Finally Marcus tapped his watch, and they surfaced. “We’ve been in the water for almost an hour,” he said.
“I guess I lost track of time,” she answered.
“So did I. We’d better get back.”
She started to turn toward shore when Marcus put his hand on her arm. “Wait.”
She turned to face him, but he was looking toward the open sea. There was a small boat bobbing on the waves not too far away. Two men with binoculars peered toward the beach.
“Does that boat look familiar?” he asked quietly.
Her stomach clenched as she studied the boat. “It does,” she said slowly. “But then, it looks like most of the boats around here.”
“I can’t get a good view of their faces. Do you think that’s the pair that grabbed you?”
She stared at the boat until it wavered in front of her eyes. “I’m not sure,” she finally said. “It could be. But why are they out there instead of on the beach? How will they be able to find out where we go?”
“They must have someone else on the beach,” he said, his voice grim and hard. “Someone you can’t identify. They’re a lot smarter than I gave them credit for. And I already thought they were pretty smart for petty criminals.”
“What do you think it means?” She tried hard to hold on to her self-control. But the sight of the boat, which looked very similar to the one in which she’d been kidnapped, was making her shiver with fear.
“I think it means we need to get out of the water and pay close attention when we’re on our way home.”
Immediately she turned and began swimming for the beach.
Marcus watched her for a moment, then turned and followed her, cursing himself as he swam. Simon must be close by. It was the only possible explanation. He’d sent his henchmen out on a boat to watch for Jessica, where no one could identify them or arrest them. He’d stayed behind to follow Jessica home, knowing she couldn’t identify him.
And Marcus wasn’t sure if he’d seen enough of Simon in the confusion in Madrileño to identify him, either. He’d caught a glimpse of the traitor, but in the mud and confusion and gunfire, it had only given him a brief impression of Simon.
His smooth, steady strokes would have carried him to shore much more quickly than Jessica, and he slowed to wait for her. She was tired, although he knew she would never admit it. He’d seen her moving more slowly through the water, paddling harder to float on top.
As soon as his feet touched bottom he stood and ripped off his mask. There was no sign of anyone watching the water with more than a casual interest, no sign of anyone waiting for them.
But Devane and his men were good enough, and careful enough, that he wouldn’t see them.
And he was afraid Simon was, too.
Cursing under his breath, he practically dragged Jessica onto the sand. She looked at him, and he could see the alarm in her face.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, panting. “Do you see someone waiting for us?”
“Not yet,” he answered without looking at her. But he suspected that Simon was close by. He studied the bushes and trees that lined the beach, looking for movement, for light glinting off a weapon or binoculars.
He didn’t see a thing.
“What do we do?” Jessica asked in a small voice.
“Exactly what we planned to do.” He headed toward the place where they’d concealed their belongings, still not taking his eyes off the vegetation.
Was that a movement to the right? He froze, then started to run in that direction. But he stopped almost immediately.
He couldn’t leave Jessica alone. And he didn’t have his weapon. It was hidden in his clothing. Grinding his teeth with frustration, he ran over to his clothes, throwing them over his wet swim trunks. He shoved his gun into the waistband and pulled his shirt on to cover it.
But when he looked at the clump of bushes again, he knew it was too late. Whoever had hidden there was gone. He could feel it. There was no energy humming from that place, no smell of fear and excitement. His prey had vanished.
So close! Simon might have been just out of reach, only yards away from him. And he’d been forced to let him go.
And maybe that was exactly what Simon had wanted him to think, he told himself. As soon as he’d headed toward the trees, someone could have jumped out and grabbed Jessica.
With a last look behind him, he slung an arm over Jessica’s shoulder and steered her toward the road. “Let’s catch a taxi and head home.”
“What about the men on the boat?” she asked.
“I can’t do anything about them. But if Dev—my partner is here, and he should be, he’ll have seen them.”
“So we’re going to lead them to us.” He felt her shiver in the heat.
“That’s the idea. That’s what we hope to do.” He tightened his grip on her. “But don’t worry, Jessica. I’ll be with you the whole time. Nothing is going to happen to you.”
She looked at him, surprised. “I know that. I’m worried about you and your partners.”
A wave of some emotion he didn’t want to think about or name rushed over him. “Don’t,” he said gruffly. “I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can. But that doesn’t mean I won’t worry.” She reached up and touched the scar on his arm. “I suspect you thought you could take care of yourself when that happened, too.”
“That’s not important.” The only thing that was important was catching Simon. And protecting Jessica. “Let’s go.” He heard the hard, implacable tones of his voice and glanced at Jessica. Apparently she hadn’t noticed.
Or she had noticed and understood.
Unease prickled on his skin, and it had nothing to do with Simon. Why did it feel as if there was an unbreakable connection binding him and Jessica together? And why did it feel as if it was pulling tighter every day?
It was only natural, he told himself. It was the danger, the threat. The adrenaline.
But it was more than that, and he shied away from examining it more closely. It was time to finish this job and move on. Maybe then he wouldn’t be plagued by this restlessness, this need for more.
