The Ocean Dark: A Novel
Page 47
Tori sat under an umbrella on the patio drinking iced tea and gazing out at the sailboats anchored just offshore, bobbing in the gentle swell of the Caribbean. A handful of clouds drifted across the sky, tinting it white, which only served to enhance the rich, bright blue of the water. Rum Runners came just to the edge of the island, separated from the water only by a couple of palm trees and a seawall of gray granite foundation stones. A narrow channel—barely wide enough to act as a boat slip—ran alongside the restaurant, and parallel to that a dock made of what appeared to be freshly cut wood. And then nothing but the Caribbean—a vision of paradise as far as the eye could see.
But Tori knew that out there in the open sea, closer to this heaven than anyone would ever imagine, there also existed a little slice of hell.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
The words erased the momentary chill that had come over her. She turned, already smiling, and saw Josh standing by her table, awaiting an invitation to sit. He still wore a sling—the wound from Miguel Rio’s bullet would take time to heal—but after a couple of days’ rest and proper food, he looked strong and his color had returned, his bruises mostly faded.
Josh would be just fine, and Tori found herself relieved.
“Rachael’s not coming?”
Josh smiled uncertainly. “Oh, she’s here.”
He nodded toward the dock. Tori glanced over at the two FBI agents who had driven her to the restaurant—and who would accompany her on the next leg of her journey as well—and watched as Special Agent Rachael Voss strode along the gleaming wooden dock to join them. The three of them would watch and wait.
“Do they really think I’m going to make a run for it?” Tori asked. “Why would I want to do that? Where would I go?”
The waitress came over and hovered by Josh—a beautiful woman with a heart-shaped face and a Creole accent.
“What can I get you, sir?” she asked.
“Nothing, thanks. I can’t stay.”
The waitress arched an eyebrow but Josh paid her no attention. He seemed to have said it as much for Tori’s benefit as for hers.
“Let me know if you change your mind,” the woman said and hurried away.
Tori tried not to think about the irony.
“So how much trouble are you in?” she asked.
“I’ll be all right,” Josh replied. He nodded toward Voss and the others waiting on the dock. “That’s why they’re over there watching us, actually. So if us meeting like this comes up at all, it’s on record as having been part of the case, and under supervision.”
“It was actually pretty cool of Rachael to go along with it,” Tori said, picking up her iced tea. “She’s the boss, right? Of your unit or squad or whatever?”
Josh nodded. “And cool of your babysitters over there to cooperate. So, have you decided where they’re taking you? I know it isn’t the life you chose, but it’s a pretty unique opportunity to get to start your life all over again, even after—”
Tori smiled at his loss for words. After she had already been declared dead once, already started over? After she had taken part in crimes that could have landed her in prison for years? She took a sip of iced tea.
“I hear Oregon is beautiful and quiet,” she said. “Somewhere on the coast, I think. In high school I worked in this café, and I’ve always loved books, so I’m thinking of a little bookstore café. Someplace people would come and sit for hours.”
“Someplace peaceful,” Josh said.
And a warmth spread through her. He understood. She sipped her iced tea again, and over the rim of the glass their eyes met.
“Have you decided on a new name?” he asked, his voice tight with uncertainty.
“Yeah. I have.”
And that was all. Nobody had put a price on her head, but this new life she was getting was much like witness protection. For the second time, she would be declared dead and would become a new person, with a new name.
Josh gave her a sheepish grin. If she didn’t want to tell him her new name, that spoke volumes.
“Listen, there are some things I want to say. Some things I should have said—”
“Please, don’t.” She smiled to take the sting out of it. “We’ve said what needs saying, I think. I only wanted to see you to tell you good-bye, and that I’ll miss you.”
Josh dropped his gaze and gave a slow shake of his head. “I wish things had been different.”
Tori laughed. He looked up, maybe a little hurt, until he saw the real mirth that must have been in her expression.
“Which part?” she asked. “Getting beaten up and shot, or running for our lives?”
The absurdity of it touched him then, and he chuckled softly. A silence fell between them and several long seconds ticked by. Tori wondered if Josh filled those seconds with the same thoughts that she did, memories of the days they had spent flirting in the galley on board the Antoinette and the few precious hours they had passed making love in her quarters. She thought perhaps he did.
In all of the ways that mattered, when she parted company with him here, she would be leaving Tori Austin behind as well. By the end of the day, she would have a new identity, a new name, and Josh Hart would be the only person in the world who had ever really known a woman named Tori Austin, and who cared that she had been erased from the world.
“You know,” he said, “you could get a new name and a new life right here in St. Croix.”
Tori gave a small sigh and rose from her chair. Nothing more could come of the conversation. “Somehow, I don’t think Rachael would like that. She wants you all to herself.”
Josh stood as well. “I already told you, we’re partners. It isn’t like that between us.”
Tori glanced over at the dock, saw the way Voss stood tensed, watching them, and turned back to Josh. She reached up and touched his face, fighting the bittersweet feelings that welled inside her. Holding her breath, she slid her hand behind his neck and pulled him down for a kiss—to hell with what her FBI handlers might put in their report. Her lips brushed his and she breathed in his breath.
“If you don’t think it’s like that between you,” Tori whispered in his ear, “you’re just not paying attention.”
She withdrew from him, chuckled at the confusion etched on his face, and then touched his arm. “Sit a minute, Josh. Finish my iced tea. It’s probably better all around for me to leave first.”
“Okay,” he said, but he didn’t sit. “Take care of yourself.”
“You, too. Maybe work on not getting shot in the future. Try not to die.”
That earned her a grin. “Not dying,” he said. “Pretty much my whole plan.”
Tori nodded. “Mine, too.”
And she left him standing there, drinking the rest of her iced tea, and headed off to begin again. She only hoped that this time she would get it right.
The Ocean Dark is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
A Ballantine Books Mass Market Original
Copyright © 2010 by The Daring Greatly Corporation
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
BALLANTINE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
eISBN: 978-0-553-90699-8
www.ballantinebooks.com
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