Bend But Never Break

by Cheryl Phipps

  ‘So what do we do now?’ She leaned across to get more dishes and brushed against him.

  They both froze for a second, so Nick knew it wasn’t just him feeling the electricity between them. Nothing more had been said about the trip to the festival, and they’d tried hard to avoid each other ever since. Talia had washed her hair and was letting it dry naturally. Curls had replaced the straight style she’d adopted, and she looked even younger. She smelled fabulous - like apples and flowers. A white t-shirt, damp from the sink, clung to her firm stomach and pulled tautly across the generous breasts he was unable to ignore. Jeans that should have made her look more ordinary merely enhanced her long legs and completed the enticing package.

  When he got back to the green eyes that had watched him make note of her attributes, they were wide with surprise. He needed to get himself together; this was the worst time to be acting like a horny teenager.

  ‘We wait and see what happens next.’ He wanted to kick himself as soon as the words came out and her cheeks flushed, as she, too, grasped the innuendo. It was definitely time for a change of subject. He needed some safe ground while he waited for Jack to return, hopefully very soon. ‘So you said you used to sail around here with your father.’

  ‘Yes, but that was a long time ago,’ she said huskily.

  ‘But you would know the coves around here quite well?’

  ‘Of course. Up until they day they died, I was my Dad’s first mate.’

  ‘May I ask what happened that day?’ It wasn’t right to dredge up her painful memories but he had his suspicions, about what they’d all been told regarding the accident, and what the truth was.

  She was silent for such a long time, he thought she wasn’t going to answer him.

  ‘They were out on a fishing trip, even though they knew the weather wasn’t going to be perfect. My brother, as usual, badgered them into it. He always preferred the boat to dry land.’ She smiled. ‘I was supposed to go with them, but something else came up at the last minute. Anyway, the weather affected their equipment and they were dragged out to sea, where apparently their boat capsized. At least, that’s what I was told.’

  She pushed her hair back and frowned. ‘I struggle every day to comprehend what happened, because they were always so careful and such experienced sailors. They had the best equipment and lifejackets, which they weren’t wearing. Sure, the weather wasn’t great, but it should have been nothing they couldn’t handle, and there was no call for help, which is strange in itself. Lastly, no other boat suffered that night or even reported any problems.’

  She took several deep breaths before she could continue. ‘Mom and Dad had been knocked unconscious and were found in the capsized boat. My brother was never found. In the days after, I wished I’d been on board, but I can’t imagine what I could have done that they wouldn’t have thought of. I have all these unanswered questions but it’s been too long now so I guess I’ll never know what really happened.’

  ‘Losing a loved one is a hard enough thing to deal with, but losing your whole family must be absolutely devastating. Let alone so tragically.’ He squeezed her shoulder gently.

  ‘Yes, but then, lots of horrific things happen to people all the time.’

  He cupped her chin in his hand and tilted her head, wishing he could erase the sadness. ‘Nice things can happen, too.’ He bent his head and gently pressed his lips to hers. ‘Often, you seem to be waiting forever for one thing to make it all seem worthwhile and you might almost give up hope, then someone comes into your life and everything can change in a very short space of time.’

  Her eyes closed and, encouraged by her response, Nick deepened the kiss. Slipping a hand behind her head, he pulled her closer. The feel of her along the length of his body flamed his desire instantly, and with his other hand, he began a slow exploration of her back and hips. When he reached around to cup her breast, she began to tremble. He wanted her right now. The thought of waiting until the case was resolved was momentarily driven from his mind, as was Jack’s imminent arrival. Then she was pulling away, a hand held up to hold him back, her words stopping him cold.

  ‘I used to believe in those sorts of fairy tales but things like that don’t happen to me. They haven’t for a very long time. All I need from life is Chloe. Well, these are all finished - ’ she gestured to the clean dishes ‘ - so I think I’ll get some fresh air.’

