In the Clara Steele’s galley, Cora couldn’t stop pacing. “What if something happens to him? How will we know? Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Why aren’t we going to the police again?”
Judd chuckled. “I can only answer one question at a time. You don’t need to worry. Kirk knows how to handle himself. He won’t let us down.” Judd stood at the counter waiting for teabags to steep in a mug of hot water. “I’m sure he will contact the appropriate authorities, too. But right now, we have to keep you safe. All you need to do is relax and trust Kirk to know what to do.”
“I know. I trust him. But I can’t help but worry about him. I can’t help but worry about us. Look what already happened. What if they followed us here? Shouldn’t we be keeping watch on deck?”
“Nobody followed us. Even if they were to search, they couldn’t find us in this cove. This is one of my favorite places to fish. An out-of-the-way spot not frequented by tourists or fishermen. Your man trusted me to keep you safe and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Your man...
Right. “He’s not—”
“Your man?”
“No. It’s not like that.” Regret curdled in her stomach over what might have been between her and Kirk.
Why had she been so quick to let Stephan charm her? Maybe it all went back to that one defining moment. The moment she’d allowed to determine how she looked at herself.
Her date to the prom—Jimmy McElroy—had dumped her off on another guy so he could leave with a girl he liked better than Cora. If she was honest, she’d felt a little like Kirk had done the same thing. He’d let Stephan charm her and pretty much take over. She’d wanted Kirk to step up and claim her, so that’s why she’d stood there and waited for him to act. But he hadn’t. Instead he’d left.
That had hurt her more than she’d been willing to admit at the time. She’d refused to give in to that pain—to a repeat of the past—and allowed Stephan to sweep her off her feet, as it were. He seemed to want her, and she’d needed to be wanted. In the end, Stephan had pretended that Cora was the only one for him, but he’d been seeing another woman on the side. Of all the nerve! Why did this keep happening to her?
He was a liar. A big fat liar. Lied to her face about it on multiple occasions.
But she was the bigger liar. She had lied to herself. She had never really wanted Stephan.
It had always been Kirk. Still, it wasn’t that way between them now, despite what Judd thought he knew.
“I see the way he looks at you. He cares about you like that.” Judd set the mug of tea in front of her.
“For me?”
“Chamomile tea. It’ll settle your nerves.”
“I’m surprised a guy like you even has tea on the boat.” She wrapped her hands around the mug to warm them. Drew in the light scent. Judd was more thoughtful than she could have imagined. He knew exactly what she needed right now. Could he also know what Kirk felt about Cora? “I think you’re wrong about Kirk liking me. But it doesn’t matter anyway.”
Judd had to be wrong about Kirk. Besides, she wouldn’t put herself out there to be rejected again. Kirk had already let her down in that regard once. He hadn’t wanted her. And on the off chance that she and Kirk actually had a chance to try again, she was too afraid to fall in love. She’d only be lied to again. She didn’t want to feel like she always had to be looking for the cracks in his veneer to see if he was lying.
“Well, I’ll leave you to your thoughts,” Judd said. “I think I’ll go up top and make sure we’re still alone in the cove, after all.”
“Sure. Okay. I think I’ll drink my tea and lie down. Take one of the staterooms, if that’s okay.”
“That’s a great idea. I’ll wake you when I hear from Kirk if you’re not already awake.”
She nodded. He disappeared up the steps, his big boots clomping as he went—to go make sure they were still alone? He’d told her all that stuff about being safe here in his favorite fishing spot, even though he couldn’t be a hundred percent sure they wouldn’t be discovered. She hoped they were still alone. Cora needed some downtime. She needed to catch her breath.
She brought the mug to her lips. Too hot. She set it down again.
He’d made her chamomile tea. He probably wasn’t the only tough former military man who stocked chamomile tea. What a thoughtful guy. And that was just it—this didn’t fit him all that well. Thoughtful, yes. Tea. No. She’d gotten a glimpse of what was inside his kitchen cabinet and hadn’t seen tea.