He’d never needed more before. His job had always been enough. Never before had he felt this vague dissatisfaction, this unexplained yearning.
It was this damned island, he told himself. The pace was too slow and the weather too perfect. It was the kind of place where a man could lose himself, lose sight of what was important. It was the kind of place where a man could get caught up in sensuality and lose track of his priorities.
It wasn’t about to happen to him. With any luck at all, Simon would be behind bars before the end of the week. And this time, Marcus vowed, the traitor would stay behind bars.
They found a taxi and climbed inside. As they drove home, Marcus watched out the rear window. There was a lot of traffic on this part of Cascadilla, and cars were constantly entering or leaving the stream of traffic. But he didn’t see any one car consistently behind them.
“Is anyone following us?”
“I’m not sure,” he answered, reluctant to take his eyes off the scene behind him. “I haven’t seen one car in particular, but no one said it was going to be easy.”
“What do we do?”
“The same thing we’ve been doing. We go back to the resort. And then we wait.”
Jessica slipped her hand into his. “Just tell me what to do.”
Finally he turned to look at her. “You continue to amaze me, Jessica.”
She cocked her head and gave him a puzzled look. “What does that mean?”
“It means that very few people I know, men or women, would have sat there calmly and asked what to do. Most people would have panicked.”
She gave him a smug smile. “I guess most people don’t know you, then. I know you won’t let anything happen to me. I just want to help you catch these two men so we can get on with our lives.”
And that was the crux of the matter, he suddenly realized.
He wasn’t sure he wanted to get on with his life. He wanted to stay in this paradise, in this cottage, with Jessica. Forever.
That was never going to happen. As much as they enjoyed each other’s company, as much as he wanted her, she wasn’t for him. Everything he’d learned about her proved it. Today had just been the punctuation mark.
“What are you thinking?” she murmured, slipping her hand into his.
“I’m thinking that your world is about as far away from mine as a person can get.” And that wouldn’t change, no matter how much he wanted it to.
“I don’t think that’s true,” she protested.
“Look at what we did today.” His voice was ruthless. “You live in a world of beauty, a peaceful, tranquil world. My world is guns and fighting and ugliness. I sure don’t see any place where those worlds connect.”
“I think they connected today,” she said softly. “You enjoyed the snorkeling, didn’t you?”
“You know I did.”
“I can bring a little beauty and peace into your world.”
“And what can I bring to yours?” He refused to look at her.
After a single beat, she said, “Excitement.”
He heard the laughter in her voice and looked at her with astonishment. “How can you even joke about this, Jessica?”
“I’m not joking about it. But don’t you see? My world is far too staid and calm. Far too orderly. I need someone like you, someone who can shake things up, show me different things, different perspectives. We fit perfectly together.”
He knew what she was saying, and it scared him to death. He deliberately chose to misunderstand. “Sex isn’t everything in a relationship.”
“I wasn’t talking about sex.”
“What else has there been between us?”
She was silent for a moment. Then she said quietly, “I think we’ve shared a lot about ourselves. I feel like I know you, Marcus. And I know you know me better than anyone else. Including my family.”
“Then all I can say is you’ve led a sheltered life.”
“My point exactly,” she said, triumph in her voice. “And in the last few weeks I’ve discovered I don’t like it.”
“Well, with any luck, you’re going back to your sheltered life real soon. Sooner or later your kidnappers will figure out where we are. And then we’ll have them.”
He glanced behind him again and saw a car that looked familiar. It had moved into the line of traffic soon after they’d left the beach, but turned off the road after only a short time. “In fact, this may be our man right now.”
She started to turn to look, but he held her still. “No, don’t look. I don’t want him to know I’ve seen him.”
The taxi pulled into the resort, and the car kept going along the road. The driver kept his face turned away as he passed the taxi, then speeded up.
In a few minutes they were in the cottage. Marcus locked the doors carefully, then looked at Jessica. “Now, we wait.”
Chapter 14
Marcus paced the cottage most of the afternoon, checking the locks and bolts, cleaning his weapon, staring out the windows. Finally the phone rang, and he grabbed it and stepped out the door. He didn’t want Jessica to overhear him.
“What did you find?” he asked.
“Not a thing. It was the two kidnappers in the boat at the last beach. We got a good look at them, but they vanished. I don’t know where they docked the boat.”
“What about on the beach? Did you find anyone?”
“No.” Marcus could hear the frustration in Russell Devane’s voice. “He was well-hidden, and we realized too late that he was there. Whoever it was, he was damned smart. He paid a bunch of kids to create a diversion, then he slipped away.”
“It was Simon,” Marcus said grimly. “Bet on it. Those two punks who grabbed her aren’t smart enough to put this together. I can see his fingerprints on this whole operation.”
“What do you want us to do now?”
“Watch this cottage. I’m sure we were followed back to the resort. Sooner or later, they’ll make a move, and I’m betting on sooner. Simon has to be getting desperate for money.”
“Will do.”