  Nick watched her go with disbelief, and then it hit him how crazy he was behaving. Talia had unknowingly bewitched him; no doubt about it! He had to pull himself together and not forget his priorities. It was more than his life at stake here. Hadn’t he just witnessed Emma, his ex-wife, on the receiving end of Randall’s brutality? The man had to be stopped and this was their chance.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The reunion, an hour later, was not pleasant. Nick was in the garden watching the path when Jack arrived, and he all but exploded when he saw Emma.

  ‘What the hell is she doing here? I told you if you were compromised, you had to leave straight away.’ He glared first at Jack, then at Emma.

  She shrugged her shoulders. ‘Yes, you did say that but I didn’t agree, did I? Besides they don’t know who I am, they just think I’m an addict who got too nosey.’

  Nick didn’t appreciate the wild look in her eyes. As Sarah, Randall’s IT person, it suited her profile to act like she was slightly stoned. As Emma, the detective, it wasn’t necessary.

  ‘This is not a game, Emma. I saw what happened and look at what he did to your face. Isn’t that bad enough? He’ll kill you when he finds out you’re the mole.’

  ‘I know, I know. But I think I’ll be safer here, where he least expects me to be, and there’s a score to settle, which I can’t do if I’m on the mainland. You know what I’ve had to put up with to get this involved. I deserve to see it through, so just back off and let me do my job, okay? And who the hell is this?’

  Talia stood in the doorway. ‘I live here,’ she managed bravely.

  Nick went over to her to offer reassurance but she moved back into the house, which wasn’t a bad idea, since this conversation should not be overheard. He motioned the other two to follow her inside. The four of them ended up in the lounge in a circle, animosity spreading its tendrils over them.

  ‘Emma, this is Talia, who rented the cottage for a few months, and is kindly allowing us to stay here,’ he said firmly.

  ‘That’s lovely of her, I’m sure. Hello, Talia. I’m Nick’s wife.’ There was a look of obvious pleasure on her face at Talia’s confusion.

  ‘His wife? I don’t understand.’ Talia turned to Nick with a hurt look. ‘If this really is a stakeout, then why would you bring your wife?’

  Before Nick could reply, Emma interjected. ‘Straight to the point, I see. But it seems fair he hasn’t told you about me, since I didn’t have a clue about you, either. Perhaps you would care to enlighten us both, Nick, darling?’

  Nick didn’t acknowledge the way Emma was holding his arm possessively. She’d always been volatile, but over the last year or so she had got even more so, and he didn’t want to let the situation get out of hand. He’d speak to her later about her attitude; it wouldn’t be the first time.

  ‘Talia, Emma’s my ex-wife but she’s also a detective, and has been on this case, undercover, since the beginning. Emma, there was no way to let you know we’d stuffed up, so we decided to carry on as per our arrangements.’

  ‘Arrangements that don’t include her. Does she have any idea how dangerous this is?’

  ‘I assure you I’ve tried to explain, but for the moment, she’s staying.’

  Anybody who knew Nick would have heard the determination in his voice and left it at that, but Emma rarely backed down from him. She turned to Talia.

  ‘You’re being a bit stupid, aren’t you? Not to mention the danger that you’re putting us all in. Or are you some rich bitch looking for a bit of excitement?’

  Talia seemed to grow a few inches, indignation written on her face.
‘Look, I didn’t ask for this, but I’m staying put. I don’t want you here at all, any of you, so if you have a problem, then you leave.’

  ‘We could have you removed.’ Emma took a couple of steps towards her.

  ‘You could try but I wouldn’t, if I were you.’ Talia stood her ground with her hands planted firmly on her hips.

  Nick didn’t like the way the women were squaring up. They were both trained; admittedly, Emma had many more years under her belt, but Talia had had Kirk as her trainer. It would not be pretty, and it certainly wasn’t necessary. ‘Ladies, please. A decision has been made. We’ve decided to try this Talia’s way for now.’

  Seeing the mutinous look on Emma’s face, Jack interjected. ‘Or until she chooses to leave.’

  Emma rounded on Jack. ‘You’re such a pushover. When are you going to stand up to him?’