She wished she could have stayed with Kirk. Concern for him bombarded her. Admittedly, she was terrified to be on this boat without her protector. Even Judd, with all his large size and muscles, didn’t give her that sense of protection that poured off Kirk.
To his credit, the big man had tried to calm her by telling her stories of his navy adventures with Kirk.
With her cup of tea, she headed back to the stateroom she’d used earlier. For all practical purposes, Judd was a stranger to her, but he’d extended a helping hand in a dangerous situation to his navy buddy, Kirk. That should be good enough for her.
Settling on the small bed, she placed the tea on the side table and pulled a quilt decorated with anchors over her shoulders and tried to rest. Doubt held her captive, though. Who could she really trust? Who could she believe? If the men she’d worked with for six months could be murderers, then what did Cora really know about anyone? What did she know about Kirk? How did she know he wasn’t involved with the murder and destruction of the boat? He’d escaped before the vessel was destroyed.
How convenient. And Kirk believed she knew something, had seen something while diving. Maybe this whole thing was a ruse on his part to learn what she knew. Except why not kill her? Unless he needed the information stuck in her mind.
Information she couldn’t get herself.
Her doubts sounded over-the-top. How weird that now that he was gone, she had once again begun to feel uncertain about where Kirk’s loyalties lay. Was she so enamored with him—and she might as well add that she was, just a little—that she couldn’t think straight when near him? If that was the case, she could be seriously wrong about him. Perhaps deadly wrong.
Stop it. Just stop it.
Kirk was a good guy. There was no way he was part of it. He wouldn’t have saved her. She had already decided she could trust him.
Since she was unable to take a nap, maybe she should go above deck to get some fresh air and help Judd watch for danger. She cracked the stateroom door and heard his voice in the galley.
“I have her. I put a little something in her tea so she’ll sleep. I’ll bring her to you.”
At his words, her pulse soared. Pounded in her ears so she couldn’t hear anything else he said.
What did they want with her?
Someone had tried to kill her repeatedly, and now Judd was taking her to someone, against her will, thinking she was drugged and unconscious. Who were these people after her? It seemed like two different parties were at work here. Where did Judd plan to take her, and to whom?
Nausea roiled in her stomach and Cora never got seasick. She pressed her back against the wall, trying to come up with a plan of escape, but where could she go in the isolated cove if no one knew about it? She couldn’t even get help. Judd would find her.
He couldn’t be talking to Kirk on that phone or taking her to Kirk. That didn’t make sense. He was a good guy, anyway, and the only person she could trust. All her ridiculous ruminations about trusting Kirk fell away as she faced this new threat.
Her stomach felt as though it might heave at any moment. She slowly shut the door and quietly locked it, hoping he didn’t realize she had never actually drunk from the cup—it had been much too hot and she’d gotten into bed without tasting it, only to lie there, too wired with anxiety to sleep.
What should she do? Oh, God, I’m in danger. I’m in trouble. Help me!
Judd was huge. She had no chance of escaping him if he caught her. Think, Cora. Think.
How could she get away from him? Somehow, she had to escape and make it back to Farrow Island to warn Kirk not to trust the man. He’d trusted Judd implicitly.
Her elbow knocked into the lamp in the corner and it hit the floor, crashing louder than she would have expected. She flinched.
Oh, boy. She’d just alerted him to come and check on her.
A soft knock sounded at the door.
“You okay in there?” Judd’s voice was low. Almost a whisper. He was assessing her current state—asleep or awake.
What should I do? What should I do?
If she’d drunk the tea, then he would expect her to be asleep and unable to respond, so she went with that. She waited to see if he would ask more questions, but she hoped he would go away, believing her asleep.
It sounded as if he quietly unlocked the door with a key. How dare he!
