Rum Runner

by Tricia Leedom

  She blinked back the unshed tears.

  They stood there for a long moment staring at each other, tension crackling in the static-charged atmosphere.

  “Look,” he said with a long-suffering sigh. “It’s not too late.”

  “Not too late for what?” She looked away.

  “Not too late to change our plans. If finding your father means that much to you, I suppose I could help.”

  Sophie’s head came around and she started to smile, but suspicion made her stop and narrow her eyes. “You want to help me find my father? What changed your mind?”

  Jimmy shrugged. His steady blue gaze held nothing but sincerity. “I saw the look on your face when Edith showed you those pictures. I hadn’t realized just how important it was to you until that moment.”

  “And you’re just a big softie after all, is that it?”

  “Contrary to what you might think of me, I’m really a nice guy.”

  Sophie looked away from him again and pointedly ignored the tiny niggle of guilt she felt for being so quick to judge him. Hadn’t he saved her three times, once from the kidnappers in Miami and twice from hit men in Key West? Yet, for some reason she still didn’t trust him.

  Jimmy was offering her the chance to meet her father. She shouldn’t care why he’d changed his mind and just be grateful that he had. She should trust him to keep her safe, because he hadn’t given her any reason not to.

  A rolling boom of thunder lingered in the sky as fat raindrops began to pelt the graveled earth at their feet.

  “It’s your choice,” he said and went to retrieve his duffel bag from the front step.

  A rusty white pickup truck rattled into the lot. The driver honked the horn when Jimmy waved. “What’s it gonna be, Duchess?” he said. “Do we find your father or do you go home wondering what might have been?”

  Sophie bit her bottom lip and met his gaze. He seemed on edge, as if everything hinged on her answer. They stared at each other, ignoring the rain that was falling with a purpose now.

  The offer was so tempting. Her heart, her gut, all the pieces of herself ruled by emotion, screamed yes, but cold stark common sense bellowed just as loudly. Her practical side, which she’d obeyed for so long, warned her of the physical danger, the potential for disappointment, and the scandal she could cause her family. And it warned of the possibility of losing her head over the unbelievably attractive man in front of her.

  The captain pushed open the passenger side door. “You two just gonna stand out in the rain reenacting ‘The Piña Colada Song?’ Let’s get moving.”

  Sophie grinned and then laughed half hysterically as she acknowledged the insanity of what she was about to do. She was drenched. Her wet clothes clung to her body and her soggy hair stuck to her face and neck. Jimmy was in the same condition, but he looked so sexy it should have been a crime.

  “Duchess—”

  “Okay,” she blurted and his face lit with surprise. She felt a glimmer of satisfaction that she’d managed to surprise him. He obviously hadn’t thought she was going to say yes. To be honest, she hadn’t either.

  “Okay what?”

  She took a deep breath and said firmly, “I want to find my father. I need to warn him of the danger. I would feel terribly guilty if something happened to him.”

  Jimmy’s expression grew grim, and a muscle worked in his cheek. “All right, then. Get in.”

  He tossed his duffel into the truck bed and waved to Damian who was jogging toward the office to get out of the storm. Sophie scooted over and Jimmy slid in next to her.

  “Duchess, meet Captain Tom. Captain Tom, the Duchess.” In the confines of the small cabin, she was crushed between the captain’s girth and Jimmy’s big body.

  “Delighted to make your acquaintance, Duchess,” the captain said as he put the truck in gear and pulled out of the parking lot.

  “Pouring” wasn’t a strong enough word to describe what was happening on the other side of the windshield, Sophie decided. “Torrential downpour” was more accurate. To combat the sticky humidity of the cabin, the captain had raised the air conditioning to full blast. The cold air blowing on her damp skin made her shiver.

  “You okay, darlin’?” The intimate timbre of Jimmy’s voice made her shiver again. “Sit back. I ain’t gonna bite.”

