Ready for Anything, Anywhere!

by Beverly Barton

  “Yeah, and my gut instinct says she’s telling the truth, that she’s on the up and up, but run a check on her and get me as much information on her as quickly as you can.”

  “Give me a physical description and an approximate age. We’ll probably run across more than one Gwen Arnell when we start checking.”

  “Late twenties, early thirties,” Will said. “About five-five, medium build, maybe a little on the plump side. Fairly nondescript. Dark brown hair and brown eyes.” Not beautiful, but she has good features, Will thought, but kept that to himself. There was nothing fancy about Gwen Arnell, no jewelry other than a wristwatch, and she didn’t appear to be wearing much makeup, just the bare minimum. The black slacks and gray linen jacket she wore were practical clothing for travel, nothing fashionable or trendy.

  “I should have something for you in a couple of hours, on your Ms. Arnell and on the plane flights out of Puerto Nuevo today,” Sawyer said. “Checking the boat and yacht rentals could take longer, maybe sometime tomorrow.”

  “One more thing … ”

  “What?”

  “Ms. Arnell wants me to help her find her father. I think her search and ours could well turn out to be one and the same, so do you have any objections to—”

  “Do whatever you need to do to find Cheryl Kress.”

  “Okay.”

  End of conversation. Will flipped his cell phone closed and hooked it to his belt.

  When he emerged from the bathroom, Gwen rose to her feet and faced him. Neither smiling nor frowning, she met his gaze head-on, a combination of hope and fear in her coffee-brown eyes. The woman had the most expressive eyes he’d ever seen. She didn’t need to speak for him to understand that she was, perhaps subconsciously, pleading with him for help.

  Her long dark hair, pulled away from her face and twisted into a knot at the nape of her neck, looked disheveled, and her makeup-bare face showed signs of weariness. For the first time in a long time, Will felt a twinge of protectiveness stir to life inside him. It wasn’t that he thought she was some weak, helpless female. On the contrary, it was the fact that she was putting herself at risk to find her father and that she hadn’t cried or tried to use feminine wiles to persuade him to help her. He figured Gwen had never asked a man for help, that it went against her nature to think she might not be able to do the job—whatever that job might be—by herself.

  “I spoke to my boss,” Will said. “He should have some information for us in an hour or so.”

  Gwen nodded. “Thank you.”

  “Did you have dinner tonight? If you didn’t, I can run out and get you—”

  “I ate at the Fiesta, but thank you.”

  “I take it that you were following up a lead when you went to the Fiesta.”

  “Yes, how did you—”

  “Me, too,” he told her. When she eyed him inquiringly, he explained, “Our common denominator, Jordan Elders.”

  “Ah, yes, Jordan.”

  “What do you know about him?”

  “Not much, just that he’s one of Daddy’s former students, that he’s in his late twenties and he shares my father’s belief in a mysterious, uncharted island that possesses a miraculous Fountain of Youth serum derived from a plant that grows nowhere else on earth.”

  “What?”

  Gwen rubbed her hands together nervously. “It sounds preposterous, doesn’t it? I know only too well just how outlandish my father’s theory is. His insistence that he once visited this island when he was twenty and knows it exists made him a laughingstock among his colleagues. He’s obsessed with finding this island again and in giving to the world this incredible plant that keeps people healthy and gives them a two-hundred-year lifespan.”

  “Are you telling me that your father actually believes this crap?”

  When Gwen’s cheeks flushed, he realized he’d hit a nerve.

  “Yes, he believes it, with his whole heart and soul.”

  “It must have been tough growing up with a father everybody thought was nuts.” Damn, Pierce. Open mouth, insert foot. “Sorry it came out that way. But you know what I mean.”

  “Yes, I do. But I didn’t actually grow up with my father. He and my mother divorced when I was ten. He couldn’t be bothered with a wife and a child, not when he had to fulfill his destiny and bring good health and longevity to the world.”

  “So, if he deserted you and your mom, why are you here now, trying to find him, wanting to help him?”

  “Because he is my father, and he has no one else who really cares if he lives or dies.”

