a 360-degree radius of where she stood. Was paranoia a byproduct of being attacked several times in forty-eight hours? How did Creed do this on a regular basis? Having trained and operated as a SEAL, he’d seen combat and been shot at. But she hadn’t.
Suck it up, girl. They’re just bullets, and none of them hit you.
A couple more breaths, and she headed back into the hospital and waited outside the room where Creed was being stitched.
“Emma?” Dave joined her in the hallway, his brows drawn together. “I dropped the gear off at the marina and came back to park next to your Jeep. What the heck happened? It’s dented, and the windows are shattered.”
“Oh, Dave.” After hours of holding it together, the wall in Emma crumbled and she leaned into her friend, shaking so violently she couldn’t stop.
“Emma?” He patted her back awkwardly. “I’m not good with crying women.”
Her laugh ended on a dry sob. “You’re not good with blood, you’re not good with weepy women...what are you good at?”
“I make a mean hush puppy,” he offered, holding her against him.
Emma laughed again and forced herself to stand up straight and wipe the tears from her face. Now she could add bloodshot, red-rimmed eyes to the fright she must look like. Not attractive at all to a hot navy SEAL who could have his choice of any woman with only a crook of his finger.
So why did she care? Wasn’t she off men? Didn’t Randy turn her stomach sour on relationships?
“You gonna tell me what happened?” Dave’s hands dropped to his sides, and he rocked back on his worn tennis shoes.
“I’d like to know, as well.” Chief Taggart strode down the hall toward Emma and Dave.
Emma glared at the chief. “I thought you were going to distract any divers from going down by the point. What happened to our backup?”
“We would have, but we got a bomb threat here at the hospital. Kinda put the kibosh on our diversion. Once we evacuated all the people and ran a bomb-sniffing dog through, it was too late. Gabe noticed a boat out by the point about the time it was leaving. I was here until fifteen minutes ago, and left for the marina when I got a report over the radio of a speeding Jeep sliding into the parking lot at the hospital. I figured it might be you two.”
“Anyone get out to that boat?” Emma asked.
The chief shook his head. “Gabe called out the coastguard, but they were sent out on a rescue mission for a capsized sailboat north of here. So he went out himself, but the boat was gone before he could get there. What happened out there?”
Emma gave the chief and Dave the blow-by-blow account of what happened in the water and then on the way back to town. After describing the sedan, she took a deep breath and looked the chief square in the eyes. “That’s it. More fun before noon than I could have banked on.”
“What’s Agent Thomas gonna do with the diamonds?”
“I suppose he has to give them over to his boss. His team should be here by now.”
“Speaking of which.” Chief Taggart held up a finger. “Since you and Thomas weren’t available, I took a call from a Nicole Steele. She said she was with Thomas. They were waylaid by a traffic accident on the road from Portland. They’ll be in later this evening.”
Which gave Emma more time alone with Creed. Once his team arrived, he’d be fully occupied with finishing the case. And now that they had the diamonds, he’d have no use for her diving services. She could get back to her original plan to explore the wreck of the Anna Maria. After all that had happened over the past three days, she didn’t have the heart to go back out and dive. And she doubted Dave would take her. Tomorrow would be soon enough.
The chief scribbled on his notepad, closed it and tucked it into his shirt pocket. “I’ll get a BOLO issued on the sedan and its occupants, and I’ll see if we can get a warrant to search the yacht in the cape.”
“Good.”
“If I need you to identify suspects, where can I find you?”
Emma ran her fingers through her hair again. “I’m headed to my house for a shower after I check on Creed.”
The chief left, and Dave hung around for a moment longer. “Do you want me to stay?”
Emma shook her head. “No. I’m going to check on Creed and, like I told the chief, head home for a shower and a hot cup of coffee.”
“If you need anything...” Dave grinned. “Unless it involves blood—”
“I can count on you.” She hugged Dave and he left, his face red. He was a good guy.
Emma straightened her dress, patted her hair back in place and pinched some color into her cheeks before stepping through the door into Creed’s room.
He sat on the edge of the exam table, wearing nothing but the swim trunks he’d had on under his wet suit. Thick muscles, tanned skin and washboard abs made him more damn sexy than a man had a right to be. He laughed at something Jenna Watkins, the nurse on duty, said as she wrapped his arm in sterile gauze and tape. His thick black hair gleamed in the overhead lights, and that smile that made her blood sing also took her breath away.
Jenna giggled and a stab of something that felt like jealousy hit Emma in the gut.
