The Only Way Out

by Susan Mallery

  “I can’t let you pay for our things.”

  “You’re going to need the money to stay away from Kray when you’re back in the States. Keep it,” he repeated, turning toward her.

  She wished he was still wearing his hat or sunglasses. But there was nothing to shield his handsome face from her. Nothing to conceal his expressionless features or the blankness in his eyes. It was as if the man had disappeared and in his place was a machine without a soul. He frightened her.

  She left the money where she’d placed it and started backing up toward the door.

  “Stay out of the surf,” he said, repeating his earlier warning. “Keep Bobby in the pool and close to the house.”

  “I understand.”

  “There’s extra towels in the guest bathroom.”

  How incongruous that he should speak of towels when she wondered if he was going to kill them. “Thank you.”

  She collected the towels. When she came out of the bathroom, he was standing in the hallway. The light was behind him, leaving his features in shadows.

  “I’m not the enemy,” he said, obviously having figured out she was still scared of him. He folded his arms over his chest. “I’m going to get you out of here alive.”

  “I know,” she said. “That doesn’t make you any less frightening. That’s what you want, isn’t it? You want me to be afraid. Then you can be scornful, as well as dislike me. It’s about Kray. That I married him. Therefore I must be like him.”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m not.” She stared at the towels. “But why would you believe that? Sometimes I don’t believe it, either. I should have known. That’s the real kicker in all this. I should have been able to figure it out. Right?”

  She looked up at him. He nodded slowly. But he would get her and Bobby off the island anyway. Personal feelings didn’t enter into it. He didn’t have to like her to help her.

  As she brushed past him and tried to ignore the flicker of heat that ignited where their bare skin touched, as she told herself to forget he was handsome and sweet to her son, she wished he wouldn’t despise her quite as much as he did.

  Bobby was waiting for her on the porch. Her child was safe, as least. Kray would never get his hands on the boy again. She didn’t care what she had to do to keep that promise. She didn’t care if it killed her.

  “Let’s go swimming, Mom,” Bobby said, heading for the pool.

  “Good idea.” She hurried after him, moving down the porch steps and into the sunlight. As the warmth touched her skin she stopped. “Wait a minute, Bobby. I was so busy putting sunscreen on you, I forgot to put some on myself.”

  Bobby laughed. “That’s silly.”

  “I know, but come wait on the porch until I get back.”

  Her son trotted after her. “Hurry, Mommy. I want to swim.”

  “I’ll be right back.” She opened the front door and stepped into the house. Jeff was sitting at the table, bent over some piece of equipment. As she entered, he stood up and moved to shield it with his body.

  He was too late. She stared at the metal pieces, not wanting to recognize them. Not wanting to know. But she couldn’t escape the truth. She knew a long-range rifle when she saw one. She met Jeff’s cold stare and wondered if that bit of knowledge was about to cost her her life.

  Chapter 5

  Jeff read the terror in Andie’s expression. She started backing out of the room. Her hands rose to shoulder level as if she was unconsciously showing him she wasn’t dangerous.

  “I’m cleaning it,” he said, motioning to the rifle on the table behind him. “It can’t hurt you.”

  She nodded at his words, but her face was still pale and her eyes wide. At that moment he realized she wasn’t afraid of the rifle. She was afraid of him.

  “Look, I’m not going to hurt you, either,” he said, moving a little closer to her.

  She continued backing up. Her expression tightened into panic. She couldn’t decide whether to trust him or simply run for cover. He didn’t want her going off anywhere. The jungle around them wasn’t safe. Besides, if she gave into the fear, Bobby would join right in. He could do without the hysterics.

  “Andie, come on. It’s okay.”

  Her gaze was unfocused. She opened her mouth to scream. He lunged for her, grabbing her wrists and pulling her close.

  “Don’t hurt me,” she pleaded, barely fighting. She trembled against him. “Don’t hurt my son. I’ll do anything.”

