15

Having spent the entire day diving and mapping the lake, Lou ate dinner quickly then vanished into the drawing room. She wrote up her notes and then focused her attention to finalizing the Llaremont paper. After all the work she and AJ had put into it the previous night, plus what she’d done in the wee small hours, it was almost ready to be sent. One last read through to check for typos should do it.

AJ cleared his throat from where he sat planning the next day’s dive. “About this dive tomorrow…”

Lou glanced up. “What about it?”

“We need a third person out there.”

“Not happening. I can’t trust a bloke from the pub with a bit of diving experience to do this properly. And Varian won’t send anyone else. It was hard enough convincing him to send you.”

“Look, Dr. F. You and I both know you can’t dive alone. It flouts a dozen safety laws, never mind anything else. That’s not taking your past into consideration.”

Lou narrowed her eyes, her hackles rising. “What has that got to do with anything?”

“What if you have another panic attack out there, inside one of those buildings this time? If I’m not there you’ll be stuffed.”

“We managed perfectly well the past two days.”

He tapped the table. “Besides, a one-legged archaeologist has no place in the field. You need to get in a lecture room or behind a desk where you belong.”

Anger flared, and she slammed her fist into the table. “How dare you?” she yelled. “You know I actually believed you were on my side in all this for a second. Did Varian send you up here to sabotage this?”

“No.” AJ scowled. “Would I have brought those files up if he had? He wanted you out of the way so his son could take the credit for your discovery. He still does. He doesn’t want you publishing first.”

“Good luck with that,” Lou hissed. “This will be sent in the next couple of hours or so. And you’re fired.”

AJ glanced heavenward. “Not again.”

“I mean it this time. You don’t want to work with, and I quote, ‘a one-legged archaeologist,’ then get out. Now. Go on. Get out. Don’t come back.” She returned her attention to the file in front of her, ignoring him.

After a second, the door slammed shut.

Lou buried her head in her hands. All she’d ever wanted was to be an archaeologist or a swimmer. Her stepfather, Jack, had assured her both professions were possible after the docs on the airbase in Guam took her leg. She’d believed him, along with a lot of other stuff he’d said. Over time, those things, along with part of her faith, had been eroded. Perhaps this wasn’t true either. Maybe she’d been right in her assertions that she was a waste of space.

She glanced up as the door to the drawing room opened. She somehow managed a faint smile as Evan came into the room. At least her heart no longer did that wow-he-is-so-handsome-and-he-is-talking-to-me-I-think-I-might-pass-out-from-joy thing that it did the first few times she saw him.

His dark gaze swallowed her whole. “Am I disturbing you?”

She shook her head, hit save, and closed the document. “Not at all. I was about to take a break anyway.”

He sat beside her. “When I promised you dinner at the manor the day we met, this wasn’t what I had in mind.”

“No?”

His hand covered hers. “I was thinking more you and me, a few candles, a small intimate dinner, you know.” He glanced around. “Where’s AJ?”

“He’s up in his room. Sulking, most likely.”

“Sulking or skulking?”

Lou sighed. “Sulking. I fired him. For the third time in as many days.”

Evan raised an eyebrow. “You can do that?”

“He’s on my team, so yes, I can hire and fire whomever I please. However, he isn’t convinced I mean it, as he’s still here.”

“May I ask what he did?”

“You may not. And he’s probably right. He’s too valuable to fire. And I’d rather not talk about AJ or work, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” Evan stood and moved over to the sideboard. “Can I get you a drink? It sounds as if you could do with one. I have brandy, whisky, and scotch. There is also wine if you’d prefer, or several mixers.”

Lou glanced over at the bottles. She didn’t want to start drinking because with the mood she was in, she’d end up drunk, and in an even worse temper than she already was. Never mind the fact that a hangover on a dive wasn’t a good idea. “Is that bitter lemon?”

He nodded. “You’d like that?”

“Love it.”

He poured her a glass, and then poured himself a glass of one of the amber liquids.

Lou never had been able to tell brandy and whisky apart. She closed the laptop and took the glass he offered her. “Thank you. You should try mixing this with grapefruit juice. It’s amazing.”

He scrunched his nose. “I don’t like grapefruit.” He sipped his drink. “You were supposed to tell me about yourself over dinner. As we never got around to having that conversation, perhaps you could do so now.”

