Just Another Day in Paradise

by Justine Davis

  And she knew her own life would never be the same.

  She watched the waves breaking endlessly on the reef. They would go on, never stopping. And so would she, somehow. But she would always wonder what they could have made of what had flashed so briefly between them—what had been alive even five years ago. It seemed they were destined to meet at the wrong times, always amid upheaval.

  And now it was over, before it had even begun, and all she had were the memories of a few kisses and the way her body had leaped to life at his touch. And the image she knew would never fade—of Noah telling her to go, that it was her turn and the children needed her. Of his eyes so full of determination, that nudge of encouragement she’d needed, and something deeper, more intense, that she couldn’t bear to think about now, because if she allowed it to surface it would hurt too much.

  She knew from painful experience that she would have to deal with it eventually, but she had to think about the kids now. She had to make sure they were kept safe, or Noah’s sacrifice would have been for nothing.

  “I’m sorry about Mr. Rider,” Lani said softly.

  Paige looked at the girl, who was watching her with wide, troubled eyes. “Is it that obvious?”

  “That you’re thinking of him? Yes.” Lani hesitated, then said, “You cared for him, didn’t you?”

  Denying it now seemed somehow a betrayal. And pointless. “Yes. Yes, I did.”

  “Kyle said you knew him before.”

  “Briefly, yes. Kyle’s father worked for Redstone, and Noah came to help when he was killed.”

  Lani nodded. “Kyle told me he brought his father home.”

  “Yes, he did. It could have been very complicated, since there were so many things involved, with him being an American on a foreign airline, downed in a foreign country and because of a terrorist act that required tremendous investigations by so many agencies. Noah cut through all the problems in a way I never could have done.”

  “A man who gets things done,” Lani said.

  “Yes.”

  “And he died for us. All of us.”

  Paige’s eyes stung again as moisture welled up anew. “Yes.”

  “I think we should do something. A ceremony or something. Here in this cave of my ancestors, so that they will welcome his spirit.”

  Paige was touched by her words. Lani was truly of two worlds: she embraced the modern world, was one of the quickest of her students to learn the computers, yet at the same time she respected customs and beliefs of her people that others would consider primitive.

  “I think that would be very nice, Lani,” Paige said, taking the girl’s hand and squeezing it.

  “Maybe when Kyle returns. We could—”

  “Returns? What do you mean?”

  Lani looked puzzled. “When he comes back, and we’re all here, we could—”

  Paige scrambled to her feet. She scanned the cave, searching. At first she refused to believe what her eyes were telling her, but at last she had no choice.

  Kyle was gone.

  She whirled back to face Lani. “Where is he?” she demanded, terror making her voice sharp.

  Realization crept across the girl’s face. “He didn’t tell you? He told me you knew!”

  “He lied,” Paige said flatly, feeling hollowed out inside.

  “Why would he do that?” Lani looked honestly bewildered, and Paige felt a jab of sympathy for her.

  “Because he knew I’d never let him leave this cave,” she told her. “Where did he go, Lani?”

  “Just to my home,” she said. “He went to get my father, who will bring help.” Guessing at part of Paige’s shock, she added, “You were upset about Mr. Rider, it’s no wonder you didn’t notice.”

  “Oh.”

  She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but something that sensible wasn’t it. And no matter how upset she’d been, there was no excuse for completely losing track of her own son. She was going to have to go after him. She couldn’t believe he’d done something so stupid as to venture out when, for all they knew, there were terrorists all over the island, even in Lani’s small village.

  “It’s not far, really,” Lani reassured her. “I was going to go myself, but Kyle didn’t want me to go alone, and he wouldn’t leave you alone to watch all the children by yourself.”

  Surprised at that, Paige managed not to point out that both Lani and Kyle weren’t that far removed from childhood themselves. Nor did she say anything about her fears that Kyle might have walked right back into the clutches of the men they’d just escaped. She didn’t want the girl worrying about her parents on top of everything else.

  “When did he leave?” she asked, still horrified that she hadn’t noticed.

  For the first time concern crossed the girl’s face. “More than an hour ago.”

  Paige went still. “And how long should it have taken him to get to your house and back?”

  “Half that,” the girl admitted. “But he’s probably just waiting for my father to gather everyone together.”

  That made sense. And if it were anyone but her angry, reckless son, she might agree. But Kyle had been acting abnormally for too long now for her not to fear the worst.

  Surely fate wouldn’t be that cruel? she thought as she stepped outside the cave and looked up the narrow trail that had brought them here. Surely not Kyle, too?

  Her stomach knotted so fiercely she thought she was going to be ill right there. Because she knew life could indeed be that cruel, and just because she’d already suffered great losses didn’t mean there weren’t more in store for her.

  But not Kyle. Please, not Kyle. Especially not now, with this awful anger between them.

  She stared up the steep trail, barely able to restrain herself from racing after her son. Only the fact that it would mean leaving Lani alone to deal with twenty-four still-frightened children stopped her. The girl was quick, bright and amazingly fearless, but it wasn’t fair to burden her young shoulders with that load.