  She was tall for a woman, and strong. But she didn’t try to attack him as she had in the jungle. It was as if the last of her strength had slipped away, leaving her completely defenseless. Big blue eyes stared into his.

  A single tear clung to her lower lashes. She blinked several times and it slipped down her cheek. At that moment he became aware of her near-naked body pressed against his. The red bathing suit outlined her feminine curves. Her long bare legs brushed against him, her blond braid lay against his forearm. She smelled sweet, like a woman, and his body strained toward her.

  In those few seconds before he released her, he felt the hunger fill him. The need was overwhelming, more powerful than the hatred or even his common sense. He wanted to kiss her hard until she forgot the fear and he forgot the pain. He wanted to bury himself inside of her until there was nothing but the glory of the present, of the pleasure, until the past faded to an insignificant recollection.

  Instead he shook her slightly. “You’re overreacting. No one is going to hurt you.” He released her.

  She stared at him, then at her wrists. Slowly she rubbed her left forearm with her right hand. “What are you going to do? Are you going to hold us for ransom?”

  “I was checking out the rifle. Nothing more. I already told you, if I was going to kill you or turn you in, I would have done it already.”

  “I see.” She nodded. “It makes perfect sense. Why go to all the trouble to keep us around? You could have gotten rid of us countless times.” She lowered her arms to her side. “I just came in to get some sunscreen.”

  “Then go get it.” He turned his back on her and returned to the table.

  He heard the sound of her bare feet on the wooden floor. She moved down the hall, then was back in a few moments. He could smell the scent of the sunscreen, feel her standing in front of him, but he refused to look up at her. Instead, he touched the barrel of the rifle. He heard her breath catch in her throat.

  “I don’t suppose you’ve got any proof?” she asked.

  “Of what?”

  “That you won’t hurt us.”

  He glared at her. “My membership in the ‘Be kind to prisoners’ club expired. You’ll just have to take my word for it.”

  Her fear was a tangible thing, living and breathing in the room with them. She was all the more vulnerable for being almost naked. The bathing suit left little to the imagination. Her legs stretched on forever. He was a bastard for noticing.

  He set the rifle barrel on the table, then braced his hands on the smooth surface and leaned toward her. “I can’t give you proof. You’ll get that when you’re off this island. Until then, try to relax. You’ve been living on nerves since Kray took your kid. If you don’t get your strength back, you won’t have anything left when you’re finally away from here.”

  “I know.” She tossed her head, sending her braid over her shoulder. She folded her arms under her breasts. “Will you promise me something?”

  “What?”

  “Mo-om, I want to go in the pool,” Bobby called from outside.

  “I’ll be right there,” she answered, then returned her attention to the weapon on the table. “If something happens, if there’s a choice between us, make sure Bobby gets away.”

  “Nothing’s going to happen.”

  “You don’t know that. Kray is dangerous. Promise me you’ll get Bobby out, no matter what. I’d rather he was in a foster home than living with Kray. At least with strangers he would have a chance. If his father gets him, we both know what will happen.”


  Jeff knew. If Kray got his hands on the boy, Bobby would become the heir apparent to his criminal empire. Her son would forever live in the shadows, outside the law. He would be hunted, not just by the police, but by other criminals.

  “I trust you because I don’t have a choice,” she said, raising her gaze to meet his. “So give me your word that you’ll get Bobby away from here, no matter what happens.”

  He didn’t want to do that. It was the kind of commitment any decent field man avoided. Personally, Jeff didn’t want to be responsible for his enemy’s child. He knew there would come a time when he would regret what he was about to say. But he couldn’t refuse her. Not because he liked her or because she had appealed to his honor, but because regardless of who his father was, no five-year-old child deserved a life with Kray.

  “You have my word.”

  She lowered her arms to her sides. “Thank you.” She turned to leave.

  “It won’t come to that,” he said before she stepped out onto the porch. “I’m going to get you both off of this damn island.”

  She glanced at him over her shoulder. “I hope so.” The screen door slammed shut behind her.

