Illusion

by J. S. Cooper

  “So I guess now’s the time I should tell you that I wasn’t at that coffee shop by mistake.”

  “What?” My voice echoed in the small shack.

  “It’s not what you think.” He sighed. “I received an e-mail that morning from a business colleague. She said she wanted to meet me there to discuss something about a business I’m in the process of trying to acquire.”

  “Okay . . .”

  “There weren’t any other tables, so I sat with you.” He took a step toward me. “I chose to sit at your table on purpose.”

  “Why?” My body stilled.

  “Because I wanted to flirt with the cute brunette I spotted typing away,” he smiled. “Only, you ignored me when I approached the table.”

  “Sorry,” I bit down on my lower lip as I watched him talking.

  “It’s okay. I felt like a bit of an idiot, so I took my book out of my bag and pretended to read instead.”

  “I felt like a bit of an idiot for being so rude, if that helps.” I smiled at him. “I was trying to finish an article and only had a few minutes left. Normally I’m not so rude.”

  “That’s okay, Pip is one of my favorites, so I was happy to sit there and try to read while I waited on my colleague to show up.”

  “Pip.” I kept my composure as I stared at him. “Like Pip and Miss Havisham?”

  “Yes. I told you I love Dickens, right?”

  “Yeah.” I nodded slowly. “You did.”

  “Great Expectations is one of his best novels, if I do say so myself. I read it in high school and it really touched something in me. I try to read it every couple of years.”

  “The movie was pretty good as well,” I babbled. “Not the one with Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow so much, but the one from the forties with Anthony Wager.”

  “Oh, not sure I saw that one.”

  “So you came to the coffee shop that day to meet someone and decided to sit with me on purpose because you thought I was attractive?” I tried to keep my tone even, but I was finding it hard not to panic. Why had he lied about the book he’d been reading? Unless he was just recalling it incorrectly? “Anything else?”

  “No, not that I—”

  “You told me before that you were reading A Tale of Two Cities.” I cut him off, unable to keep it in. “So what was it, Great Expectations or A Tale of Two Cities?”

  He didn’t even flinch at my words. Either he was a good actor or it had been a genuine mistake. “I must have gotten confused. I love all of his books. Cliché I guess. I’m a rags-to-riches guy. I suppose I resonate with the characters in a way.” He ran his hands through his hair and then stretched. “There’s one more thing, Bianca.”

  “Yes?”

  “My colleague never showed up that day. When I called her, she said that she’d never sent me the e-mail. I didn’t think much of it until we were kidnapped.” He paused and then looked around before continuing in a lower voice. “And the company we were going to discuss, the company I’ve been interested in acquiring, is Bradley Inc.”

  “What?” Several emotions hit me then: shock, distrust, and curiosity.

  “I didn’t want to say anything. I didn’t realize that it had that much importance, not until you told me about your father’s letter.”

  “You should have told me before.” I gazed at him. “This means that it wasn’t just a case of mistaken identity for your kidnapping. This means you likely weren’t kidnapped because you were sitting at a table with me. This means that Mattias Bradley, if he’s the one responsible for the kidnapping, wanted you here as well.”

  “I think you’re right.” He nodded. “Mattias is playing a game with both of us.”

  “Have you met him, then?” I asked him curiously, wondering why he would have kept all this from me when I’d spent half the previous night spilling my heart out to him.

  “Stand still,” he whispered suddenly, instead of answering. He moved toward me slowly, and his eyes narrowed as he moved his hand up swiftly. I took a quick step back as I saw something in his hand. My heart skipped a beat as his fingers continued their ascent. I felt the blood drain from my face as he stepped toward me again.

  “Don’t!” I gasped. “Please don’t.”

  “Don’t what?” His hand brushed something off my shoulder. “There was a mosquito on your arm.”

  “Oh.” I looked at his palm and saw nothing there. It must have been a trick of my mind.

  “They like sweet blood.” He grinned suddenly. “And I remember you telling me that your blood is very sweet.”

  “Yeah, it is.” I nodded, trying to catch my breath. I felt like my romantic suspense adventure was slowly turning into a psychological thriller. “Thanks. Mosquitoes love to suck on my skin.”

  “And so do I.”

  “You like blood?”

  “No.” He started laughing. “I messed that up. I meant to say I like sweet lips.”

  “There’s a big difference between sweet blood and sweet lips.”

  “Yes, there is.” He took a step toward me and gazed into my eyes. My heart started beating rapidly again, but this time, it wasn’t because I was scared. “Do you like being kissed, Bianca?”

  “As much as every other woman.”

  “Do you like it when I kiss you?” He took another step toward me.

  “Why are you asking me this?” I swallowed hard but stood my ground. “I want to know what our notes meant. I want to know what else you’re hiding from me.”

  “What do you think the consequences of my kissing you are?”

  “Stop changing the subject. I don’t care about the consequences of you kissing me. Last time I checked, it won’t get me pregnant.”

  “My note said ‘Everyone has a price. Every action has a consequence.’ ” His voice was dry. “I kiss you because I can’t resist your lips, but there’s a voice in the back of my head that says I should be stronger. I wonder what the consequences of my ignoring that voice in the back of my head are.”