  Nick had had more than enough. He would be in control here if he had to knock their damn heads together. ‘If you have all quite finished, I’d like to get back to business. Jack, Emma, let’s take this into the garden. Talia, we’ll sort this out later.’ He marched through the kitchen and moved out onto a small patio that was screened from the rest of the garden by a bougainvillea-covered fence. The other two followed, with Jack looking unhappy to be caught in the middle and Emma still furious about the turn of events.

  ‘Right. You’d better give me the details.’ Judging by their faces, Nick knew it wasn’t likely to be good news.

  Jack started first. ‘I followed the car to the ferry car park where Emma and the goon got out and made their way to the main building. They went to the ticket window, where they proceeded to argue.’

  Emma took his cue. ‘I told Dave it was going to be bloody cold on the ferry. I could do with my jacket and my handbag. It had everything I needed in it - money and the keys to my house. I asked him to go back there and get them for me and told him that I’d be very grateful, if he knew what I meant.’ Emma smirked at Nick’s disgusted look. ‘Dave told me he couldn’t do it. Randall would kill him if he found out he hadn’t followed his orders. He paid for my ticket, gave me some money and saw me on board. He told me to go straight home and stay there until Randall contacted me.’

  ‘Anything else?’ Nick asked.

  Jack looked at Emma with concern. ‘I heard him say Randall’s already really pissed off at having an informer within his ranks, and that by listening in on their conversation this morning, she’d sealed her fate.’

  ‘This is probably for the best, Emma. I’m sorry you were hurt, but it sounds like it wouldn’t have been long before you were sprung, anyway. You’re going to have to keep a low profile until we can bring Randall down. In fact, it might be better if you take the ferry, anyway. If someone’s watching you, they need to know you did actually leave, even if it was on a later boat.’

  ‘You don’t seriously expect me to go home and hide, do you? This is just as much my case as yours, Nick, and I intend to be there when you nail that scum.’

  ‘I suppose you have a right,’ he said grudgingly. ‘By the way, how did you get away from Dave?’

  ‘Jack slipped me a note while we were in the queue and told me he’d be waiting in the dinghy sheds. I climbed over the rail just as the ferry left. Dave was already on his way to his car so he would have had no idea - he’s not one of Randall’s smartest.’

  ‘Okay, it sounds like you’ve covered your tracks, but from now on we do things by the book, and I’m deadly serious about that. We can’t involve Talia in any more of this.’

  ‘I totally agree,’ Emma said enthusiastically.

  Jack nodded but was looking at Emma strangely, like he expected her to argue more. Nick would have to be stupid not to know they had some history between them but they’d all pretended ignorance. He’d heard through the grapevine that they’d had a brief affair and maybe it was still going on, it was hard to tell, and Nick didn’t really want to know. But there was definitely an underlying conflict and it frustrated him nearly as much as Talia.

  Nick sighed. His perfect case was turning into a nightmare, and the people he needed to be focused all had hidden agendas. He would speak to Talia first. Whatever was going on between Jack and Emma would have to wait.

  ***

  As the evening had turned quite balmy, Talia decided to venture outside. The other three were God only knew where, and she was still furious with Nick. She needed exercise and she needed it now. Otherwise, she would explode.

  Exiting the house via the back door, she headed down the track for a walk along the beach. No doubt the others would have objected, had they known her intentions, but she certainly wasn’t going to ask their permission.

  How dare he order her about! Dismissing her from the conversation like that, as if they weren’t about to discuss her, Chloe, or that bastard Randall. Typical of a man that he would make out like he was interested and already be attached. And not just with another woman - his ex-wife, damn it! You’d need to be blind not to see how Emma felt about Nick. She should have known that if she liked him, there had to be something wrong with the man and, clearly, honesty wasn’t one of his finer qualities. Talia mentally shook herself.

  She couldn’t, wouldn’t, care that Nick’s wife - correction, ex-wife - was on the scene. None of it should matter to her. It wasn’t as if they were involved, after all. She was in no position to be looking for a romance, anyway. Not that she wanted one.