Still. She was in trouble now—she couldn’t get back into that bed quickly enough—so she would have to pretend she’d just woken up. A glance in the mirror told her she wouldn’t be able to pretend that she hadn’t heard his conversation. She searched for a weapon. Anything. She wished she had a speargun—that she could definitely handle and maybe even win the coming battle.
Her gaze fell on the lamp she’d knocked over. It would have to do.
He slowly opened the door. At the moment he must have realized she wasn’t in her bed, he opened it wider.
Now!
Putting all the force her diver muscles could muster behind it, Cora slammed the lamp into his temple. Taking the big man down required all her strength.
It was her life or his.
He slumped over onto the bed.
Tension corded her muscles. Nausea invaded her stomach again.
Was he...was he dead?
She’d prefer it if he were unconscious and not dead. She checked his pulse. Still there and beating strong.
Though Cora was much better with a speargun when it came to weapons, apparently she was also good with lamps. But right now, she had a different issue—securing Judd so he couldn’t break free once he woke up. She had no way of knowing how long he would remain unconscious, so she had to work quickly.
Cora was grateful she knew how to tie knots worthy of sailors. Grabbing marine rope from the deck, she tied Judd up so that he couldn’t escape without the assistance of someone with a sharp knife.
Then she made her way to the helm. Out in the open under the blue sky, she breathed in the fresh saltwater air. She was free but she wouldn’t stay that way unless she got back to the island—and then what, she wasn’t sure. The boat sat idling already. The anchor had already been pulled up. Good. All she had to do was steer the Clara Steele back to the island using the coordinates on the navigation display. She knew her way around this part of the world, though she wasn’t familiar with this particular secret cove where Judd had kept her.
Lord, help me make it to Kirk. Help us figure this out. Find justice for those murdered and find safety.
Help us find our way...back to each other?
But that might be asking too much. They’d need to find each other to begin with.
No time to worry about that.
Taking the boat back to the island, she steered into a different slip from where the Clara Steele had docked before. For all she knew, whoever Judd had planned to hand her over to was expecting him. Watching and waiting.
Her palms slicked. Maybe it had been a bad idea to come back to Farrow Island. But Kirk was here. She had to warn him about Judd.
Not to mention someone had tried to kill her while on this island. How did she stay alive? How did she contact Kirk? She had no answers, but what she did know was that she had to get off this boat. She crept below and peeked into the stateroom where she’d left Judd tied up. She’d duct-taped his mouth so he couldn’t shout threats at her and unnerve her.
“What happened to the nice man who made me tea?” She made sure he heard the sarcasm in her voice. “And, oh, by the way, I know you drugged the tea.”
His glare at her spoke volumes. He would kill her when he got free.
She closed the door. Maybe she shouldn’t have taunted him. She rushed to the master stateroom where Judd slept and went in. She grabbed the satellite phone. Spotted a laptop resting on the bed and snatched it up. Maybe she could find the answers to their questions. The reason for the Sea Dragon’s demise and all that had gone wrong. If not, then she had just stolen a computer, but she was absolutely certain the man was guilty and her life was forfeit if he got his hands on her. She wouldn’t sweat the small stuff when Kirk’s life was at risk.
Hers, too.
She stuffed the items in a backpack and hefted it over her shoulder.
Staying vigilant, keeping on guard to the danger around her, she hopped onto the pier and moored the Clara Steele. She had absolutely no idea where she was going or where Kirk could be, so she just kept walking. Found her way into the busy village. By now he would have discovered something, wouldn’t he?
Had he already tried to contact Judd? To find her? She stared at the phone. Kirk wasn’t going to call this, was he? And, in the meantime, this phone could be tracked. She was all but leading the killers to herself. She dropped it, stomped on it, then threw the pieces into the trash.
Worry and fear slithered around her insides and squeezed.
The most important thing she could do to help their cause was to get on Judd’s laptop and see what she could find. And then she had to get off this island.
