The Island Read online

  “Beth, seriously, I don’t know what you want—”

  “The truth,” she murmured.

  He released her and leaned back against the tree, looking up at the night sky.

  “The truth?” he asked, sounding edgy again. “I don’t know anything about anything. My motto is simply to be very careful. That’s the truth. I just think you should be careful, too, that’s all.”

  “Because Brad and Sandy were behaving suspiciously?”

  “Because you think you found a skull—and you’re pretty much letting everyone know.”

  It was her turn to be aggravated. “There you go—talking in circles again. I think I found a skull. If I didn’t find a skull, then what is there to be worried about?”

  “Maybe nothing. Probably nothing.”

  “Do you know you’re incredibly exasperating?” she demanded.

  That rueful smile slipped easily into place again. “Do you know the line that should come after that one? Let’s see. ‘You’re incredibly beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone quite like you.’ But that wouldn’t sound much like the truth to you, either, would it? And it’s probably something you’ve heard a million times before.” The fact that he didn’t touch her then, or move closer to her in any way, made his words seem all the more compelling. She felt the urge to move closer, but she forced herself to maintain her distance. She felt as if there was at least a grain of honesty in his compliment, and she doubted he was a man who got turned down often.

  “Thanks,” she murmured uneasily, and looked at the swaying palms against the night sky. She worked with the public herself, knew how to smile and play a part, how to manipulate—and when she was being manipulated.

  She turned to him squarely, “Actually, it sounds like the kind of line you use when you’re trying to change the subject.”

  “I’ve just offered all that I can on the subject that I’d be changing,” he told her.

  Her eyes fell on Lee’s yacht. “Quite a boat,” she murmured.

  “A seventy-five-foot motor yacht,” he agreed. “You should have come aboard. She’s one glorious lady.”

  She turned to him. “You could show her to me in the morning.”

  He seemed surprised by the suggestion. “I could, yes.” He watched her curiously for a moment, a slow smile creeping over his lips. “Ah. You’re going to check her out. Look for bodies or evidence of evildoing.”

  Beth averted her eyes. “No such thing. She’s a beautiful boat. I work at a yacht club.”

  “So you see lots of beautiful boats.”

  “I love to be able to discuss them with the members.”

  He laughed easily. “You can check her out. No problem.”

  “Which means, of course, that if you were concealing something, it would be well hidden,” she informed him.

  “Did you study criminology?” he demanded. “Or do you suffer from an overdose of cop shows on television? If you’ve been paying attention, one more time, Ms. Anderson, it’s smart to keep out of things that don’t concern you.”

  “So I shouldn’t go on the boat?”

  He groaned. “You’re more than welcome to see the boat. I told you—we’re not pirates.”

  “Does that mean you’re not pirates but you are some other kind of criminal, or that some people are pirates, even though you and your friends aren’t?”

  “If I say good-morning when I see you and the sun is up, will you be dissecting those words, as well?” he asked her.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  He stood, reaching a hand down to her. “Well, I suggest we get some sleep and find out,” he said.

  She hesitated before accepting his hand. As he helped her to her feet, she came up against him. The length of her body brushed against his. When she was up, she remained close, thinking—hoping?—he was going to touch her.

  She thought she might lose all sense of reason and reach out and touch him, place her fingers on his face.

  “No line,” he said softly. “You are…like a flame. I’d give my eyeteeth to be the moth that was consumed.”

  She blinked. His voice was deep, sincere, and yet he was distant. He didn’t even try acting on his words. If anything, they were wistful.

  “Don’t worry,” he assured her, and a dry smile twisted his lips. “I know how to pine from afar.” He hesitated. “You really don’t need to be afraid of me,” he assured her.

  “I’m not afraid of you,” she lied.

  “You’re not?”

  “Only a little.”

  “Actually, you should be. I’m dying to touch you,” he said.

  The breeze whispered. The ghosts of the island, she thought. The cool air caressed her flesh. She was tempted to step forward and tell him that she was afraid, but willing to take her chances anyway.

  Just to be touched.

  To her absolute amazement, she heard herself say, “Maybe you should be afraid. Maybe I’m dying to touch you, too.”

  His hand rose. His knuckles and the back of his hand just brushed over her cheek. His eyes met hers. For once there seemed to be honesty in them. “You’re like a dream, perfect in so many ways.”

  She swallowed hard. “Not perfect,” she murmured.

  He laughed, dropping his hand, easing back a bit. “Smart, gorgeous, sexy…and good on a boat. That’s a dream to me. And I’m insane for saying this. I don’t think that I’m what you want. I don’t know if I can be.” He drew a deep, shuddering breath. “And now we should get some sleep.”

  They stood there for what felt like forever but was probably no more than a dozen seconds.

  “Still want to see the boat in the morning?” he asked.

  “Yes. And I’m not a complete coward, you know.” What did she mean by that? She wasn’t certain herself.

  He smiled and stepped back, and she could almost believe she had imagined a moment more intimate than any she had ever shared.

  “In the morning, then,” he said, and she wondered if his voice was as husky as it sounded, or if she only wanted to think so.