  “I don’t know,” I whispered. “And I don’t care. I doubt the note was talking about us kissing.”

  “You’re mad at me, aren’t you?”

  “What do you think? I don’t take well to people lying to me.”

  “I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell you everything. Just like you, I didn’t know if this was a setup. I didn’t get to my position by trusting every pretty girl who flutters her eyelashes at me.”

  “You’re so offensive. I know in movies, that might be cute to some women, but I’m not the sort of woman that needs a man who puts me down. I don’t find that sexy.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.”

  “Goddamnit, Jakob.” I pressed my hands against his chest. “What’s going on here?”

  “I really don’t know, Bianca. I’m as confused as you are.” His fingers covered mine.

  “I don’t know if I believe that,” I whispered.

  “Do you think it’s wrong for a woman to trick a man into falling in love with her?” He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine lightly as he spoke. “Do you think that women use sex as a way to trap men?”

  “I don’t know,” I whispered again, frozen and unable to move.

  “What do you think should happen to gold diggers?” His tongue darted out and licked my lips. “Should they be punished?”

  “I . . .” I swallowed hard as my heart raced. “I don’t know.”

  I moaned as Jakob grabbed the back of my neck and pressed me toward him. His lips pressed down harder on mine, and his tongue slipped into my mouth as he kissed me, hard. All of a sudden, my cold skin had turned hot, and I kissed him back with abandon. His lips were unrelenting as he devoured my lips and sought the secrets of my mouth. His hands squeezed the back of my head as his fingers ran through my extremely tousled hair. His chest felt warm against my fingers as I caressed his skin and held on to his back. My legs were trembling as his fingers lightly ran up my stomach and over my breasts.

  I was breathless as he p
ulled away from me. He stared down into my eyes, and his eyes looked angry. He took a step back from me and ran his hand through his hair before he spoke again.

  “Whoever brought us here has a plan.” He paused, then looked at me again. “And it seems very calculated. I think we must be connected in a much more direct way. Our only link can’t be that we’re both interested in Bradley Inc., that’s just too broad.”

  “I wish we knew exactly what was going on. I’m so frustrated.”

  “You’ll have to tell me more about your father. Maybe when we talk a little more we can figure some stuff out.”

  “I guess so.”

  I spoke reluctantly. I didn’t really want to tell him more about my father. I didn’t want to give him any more information until I was more confident in my trust for him. “Do you think someone else is on the island besides you, me, and Steve?” I licked my lips lightly and watched his eyes follow the movement of my tongue. If only we were here for a different reason. If only I could concentrate on the attraction we had for each other. Things would be so different then. Now, I felt guilty. My attraction to Jakob felt slightly dangerous. I felt like every kiss was playing with fire, and I was getting closer and closer to being consumed by his flames.

  “No.” He shook his head. “I don’t.”

  “Then how did these letters get here? Do you think it was Steve?”

  “Perhaps. I think whoever did this planned it out very carefully.” He looked around the shack. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s been sleeping in here. For some reason, Steve doesn’t strike me as a particularly delicate person.”

  “I wonder who built it.”

  I shivered and stared at the sparse shack. There were some pieces of material on the ground and in some boxes, but I hesitated to go through them. I was scared that it might be a trap. What if the boxes were full of snakes and spiders? I shivered at the thought.

  “Who knows?” He shrugged and his expression changed. “Read your note to me again.”

  “ ‘Your life may be saved in death.’ ” I shuddered as I read the letter. “Do you think they’re trying to tell me that they’re going to kill me? Is Steve going to kill me?”

  “I don’t think so.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t sound like a death threat. Anyway, I won’t let Steve hurt you. I think we need to find Steve and figure out what he knows.” His eyes stared at something in the corner of the shack, and I could see a nerve in his forehead throbbing. “We need to find Steve. We need to find out why he’s here.” He grabbed my hand. “Come on, let’s go.”

  “Do you think he’s still alive?” I asked as he walked ahead of me.

  “I don’t know.” He stopped and looked back at me. “Bad things happen to bad people when they least expect it all the time.” He smiled at me then. A weird, sad smile. “But then bad things happen to good people all the time as well, don’t they?”

  “Yes, they do.” I thought back to my mother’s death and the grief my father had lived with for the rest of his life and pulled my hand back from his grip. “I wish I knew what the notes meant. What are they trying to tell us? I feel like my note is some sort of threat. And what about yours?” I thought back to his note. “Are they saying you did something bad? Did you take money for some shady deal and your being kidnapped is the consequence of your actions? Do you think Mattias is trying to warn you to stay away from trying to take over his business?”

  “I try not to be shady.” He gave me a half smile.

  “Most rich people have been shady at some point in their lives,” I said bitterly.

  “Does that make you mad?” He looked at me keenly. “Do you feel like rich people owe you something?”

  “I don’t know any rich people.” I stared at him and kept my voice even.

  “Aside from your ex-boyfriends.”

  “Whatever.” I glared at him. “I don’t care if you have money, Jakob. I’m sorry that some girl, who was obviously a gold digger, tried to date you, but she’s not me.”

