“I can’t do that,” Pru said. “Besides, I’m almost there. I may be ahead of him. I could get Jessie off that boat before he ever shows up.”
“And if he does have someone watching the boat, you could be shot before you ever get on board,” Cahill said grimly. “I can’t let you take that chance.”
“He’s not going to kill me,” Pru said softly. “Not until you get there. He wants you to have to make a choice. Your daughter…or me.”
Cahill’s jaw hardened. “Pru…”
“Don’t,” she said softly. “Don’t say anything. You and I both know that if it comes down to it, there’s no choice to be made here.”
JESSIE HAD TRIED every way she could think of to get off the boat, but the hatches were locked from the outside. She was trapped.
What if no one came for her?
Jessie trembled with fear and revulsion as she thought about what might happen when he came back. She tried frantically to open the hatch again, but then she stopped and listened as the boat rocked at its moorings.
Someone had come on board.
She could hear waves lapping against the hull, and every so often the houseboat swayed as someone moved about the deck. Then she heard footsteps outside, and she placed her ear close to the door.
“Jessie?”
It was a woman’s voice. Jessie rapped on the door. “I’m in here. I can’t get out.”
The locked rattled. “Stand back, honey. I’ll get you out of there.”
She huddled against the wall as the door came crashing in. Jessie didn’t know the woman, but she thought she’d never seen anyone so beautiful. Without hesitation, she collapsed in the woman’s arms.
“IT’S OKAY,” Pru said. She wrapped her arms tightly around the shivering girl. “I’m going to get you off this boat, but we have to hurry.” If she’d had time to get here, Tim would have, too. They had to hurry.
She took Jessie’s hand. “Come on, honey.”
They slipped as quickly as they could along the darkened deck, and Pru scrambled up to the dock, then bent to offer Jessie a hand.
“I can’t let you do that, Pru. I can’t let you take her.”
Pru whirled. Tim slowly came toward her in the darkness. One hand clutched his wounded arm, the other gripped his weapon. “This is almost too perfect,” he said. “I can take care of you both in one fell swoop. Then we’ll see how clever Cahill thinks I am.”
“Drop the weapon!” Cahill called from the darkness.
Tim didn’t flinch. “I’m going to take one of them with me, Cahill. It’s your choice.”
“Let them go. You don’t want to do this.”
“You’re wrong,” Tim said. “I’m going to enjoy breaking you. The great John Cahill…” He lifted his weapon, but before he could get off a shot, John fired.
Tim squeezed the trigger, but the shot went wild. And then the gun fell from his limp fingers as he tumbled back into the water.
Jessie scrambled to the dock and started running. Cahill met her halfway, and swept her up in his arms. “I’m here, baby,” he whispered over and over as his daughter sobbed in his arms.
His gaze met Pru’s in the darkness, and she could see that he was crying, too.
He reached out to take Pru’s hand, and she lifted it to her lips.
Epilogue
One year later…
The sun was setting over the Gulf as Pru descended the steps to the pier. She’d checked the office of Sea Quest Charters and found it empty so she figured Cahill would be out on the dock admiring the company’s latest acquisition, a thirty-foot Sportfisherman christened The Dreamcatcher.
Jessie was on board along with her first mate, Kyle Newcastle, a smitten A&M marine biology student, as they prepared for the boat’s maiden voyage. When Jessie saw Pru, she lifted her hand and waved.
“You’re just in time!” she called.
Pru waved back. “Thanks, but I think I’ll sit this one out!”
At the sound of Pru’s voice, Cahill turned and gave her a lazy smile. “You’ll miss a great sunset.”
“Funny, I don’t feel like I’m missing anything,” she murmured as she walked over to stand beside him.
He draped an arm across her shoulders. “So how was work?”
She drew a long breath and released it.
“Don’t feel like talking about it?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, not yet. I just want to stand here and enjoy the scenery.”
“I understand.”
And Pru knew that he did. That was one of the things that made coming home to him so wonderful. She didn’t have to talk about her work. She didn’t have to apologize for the mood shifts or the brooding silences. For the cases that consumed her, changed her. She didn’t have to explain anything because Cahill had been there.
The Dreamcatcher lifted anchor, and with one final wave, Jessie expertly steered the fishing boat toward the open sea.
“She looks happy,” Pru murmured.
“I think she is.”
“That boy is in love with her, you know.”
Cahill winced. “I was trying not to notice.”
“Has Jessie?”
“Be kind of hard not to, wouldn’t it? The way he’s always hanging around.”
Pru gave him an admonishing look. “He’s a good kid, John. Be nice.”
“I know. He is a good kid. And I think he’s good for Jessie.”
Pru’s brows soared. “Wow. That’s quite a concession, coming from you.”
“About time, wouldn’t you say? But a lot’s changed. I’ve changed.” Cahill pulled her closer. “If you’d told me a year ago that my daughter and I would be running a business together, I never would have believed it. Much less a charter fishing company,” he said dryly. “But it was a good decision. For both of us.”
“For all three of us.” Pru wrapped her arm around Cahill’s waist. “If you’d told me a year ago that I would be married to the great John Cahill, I never would have believed it. But here we are.”
“Here we are,” he agreed. “Which reminds me. Your mother called earlier. You have a fitting for your maid of honor dress tomorrow at ten.”
“Matron of honor,” Pru corrected him. A tiny thrill shot up her spine. “Can you believe it? My parents are actually getting married. I was beginning to think that it wouldn’t happen again. They’re both so stubborn. But I guess true love wins out every time.”
“I guess it does.”
“Just look at us. When you sent me back to Washington last year, I wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again. Or if I would ever be able to forgive you. But then you showed up on my doorstep and asked me to marry you…”
“And you said yes.”
“Was there ever any doubt about that?” she asked ruefully. “I’ve wanted you from the first moment I laid eyes on you. I wanted you when you didn’t even know I was alive.”
“Hard to believe there ever was such a time.” His eyes turned dark with emotion. “Because now I can’t imagine my life without you.” He bent and kissed her. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
His arm came around her again as she leaned her head against his shoulder and together they watched the sun slip lower and lower, until all that remained was a glimmer of light on the horizon.
That bit of light, Pru thought, was all she would ever need to guide her home from the darkness.
ISBN 978-1-4592-2838-2
MATTERS OF SEDUCTION
Copyright © 2005 by Marilyn Medlock Amann
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*The Kingsley Baby
**Gallagher Justice
†Eden’s Children
††Quantum Men
?Matchmakers Underground
Table of Contents
Letter to Reader
About the Author
Books by Amanda Stevens
Cast of Characters
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Epilogue
Copyright
Matters of Seduction Page 18