  “Yeah…in the morning.”

  “Should I see you back to your tent?” he teased.

  “I’ll be fine. It’s only a few feet away.”

  He smiled the rueful half smile that seemed to tear away sanity. “I’ll just keep an eye on you from here,” he assured her. “Apparently you didn’t bring your pepper spray.”

  She shook her head, studying him, and lifted her hands. “No pepper spray. Should I have carried it?”

  He groaned, then laughed. “Good night, Ms. Anderson. It’s been a lovely evening.”

  “It is a lovely evening,” she murmured.

  Suddenly he pulled her close, and she thought he was going to kiss her, take her in his arms and really kiss her, and if he did, she didn’t know what she was going to do.

  But he didn’t. He just held her. She felt the electric heat and force of the length of his body, not at all dissipated by the cotton between them. He brushed the top of her head with his lips, then pulled back again. “Go, go on back,” he told her.

  She stepped away, staring at him.

  “Trust no one,” he told her.

  “Not even you?” she whispered.

  “Not even me. Go on.”

  Husky had been replaced by something that resembled harsh. She backed away for several steps before turning to head to her tent.

  When she reached it, she turned back.

  He was exactly where she had left him.

  Watching.

  Somehow, she knew that when she went into the tent, he would remain there, watching—though for what, exactly, she had no idea.

  But he would be there through the night. Of that she was entirely certain.

  Just as she was certain she was the one who was the moth coveting the flame. In her life, she had never actually planned anything the way she was planning it now.

  But there was an ache inside her.

  Whether she burned to ashes or n
ot, she had to touch the fire.

  HANDS OFF.

  That was what he had warned the others. They had business to attend to here.

  But there was the other business, as well. And that kept him thinking, curious—and determined to find out everything he could about their fellow campers.

  Clenching his teeth, he reminded himself that it was no surprise that tourists had come to Calliope Key for the weekend. But he couldn’t allow anger to waylay him, nor could he allow himself any emotional involvement. All he could do was seek justice now. And put an end to it all.

  Beth Anderson was a distraction he couldn’t afford.

  Keith swore softly in the night.

  Then he spun, instantly alert at the smallest sound.

  Matt, stretching, looking as if his joints ached and he wasn’t ready to pull a shift on guard duty, eyed him cautiously.

  “Quite a conversation,” Matt said.

  “I couldn’t exactly force her to go back to bed,” Keith reminded him.

  “She’s something, huh?” Matt said, and grinned. Then the grin faded and he shook his head. “It’s dangerous. I wouldn’t want her to wind up…hurt.”

  “She won’t,” Keith snapped out.

  “If she—”

  “She won’t,” he repeated.

  “Hell of a story you told the other night,” Matt said, sounding somewhat sharp, as if the words were an accusation.

  “It’s a well-known legend.”

  “Did you tell it on purpose?”

  Keith shrugged. “Why not? Throw it out there.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” Matt shrugged, looking out to sea—and the yacht. “Nothing?” he inquired.

  “All’s quiet.”

  Matt nodded. “Actually, what else could we expect?”

  “Nothing,” Keith murmured. He looked at Matt. Neither one of them felt at ease.

  “Well, I’m up. You can catch a few winks.”

  “Yup.”

  “You’re not going to sleep, are you?” Matt asked.

  “I’m damn well going to try.”

  “Don’t worry. I know it isn’t your lack of faith in me. It’s just your nature.”

  “Trust me. I’m going to try to sleep.”

  “That’s right. You’ve got a date in the morning, don’t you?”

  “What?”

  “You have to show Beth Anderson the yacht.”

  “Oh. Right.”

  Great, just great. His entire conversation had been overheard.

  “It will be fine. It’s Sunday at last. The working world will return to work,” Matt said. “And we’ll have the place to ourselves again.”

  Keith murmured a disjointed, “Not exactly.”

  “I don’t blame you, by the way,” Matt went on.

  “Blame me for what?” Keith said.

  “If Beth Anderson had looked at me with so much as a slightly interested smile, well…I’d forget everything, too.”

  “I haven’t forgotten anything,” Keith said.

  He left Matt by the palm and returned to his tent.

  But Matt had been right.

  He lay awake. And listened.

  He couldn’t help remembering a picture that was as vivid in his mind’s eye as if he were back at the morgue again, staring down at Brandon Emery’s face. He’d been so young. Twenty-four and so damn good at everything he did. One of the brightest newcomers, filled with all the right stuff, as they said.

  Too damn good. He shouldn’t have been out alone. Especially when he had seen something, known something. And he had known something. Keith could still recall the last e-mail he’d gotten from Brandon, word for word.

  I think I’ve got it. Honest to God, you’re not going to believe it. I’m going to check it out, and I’ll let you know next time I write.

  But there had been no next time.

  No next time for Brandon.

  Keith had never heard from him again. Not until he had been called to see the body. What had seemed like a fairly easy—even run-of-the-mill—venture had turned deadly, and the image of Brandon Emery in the morgue was one that would never leave his mind.