Marcus closed the phone and went inside. He found Jessica sitting on the couch, watching him with huge eyes.
“My partner is sure those were your kidnappers in the boat,” he said, sitting next to her. “But they didn’t find anyone on the beach.”
Jessica watched him for a moment. Then she said, “But you think someone was there.”
“I’m sure of it.” The certainty twisted in his gut. He had been so close to Simon!
“And now we wait around for the kidnappers to try and take me back.”
He took her hand. “That’s the plan. But if it scares you too much, I can get you to a safe house. Then I’ll wait here for them myself.”
Slowly she shook her head. “You can’t be sure they’re not already watching us. And if I leave, they’ll just follow me there. I’d rather stay here, with you.” She watched him steadily. “I trust you, Marcus. I know you won’t let them take me or let me get hurt.”
The weight of responsibility pressed on his chest like a stone. He’d been responsible for people before. But never someone he’d cared so much about. Her trust was frightening.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I am.” She reached out and touched his arm, and his whole body responded. “I’d rather be here with you than anywhere else. Even knowing that the bad guys are coming.”
“My partners are going to be watching the cottage. With any luck, they’ll catch the kidnappers before they even get to the place.”
“I know.” She smiled and touched him again, and he couldn’t resist putting his hand over hers. He needed physical contact with her, even if it was only a fleeting caress. “I guess this means an evening swim is out of the question.”
He stared at her in disbelief, then realized that she was grinning at him, her eyes twinkling mischievously. “Some people might think you weren’t taking this very seriously,” he growled.
Her smile faded. “I’m taking it very seriously. But I don’t want to sit here worrying for the next few days.”
“Then let’s see what we can do to occupy ourselves.” He saw the hot flash in her eyes and shook his head. “I need to concentrate. And if we made love, I sure wouldn’t be concentrating on anything but you.”
“All right.” But the disappointment in her eyes made his heart leap with joy.
He stood and opened one of the cabinets under the bookcase. “There are a bunch of games in here. How about if we play one?”
She gave him a doubtful look. “Are you sure you want to play games? That doesn’t sound like you.”
“It’s not what I would normally choose,” he admitted. “But I can’t think of any other way to pass the time.”
“All right.” She moved to stand next to him. “How about we play that game of trivia?”
“Fine by me.”
An hour later he stared at her with mixed disbelief and humor. “You didn’t tell me you were a trivia expert. I believe that’s the third time you’ve kicked my butt.”
“I guess you’re lucky we didn’t make bets on the outcome, aren’t you?” she answered, her voice smug.
He narrowed his eyes. “That’s it for this game. Now I get to choose.”
He pulled out a game of strategy and conquest and proceeded to annihilate her. When he took the last of her armies, she flopped back onto the couch with a grin.
“I guess you showed me,” she said.
He had the grace to look embarrassed. “I guess I don’t handle losing real well.”
“Now why does that not surprise me?” she said with a laugh.
He paused as he put the game away and looked at her. “You’re not angry?”
“Why would I be angry? I did the same thing to you with the first game.” She leaned forward, the smile fading from her mouth. “And you wouldn’t be t
he person you are, couldn’t do the kind of work you do, if you liked to lose. So we’ll just call it even.”
“You continue to surprise me,” he said, sitting back and watching her, that uncomfortable yearning seizing him again.
“What do you mean?”
“How do you understand so much about me?” he asked in a low voice. “How is it that you seem to know just what I’m going to do?”
She watched him for a while, and tenderness crept into her eyes. He wanted to dive into it, and the need to do so made him ease away from her. Finally she sighed. “For a smart man, Marcus, you can be pretty dense sometimes. Let’s just say that I’ve had plenty of opportunities to study you.”
He didn’t want to follow this conversational path, he realized. It was skating far too close to feelings he didn’t want to think about. “How did you get to be such an expert on trivia?”
Her mouth curled into a smile. “It’s real easy when you don’t have a life. I spend most of my time reading, both for my research and for pleasure. It’s amazing how much information you pick up that way.”
“No wonder you graduated from college so early.”
“You know just as much, Marcus,” she said gently. “You just know different things than I do.”
He didn’t want it to be true. He wanted to emphasize the differences between them, maintain the facade that he was far too different from her for them to be compatible. But with her watching him out of her huge amber-colored eyes, he was forced to nod. “Maybe so. But the things I know aren’t going to win me any prizes.”
“They’ll save my life,” she said. “I think that’s a little more important.”
“Yeah, well, it depends whose side you’re on, I guess.” He deliberately tried to steer their conversation in a lighter direction.
“I guess it does,” she murmured.
He couldn’t tell what she was thinking, and it made him nervous. “You about ready for bed?” he asked.
“I think so.” She stood and stretched. “I didn’t think I would be able to sleep tonight. But I’m exhausted.”
Heat speared through him as he looked at her, the long, elegant lines of her body silhouetted in the dim light. But he tamped it down, then buried it deep inside. He couldn’t afford to let himself be distracted tonight. He expected the kidnappers to pay a visit to the cottage later.
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