  His arm rested across the back of the bench seat. Beneath the thin cotton of his T-shirt, he was throwing off more heat than a side of beef roasting in an oven. She settled against him stiffly, closing her eyes to steel herself against his alluring warmth. His scent, enhanced by the moisture on his skin, enveloped her in a heady cocoon. She imagined the feel of his lips pressed against the base of her throat and the spot tingled as if it were actually happening.

  Her eyes flew open and she shoved the torrid thoughts away. “How far until we reach our destination?”

  “Ten minutes,” Captain Tom said. “Good thing I know these roads like the back of my ass or we’d end up in a ditch.”

  Sophie grasped for something else to say, something to keep the conversation going so she didn’t have to think about the hard, hot body pressed against her side. “Who was that man you were talking to inside the shop?” she asked Jimmy.

  “Jonas.”

  “Holy hell! Jonas is in town?” In his excitement, the captain jerked the wheel and the truck swerved.

  Reaching out to steady herself, she grabbed Jimmy’s thigh by accident. The taut muscles shifted beneath her hand and she pulled it away quickly. “Who’s Jonas?” she asked, hoping to distract Jimmy from what she’d just done.

  “My little brother.”

  Now that was a surprise. She hadn’t pictured Jimmy with a family. “Do you have other siblings?”

  “An older brother.”

  “What’s his name?”

  “Pain-in-the-Ass. Hang a right at the next intersection, Captain. I wanna make sure we aren’t being tailed.”

  She hadn’t considered someone could be following them. After they’d lost the two hit men, she just assumed they were safe. How naïve. Jimmy’s face was tense as he studied the rain-blurred image in the passenger side mirror. A new wave of goose bumps rose on her skin and she shivered again.

  The rain surged, hitting the windshield like a barrage of machine gun pellets.

  “Is that hail?”

  “Nope, just rain.” The captain chuckled. “Mother Nature pisses hard down here in the tropics. Too many umbrella drinks by the pool.” He eyed Sophie. “You sure you’re Mitch Thompson’s daughter?”

  “Yes.”

  “Your momma must have been some first-class piece of ass for that hippy bastard to have sired a daughter as fine as you. Remind me to bow at the man’s feet the next time I see him.”

  A loud guffaw escaped Sophie before she could stop it. Startled, she covered her mouth.

  “You’re all right, kiddo,” the captain said with a wink.

  The rain stopped when they reached their destination, departing as abruptly as it had arrived. The truck wheels kicked up water from a deep puddle as they took a hard right onto a narrow, private road bordered by dense tropical foliage. The bright Florida sunshine emerged from the parting clouds making the droplets of water on the leaves glisten like diamonds. As the tree line ended, a sprawling Spanish-style house came into view. It sat on a canal with its own private dock.

  When the captain bypassed the parking area in front of the house and drove around to the yacht in back, Sophie said, “I might have changed my mind about going home, but I’m still not getting on another boat.”

  “Don’t get your panties in a twist,” Jimmy replied. “We’re not sailing. We’re flying. See.” He pointed to the canary yellow floatplane sitting in the water beside the yacht.

  Incredulity left her speechless for a moment. Then she said, “You’re barking mad if you think I’m getting in that thing!”

  Jimmy ignored her and climbed out of the truck, leaving his door open. Captain Tom got out on his side. While Jimmy walke
d around the plane looking it over, the captain retrieved the duffel bag from the truck bed and brought it around to the dock.

  Sophie took her time as she slid across the bench seat and climbed out the passenger side. She approached the captain who was standing on the dock watching Jimmy. “Is this your aircraft?”

  “It belongs to a friend. He lets me take it out whenever I want.”

  “So you fly often?”

  “Every chance I get.”

  Relief calmed her nerves a bit. “What’s he doing?”

  “A good pilot always inspects his equipment before he takes to the sky.”

  “But you’re the pilot.”

  “Not this time. Panama’s going it alone.” He must have seen the horrified expression on her face because he said, “Don’t worry, kiddo, he knows what he’s doing. He has almost as many hours in the sky as I have.”