  His body had floated up near Islamorada. His boat had been found drifting a few miles farther north. But he hadn’t been anywhere near Islamorada when he had e-mailed.

  He’d been here, working off Calliope Key.

  And no matter what anyone said, he hadn’t simply drowned.

  He sat up in a sweat. Swore.

  Ted and Molly Monoco. He hadn’t known the couple, but he’d read about them. He’d never put them in the same arena as Brandon before. Brandon had been part of his work. Ted and Molly had been retirees, off to see the world.

  But they’d been here, too. It might well have been damn stupid of him not to connect everything that had happened in the area. But what was the connection? Brandon’s boat had been no great shakes, and it hadn’t been stolen. Had the Monocos’boat been seized? He’d heard rumors that it had been seen. Rumors. And there had been similar incidents in the papers over the last year.

  The Monocos had owned the kind of vessel any modern-day pirate might well envy.

  Had they died for that reason?

  How could that be connected to Brandon’s death, or their own quest here? Had the island itself become deadly, or remained deadly through the centuries, a place near enough to civilization to attract visitors, and yet remote enough for anything to happen? A place to kill and…

  A place to hide the dead?

  He would never sleep. Because now Beth was on the island. Beth, who wouldn’t let things rest.

  It was chilling.

  She would be going home soon. She would be in no great danger, once she returned to Miami. Once she forgot the island.

  Forgot the fact that she thought she’d seen a skull…

  Gotten over the idea of discovering just what had happened to Ted and Molly Monoco?

  6

  “HEY, DAD, WHERE’S AUNT BETH?”

  Ben, who’d been stowing gear, looked up from the tent poles he was arranging as his daughter rubbed sleepy eyes and stared at him.

  “Gone,” he said gravely.

  She frowned, shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Dad, where is she?”

  “I’m serious. She went out to see the yacht with Keith Henson.”

  “What?”

  His daughter’s incredulous excitement gave him pause. “I said,” he enunciated, “that your aunt went out to see the yacht with Keith Henson.”

  “Oh, Dad. I heard you perfectly.”

  “Then—”

  “Oh, Dad, it’s too cool.” By then, Kimberly had come up behind her. “Did you hear that? She went with Keith to see the boat.”

  “Wow!” Kim agreed.

  “I didn’t think she had it in her.”

  “She’s just so suspicious.”

  “This is awesome.”

  “Random.”

  “Wicked.”

  By then Ben was frowning. “What are you two going on about?”

  “Oh, Dad. He’s a hunk.”

  “Really fine,” Kim agreed somberly.

  “I mean, there was…like, thunder.”

  “And lightning.”

  “Between them,” Amber finished.

  “We were trying to figure out a way to get them together,” Kim admitted.

  Ben scowled seriously then. “You two butt out, okay? She’s a grown-up, and she’s not going off any deep end over a guy just because he’s got a six-pack, okay? Don’t you two go pushing anything. She went to see the yacht because I raved about it, and that’s it, do you understand?”

  “Okay,” Amber murmured.

  “Seriously,” Kim agreed.

  Then they looked at each other and ruined the effect, bursting into laughter.

  “Amber Anderson,” he said firmly. “I mean it. Leave your aunt alone.”

  “He’s acting like a male,” Kim murmured to Amber.

  “All touchy,” Amber agreed.

 
“He is standing right here,” Ben told them.

  “Sorry, Dad,” Amber said.

  “I mean it.”

  “We know you mean it,” Amber told him. She nudged Kim. “Hey, let’s go explore.”

  He felt a frown furrowing his brow. “No exploring.”

  “What?” Amber protested.

  “Stay on the beach.”

  “Why, Dad?”

  Why? He didn’t know.

  “Because I said so.”

  “But, Dad—”

  “Because I said so,” he repeated.

  He turned away, because he really didn’t have a better explanation to give his daughter. As he paused to look down the beach, his frown deepened, and he tried to tell himself there was nothing to worry about.

  But everyone, it seemed, was looking out to sea.

  Not too far away, Matt was standing by one of the palms. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he was looking toward the yacht.

  Down farther, Amanda Mason was posed in almost the exact stance, staring out over the water, hugging her arms around herself.

  And even farther down…

  It was Brad. Staring out at the water, at the little boat nearing the majestic yacht.

  A sense of unease filled him, like a little inward shiver.

  He literally shook himself, irritated.

  He dealt with the scum of the earth, so why was he so bothered now?

  With a slight groan, he turned away. Good God, Keith’s buddies—including the owner of the yacht—were right there. The Masons were down the beach. Brad and Sandy were unknowns, but what the hell, they were there, too.

  Beth was as uptight as an old schoolmarm, worse than he was himself.

  Everything was fine.

  “Hey there!”

  He turned. Lee Gomez was waving to him, heading toward the interior of the island.

  “Looking for a few good coconuts,” Lee called to him. “Want any?”

  “I’m fine, thanks,” he returned.

  Down the beach, Sandy had moved to stand behind Brad. She slipped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek on his back.