Where the hell was Sam? Eli had watched her drive away from the store with his own eyes more than an hour ago. She should have arrived at her aunt’s cottage five minutes later, but she obviously hadn’t since her car wasn’t there. Could someone have intercepted her? Dread roiled in his belly as he knocked on the door to the cottage again.
Lightning lit up the sky, quickly followed by a boom of thunder. Why hadn’t he gone with his gut and followed that SUV he’d seen earlier? What if Diaz’s man had Sam? He tried her cell but went straight to her voicemail. “Please call me, Sam. I’m worried. Where are you?” Gritting his teeth, he disconnected and paced the small mulch-covered parking pad. The nearest neighbor was at least thirty yards away, and considering the dense cloche of trees between the homes, someone could have dragged a person out of the cottage kicking and screaming, and no one would be the wiser.
He flashed on the faces of those sons of bitches who’d roughed him up in Atlantic City. They could have kidnapped Sam, then taken her somewhere else to persuade her to tell them where the sapphire was. What if they’d followed her here and hurt her. God, the notion cut through him like jagged glass.
He returned to the front door and tried the handle. Locked. Next, he checked the front windows, but they didn’t budge. As he was about to walk away, something moved inside one of the windows. Heart racing, he realized it was merely Sam’s aunt’s cat. “Where is Sam, Ginger?” he asked the feline.
Ginger stretched against the glass.
“You’re no help at all,” Eli told the animal as he continued to the next window.
Around the side of the house, he found an unlocked one and easily slipped it open just as the cloudburst hit. He climbed through into Sam’s bedroom, landing on the dresser.
The cat jumped onto Sam’s nightstand and meowed. If only the animal really could tell him something.
A quick search of the cottage yielded no clues as to Sam’s whereabouts. At least there was no sign of any kind of a struggle. He allowed himself a modicum of relief. Didn’t appear that she’d been there yet. Maybe she’d changed her mind about going home and had instead gone to the grocery store or the gas station. But the ease with which he’d been able to gain access to the house didn’t bode well for her safety, should anyone come after her.
After checking that the rest of the windows in the cottage were locked, he returned to Sam’s room and tried to lock the one he’d entered, but the latch was just out of reach. As he climbed onto the dresser to get closer, his foot slipped and knocked off a ceramic vase. The loud crash in the silent house stopped him cold.
Damn it. Now Sam would know someone had been there. Muttering a curse, he turned on his phone’s flashlight and started picking up the broken fragments. His gaze landed on a small drawstring pouch in the middle of the shards of pottery. He dusted it off and felt something rigid inside.
Could it be…? With trembling fingers, he loosened the string and fished out a sapphire brooch. God, he could barely breathe. The gem warmed in his palm. It was beautiful—even more dazzling than the matching one Rodrigo had shown him.
What the hell was he supposed to do now? Sam believed that the jewelry was the key to her future, so how could he rob her of that? Unless… Maybe by merely possessing the piece, her future—her very life—was in jeopardy. If he called Rodrigo and told him he’d located the jewel and was on his way to deliver it, the mobster would call off his goons, and Sam would be safe. Yes, that’s what he’d do.
An unseen vise clamped down hard on his chest. Sam was going to be destroyed to find the sapphire gone, especially if she figured out that he’d taken it. He didn’t have a choice, though—he had to keep her out of harm’s way.
He did his best to hide the ceramic fragments under the dresser then forced the lock on the window. On his way out, he hesitated a moment, inhaled her scent, which still lingered in the house. Much as it devastated him to know he’d never see her again, that was his only option—the only way to know she’d be all right, at least physically. She’d be heartbroken to learn that he’d taken the brooch, but at least she’d be alive.
He left through the front door, making sure it was secure as he did. Dodging raindrops, he ran to his car. “Goodbye, Sam.” Clamping down on his emotions, he hurried away.
Sam parked in front of the cottage. Usually, drawing made her feel a little better when she was down. Not this time. She’d spent nearly half an hour on her favorite hill with her sketchpad, but she’d only wasted several sheets on dismal pencil drawings that looked as if a kid had made them. Besides, it had started storming shortly after she’d gotten to her spot, and drawing in the rain was impossible.
At least she didn’t have to face Eli yet. She’d shut off her phone in case he called. She just wasn’t ready to see him yet. The tarot readings had been pretty clear.
Inside the house, she went to her room to change out of her wet clothes, and breathed in the hint of a pleasant scent, something familiar, like the beach.
Ginger was curled up in the middle of Sam’s bed. She looked up at Sam and trilled.
“I’ll feed you in a minute, kitty.” As she slipped on a pair of sweatpants, an uneasy feeling settled in her gut. The wind howled outside and slammed branches against the roof. She strode to the window and pulled the curtains closed. A dark oval-shaped stain in the center of the dresser scarf caught her eye. Aunt Emma had put a vase there years ago to hide the spot—the vase where Sam had hidden the brooch. Her breath locked. A quick scan of the room confirmed that the vase was missing, but nothing else appeared to be gone. It had definitely been there in the morning. Before she’d left, she’d moved it aside to close the window.