  Will shook his head. Not many adult kids would give a damn about a father who had deserted them, let alone go in search of that parent, hoping to save him from himself.

  “You’re a better person than I am,” Will told her. “My old man was no prize, but he was there, working hard to support his wife and three sons. We didn’t get along, didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things, but I respected him. If he had deserted us, I wouldn’t have cared if he’d rotted in hell.”

  Gwen stared at Will, her eyes round with speculation. It was then that he realized he’d revealed a personal part of himself that he seldom shared with others. Seldom? Hell, make that never.

  Will cleared his throat. “So, where does your father think this island is located?”

  “Somewhere north of the Caribbean Sea, out in the Atlantic between Puerto Rico and Bermuda.”

  “In the Bermuda Triangle?” Will chuckled under his breath. “Get real. Every kook in the world believes some sort of supernatural nonsense about that area of the Atlantic Ocean.”

  “I know it sounds preposterous, but my father swears that when he was twenty, he lived for several weeks on this island. And he’s spent the past fifty years searching for it.”

  “Damn!”

  “He’s an old man, seventy his last birthday, and he’s spent every dime he has on this quest.” Gwen sighed lightly, her expression one of sadness and concern. “He told me that he’d cashed in his life-insurance policy to help fund this latest expedition.”

  “Would he pay for everything by credit card or cash?” Will asked.

  “Huh?”

  “If he uses a credit card, we can trace—”

  “I see. But I have no idea if he’d pay cash or use a credit card. I’m afraid I know very little about my father’s personal life, other than his big dream, which seems to have consumed him completely.”

  “Why don’t you sit down and relax?” Will said, indicating the single chair in the room. “I need to check my e-mail and send off a few while we wait.”

  She nodded and returned to the seat. Will went over to the desk and unzipped his carrying case. As he opened his laptop, he glanced over his shoulder at Gwen. She sat with her hands folded together in her lap, her head against the chair back and her eyes closed.

  Why the hell did he feel so protective toward her? It wasn’t that he was particularly attracted to her. She really wasn’t his type, was she? A little too plain, a little on the plump side and his guess was that her IQ was higher than his. Plain, plump and brainy. Definitely not his type. Besides, he needed to stay focused on the job.

  Gwen hadn’t realized she had dozed off for over an hour until Will’s cell phone rang. Startled awake by the distinct ring, she came to with a jolt. Searching the room for Will, she found him standing near the window, his back to her, his voice low as he mumbled yes and no and then hung up.

  “Was that your boss?” she asked.

  “Yeah, it was.” Will turned to face her. “Sorry the call woke you. I should have put the thing on vibrate instead of ring.”

  “No, no, it’s all right. I shouldn’t have fallen asleep. It was rude of me.”

  “Hey, you’re tired. No big deal.”

  “May I ask what information—”

  His gaze locked with hers. “Look, you should know that I asked for Dundee’s to run a check on you.”

  Her eyes widened and her mouth rounded in surprise.

 
“I don’t take anyone or anything at face value,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “I see.”

  “If we’re going to work together, Dr. Arnell, we need to be honest with each other. Agreed?”

  She nodded. “Agreed.” Why did she suspect that while he demanded honesty from her, he wouldn’t necessarily always be totally honest with her?

  “So you’re the CEO of the Huntsville Botanical Gardens in Alabama, huh? You’re a botanist, just like your father, the other Dr. Arnell.”

  “My father specialized in education, exploration and history,” she said. “Whereas my interests are horticulture and breeding.”

  “Breeding?”

  “Breeding involves the development of better types of plants. It also involves selecting and crossing plants with desirable traits, such as disease resistance.”

  “Interesting.”

  Gwen smiled, knowing full well that Will found the subject as dull as dishwater. “What else did you find out about me?”

  “Just the basics. Date of birth, job, address, phone number, education background. Mother deceased. Father a genius crackpot. No siblings. And I know you were married at twenty-one, divorced at twenty-two and don’t presently have a significant other. No children. No pets.”