  “But we’ll be over the water.” She hated how small her voice sounded. She tried to play it cool, but she couldn’t stem her rising panic.

  “Panama was a SEAL. That’s almost the same as saying he’s drown-proof. You couldn’t be safer over the water, in the water, or under the water, if you were skinny dipping with Aquaman himself. I promise he’s not going to let anything happen to you. You got to trust him to do his thing. He’ll impress the hell out of you if you let him.”

  Jimmy stepped back from the open cockpit door. “She looks good, Captain. I owe you one.”

  “Just get her back in one piece.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “Your best?” Sophie squeaked.

  Jimmy flashed a grin before he reached down to retrieve the duffel bag from the dock. “Don’t worry, darlin’, I haven’t crashed in a while. Odds are good we’ll make it.”

  “Don’t tease the girl, Panama. Can’t you see she’s nervous?”

  “I was just kidding. The aircraft’s solid. We’ll get to where we’re going.”

  “Promise me.”

  Jimmy’s expression darkened instantly as if someone had ripped an electrical cord of its socket to turn the light off. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. His voice was low and quiet. “I don’t believe in making promises, remember?” He turned away and opened the fuselage door revealing two rows of seats. If she counted the pair of seats in the cockpit, the plane would hold six people. She’d never been on an aircraft that small.

  Jimmy placed his duffel bag on the floor between the second and third row of seats and said, “Come on, Duchess. We’re burning daylight.”

  Sophie looked at the captain. He nodded and said, “Aquaman, remember? You couldn’t be in better hands. You can take that to the bank.”

  He winked and she gave him a weak smile.

  When Jimmy held out his hand, she let him guide her into the cabin and followed his instructions to take the co-pilot’s seat. She remembered the Ziploc bag containing her precious family photographs and asked him to put it in his duffel bag for safekeeping as she did with the items Molly had given her.

  The pilot’s door opened a moment later and Jimmy took his seat behind the wheel.

  He secured the door then flicked a couple of switches on the complicated-looking control panel. A loud ticking filled the cabin. He handed her a headset. “You’re gonna need this if you want to talk to me,” he shouted over the noise. While she put it on, he plugged in a matching headset and slid it on too.

  He spoke into the microphone hovering in front of his mouth and his amplified voice came into her ears. “Relax, Duchess. I know what I’m doing.”

  He pushed a button on the panel and the propeller whirred to life. The fuselage trembled and the engine roared. The floatplane moved away from the dock. Captain Tom waved.

  Realizing she had no idea where they were going now that her plans had changed, she turned toward Jimmy—or tried to in the confines of the cramped cockpit—and said, “Where will we start looking for my father?”

  Jimmy’s slow grin should have prepared her for anything, but she was still surprised by his response. With an authentic accent, he said, “Jamaica, mon.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “April!” Philip Linus said a bit too cheerfully when she poked her head into his study.

  “Hi, Daddy. You wanted to see me?” She came into the room and slipped into the straight back chair across from his desk.

  “Let me tell Courtney you’re here. We have news, and she wants to be here to share it.”

  “Sure.”

  April sat back and waited while he made a quick call to her stepmother. News? She didn’t like the sound of that. The last time they had “news” to share, she learned she was getting a new stepmother.

  When he hung up the phone, April said, “I’ve been thinking about what I’d like to do after graduation.”

  “Oh?”

  “I’d like to go to business school.”

  Philip glanced at his watch as he rose from his chair. “Business school,” he said mildly as he crossed to the minibar. He dropped a couple of ice cubes into a glass before he poured his favorite bourbon over them.

  “Yes, for hotel management. I was thinking I’d like to work in one of your hotels, so I can learn the family business. I’d like to follow in your footsteps one day. You know, when you retire.”

  He hesitated for an instant before tossing back the contents of the tumbler. “Absolutely out of the question.” He put his glass down with a thump.