Lou eased back in her chair. “I have a much younger brother and sister from Mum’s second marriage. They live in the States with Mum and my stepfather.”

“And your leg?”

“A swimming accident.” She frowned at the drink in her hand. “It still gives me nightmares now. Especially this time of year.”

His hand brushed hers again, sending sparks flying along every nerve. “What happened?”

“It’s a long story. Jim, Staci, and I left on his boat to find their parents. They’d been caught up in a tsunami following the Philippines earthquake several years ago, and no one was searching for them. So we decided to conduct the search ourselves.” She broke off. “And the short story is a shark.”

Evan’s eyes widened and he paled. “A shark?”

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “Shark. We were miles from anywhere. Jim did his best, but by the time we were rescued, I was almost dead. My stepfather found us. Well, technically he kept finding us, and he wasn’t my stepfather then as he was only dating Mum at the time. Not that I knew that, and I wasn’t impressed when I found out either. Sorry, I digress. He rescued us, and the medical team on the air base he worked at saved my life. They couldn’t save my leg though.”

“Who’s Jim?”

“My best friend. The bloke I really liked that I told you about. He and Staci lived with us sometimes when their parents were on the mission field.”

Evan nodded. “Ah, right.”

“Anyway. He married Ailsa, whom we also picked up on our jaunt across the world. They now have one and a half kids.” She drained the drink and put the glass down on the table beside the laptop. “Even Staci is dating now. Her boyfriend’s in the army.”

“What about you?”

“Kids aren’t on the agenda. Nor are boyfriends. I’m too old now.”

He scoffed. “Thirty-two isn’t old.” He tilted his head. “I got your age from the Internet.”

“Remind me to delete my birthday from every social media page I have,” she muttered. “Besides, I’m married to my career. No time for boyfriends or kids or a life. It would have been nice. I always said my first son would be called Benson after my dad. Keep the family surname going somehow. But it won’t ever happen.”

“Never say never.” Evan nodded to the laptop. “May I see some of the photos of the lake?”

Lou opened the laptop. “Sure. It needs a few seconds to boot up again.” As the pictures loaded, she pointed things out. “Here’s the church, here’s the steeple…”

“Open the doors and here’s all the people,” Evan quipped. He did the accompanying movements with his hands. “Here’s the parson going upstairs and here’s the parson saying his prayers.”

Lou smiled, saying the last phrase with him, her hands mimicking his. “Haven’t heard that one in years. Do you know the knives and forks one?”

Evan shook his head. “Never heard that one.”

“This is mother’s knives and forks…” Lou showed him how that rhyme went then pointed back at the screen. “It must have been some fire,” she said, indicating the scorched stone above the waterline. “As you can see the damage is even more intense here and here.” She clicked through the photos. “The flames reached part way in to the interior of the church, which is remarkably well-preserved despite the water and fire. My guess is the flooding of the village extinguished the remaining fire.”

“Fascinating,” Evan managed. He was unable to hide the expression of wonder and something she couldn’t quite pin down. It could be shock or concern, but something definitely disturbed him about the photos. His eyes widened and his finger touched the screen. “What is that? It looks like…”

“That is a body.”

“Just sitting there?” Horror affected both his gaze and his voice, and he shifted uncomfortably on the chair.

She nodded. “I took some close ups.” She angled the screen to give him a better view.

Evan shuddered, seemingly unable to tear his gaze away despite his obvious need to do so. “How did he get there?”

“Like AJ said at dinner last night, his theory is he floated in from the graveyard, but my photos and preliminary examination of the graves show none have been disturbed. His placement there in the church is too precise. See here and here?” She pointed. “Remains of ropes. My guess is he was tied to the pew before the waters came.”

Evan blanched. “He was murdered?”

She nodded. “He could hardly have committed suicide, could he? And he wasn’t the only one. Some of the bodies show clear signs of head injuries that couldn’t have been caused by the fire or the flood. Either way, I want to bring the bodies to the surface tomorrow or the day after. Get a coroner to examine them.”

“It’s a little late for that. Any physical evidence of murder, aside from the obvious, would have been washed away years ago.” He cleared his throat. “Do you have photos of my great-grandparents’ house?”

She clicked a few more times. “Right here, along with the rest of the village.” She showed him some of the exterior shots and then closed the folder. “You don’t want to see the rest.”