  “If we’re going to be partners, don’t you think I should know the same things about you?” It seemed unfair that he knew the basic facts about her life when he remained a stranger to her.

  Will sat down on the edge of the bed, across from the chair where she sat. “Just the basics, right? Okay, fair enough. I’m thirty-nine. Married and divorced in my late twenties. No children. My father’s been dead five years. My mother remarried last year and moved to Louisiana with her new husband. My older brother still lives on the ranch where we grew up and my younger brother is a doctor in Ft. Worth. I have three nephews, ages two, five and eight.”

  “Hmm … all right, now we’re on an equal footing. So, what about our investigation?”

  “Our investigation?” Will chuckled. “Well, no one using the names Emery Arnell, Jordan Elders, Cheryl Kress or Tori Boyd were booked on flights out of Puerto Nuevo today and none are booked for tomorrow.”

  “Then they’re either still here on the island or they left here by boat.”

  “So it would seem.”

  “When will you have a report about the boat and yacht rental companies?”

  “Probably not until tomorrow sometime, hopefully by midmorning.”

  “Then I guess I should head back to my hotel.” Gwen checked her watch. “Wow, it’s past midnight.”

  “You’re welcome to stay here.” Will indicated one of the two single beds in the room.

  “No, thank you.” This offer was probably on the up-and-up, but she wasn’t about to take any chances. “I left my suitcase back at the other hotel, and I want to speak to the day staff there and see if my father mentioned his travel plans to anyone.”

  “Okay. I’ll drive you back to your hotel, then I’ll come by in the morning and pick you up for breakfast.”

  “Thank you.”

  “No problem. Like I said, we’re in this together. Right?”

  Feelings of security and relief welled up inside Gwen. At an early age, she had learned to depend on no one, to take care of herself, so being grateful for having some big, strong man at her side in her search for her father was a new experience for her.

  Just don’t allow yourself to become too dependent on Will Pierce, said an inner voice. He’s a temporary fixture in your life. A means to an end.

  Will picked Gwen up at the Pasada El Paso at nine the next morning. She wore brown slacks and an oversize tan shirt, had pulled her hair up into a loose ponytail and had applied lipstick and a hint of blush. Apparently the woman didn’t own anything colorful. He’d bet her underwear was plain white cotton.

  “The desk clerk at my hotel recommended Pepe’s for breakfast,” Will told her once she was seated in his rental car.

  “Anyplace you choose is fine with me.”

  He grunted, started the car and eased into downtown morning traffic.

  “I spoke to the day staff at the hotel,” Gwen told him. “And unfortunately none of them had any idea where my father intended to go when he left Puerto Nuevo. Ria, one of the maids, did say my father’s lady friend said something about going to Jamaica.”

  “Do you know of any reason your father would go to Jamaica? Why not charter a boat here and sail up toward the Bahamas?”

  “I have no idea.” She shuffled in her seat. “I assume you haven’t had any word from your boss about the rental—”

  “Not yet, but anytime now, I’m sure.”

  “What will we do if they didn’t rent a boat?”

  “We’ll assume they either traveled with someone who had a boat or that they’re still here on the island.”

  An hour later, just as they were topping off their big breakfast with cups of a local speciality, café de ola, Will’s cell phone rang.

  “Will, we have confirmation that a Dr. Emery Arnell rented a 422 Sport Sedan cruiser, captained by a man named Mick McGuire. And before you ask, I’m running a check on McGuire as we speak,” Daisy Holbrook said on the other end. “Arnell paid cash. And according to what I was able to find out, he rented the cruiser for a month.”

  “Any idea if the cruiser has left port?”

  “I don’t have that information, yet. But the cruiser either is or was docked at the Puerto Nuevo Marina.”

  “Hang on a minute,” he said to Daisy, then spoke to Gwen. “Your father rented a cruiser, but we don’t know whether or not he’s left the country yet.” Talking again to Daisy, Will asked, “Any info on Jordan Elders?”