Cora made her way to the ferry terminal and booked a ride to Seattle. Once there, she could rent a car or call for backup. Her sister Jonna used to be a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, and her husband was a former Diplomatic Security Service agent, the law enforcement of the State Department. Jonna and Ian could come and get her. Or she could contact her sister Sadie, who was married to an agent with CGIS—the Coast Guard Investigative Service. She could call someone and ask for them to pick her up. That might be safer. They would help her know what to do next.
Her ferry passage booked, she found a small internet café next to the terminal. Inside, she claimed the far corner where she could face the door. She made a note of all the exits like she had experience in finding a quick escape. At least she was learning.
Once seated, she drew in a breath. Her pulse raced erratically. Oh, Kirk, where are you?
Was he okay? Or had the killers gotten the best of him? All she knew to do was to help him the only way she could at the moment. Gain access to Judd’s computer.
Fortunately for her, Judd wasn’t using a facial recognition log-in.
Unfortunately for Judd, Cora had a great memory—except the clouded ones hidden behind the retrograde amnesia—and her years of attention to details served her well. She had watched Judd log in to his computer. She could see the keystrokes in her mind’s eye. Four numbers for quick access. She had to try a few times to get the order correct, but she made it in.
Success!
She likely had limited time to browse. If Judd had escaped or someone had found and freed him, he might have software that could find the laptop or even remotely lock it and delete files. She was working on borrowed time already.
Judd had precious few files on his laptop. He had email but it was web based and she couldn’t open that, but she was able to look through files in a spreadsheet program. Nothing jumped out at her. And why would it? She wasn’t a computer whiz, per se, but she knew enough to be dangerous.
A strange triangular symbol caught her attention.
Dizziness swept over her. An ache stabbed through her brain.
She’d seen that before.
Memories flooded her mind.
She’d surprised Coburn and Trip on their dive. She hadn’t even remembered being suspicious—that had all left her mind.
They had been perusing a gray box.
Seeing her, their eyes had grown wide. But someone from behind had cut her regulator hose and held her.
She’d fought. Twisted and turned and tried to stab whoever was holding her with her own knife. She’d escaped and swum away. Still, she’d had limited breath.
Then...nothing. She remembered nothing after that.
Tears surged in her eyes but she didn’t let herself cry.
Trip and Coburn were part of this? Or had they been equally surprised by the man who’d thought he’d killed her? If so, they had told no one on the Sea Dragon, and then Trip had surfaced without her only to be murdered later. Once again the betrayal lambasted her.
Lord, what is going on?
Chills crawled over her. She had to get out of here. What had she been thinking, to remain even one second longer? The ferry wouldn’t leave for another two hours. Maybe she could hire a private boat. She shut the computer and was about to leave the table when a man slid into the seat across from her.
She gulped for air as her mind wrapped around what she was seeing.
Lance?
“Oh, Lance!” He was alive. Relief flooded through her. “I thought you’d died in the explosion!”
She reached across the table and grabbed his hand. Then slowly pulled her hand free. What was she thinking? She’d been so relieved to see him alive she hadn’t considered what that could mean. Sure, they’d thought he died, but he hadn’t. He’d survived. Did that mean he was in on it?
He leaned in and kept his voice low. “We don’t have time. You’re in danger. We have to get out of here.”
“What do you know about it?”
Lance’s gaze swept the small café. “We can’t talk here.”
How had he found her?
“I’m not going anywhere with you. I have to find Kirk.”
“No. Kirk... He rigged the Sea Dragon to blow up. He’s using you, Cora.”
“Using me for what?”
“Can we get out of here?” He rose and held his hand out.
“You’re wrong about him.”
“Then you can prove that to me. But let’s get somewhere safe and then we can figure out who to trust.”
She fled the café with Lance, who led her over to a small sedan.
Cora hesitated. Backed away. “I can’t go with you.”
“Look, I can take you wherever you need to go, but I’m worried. Someone tried to kill me. They tried to kill us all out there. Don’t you realize how much danger you’re in?”