Please, no.
The sapphire could have given her a future. She was sure that was why her father had willed it to her. Nausea swirled in her gut.
Sniffing the air again, she realized what she smelled—Eli’s cologne. He’d been there, and more recently than in the wee hours of the morning. A heavy weight pressed her chest.
What if the thief was still in the house? She couldn’t pin Eli’s name to that role, not without more information. She hated to even consider that he’d broken into Aunt Emma’s house, but in light of both tarot readings, and the fact that the vase was missing, who else could it have been?
Pulse hammering at her temples, she padded to the kitchen, grabbed a knife and searched the entire cottage. At least the burglar was gone. She returned to her bedroom with the weapon, just in case. A jagged chunk of pottery stuck out from under the dresser. She got on her hands and knees and found more—lots more. After she’d gathered all the fragments, she felt around for the pouch that held her sapphire, but it was gone.
Eli.
She sat against the dresser and buried her face in her hands. Why had she let a virtual stranger into her life? Looking back over the last few days, she should have known he’d been too good to be true. He’d showed up at exactly the right moment and had immediately started charming her with his offers of help, and his good looks. Again, she’d let her heart overrule her head. Now she’d lost the only thing of value she’d ever owned, the very item her aunt had said was so vital to her future.
Damn it. Was she destined to continue making stupid, self-destructive choices the rest of her life? She strode to the bed and opened her portfolio to her drawing of Eli, clenching her teeth to hold back tears.
Where had he come from? How had he learned where she’d hidden the sapphire? Had he been watching her for a while? Following her? Or had she been her own undoing by telling him about the jewel?
She studied the picture as if it would give up his secrets, and provide her with the answers she sought. Unwanted images of the two of them locked in passion filled her head. He’d touched her so tenderly. She’d yearned to believe he was different from the others. He was, she supposed. Rather than merely using her for sex, he’d manipulated her with it.
Sinking onto the mattress, she let the sadness linger, the latest betrayal in her life. She tore the drawing in half, destroying it just as Eli had wrecked her heart. Then she crinkled the pieces, and closed her eyes, finally giving in to tears.
She prayed for sleep’s release, only it refused to come. Tossing and turning, she couldn’t escape the sound of his voice, the scent of his skin. She closed her eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time that night.
Lightning flared blue through the curtains. A crack of thunder shook the house. Then the distinctive crash of breaking glass.
Sam bolted upright, suddenly wide awake. Her heartbeat drummed in her ears. More glass shattered. Grabbing fistfuls of the bedsheets, she listened.
The wind had died down. Something clicked—a door lock, a gun?
Afraid to breathe, she tried to focus on the door in the dark. Another flash of lightning illuminated the room. The knife she’d carried into her room earlier was stiff on the dresser, only a few steps away. But would the creaky wood floor give her away?
Her fingers trembled as she eased back the covers, grabbing her cell as she did. With another glance at the doorknob, she tiptoed to the dresser and picked up the knife.
A million scenarios raced through her brain—a stranger was in the house; it was a prowler, who’d leave when he heard her; or perhaps Eli had returned to silence her.
No, Eli wouldn’t—couldn’t hurt her. And he already had the only thing of value she’d owned, didn’t he? Then she remembered that the creepy guy at the store today had asked about the jewel in the painting. But how could he know she had it? Unless—
The floorboards outside her room creaked. A metallic click followed and amped up her terror. With a death grip on her weapon, she stepped away from the window and into the shadows behind the chair. She crouched and offered up a silent plea that whoever was on the other side of the door meant her no harm.
With a sweaty hand, she tapped a button to wake her phone. The indigo light of the screen seemed so much brighter in the dark. If she phoned the police, the intruder would surely hear her. So she texted Eli a single word—“Help.”
Her door opened, only a crack. She squeezed her eyes closed and held her breath. Footfalls receded. Another door opened somewhere. But just when she was praying the burglar would leave, her door opened wider.
“Sam?” someone whispered. Footsteps came closer.
Eli? She couldn’t tell, only that it was a man.
Hot-cold shivers racked her body. She didn’t dare peek around the chair to see him.
Suddenly he shoved the chair aside and grabbed her from behind, hauling her up against a solid wall of muscle and pinning her left arm between them.
She screamed, only for the second it took for him to cover her mouth. Before she could stab him with the knife, he’d immobilized her right arm. She struggled but knew it was useless. God, he was so strong. She tasted his leather glove as he tightened his grip on her. The knife slipped from her hand, clanging to the floor.
I won’t die like this.
She bit down on his finger. Growling, he crushed his hand against her neck, cutting off her air supply.
“Where’s the sapphire brooch?” he ground out.
Panic mixed with a kernel of relief that it wasn’t Eli.
“Where?” he shouted.
She tried to speak, but her voice came out a croak. When he loosened his hold a little, she kicked him and lunged toward the knife.