  Jeff sat down at the table, but he didn’t pick up the rifle. Instead, he wondered if five years behind a desk had softened him too much. He didn’t doubt his ability to pull the trigger and take Kray out, he just wondered how he was going to keep it from being personal.

  “Hell, it is personal,” he muttered.

  From outside came the sound of splashing and childish squeals. He stood up and walked to the windows beside the front door. He could see the sun as it slipped toward the horizon, the darkening ocean and the pale sand. Closer to the house, he could see Andie and Bobby together in the pool. True to his word, the boy could swim. He shrieked with laughter, then dove under the clear surface.

  Andie treaded water next to him. Her long braid floated behind her. The lapping waves distorted his view of her body, but it was still obvious she had the kind of female appearance that bordered on perfection. He’d never much cared what a woman looked like. Jeanne had been pretty, but nothing like Andie. It hadn’t mattered, he thought remembering those first few months with his wife. He’d loved her as much as he’d ever loved anyone. She’d been his entire world. They’d been young and filled with the excitement of unlimited possibilities.

  He wondered when that had started to change. When had being in love ceased to be enough? When had the marriage started to fall apart and how much of that was his fault?

  He stared at the pair in the pool, seeing instead another woman with another child—his child. Jeff knew he’d spent too much time away from his family. He’d wanted to be in the field while Jeanne had pleaded with him to take a desk job. Even the birth of J.J. hadn’t been enough to slow him down. Now, with the perfect vision of hindsight, he knew he’d paid a high price for his career. He’d lost his wife and son. Kray had won even without killing him in that car bomb.

  Once Jeanne and J.J. were gone, Jeff had taken the desk job. At first because physically he couldn’t be in the field and later because he’d come to see he could matter more behind the scenes. Jeanne had gotten her wish. Unfortunately it had been too late for her.

  A soft feminine voice recalled him to the present. He stared at the pool, at the two people swimming together there. A wave of hatred swept over him, leaving him angry and his mouth filled with the flavor of resentment. How dare they be alive and his family dead?

  Bobby bounded up the pool steps, raced around to the deep end and jumped in. Water splashed over the sides. He surfaced, laughing.

  “Good for you,” Andie called. She pulled herself out of the pool and was sitting on the edge. Her back was to Jeff. He could see the slender arms, narrow waist and curvy hips. He ignored the passion that flared, instead focusing on the hate, knowing he would trade them both for a moment with Jeanne and J.J.

  Then he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the window frame. He didn’t hate them, he didn’t even wish them dead. Instead, he wanted a chance to make it all right. He knew the truth now. Time was precious. Every moment was to be savored because it could all be gone in a flash. He wanted to take the time to bring his wife flowers, he wanted to figure out how to fall back in love with her and recapture what they’d once had. He wanted to play ball with J.J. and teach him to ride a two-wheeler. He wanted them back.

  But they wouldn’t come back. They were gone and he was alone. All because he’d cared more about his career than his family. Because he wouldn’t give in when Jeanne has asked him to come home. When he’d refused, she’d joined him in Lebanon. It had been a move designed to save their failing marriage. When he’d threatened to send her back to the States, she told him if she left it was over between them.

  He raised his head and stared at the woman and child by the pool. Sadness replaced the hatred, leaving him feeling old and alone. It had ended anyway. All his hopes and plans for the future. Ended in one moment, in a fiery explosion that had filled a quiet afternoon with death.

  “But I’m hungry now,” Bobby said, leaning against the kitchen counter.

  Andie stared at her son and counted to five. When that didn’t work, she tried ten, then prayed for a miracle. “I’m cooking as fast as I can,” she said, poking the fish on the indoor grill. “I know you’re hungry, sweetie, but it will just be a few minutes.”

  Bobby’s lower lip thrust out. His hazel eyes grew mutinous. Tantrum time. Andie looked around, searching for a diversion. The problem was they were both overtired. Plus she’d let him play too long in the pool. He was exhausted and that meant cranky was just around the corner.