“Did you go to the police?”
“Yes. I told them everything. But they can’t keep me safe. They only have so much manpower this weekend. They called the Coast Guard to investigate. While I was waiting at the police station someone tried to kill me, so I can’t wait around.”
Even so... “You’re wrong about Kirk.”
“Fine.” Lance stepped closer. He jabbed something into her side. “Now, just get in the car. You run, you’re dead.”
They climbed into the car and Lance pointed the weapon at her. “This is for your own protection, Cora. Since you don’t believe that I’m only trying to help.”
Cora had had enough. He disgusted her!
“Please don’t look at me like that,” he said.
“Like what? Like you’re a murderer?” God, please don’t let him be in on this. She hoped with all that was inside her he was trying to save her, even if that meant pointing a gun at her. But she’d be stupid to believe him.
“Kirk is the one who is going to kill you,” he said.
“Why? What’s this all about? Please tell me something.”
Unwilling to allow this man to abduct her and take her who knew where, she reached for the door handle and opened the car door.
I have to jump now. Before it’s too late.
Riding a motorcycle two cars behind, Kirk watched the two-door sedan’s passenger door fly open. Cora! What was going on? Was she trying to escape Lance?
He’d obviously threatened her or else she wouldn’t have gotten into the car. He could be taking her somewhere to kill her, then dispose of her.
Seeing Lance alive had stunned him. The man had survived the explosion.
He could have been the one to set the bomb. He could have killed Captain Menken. Dressed like the captain to fool anyone who had seen him approach the island, and in Kirk’s case, seen him leaving the Sea Dragon, not that it mattered because Kirk was supposed to have died in the blast.
Lance had faked his own death, as it were.
Kirk saw it clearly now. That traitor wanted to be thought dead, but he’d had to come back from the grave because Cora had escaped Judd.
Anger roiled through him as he throttled up the bike and passed one of the cars but kept one vehicle between himself and the sedan. He would make Lance pay if he hurt Cora...he would make them all pay.
If Cora could just stay alive long enough for him to safely get her away from Lance, then she had a fighting chance. But if she acted rashly and tried to jump out, she could get herself killed. The sedan was only doing fifty miles per hour, for which he was glad because he needed to catch up and keep up. This old motorcycle needed a tune-up and was barely worth the two hundred bucks he’d paid for it. Still, he was much too far away to help Cora.
The vehicle swerved and the door shut. Either she’d pulled it shut or the force of the wind pushed it closed as the car accelerated.
God, please keep her safe. And if You’re willing, please don’t let me fail her again.
He’d let her down once already, when he’d assured her she would be safe with Judd. He couldn’t have been more wrong. Time to make up for that mistake. He would follow, but not too close. Since he wore a helmet, he wouldn’t be easily recognized, but he didn’t want to risk giving himself away.
The last thing he wanted to do was get into a position where Lance would use Cora against him.
Kirk had spotted the Clara Steele in the marina parked in the wrong slip. He’d gone to look for Cora and had found Judd tied up, along with a sticky note on the door from Cora in her swirly handwriting.
Don’t trust him, Kirk. He is one of the bad guys. He tried to drug me with tea.
By then, he’d already known that Judd had betrayed them. He’d double crossed them. He hadn’t been sure how Cora could have gotten the best of a man like Judd, but he left the man tied up. She knew her knots, and though a sailor, Judd wouldn’t get out of those knots without help and maybe even a good knife. That Judd had betrayed him like this was a near lethal stab to his gut. It sickened him. But he didn’t have time to worry why Judd had done it, or about what to do with the man he once considered a close friend, so he left him and went in search of Cora before a killer could find her.
Her note hadn’t told him where she would be. She couldn’t afford to. But anyone who knew the island—that would include the Sea Dragon crew members—would be able to figure that Cora’s best chance was to get off the island and the only way off, without a boat, was the ferry.