“Yes, I do. I’d like to see the interior shots.”

“Trust me. You don’t. It’s only stones, piles of old furniture, plaques on walls, and so on. There really isn’t much left inside at all. The church gives you a false idea of what you’ll find anywhere else.”

Evan reached out to open the folder. “I insist.”

Lou grabbed his hand, desperate to stop him. The last thing he needed was to see a body there as well. “Evan, I—”

His gaze met hers, his eyes widening. Did he feel it, too?

That almost electrical charge that shot from her hand straight through her, tingling every nerve ending she had, plus a few she didn’t know about?

Evan drew her towards him, his lips almost crushing hers with a passion that apparently consumed them both. His firm body pressed against hers. His hands moved through her hair, down her arms, fuelling the fire that raged within her.

Her phone rang, jerking her out of the kiss. She moved back. “I have to take this.” Her chest rose and fell as she glanced at the screen. “Hi, Jim. Why aren’t you working?”

“Lunch break. We do get them you know. Are you OK? You sound out of breath. Have you been running?”

“I’m fine, and you know I don’t run anywhere unless I absolutely have to.” She wasn’t about to tell him she’d just been kissed senseless and breathless. She leaned back in the chair. “What’s up?”

“I’m really worried about you and this whole work situation.”

“Don’t be. This new case is rather intriguing. I have all my notes from Wales, and I’ll finish proofreading the paper tonight and have it on my publisher’s desk before midnight. That’s at least a week sooner than anyone else can. Though if what I’ve heard is accurate, it’ll be months before they piece things together again over there.”

Evan paced across the room, obviously trying not to listen to the conversation.

“Is that legal?” Jim asked, dragging her attention away from Evan.

She sighed. “At this point, I really don’t care. It’s my work. I’m not taking this lying down.”

“You need to tread carefully, Lou. Or you may end up getting fired.”

“Not if I quit first, which I intend to do as soon as possible. Varian crossed a line today and that is the last straw.” She paused. “No, that doesn’t make me a camel before you suggest it. And yes I know I have the hump with him. I have a couple of things in the proverbial pipeline. Changing the subject, have you heard from Mum recently?”

“No. Why?”

“You told me to call her, so I have been. She isn’t answering her phone, that’s all. I wanted to ask her something, nothing important, mind, but it’s not like her to ignore messages.”

Jim’s chair squeaked in the background and he spoke to someone in the background, his tone muffled by what Lou assumed was a hand over the phone. “Sorry about that. Perils of being in command of the squadron. No matter where I hide with my lunch, they find me.”

Lou laughed. “So, don’t hide in your office.”

Jim chuckled. “That obvious, huh? I wouldn’t worry about your Mum. Jack’s probably taken her somewhere nice as it’s their wedding anniversary soon. Alisa and I are heading up there this weekend, to tell the honorary grandparents the baby news. It’s a shame you can’t join us.”

“Work,” she said quietly, secretly loving the fact that Jim loved her parents as much as he loved his own, treating them like the in-laws he didn’t have. “Never mind that Vegas is a long way from here and not doable in a weekend. I should let you get on. Give Mum and Dad my love when you see them.” She hung up and pocketed the phone. “Sorry. Where were we?”

Evan came over to her and lifted her to her feet. His finger ran over her lips. “Just about here.”

His second kiss was as mind blowing as the first. Lou found herself floating several feet off the ground, transported by the sensations he was producing in her.

Finally, he broke off and pressed his lips to her forehead.

“Wow,” she whispered.

Evan smiled. “Anyone would think you’d never been kissed before.”

“I haven’t.” Her cheeks burned. “Well, not until you kissed me a few seconds ago.”

His gaze held hers, his knuckles grazing her cheek. “Really?”

She nodded. “Never.” Her breath caught as his face lowered to hers, and he kissed her again. Part of her wanted to run; afraid of where this would lead, but the other part of her didn’t care.

A faint rumbling resonated in the air and the ground under her feet shifted. “What was that?”

“The earth moving,” he quipped, kissing her again.

A loud crack and an explosion rocked the building sending them both to the floor. Evan landed beside her. The ground shifted violently. Pictures tumbled from the walls, one narrowly missing them. Evan jerked her closer, rolling them both under the table, shielding her with his body.

The rumbling and shaking increased and the lights went out.