  “I’m hungry now!”

  Jeff walked into the kitchen. “Come on, sport,” he said, holding out his hand. “If you help me set the table, I’ll tell you a story about a magical bird named Echo.”

  Bobby eyed him suspiciously. “I don’t care about no dumb birds.”

  Jeff looked shocked. “You haven’t heard about Echo?” He glanced at her. “Did you know your son hasn’t heard of Echo?”

  Andie stared at the handsome stranger in front of her. He was serious, but she could see the hint of a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. He was relaxed and almost playful, very different from the man who had been cleaning a rifle just an hour ago. At the first hints of twilight closing in around them, she’d begun to feel uneasy. But now, with Jeff teasing her child, some of her concerns slipped away.

  “Isn’t it shameful,” she said, going along with the game. “He’s very stubborn sometimes. I would appreciate if you’d tell him—” She glanced down at a now-bewildered Bobby. “No, he’s too hungry to want to listen to a story right now.”

  “Tell me,” Bobby demanded. “I want to hear the story.”

  “All right, but you’ll have to help me set the table.”

  “Okay.” Bobby reached for the plates she’d left stacked on the counter.

  Jeff took them from him and pulled open a drawer. “Why don’t you be in charge of the spoons and forks, sport?”

  Bobby grabbed a handful of each. As they moved toward the dining room table, Andie heard Jeff start to talk about a magical, sometime invisible bird named Echo. He spoke in the animated tones of a born storyteller. His voice was low and seductive. She could listen to it for hours. Instead, she forced her attention back to the fish on the grill.

  While it continued to cook, she made a salad with the greens Jeff had bought, then fixed some rice. As she worked, she listened to the story of the bird, all the while trying not to think about the gun and why Jeff was here on the island. It was too late to worry about trusting and not trusting. She’d made her decision. Pray God she hadn’t made a mistake.

  When everything was ready, she brought it to the table, and they sat down. “Go on,” Bobby said, staring up at Jeff and smiling. “How does the little boy get out of the evil emperor’s castle?”

  Jeff leaned toward the child. “Echo made himself very small and i
nvisible, then flew through the bars in the window. Once he was inside the room, he returned to his regular size, then opened his mouth. Out dropped the key. The boy unlocked the door and was far away before the emperor even knew he’d escaped.”

  “Wow!” Bobby took a forkful of rice and stuffed it in his mouth. “I want a bird like that, Mom. Could we get a bird when we get home?”

  “We’ll see what they have in the pet store,” she said. “But I doubt we’ll be able to find a magical bird.”

  “If I was real good, would Echo come visit me?” he asked Jeff.

  “Maybe. But birds like Echo usually only visit in our dreams.”

  “Oh.” Bobby closed his eyes. “I can almost see him. Maybe he’ll visit me tonight.”

  Andie listened as her son continued to talk about the bird. Jeff answered all his questions. She wondered where he got the patience, then remembered he’d had a child of his own. And a wife. How horrible to have lost them both in a car accident. She knew how that felt. She wondered if he would like her more if she explained she understood what he’d dealt with. She’d lost both her parents in a car accident.

  She stared at him, at the way he thought about Bobby’s questions before answering them. The overhead lamp highlighted the different shades of blond in his conservative haircut. She reached up and fingered her braid. They both had blond hair and blue eyes. They could probably pass for brother and sister. Except she didn’t feel like Jeff’s sister. He was too male, too frightening.

  She didn’t know exactly why he was here on the island, but she had a good idea. He was probably part of a team assigned to take Kray into custody. She hoped they got him and fast. She would sleep a lot better if she knew her ex-husband was safely behind bars.

  As she ate her dinner and listened to the conversation between Bobby and Jeff, she wondered if it would end well for all of them. If they arrested Kray, would she be held responsible for anything? She’d seen him kill a man in cold blood and she’d never reported the murder. That had to be illegal. But surely the government would understand her fear. She’d been three months pregnant at the time. She couldn’t risk her child.