  As she got to the edge of the property, she slipped off her sandals and walked barefoot onto the sand. It was such a wonderful feeling that she jogged down to the water’s edge. Involuntarily, a squeal escaped her as her feet touched the cool ocean water. It swirled up around her ankles and tried to pull her out with the receding tide. Her toes flicked the water high in the air, and she couldn’t help a small smile as it was thrown back in her face by the gentle breeze.

  Chloe would love this. The thought made Talia feel guilty at enjoying herself while her child was waiting to be rescued, but she had to bide her time until Kirk had everything in place. Besides, she needed the distraction from thinking about Nick and his deception.

  She had dreamed of finding a small piece of happiness again. How it would all turn out, now that she was caught up in this drama, heaven only knew, but it was obvious she hadn’t learnt her lesson yet. She kicked the water in anger. Talia was no home wrecker and would never have imagined that Nick was the sort of man who cheated. This was laughable, since her past told her she was not a good judge of character.

  Lost in her daydream, she had walked a fair distance when she finally looked up to get her bearings and was surprised by just how far she’d come. In front of her, the imposing fence stood, behind which Randall and his thugs hid. Tentatively, she walked towards it, knowing she shouldn’t, but drawn there, all the same. What if right now Chloe was inside? Kirk had said she wasn’t on the island, but what if he was wrong? She pulled the cap lower over her scar.

  ‘You looking for something, lady?’

  Startled, Talia turned to face a rather broad chest belonging to a very large man. She looked up to find a bull neck supporting an ugly face, bearing scars and hideous pockmarks. She hadn’t heard him approach and he didn’t look too friendly.

  ‘Not really. I was just taking a walk,’ she stammered.

  ‘Well, this is a private beach so you better turn back.’ There was no mistaking the threat in his voice.

  ‘Oh I didn’t realise. There are no signs, and anyway, I thought all the beaches here were public.’

  ‘Not this part, okay?’ He took a step towards her, and closer up, he was even more menacing.

  Involuntarily, she backed up, feeling annoyed when her voice came out shriller than she would have liked. ‘Sure. No problem.’ She felt his eyes on her as she walked back up the beach. Trying to act naturally on her now shaky legs, it took a lot of self-control not to break into a run. Finally, she could see the bottom of the garden ahead of her.

  Chloe! her heart and mind screamed. Please l
et her be safe.

  ***

  As soon as her feet touched the grass, Nick grabbed her from behind. ‘What the hell do you think you’re playing at?’ he hissed in her ear.

  ‘Let go of me.’ She struggled to free herself.

  ‘Not until you tell me what you were doing down there.’

  ‘I was having a walk. No law against that, is there?’

  She aimed for an air of nonchalance but he could feel her heart pounding. He set her feet on the ground and angrily turned her to face him.

  ‘Don’t you understand how stupid that was? I told you not to go near the place and you deliberately ignored me. Do you have a death wish or something? I can’t believe you would jeopardise all our lives - ’

  He stopped his tirade as tears cascaded down her flushed cheeks. Dropping her arm in surprise, he gently took it again. Turning it over, he could see the indentation of his fingers in her delicate skin. There would definitely be a bruise there tomorrow.

  ‘Oh my God, Talia, I am so sorry, I never meant to hurt you. Please don’t cry.’ But the tears continued to fall and he couldn’t help but pull her into his arms. There was no resistance this time. Her head tucked perfectly under his chin and her body quivered as she began to sob.

  ‘Hush, Talia. It will be fine. He wasn’t looking when you came up to the path. I’m sure our cover is safe. Let’s go back to the house.’

  She shook her head at this so he half carried her to an old wooden bench and she somehow ended up sitting in his lap. It felt right to have her there, and although Nick had been furious, that feeling had faded fast and something else was settling in its place. This was pleasant - very pleasant.

  He wasn’t sure how long they sat like that, but at some stage the tears eventually ceased, yet she remained nestled against his chest. ‘Are you okay now?’

  Slowly, her head tilted up towards him. ‘I’m so embarrassed. I never cry like this, and that’s all I’ve done ever since I met you.’