  “Not much more than you already know. He’s twenty-eight. Was a student of Dr. Arnell’s and later his assistant. He has no criminal record. As a matter of fact, he’s squeaky clean.”

  “Hmm … ”

  “By the way, the cruiser the professor rented, the Sun Dancer, is equipped with upgraded cat diesel engines, with 435 horsepower each. That means speed. Why would he need a cruiser with that much horsepower?” Daisy asked. “What’s the first thing that comes to mind?”

  “Drug running.”

  “Bingo. And that fits right in with what I’ve found out about Molly Esteban. It seems the lady’s got a record a mile long.”

  Will grunted. When his gaze met Gwen’s, he forced a faltering smile. “Thanks, Daisy. Stay in touch with any updates.”

  “Will do.”

  He put away his phone and turned to Gwen. “Let me take care of the bill, then we should head off to the marina.”

  When Will stood, she stood, then reached over and grabbed his arm. “I heard you mention something about drug running.”

  Will hesitated, then told her, “The cruiser your father rented has a lot of horsepower, and fast boats are often associated with illegal activities. But that’s not necessarily—”

  “We’re going to be honest with each other, remember? What aren’t you telling me?”

  Damn, why had he made a pact with her? “Your father’s lady friend, Molly Esteban, has a criminal record. It’s possible she’s using your father and his quest to find his mythical island as a front.”

  “Oh, God!” Gwen rubbed her head and mumbled a few choice curse words that surprised Will, she being such a soft-spoken Southern lady. “Daddy, Daddy. what have you gotten yourself into this time?”

  “Come on.” Will motioned for them to get going. “If we’re lucky, they haven’t left yet.”

  “The Sun Dancer left late yesterday sometime,” the charter office employee, a Mr. Calvino, told Will. “Dr. Arnell seemed eager to leave.”

  “Do you know where he was going?” Gwen asked, praying he knew the answer.

  “Kingston, Jamaica,” Calvino replied.

  “Which means they’re probably already there,” Will said.

  “More than likely. I believe Señora Esteban was eager to meet some friends there.”
r />   “What do you know about Mick McGuire?” Will asked. “I assume he works for your company.”

  “Actually, Dr. Arnell said he didn’t need us to recommend anyone to captain the Sun Dancer. He said that he’d already hired Mr. McGuire.”

  Will groaned. “Anything else you can tell us? Ms. Arnell is quite concerned about her father. Uh, his health isn’t good and she’s afraid he’s not up to making this journey.”

  Calvino shook his head. “I’m sorry, but that’s all I know.”

  “One final question,” Will said. “Other than McGuire and Señora Esteban, who else was with Dr. Arnell?”

  “Just his assistant, a young man. I don’t recall his name.”

  “You didn’t see two young women with them? Girls about twenty?”

  “No, no young girls.”

  Will shook hands with Calvino and thanked him, then led Gwen out of the office and down the wharf toward the parking area.

  Assuming her partnership with Will had come to an end since the girls weren’t with her father, Gwen said, “I’ll get a reservation on the next flight to Kingston.”

  “You aren’t going to Kingston alone. We’re in this together, remember.”

  “What about your assignment? Mr. Calvino said there were no young women with my father and Jordan.”

  “Just because he didn’t see them doesn’t mean they didn’t board the cruiser and head off to Jamaica with Jordan Elders.”

  “Are you sure you aren’t saying that just to reassure me that you’re not abandoning your assignment to help me find my father?”

  Will looked at her intensely. “Why would I do that?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe you feel sorry for me. If that’s the case—”

  He grabbed her shoulders, startling her enough that she gasped. “I do not feel sorry for you. Got that? And if I didn’t think there’s a damn good chance Cheryl and Tori are with Jordan Elders, I wouldn’t fly to Jamaica with you. And if you think I’m going with you because I’ve got ideas about you and me, think again. I like you well enough, brown eyes, but you’re hardly the stuff a wet-dream fantasy is made of.”

  Guess he put you in your place, an angry and hurt inner voice told Gwen. She blew out a huffing breath. “That’s good to know, since you’re not exactly my idea of Prince Charming.”