Lance had figured that out...and Kirk had been right behind him. He almost hadn’t made it in time to witness what transpired, but thankfully he had. And when he’d seen Cora and Lance at a table inside the internet café, for a brief moment, Kirk had entertained the idea that she was complicit in this whole thing. But he’d just as quickly banished the thought.
In his heart, he knew Cora. He knew that she couldn’t be involved in murder and destruction. Still, her willingness to go with Lance had tripped him up at first, but then, in the end, Kirk had seen Lance forcing her into the car.
Kirk had been too far away to make it in time. Calling out her name could have gotten her killed. His approach had to be stealthy. He’d heard mention of Lance trying to kill her and knew those were not idle threats. Trip had been involved and Lance had killed him.
Had he also killed Drake?
Despite his questions, he knew that Cora was in lethal danger. Facing off with Lance couldn’t happen soon enough.
Bicycle riders crowded the streets and the sedan had to slow down and weave its way through the throng, as did Kirk. As soon as the riders thinned out, Kirk followed the speeding sedan straight out of town and into the mountainous region of the island.
Now he was the only vehicle behind the sedan. It would be more difficult for Kirk to remain anonymous, but all that mattered was the fact that he couldn’t lose sight of Cora.
He didn’t get how Judd was connected or why he’d assisted them to begin with and kept them safe when someone tried to kill them. Kirk was definitely missing something. Had Judd’s assistance simply been a ruse because he didn’t want to get his hands dirty with murder involving his old navy buddy?
Oh, Judd. Why did you get involved with this?
Kirk found he had to distance himself even more from Lance and Cora to avoid being detected. Where was the guy taking her? Who would be waiting for them? The deep green rain forest lining the curvy roads thickened, and the road twisted up until switchbacks led them up the tallest mountain on Farrow Island.
He would have enjoyed this ride under any other circumstances. But not today. Adding to that, the bike began to sputter.
Come on, baby... Come on...
As if he could keep the bike moving with his sheer will.
When Lance turned down a private drive that disappeared through the trees, Kirk ditched the motorcycle. He would have to hike in on foot now. He stayed in the cover of the thick foliage and followed the drive and the sound of the sedan.
Who did the property belong to?
Kirk made his way through the dense vegetation, swatting away mosquitoes, wishing he had full military gear so he could steal Cora away in a quick and easy operation. The sedan was already parked in front of a spacious, luxurious log home that had to have cost ten years of his salary. Kirk tugged out binoculars he’d snagged from Judd’s boat and remained at a distance to take in the property.
If Lance had wanted her dead, she would be.
Kirk charging in now would only get her killed. But his insides twisted into knots at the thought of Lance hurting her. Leaving her in there would mean just that. Lance obviously wanted information from her.
Through the binoculars, he spotted Cora. She stared out through a massive panoramic window on the south side of the home and rubbed her arms as if chilled. But he knew her—he knew that posturing. She was scared.
He zoomed in on her face—her beautiful face.
Cora, I’m so sorry I trusted the wrong person with your safety.
From now on, he alone would keep her safe. But first he had to get her out of this so he could keep her safe. Steal her away quietly, if he could, then call Jackson. He’d gone as far as he could with this case.
Kirk had heard enough to know these men were involved in murder and the destruction of the Sea Dragon. He’d discovered information about a code—which he suspected could be a dead drop. His part was done. He couldn’t get to the bottom of Drake’s death when Cora was in the thick of it.
Jackson would just have to be disappointed in Kirk. And...if Cora was safe, alive and well, then Kirk was okay with that. In fact, more than okay. It was all he wanted.
Kirk formulated a plan for getting into the home and finding Cora before Lance could hurt her. If the timing was off, Lance could use Cora against Kirk.
The jerk himself came up behind Cora as he approached the panoramic window. Giant shades rolled down and covered the window, blocking Kirk’s view of what would happen next.