  “I don’t understand. I thought you’d be happy to hear I’m interested in the family business. I know you and mom tried to have a son for years, but you have me and I’m ready and willing to learn. What’s the matter? Don’t you think I’m smart enough?”

  “You are too smart for your own good. Men are intimidated by women with bigger brains than they have. I don’t want you to end up a lonely, dried-up, corporate hag. I was thinking you’d pick something more frivolous like interior design or reality TV.”

  “But, Daddy—”

  “I’ve made up my mind.” He swiped the bottle of bourbon from the bar and refilled his glass before returning to the plush leather seat behind his desk. “Did you visit Jimmy Panama today like I asked?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you see your friend Sophie as well?”

  “Yeah.” Why didn’t her father want her to go into the family business? She had expected him to be thrilled by her interest.

  He sat forward in his chair. “Where did you see them?”

  “At Fat Cat Charters.” She didn’t care if men thought she was too smart. The boys in her school already thought that about her. Except Damian. Damian liked that she was smart. “They were heading out of town.”

  “They didn’t happen to mention where they were going?”

  Maybe only rich men disliked smart women—

  “April?”

  She looked up at her father. “Huh? Oh, Jimmy said something about Jamaica. Why?”

  He shook his head. “No reason.” He sat back and took a long sip of bourbon.

  “Who will take over the family business when you retire?”

  He chuckled. “You make it sound as if I have one foot in the grave. I don’t plan on retiring anytime soon.”

  Why was he laughing at her? Why didn’t he take her seriously? Why didn’t anyone? She came to her feet in frustration. “What are you going to do, leave the business to a total stranger?”

  “Of course not. I’m going to leave it to my son.”

  “Phillip! You promised we would tell her together!” Courtney stood in the open doorway wearing a skimpy zebra-print bikini and coconut oil.

  “Tell me what?”

  “Courtney’s pregnant with my son.”

  April’s stomach dipped sickly. “Pregnant?” It took a moment for the words to sink in. Courtney looked as if she should have been one of April’s high school friends, not her pregnant stepmother. “Wait…how do you know it’s a boy? You can’t be that far along.”

  “Genetic engineering,” her father ex
plained. He came around the desk to stand beside his young wife and slid an arm around her trim waist. “Can you believe they can add a Y chromosome to an embryo to assure the fetus is male? Modern technology is wonderful when you’ve got the money to pay for it.”

  Courtney beamed and kissed his cheek.

  April wobbled on her high heels and grabbed the edge of the desk to steady herself. A baby brother meant she wouldn’t be the baby anymore. Or the only child. Philip Linus would have a shiny new toy to gush over and the male child he’d always wanted.

  Where would that leave her?

  Married off to some rich old lech.

  Everything suddenly made sense. The new boobs. Her stepmother’s matchmaking attempts and the never-ending lectures about the benefits of marrying a wealthy older man who could take care of her. Courtney was trying to pawn her off on somebody else to make room for her own child.

  Over the past two years, April had tried to befriend her stepmother just to make her father happy. She bit her tongue when the woman went through the house redecorating and storing away old family photos, wiping out all signs of the first Mrs. Linus. April went shopping and palled around with Courtney despite the fact she was tacky, abrasive, and not very bright. She listened to her stepmother’s advice on how to act sexy and pick up men and practiced the tactics diligently, even though acting like a slut went against her nature and felt wrong.

  “Aren’t you going to congratulate your stepmother?” Philip said.

  April wasn’t stupid. The question was a thinly veiled command.

  Her face burned and her head spun as rage boiled inside her. There were a lot of things she wanted to say to her stepmother, but “congratulations” wasn’t one of them.

  “April,” he said sharply, dousing the flames of her fury enough to make her think twice before she opened her mouth.

  She smiled tightly and forced herself to produce the words that would please him. They felt like acid on her tongue. “I’m very happy for you, Courtney.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Jimmy kept the plane’s pontoon floats on the water for as long as he could. When they were almost clear of the channel, he pushed the thrusters up, giving the aircraft a boost of juice, and took off low and steady.