  She retreated to the cave, pacing across the front opening, her arms wrapped around herself as if it were icy-cold instead of tropically warm. The pacing did nothing to alleviate her jitters, but she couldn’t hold still.

  She’d give him half an hour more, she told herself. Half an hour and then she was going, and Lani would just have to manage. The kids were her responsibility, but so was Kyle. And right now, Kyle might need her just as much. Maybe more.

  The time ticked by. Whenever she glanced at Lani, the girl was looking more worried. Finally Paige couldn’t stand it any longer. She motioned the girl over to her.

  “Lani, I know this isn’t fair to you, but I don’t have any choice,” she began.

  “You’re going after Kyle?”

  She nodded. “I have to.”

  “I should go,” Lani suggested. “I know the way better.”

  Paige shook her head. “It’s too dangerous.”

  “But not for you?”

  “Not for the mother of that foolish son of mine.”

  Lani hesitated, then said shyly, “I like your foolish son.”

  Paige reached out and hugged the girl. “I know. And I know he likes you. A lot.”

  Lani drew back. “Really?”

  “Surprised me, too,” Paige said with the best smile she could drum up. “I didn’t think he had such good taste.”

  Lani blushed, but it faded as worry returned to her young face. “You will be careful?”

  “Very.”

  “All right,” the girl said, and began to give concise and detailed directions to her village.

  She nearly changed her mind. What would Lani do if she didn’t come back? How would she take care of all these children? But the thought of losing Kyle on the heels of losing Noah was too much.

  “We will be all right,” Lani said. “If the path is not safe, there is another way, along the beach. It is difficult, but I can do it. We can fish if we must, and there is much to eat out there.” She gestured toward the trees. “It
will be an adventure.”

  “Lani, if I ever have a daughter, I hope…” she began, then stopped. “No. There could never be another girl as amazing as you.” She gave her another swift hug, then turned to go.

  She had only made it halfway up the trail that led to the cave from above when a sound from above made her freeze. She dodged off the trail, crouching behind a sizable bush, glad there was nothing poisonous on the island. The noise got closer. She peeked through the leaves.

  A size-eleven athletic shoe appeared, taking the first step down the trail. A hundred-and-twenty-dollar shoe she recognized.

  She let out a huge, relieved breath. She stood up and stepped back onto the trail. Kyle was running and didn’t look up for a moment. When he did, he skidded and almost fell.

  “Mom! What are you doing out here?”

  “About to come after you.” Kyle Philip Cooper, she added silently, as she tended to when she was upset with him. But now it seemed best to keep as calm as she could. “Did you get to Lani’s parents?”

  “Yeah,” he said warily, as if he still expected her to blow up. “They’re coming, with a bunch of others, as soon as he rounds them all up.”

  “Good.” She’d had time to think, too much, in the past half hour. And when she said what she knew she needed to say, she meant it. “You did a good thing, Kyle. Probably the right thing. Just tell me next time, all right?”

  Startled, he stared at her. And for a moment she saw in his eyes her real son—the son who loved her. “You meant it, didn’t you?” he said wonderingly. “That you’d never give up?”

  “You bet I did. And I wasn’t about to let some bastard terrorist hurt the person I love more than anything in the world.” She almost never swore in front of him, so it had impact when she did. “They’ve already taken too much from you.”

  Usually any reference to his father brought on that glumness she’d learned to live with. But this time he looked suddenly excited.

  “He’s alive, Mom!”

  It took her a moment to make the jump, to realize he wasn’t talking about his father.

  “What—” her breath caught “—Noah?”

  “I saw him!” he exclaimed. “That’s why it took me so long, I came back by the hotel, and I saw him!”

  For once she wasn’t possessed by the urge to throttle him for being reckless. Or, if the urge was there, it was surpassed by her shock.

  “You saw Noah?”

  He nodded urgently. “He was hurt, all bloody, but he was alive, Mom. I saw him move. They were dragging him across the courtyard toward the main building, and he moved his head.”

  “When?”

  “Just now. I came straight here.”

  Paige sucked in a harsh breath. Noah was alive. Whether that shot had been aimed at him or not, he was alive.

  For now.

  Chapter 15

  “We have to do something!”

  Paige could hardly argue with Kyle when she felt the same way. They had to do something. Noah had sacrificed himself to give them time to escape.

  “Yes, we must,” Lani agreed.

  “I know,” Paige said, almost to herself, knowing that if she were honest about it, she’d admit that how she’d come to feel about him was the most powerful reason. The emotions Noah Rider stirred in her demanded she do whatever she could.

  “We could storm the hotel,” Kyle suggested, sounding utterly serious.

  “Don’t be silly,” Lani said, almost sharply, saving Paige the trouble. “They have guns, and hostages. We have nothing.”

  “Well, then, what can we get that they’d want?” Kyle asked, sounding a little beleaguered.

  “What don’t they already have?” Lani countered. Yes, Paige thought, she was good for Kyle.

  “Maybe we could take one of them hostage,” Kyle said. “Then we’d have something to bargain with.”

  “If they’d bargain to get him back,” Paige said.