  “I won’t say the obvious.” He started, but I cut him off.

  “Good.” I handed him my letter. “You can keep this. I’m going to go look for some water.”

  “Wait.” He grabbed my shoulders and pushed me against the wall. His eyes glared down at me, and I could feel the warmth of his body against my skin. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to just run off by yourself.”

  “What do you care?” I struggled to push him away from me, but I couldn’t move him.

  “Bianca, listen to me. I think we should stick together until we find out who brought us here and who left these letters for us.”

  “Then stop being an asshole to me.”

  “I’ll try,” he sighed. “I’m sorry if you think I’m being rude. I’m just on edge.”

  “You don’t think I’m not on edge? Someone just threatened to kill me.”

  “Bianca . . .” He let go of my arms and stepped back. “I’ll take care of you.”

  “Thanks.” I looked around the shack again and froze. “Oh my God.” I made my way past him, ran to the corner of the shack, and pushed aside the trash on the ground. “There’s a bag.” I kicked the medium-sized black leather bag gingerly, and screamed when a small lizard ran out.

  “You’re going to give yourself a stroke if you keep that up.”

  “I’m not doing it on purpose,” I snapped back at him, and tried to control my breathing. “I didn’t expect a huge lizard to almost attack me.”

  “Yeah, I wonder if he’s related to Godzilla?” he quipped, and I looked up to see him smiling.

  “It’s not funny.” I smiled, unable to stop myself. “I know I overreact a bit, but I just hate insects and creatures that aren’t cats and dogs. I’m a bit of a frightened rabbit when it comes to bugs.”

  “Whoever chose to kidnap you must not know you very well, then.” He laughed, and I froze at his words.

  “Or they know me really well.” My mind started racing. “I guess it depends on why I’m here. If it’s for revenge, well this is perfect.” I bit my lower lip. “This is like hell on earth for me.”

  “Who knows how much you hate wildlife?”

  “Just my dad and Rosie.” I sighed. “And my dad’s dead.”

  “Do you think Rosie could have something to do with this?”

  “No.” I shook my head vehemently. “There’s no way that Rosie would do this to me.” My voice rose, and I watched as Jakob picked up the bag and placed it on the table. “It has to be someone else.”

  “Or it’s just a coincidence.” He opened the bag slowly.

  “Or it’s someone I spoke to online.” I rubbed my forehead. “In my online profile, I stated that my worst date would involve camping because I hated bugs.”

  “I thought you never met anyone online?”

  “I didn’t.” I sighed. “I spoke to a couple of guys, but they all turned out to be psychos.”

  “Were you looking for anyone in particular?” He looked up at me then, and I saw his expression change.

  “What do you mean? I wasn’t looking to get a husband. At least not right away.”

  “You had a type though? A certain somebody you were hoping to meet?”

  “Of course. Who doesn’t?” I shrugged, and he turned away.

  He changed the subject. “It looks like there is a God after all.”

  “Why do you say that?” I walked toward him and gasped as he pulled out a bottle of water. “Oh, please tell me there’s more than one bottle.”

  “I never thought I’d see someone so happy to see a bottle of water.”

  “Shut up and open it.”

  I stopped in front of him and eagerly took the bottle from him, drinking the water sparingly. It tasted better than the most expensive champagne, and I immediately felt refreshed as I drank it. I made sure to take only about four gulps before handing it back to Jakob.

  “What are you doing?” He frowned as he took the bottle from me.

  “Aren’t you thir
sty?”

  “You’ve had only a few sips.” He tried to hand the bottle back to me.

  “I’ll wait until you have some first.” I shrugged. “We don’t know how many bottles are in the bag.”

  “Thank you.” He nodded and took a couple of swigs. “That was really thoughtful of you.”

  “I’m not selfish, you know.”

  “No, I don’t believe you are.” He handed me back the bottle. “Have some more. There are a few more bottles in the bag.” He reached into the bag again and pulled out five bottles.

  “That’s it?” I pulled the bottle away from my mouth. I swallowed hard as I surveyed the bottles and mentally calculated how long they would last.

  “It’s okay. There’s a lighter in the bag as well.” He pulled out a pack of BIC lighters and grinned.

  “This helps us how?”

  “We can cook and we can boil water.”

  “What water? Not ocean water.” I made a face, recalling the water we’d drunk the day before.

  “If we find a waterfall, we can probably drink that water as is, but if we want to be safe, we can boil it.”

  “Safe from what?”

  “Cholera and other parasites.”

  “Cholera?” My eyes widened. “I thought that disease no longer existed.”

  “It’s a waterborne disease and yes, it still exists. It’s quite prevalent in the West Indies and Southeast Asia.”

  “So you think we’re in the West Indies or Asia?”

  “I would guess.” He shrugged. “Seems about right, the weather and environment seem to fit. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say the West Indies more so than Asia.”

  “Have you been to the West Indies a lot, then?”

  “No.” He looked at me for a second and then looked back in the bag. “I’ve never been before.”

  “I wish I knew why we were both here.” My voice cracked, and I could feel my body shaking. I could feel that I was about to lose it.