Before she could get it, he lifted her off the floor and bashed her head against the wall, hard. Dizziness and nausea drained all the fight from her.
Lightning gave her the briefest glimpse of his face—the L-shaped scar crossing his cheek. It was the man who’d been hanging around the parking lot. Why hadn’t she listened to her instincts and called the cops?
“Tell me where the damn sapphire is, bitch!”
“I don’t know,” she managed.
A punch to her stomach knocked the wind out of her. She doubled over, gasping.
He grabbed a handful of her hair and twisted it, pulling so forcefully that she couldn’t help but scream.
“Tell me.”
“Someone…stole it.”
Pain exploded at the base of her skull. All she could see was blackness as she fought to hang on to consciousness. If she let go, she knew she’d never wake. But the haze crept through her head in a moment. And everything went dark.
Something was wrong. Eli had been expecting an angry phone call from Sam as soon as she’d discovered the brooch was missing, but her one-word text frightened the hell out of him. Had he made a mistake with the gem? Too late now. He’d pushed the locker key under the door of Sam’s aunt’s store a moment before her text came through.
Muttering a curse, he ran to his car and headed toward the cottage. The storm made for lousy visibility, but he drove along the twisting roads as fast as he dared. When he got there, none of the lights were on. Even the nearby cottages were dark. The storm must have knocked out power.
He used his cell’s flashlight to find his way. His dread grew at the sight of wide, deep tire tracks in the wet ground a few yards from Sam’s car.
The SUV I saw earlier.
He banged on the door to the cottage before trying the handle. It was open, and the place was a mess. Cabinets, closets, and drawers were open, the contents littering the counters and the floor. Every nerve and muscle shifted to high alert as he tore through the house, room by room, in search of Sam. She had to be all right. “Sam? Are you okay?”
Silence.
When he entered her bedroom, his light found a dark streak on the wall. The hair on his nape stood on end.
Blood. Sam’s blood.
Panic drummed in his ears. He crossed the room in a few steps. Sam lay in a heap on the floor.
Please let her be alive.
Her weak moan sparked his hope. He lifted her into his arms and gently set her down on the bed.
She whimpered and hugged her arms over her stomach.
Giving her a quick once-over with his light, he shuddered. Her only visible injury was a gash on her forehead. He grabbed a shirt from an open drawer to apply pressure to the wound then called 911. That done, he cradled her in his arms, offering up a silent prayer that the paramedics would hurry.
A lamp on the nightstand flickered a couple times before coming back on. The mechanical hum of the air conditioner filled the quiet.
Sam stirred, blinked against the light.
“The paramedics will be here soon.” He swallowed. “And the police.”
The hurt in her eyes was worse than he could have imagined as she looked up at him. “You took my brooch, didn’t you?”
A thousand-pound weight compressed his chest. Clenching his jaw, he averted his gaze and nodded.
Tears rolled over her cheeks. “How could you? Give it back.”
“I don’t have it, Sam. It’s in a locker at the bus station in town. I slipped the key under the door to your aunt’s shop. The envelope has the locker number written on the inside flap.”
When Sam furrowed her brow in confusion, he took a deep breath. Then he explained how he’d come to find her, about his gambling debt and Rodrigo’s henchmen roughing him up, and threatening his sister. “I never expected that I’d start caring about you, and I knew I couldn’t betray you. I hoped that I could protect both you and my sister. I’ve moved Lizzy to a safer facility. As for me…” He straightened. “I’m going to confess to the police. It’s the only way to stop Diaz, and protect you and my sister for good.”
He expected Sam to turn away in disgust, to yell at him, or tell him to get the hell out. Instead, she grasped his hand. “Don’t tell the cops anything, not yet.”
Shaking his head, he smoothed her hair off her face and checked her cut. Thankfully the bleeding had stopped, although she’d probably need stitches. “I have to. Rodrigo Diaz needs to be locked up.”
Sirens sounded in the distance, growing louder by the second.
Her tears started flowing again, and the sight broke him. “I don’t want you to go to jail, and you will if you confess to stealing the sapphire.” She squeezed his arm. “Leave now, before the police show up. I’ll be fine.”
“Not until I know you’re safe.” No way in hell was he going to leave her alone.
Colored lights flashed through the curtains.
Sam tried to sit up but winced. “I’ll tell them the guy who did this to me was the one who stole the sapphire.”
“Time for me to man up.” He pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. “I’ve never met anyone like you before. I’ll understand if, after the dust has settled, you want nothing more to do with me. But you have to know, you’re an incredible woman, Sam—beautiful, talented and smart.”
She started to shake her head, but he stopped her with a kiss. “You are smart. More than that—you’re wise, and you’ve got such a kind heart.” Leaving her, he went to the door to let in the emergency personnel.
The next half hour was a blur of uniformed men and women tromping through the cottage, tending to Sam, questioning him, and finally saying goodbye to her. As long as she was safe, and Lizzy was, too, he’d deal with whatever consequences he had to.