  “I’d be glad if someone took Filipo away,” Lani said dryly.

  Paige smiled, but behind the expression her mind was racing. Something to bargain with…

  They did have something the terrorists—or rather Ares in particular—wanted. Or, at least, had wanted.

  Her.

  …you will be the voice of the hostages.

  Did he still want her as a puppet mouthpiece? Badly enough to bargain for Noah’s welfare? And even if he did, what guarantee did she have that he’d keep his word?

  Zero. Zilch. Zip. If he was a man with honor enough to keep his word, he wouldn’t be a terrorist.

  She knew that, knew this was nearly as harebrained as Kyle’s desperate idea to storm the hotel. She could be walking into a death trap. In fact, Noah might already be dead. Kyle said he had seen him being taken into the main building, which was no doubt where Ares was. For all she knew, he’d been brought before the leader and promptly executed. What reason did Ares have to keep him alive?

  Unless he’d learned who Noah really was….

  Kyle and Lani were still talking, trying to come up with something. She tuned them out, trying to think. If Ares had somehow found out that Noah was a top Redstone executive, if he knew what a powerful tool he had in that hostage, surely he wouldn’t kill him. He would keep him as an ace in the hole, a lever to use against Redstone if he had to. Wouldn’t he?

  A lever. It suddenly struck her that if she offered herself as spokesperson in return for Noah’s welfare, Ares would know he meant something to her. It would be nearly as bad as the terrorists learning Kyle was her son. But what other reason could she give him for her change of heart? Now that she’d escaped his guards, why would she give up her freedom?

  She’d have to lie, she realized that, but could she do it convincingly? Could she put on a front like the one Noah had, so completely that the guards had barely given him a second thought, had counted him out as cowed and cowardly? Could she convince the man she’d done it for all the hostages, not just Noah?

  She wrestled with the idea for a while longer, but finally gave up. It didn’t matter if she could pull it off, but only that she try. And for the first time she really understood what Noah had meant: she wasn’t cut out for this kind of thing, either.

  But the least she could do is what he had done. She had to try. She couldn’t just sit here and let them kill him, or worse. Not after what he’d done for the children.

  Not after what he’d done for her, awakened her to the possibilities of life once more. Even if whatever had begun between them ended when this was over, she had to try. Doing something was better than nothing.

  The call of a bird, disconcertingly close and sounding oddly like maniacal laughter, made Paige jump. Kyle turned to look at the cave entrance, along with many of the children. Only Lani acted differently; with a joyous cry she ran toward the entrance.

  “It’s my father!” she exclaimed. “He does the best laughing gull on the island!”

  Paige ran to the cave entrance herself then, and looked up the trail to see the welcome sight of at least a dozen of the village men, armed with various implements ranging from clubs to what appeared to be scythes of some sort. They must have grabbed up anything that could be used as a weapon and marched off to rescue their children.

  The moment they entered the cave, the local children echoed Lani’s cry with their own. Sobbing reunions began, and Paige couldn’t begin to describe the relief she felt.

  After a moment Lani led her father over to Paige. She’d met him twice before, when she’d first arrived and again shortly after school had begun, when the man had come to see where his daughter would be every day.

  “I’m so glad you’re all right. I was afraid they had taken over the entire island,” she told him.

  “We have not seen them at all on our side. Two of us went to look when the children did not come home. That’s when we saw them. We followed, watched them and saw that they do not have enough men to take the whole island.”

  “Did you count them?”

/>   “As best we could. There are fifteen of them at least, maybe a few more.”

  It seemed they must be spread rather thin, then. Although now they no longer had to spare two to guard the school, Paige thought with a little rush of triumph. Or run the radio Noah had disabled.

  “We were preparing to do what we had to, to free our children when your son came to us,” Lani’s father said.

  “You should be very, very proud of your daughter, Mr. DeSouza. We never could have done this without her.”

  “She says the same of you,” the man said. “I thank you on behalf of all of my village, for the safety of our children.”

  “I did only what any teacher would do,” she said. “But I must ask a favor of you…the other children, not from your village, will you watch over them as well? There is something I have to do.”

  “Of course,” he answered promptly. “It is the least we can do.” He studied her for a moment. “You go to help the man?”

  Paige flicked a glance at Kyle, who was huddled with Lani once more.

  “Yes, the boy told us. He is a good man, this Rider?”

  “He is,” she said. “He sacrificed himself so the children could escape.”

  “Is there more we can do?

  Paige shook her head. “Not yet. I think I can get in and at least make sure…”

  “That he is still alive?” Mr. DeSouza asked gently.

  Paige nodded, blinking rapidly. She saw Kyle headed toward them, and wiped at her eyes.

  “Going into the den of the monster is a bad thing, and for a woman alone…”

  “Alone is the only way I can do this, I’m afraid. The leader has some use for me, but only me.”

  “You do as you must. But if you need our help, you have it.”

  She thought quickly. The first of the guests were due to start arriving late tonight. She knew they had to be warned off.

  “Do you have a telephone?”

  He nodded. “A cell phone. Mr. Redstone arranged it for anyone who wished one.”