The attractive young nurse was fresh out of school, with a sunny smile and rich auburn hair pulled back in a messy bun that made her appear even younger and prettier. She was sweet, funny and gregarious. Everyone on the hospital staff loved her. But at that moment, Emma had a hard time liking her.
Creed had told her from the beginning he wasn’t the staying kind of guy. He probably had a girl in every port and didn’t like being tied down to one.
Emma had to remind herself she wasn’t interested in a relationship. She’d proven she didn’t make good choices in men when she’d agreed to marry Randy, who’d used her, stolen hospital money and left town.
What was so different about Creed? He’d used her to get to the diamonds Macias wanted. Now that he had them, he’d be leaving. Only thing he hadn’t done was stolen something, unless her heart counted.
Her chest squeezed so hard, she pressed a hand to it and forced a smile. “I guess you’re all done here?”
Jenna grinned at Creed. “We wanted to keep him, but he refused our hospitality.”
Creed pushed to his feet. “Emma and I have some unfinished business.” He gathered the velvet bag from the table beside him and padded across the floor barefooted, looking like a calendar model advertising sex and the sea.
Emma swept her tongue across dry lips.
Creed leaned close and whispered, “You make me crazy when you do that.”
He smelled of salt, sun and rubbing alcohol, and he was standing close enough she could have pressed her lips to the smooth, hard curve of his shoulder with very little effort. “Do what?” she asked, her tongue tracing her lips again.
“That.” He stared at her mouth. “Can we leave now?” He tossed a glance back at Jenna.
“You’re free to go. You’ll need to change that bandage at least once every day and keep it clean and free of germs.” Jenna handed Emma a roll of tape and a box of gauze. “You might need these.”
Emma took the items without looking or arguing that she probably wouldn’t be with him to change the bandages.
“I’ll have my nurse take care of it,” Creed said, his gaze on Emma’s mouth.
Emma’s cheeks heated, her lips tingled and warmth spread south, low in her belly.
They walked out of the hospital, an inordinate amount of the staff lining the halls to say something to her—mostly females, drooling over the raw masculinity of Creed.
Once they were outside, Emma led the way to where she’d parked her Jeep. “Where to?”
“Since I left my vehicle at your house, I guess we’re going there.”
“Oh.” She climbed behind the wheel and waited as Creed slipped into the passenger seat. After shifting into Drive and pulling out onto the street, she glanced left, right and into the rearview mirror.
“I don’t think Macias’s mercenaries will try to bother us in the daylight, in the city limits.”
“Let’s hope not.” She drove the short distance to Sand Dollar Lane and pulled into the driveway.
“You’re welcome to use my shower, rather than going all the way out to the bed-and-breakfast. You’re still pale, and I’d hate to think of you passing out at the wheel and driving off a cliff.” Emma clamped her lips shut, realizing she was babbling. Her tongue darted out to wet her dry lips.
“See? There you go again, doing that thing that you know drives me crazy.” He leaned across to capture her chin between his fingers.
“What?” She stared at his lips, wishing he’d kiss her.
“This.” Creed bent to grant her wish, his tongue sweeping across where hers had been a moment before and darting deeper into her mouth to slide along the length of her tongue.
When he broke the kiss, he rested his forehead against hers. “I really should find out where my team landed.”
“Oh, I know.” Emma informed him of their delay.
“In that case, I have time to clean up. I should go to the B and B for fresh clothes.”
“No need to go all the way out there.” Emma cupped his cheek with her hand, calling herself every kind of fool for letting this man into her heart. “I have a washer, dryer and shower.”
“Wouldn’t be very nice of me to refuse such a generous offer.”
“No, it wouldn’t.” She kissed him, taking the lead this time, her hand circling the back of his neck to draw him closer.
Seconds later they were scrambling for the front door. Moby hit them as soon as it opened.
“If you’ll keep an eye on him, I’ll drop your clothes into the wash.”
“Thanks.”
Emma took his duffel bag.
He handed the bag of diamonds to her. “Hold on to these, will ya?”
She took the bag, honored that he trusted her with what could be millions of dollars’ worth of precious jewels. No amount of gems compared to the fact he’d decided to stay with her.
She hurriedly laid out a bowl of dog food and fresh water, threw Creed’s clothes with some of hers into the wash with detergent and raced into the hallway, looking for Creed.
The sound of the shower sent her pulse into overdrive. She stripped her dress over her head and tossed it to the floor. She pushed through the door into the bathroom at the same time as she flipped the catch on her bikini top.
